Ash Wednesday Believe Belong Become

GOSPEL: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

The holy gospel according to Matthew.

Glory to you, O Lord.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commends almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, but emphasizes that spiritual devotion must not be done for show.

[Jesus said to the disciples:] 1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
  2 “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

  5 “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
  16 “And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

  19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON (ELW p. 252)

The assembly is seated.

Today we join Christians all around the world

and we enrol in Lent.

We do this intentionally and physically,

as we participate in significant,

deeply rooted acts of worship today:

We will come forward to receive the imposition of ashes

We will declare boldly the depths of our sin together,

and we will come forward to feast on

the Bread of Life at the communion table.

We do this because,

as much as we are an Easter people,

a people of Jesus,

a people of the resurrection,

there is no Easter without Good Friday,

and there is no Good Friday

without the journey to the cross.

So we enter the story of Jesus’ journey towards the cross,

and we worship today

to find our place in that story.

We receive ashes,

which are signs of our mortality,

signs of our mourning,

signs of repentance,

signs of cleansing.

We receive these because we admit and celebrate

that our lives are temporary -

that we are indeed dust,

and to dust we shall return.

We receive ashes because we acknowledge

that we are in need of God’s forgiveness,

and that we ask that, in grace,

we might be cleansed from our sin.

We also do Ash Wednesday because

we believe that we are more than sinners,

we are beloved children of God,

created beautiful in God’s image -

worthy to feast with Jesus at this table

because Christ makes us worthy in our baptism.

Cling to this:

You are not just some sinner,

you are a saint,

you are in that number,

God loves you just as you are;

you are a bearer of God’s image.

So, as much as the ashes, soon to be on our foreheads,

are signs of our death,

they are also signs that God brings

new life out of death.

We do Ash Wednesday because the

Lenten journey is a blessed one.

Think of tonight, Ash Wednesday as enrolling in Lent,

think of tonight as

reading the fine print on that agreement.

Normally, when we enrol in something,

we skip the fine print -

we click on that box

“Yes, I agree to the terms and conditions.”

but we don’t read them.

What we do, here tonight,

is engaging and participating in that fine print:

with our bodies,

our hands, mouths and foreheads,

we agree with the fine print that says

we are but dust, we are but dirt,

yet God makes beautiful things out of the dust

God makes beautiful things out of us.

On the surface,

Enrolling in Lent might not seem as exciting

as when you enrol in a new

credit card rewards program.

It might not seem as enjoyable as enrolling

in a sports league or cooking class.

Lent is signing up for a time of

remembering Jesus’ passover from death to life,

a time of self-examination,

returning to God,

prayer,

fasting,

sacrificial giving,

and works of love.

This Lenten journey is a blessed one.

I would like to talk a little bit about why

we might do such a thing,

especially in consideration of our scripture lessons today.

I don’t know if you noticed or not,

but there is something a little off about our lessons

Our Old Testament lesson for example,

is a picture of doom and gloom -

inviting the people who have been

returned from exile to return to God

in order to ensure a grand military victory.

Not quite the repentance of sin

that we’re used to associating with Lent.

Then there’s the Gospel lesson,

Jesus’ sermon about how we practice our piety,

which, on the surface,

is an ironic choice for Ash Wednesday,

an ironic choice for Lent.

Jesus encourages prayer, fasting, piety, and acts of justice

- but these are to be done in an inconspicuous way -

we are to keep them quiet.

Yet soon,

we will boldly mark our foreheads with Ashes

and head out into the world -

which is a very public act of piety.  ironic.

Even though these lessons are somewhat bizarre for Lent

God still speaks to us through them,

and there is a difficult truth for us in them.

If we are honest with ourselves,

we want to receive praise for the good things we do.

If we’re honest,

When we suffer,

we want sympathy -

we want people to feel sorry for us.

Granted, I don’t see many of you

out on the street corners,

praying elaborate and flamboyant prayers.

Maybe you do and I just haven’t seen it.

I also haven’t seen you

waiting for the camera to be rolling

before you offer help to a person in need.

Yet, somewhere inside of us,

we want people to notice the good that we do

so that it will make us look better,

or so we will get something in return.

Even 500 years removed from the Reformation

and the truth that we are saved by God’s grace

through faith,

We still do the good works

to try and earn favour with God.

As we head into Lent - as we enter the story of Lent

may we do so knowing and believing

that we are loved by God,

beyond comprehension

regardless of the good or the bad.

You are loved!

God chose you in baptism -

and we will not earn any extra brownie points 

by giving up brownies this Lent.

The broader truth of II Corinthians,

the broader truth of Jesus’ journey,

is that we are invited to stop looking inward,

to stop looking at me

and how awesome I am,

and to focus our whole lives upon

Christ and him crucified -

to see ourselves and to see the world

through the lens of the cross -

to understand that God has once and for all saved us,

and saved the world through Jesus Christ,

though his life, death and resurrection.

It’s not about what we do for God,

but about what God has already done for us.

(Pause) Jesus says “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; when you pray, go into your room and shut the door, when you fast, do not look disheveled, but act normally.”

But this doesn’t mean that we are called to hide our faith!

be bold and pray! -

not to pump up your own faith,

but to talk honestly with God.

If you’re out in public and it seems right to you to pray

then do it!

Go ahead and give up something for Lent,

or take something on for Lent - it’s not too late!

God will be at work

in your spiritual disciplines.

But don’t do spiritual disciplines

to pump up yourself and your piety,

do it to remind yourself that

you are utterly dependant upon God

and God’s grace -

and if someone asks you why you’re doing it, tell them!

And tonight,

don’t be shy to come forward

and receive the imposition of ashes,

don’t be shy to come forward and receive communion.

It’s okay to leave this place and head out into public

with an ashy cross on your forehead,

because it is not a witness to how pious you are;

it is a witness to how loving and gracious our God is!

So if someone asks you

about those ashes on your forehead - tell them!

- I am dust, to dust I shall return -

but God makes beautiful things out of the dust! 

That’s what Easter is about,

that’s what Jesus’s journey to the cross is about,

turning ashes into beauty.

And that’s what we are -

that’s our part in this story

We are ashes, we are dirt, we are dust,

But in Christ,

God makes beautiful things out of us.

Thanks be to God. Amen.