Below is a sermon that I preached on Ash Wednesday 2006. I pray that it will help you understand the Ash Wednesday observance and take you with a greater understanding into the next forty days.
Ash Wednesday a sermon
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen
Today is Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the first day of the church season we call Lent.
I would like to take just a few minutes to talk about Ash Wednesday and Lent.
What is the purpose of Lent? Lent is reflecting on being born again, about following the path of death and resurrection, about participating in Jesus’ final journey. Lent is a time that we are reminded of our own mortality, look deeper into our lives, and die to our sins. Lent is a time that we decide what in our life is keeping us from a closer relationship to God. Lent is when we identify what ever that is, confess it to ourselves and to God, repent of that sin, and prepare ourselves for the transformation, that rebirth that God, made possible by the sacrifice of his Son to mortal death.
Why is Lent forty days? The Bible tells us, Jesus retreated into the wilderness and fasted for forty days after His baptism to prepare for his ministry. It was for Him a time of contemplation, reflection, and preparation. By observing a forty day season of Lent we can join Jesus on His retreat.
Do we get to cheat on Sundays? My personal opinion is that this is a bit of a misconception. Sunday is a joyful celebration of the Resurrection of Christ. For this celebration during Lent we replace the sadness and mourning of the season with a thankful knowledge of Jesus resurrection. But, if you notice we do not worship with alleluias and bright colors and decorations. We worship in seriousness with reflection and contemplation. We should come to God with a penitent heart. Is it OK to eat the ice cream you gave up for Lent on Sunday. That’s up to you. Why did you give up the ice cream? If you gave it up because you had to give up something you like for Lent, then I guess it really doesn’t matter. If you gave it up because it was a stumbling block in your life, a habitual problem, a cause of health issues, does it symbolized a deep personal need, or represent a sin of self-control? If it does you should worship with joy in your heart that with Gods help you will overcome that problem.
Why ashes? We human beings have a tendency to overlook many of the small and menial tasks around the house when there is a death in the family. We are preoccupied with the sadness, mourning, and activities surrounding the occasion. Looking back in history, all homes were at one time heated by wood or coal burning stoves and all cooking was done with that same fire. These constantly burning fires created lots of suet and ash. If not cleared out of the stove regularly, the ash spread over everything in the house. It became common that when people went to visit the family in mourning, they were greeted by people who had ashes on there foreheads and face. This was from touching ash covered surfaces then wiping their tears with an ash covered hand. Thus ashes on the forehead became associated with death and mourning. The Church has adopted that symbol as an outward and visible sign on the first day of Lent. On Ash Wednesday we come to church to kneel, to pray, and to ask God’s forgiveness. Our Church tradition has set aside this day as Ash Wednesday to address sin and death and to apply the ashes as a symbol of our mourning for those sins and our spiritual death.
Today’s Gospel reading begins “Jesus said.” This indicates to me that this is the will of God. Let’s go through these verses and try to gain a better understanding of what is being 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,”
I come into the church and kneel and pray, I go to bedsides to pray, I pray before meals (even in restaurants), I have stopped at crash sites and bowed my head in prayer. On all these occasions, I was in a place that I could be seen. This is not what Jesus in talking about. The Greek word used that has been translated as “to be seen” is a word that in our vernacular is the root for the word theatrical. What Jesus is talking about is that I am not to make my prayer a spectacular performance that is intended to drawn the attention of others in order to make them think that I am pious.
“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 make 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.”
The Greek word for hypocrite can be interpreted in the modern English language to be referring to an actor, an impersonator, or as a person trying to be someone they are not. In Jesus time to identify one as a hypocrite was extremely harsh.
“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go in 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.”
Some translations of the Bible say for us to go into our closet to pray. The combination of words used here have the implied intent that the purpose for going into a place that has a roof and walls is to block out the distractions of the world and to be able to commune with God.
“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.”
