Ash Wednesday Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
Jesus said, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"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. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"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. 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.
"And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 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.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Sermon by the Rev. Carole Horton-Howe
It’s been about 15 years since I helped my father move. He and my mother had lived in the same house for 35 years. But their lives had changed. Our family had changed. My mother was in an assisted living facility where she could get the care she needed. My father was isolated in their big house with maintenance he just wasn’t interested in taking care of. So it was time to sell it and “rightsize.” We used that term – rightsize – rather than downsize. They were blessed in this house with an abundance of closet space and storage space and places to tuck away those precious things that had always seemed like necessities, things we all clung tightly to, that no one could bear to part with.
35 years is a really long time to be in one place. And so when we began the rightsizing to move my father to his new home, we realized just how much stuff they had managed to collect. Too much stuff! All had to be sorted -- stuff to go with him, stuff to go with my brother, stuff to go with me, stuff to be given to my mother’s friends, stuff to be donated, stuff to be sold, stuff to be trashed. A decision had to be made about Eevery. Single. Thing. And as we opened those large, spacious closets and began taking out things that had been tucked away, there were just armloads of things that I knew would not survive this move. Of course at the time that we were accumulating them, it seemed like we could never rid of them.
Faced with our new reality as a family and wondering “what are we really going to do with all this stuff?” the only answer was - it was time to let it go, it was time to shed ourselves of it. It was time to rid ourselves of it. So that all of us – my father, my brother and I - were taking to our respective homes only the things we would actually use. And we were sharing the things we no longer needed with others.
But there was one more really big benefit to all this purging and shedding. And that was when we got to my father’s new place, and we began looking around, we thought you know that chair that’s always been in the living room, what if we recovered it and put it in the bedroom? That could go somewhere else. Wouldn’t it be nice if that table that used to be in the den found a new purpose in the office instead?
And suddenly we realized that all these few precious things that we had that had survived the purge, when we were faced with a blank canvas, that they had a new life and a new purpose. And that we had a new way of seeing them and a new use for them.
We hear the words from the prophet Joel in our Old Testament lesson today reminding us of the of the coming of our Lord, a wrathful time, a hard time, a day of gloom but a day for us to remember something important. And that is that our Lord is slow to anger and abounding in great mercy and love.
And that what we are to do, Joel tells us - Joel tells the people called Israel - we are to repent and return to the Lord. We are to be intentional – very intentional - about how we live and walk with our God. We are to shed those things that separate us from a close walk with God. And surround ourselves with those things that make it possible for us to know and love God and our neighbor even better.
And so as we begin this Lenten journey, there are questions that we have for ourselves. To take this 40 day walk with Christ, what are the things that we have that should not survive this journey? What are the anxieties and fears and things that have stressed us that keep us from the kind of relationship with God that we truly need? How do we purge those, how do we shed them?
How do we shed from ourselves any anger, and bitterness and rancor and hatred and suspicion that we feel towards others? How do we strengthen relationships that have been fractured? How do we go from pushing away to hands reaching out.
How do we shed those things that cause us to walk a path that is not God? How do we dig out of the crevices of those closets the hurt, the bitterness, the wounds – the things that have separated us from loved ones and neighbors. How do we take those out of the closet once and for all and put them away?
This is the time, during these 40 days, for us to be intentional about how we live in relationship with one another and with our God, determine for ourselves our new reality. And the amazing thing about purging those things that cause us to live in ways that we should not, is that we make room in our lives for God to fill us. We make room for God to give us a new canvas – a new way of being and a new way of seeing. So that we can strengthen our relationships. So that we can know more about what it means to walk in love. So that we can love what God loves, the way God loves – fully, joyfully, fearlessly.
What do you need to shed during these 40 days? And how can we re-imagine ourselves whole, complete, walking with our God, walking in love and community with those around us.
Having shed these things, having “rightsized” ourselves and made space for God, preparing ourselves for the Easter Feast to come, with what can we fill this space? I believe we are invited to take on…
There are many versions of this practice but Bishop Jose Luis Bhupesi suggests this path:
We can fast from “gossiping”. But don’t stop there. Take on making an effort to talk well about the person you were going to gossip about;
Fast from “using rough words or a rough tone” and take on “speaking gently” to the very people who might be intimidated by you because of your past relationship with them;
Fast from “complaining about everything and everyone” and take on making sure you “count your blessings”;
Fast from “any type of violence or violent speech” and take on “being gentle, being a peacemaker;”
Fast from asking “what’s in it for me” at the time someone needs your help and take on “being supportive”, a selfless supporter of those who will benefit with it;
Fast from “the need for revenge” and take on “praying for your enemy” as Jesus expects from his disciples.
The God of steadfast love and abounding mercy and grace continues to invite us into these “take on” relationships. God implores us to walk the path that is the God path. To find our meaning through love. Amen.