Again the language in these verses tells me that being theatrical and putting on a false or exaggerated face holds no benefit with God.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasure 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 so not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.
Is it more important to me what people think about me than what concerns God about me? Where my treasure is, there my heart will be. If I am spending all this energy putting on a show so that you will think I am a great a pious person, then I am counting on you to reward me. That makes it all about me and how I am viewed by you. Where in God is all this? God is always there. He allows me to make a choice as to where my heart is.
What a fool I am if I give up the greater reward because I think that I have to wait for God’s reward.
Let me tell you some personal information about me. Prior to 1995 I was a smoker. I had tried to quit the habit at least 100 times. My wife hated it, my coworkers hated, and my kids wondered why they couldn’t smoke but I could. I was trying to quit for them.
I loved the taste of a cold beer. But, I would always get up and leave the room when the “are you an alcoholic” quiz came on TV. It wasn’t the question of whether or not I had to drink every day that scared me. I could give it up for long periods of time without ill effects. I didn’t want to face the questions as to whether or not drinking had caused a problem in a relationship or if I made plans around an opportunity to drink. I really didn’t try hard to quit. But, for my wife and kids I took into the closet… like they didn’t know. I was an Episcopalian you know and then an Episcabaptist. These habits were for the most part either accepted or overlooked as being sinful.
In 1995, as I prepared to enter seminary, I came to the realization that I had been a very good religious person, I did lots of good deeds, and I was a churchman’s churchman but much of what I was doing was for me. I liked being looked upon as a leader in the church. I would bask in that light. I liked the attention. I prayed for guidance. It was then that I was convicted of my Fred-centeredness. I felt, therefore, I must follow the lead of Jesus. I was led to do a forty day fast as He had done prior to beginning His ministry. I needed to get my priorities in the proper perspective.
Brothers and sisters I worked 50 hours a week to feed my family. I couldn’t go off into the wilderness for forty days. I was in my forties and had spent the majority of my life abusing my body in one way or another. I was not healthy enough to give up eating for forty days. What was I to do?
What I could do was say to God: “Without you Lord I can do nothing. I have made myself out to be such a great Christian. But, Lord I still have a whole bunch of things between you and I that I have not resolved. Lord as I begin this time of study in seminary help me tear down some of those things and establish a better relationship with You. Let me start with forty days of greater contemplation and evaluation of who I really am and how I am really supposed to respond to your call. In my own power I have tried 100s of times to quit smoking. Only you can take this habit from me, I can not do it on my own. While I was at it, I ask for His help with my taste for beer. I seriously wanted to remove all the stumbling blocks between me and my family and me and God.
I like to eat. I’m from Oklahoma
I haven’t smoked a cigarette since that day, or even wanted one. I don’t drink beer anymore. As a matter of fact, I don’t drink any alcoholic beverages. I don’t miss them. I lived through forty days of a vegetarian diet. After about a week, I didn’t feel the need to explain why I was doing it. For those forty days I made sure that God was walking through it shoulder to shoulder with me.
My relationship with God improved greatly. I began to understand that there was a direct correlation between my relationship with God and how everything else in my life went. Within only a few weeks, my relationship with my family started to improve. I began to get more and more ministry opportunities, most of which were not the up front of the congregation type.
I discovered that the cigarettes and the beer were not the whole problem, but rather symptoms of a deeper problem. I had to cast off sins of self-interest, self-gratification. I had to identify the problems, face them, confess them, repent, and receive God’s forgiveness to become a new person.
I can stand before you today and testify that God loves you. And if there is anything that stands between you and God that keeps His light from shining through or keeps His love from touching you, Ash Wednesday is your wake up call.
Jesus is asking you not to do anything for Lent that will make you greater in the eyes of other people. Jesus is asking you not to do anything for Lent that satisfies a worldly need. Jesus wants all of us to take advantage of this season to lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. Jesus wants you to tear down the walls between you and the Lord. You will not have to wait for the rewards… they will be here now and forever. Amen
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