Ash Wednesday 2007
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Ps 51
2 Cor 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Three traditions of Jewish faith and practice are taken by Jesus as positive disciplines and devotion: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The practice however must occur with the right intention and spirit – not for show to impress others, but for the sole purpose of deepening one’s relationship with God.
Can we assume that these practices will be in common practice among our friends, family, colleagues, or even the members of our faith community? To take on the traditions of Ash Wednesday and Lent cause us to go counter-cultural today. The pace of our society is fast. We race from task to task, multitask, keep cell phones at the ready if not to our ears, email open all day and into the night, day timers to remind us when to be where, and finally we fall into a fitful sleep, anxious about what has been done and what has been left undone. Tomorrow we will catch up.
Ask someone how they are and the most often answer is “busy”. I call a member of the parish to just see how they are and they want to know what is wrong. I check on a member and inquire if they might like a visit and they say I am too busy. I am not too busy for you and we all need to remind one another that we should slow down, spend time together, and live this life!
I read a story years ago about a man who was a minister and he was very busy. He ran so fast he flew his own plane, like our presiding bishop. He prayed that he could just have some time to pray, to be, to relax, to renew his inner strength. The next day, he went about his business, had a serious accident, and woke up in the hospital in a suspension device that had every limb in traction so that the legs and arms and ribs could heal. The only thing he could do was pray. Now, I would prefer to take a few small steps in the right direction without that dramatic an event.
Prayer is the discipline of faith. Prayer is conversation with God. Prayer can be read from the BCP, hymnal, psalms, in the form of petition or praise, or prayer can be silence. Try it this lent – just sit down in a quiet place and be still. Let you mind be free of all thoughts, of all words, of all images, just be free. Invite God to be with you, just be together, in silence. Try it for 5 minutes a day. When ideas, great or small creep in just gently nudge them away and return to silence. Listen to God. Feel God surround you. Let God embrace your being. Just relax and be in the presence of God.
Now fasting is more cultural today as the fad of the age is slim and trim. The idea of fasting in Christian terms is not just about food. I have a friend who gives up chocolate during lent. She does it every year. She is grumpy at first, but she sticks with the discipline. Why? Because she loves chocolate and giving up something you really like allows space for something important. If you have to concentrate to go without something that is habitual you have to be mindful. When that abstinence is deliberate and spiritual, then God becomes the reason and the thought and intention behind the sacrifice has a purpose.
In the habit of fasting, you should ask yourself, what is it that I do that is over the top? Is it my schedule, my work, my lack of sleep, lack of free time, or is it an overabundance of something, too many clothes, food, money, or too much stuff? Our lives loose harmony because they lose balance. One factor, one concern, one obsession takes too much time, too much of us so that we become what we do rather than whose we are. Some of us might need to intentionally eat lunch instead of skipping it to work more. Some of us might need to put on a discipline of reading something for the nourishment of our spirits. Some of us ought to take time with family and friends – real quality time. Maybe the best fast you can make this year is to be here at church for an extra hour a week – it could be to work in the thrift shop, or to help with the children’s class, or to attend adult forum, or to sing with the choir, or attend the Lenten series on Wednesday evenings. Fasting is intended to unclutter your life and help you realign your life with God.
Almsgiving is a form of generosity. The crowd on the hillside was fed. The children were welcomed to come and sit in his lap. The sick were healed and the lepers were touched. The widow of Nain’s only child was raised from death. The best wine at the wedding was served last. Jesus was compassionate to everyone – the stranger – the foreigner – the widow – the orphan – the soldier – the priest – the women – the children – and the men. The disciples though called to follow often made big blunders – they were forgiven. When we give our coins to fund the wellspring-merry-go-round in Ghana, we give from our abundance. Almsgiving is more than money. We can give a lot of money and still push God and neighbors in need to the margins of our lives. Giving with a generous heart requires us to risk something.
In general St. Paul’s is a generous parish, giving more than 10% of your revenue last year for mission – to help your neighbors near and far. I want you to consider this lent if you can be as generous with your time and commitment to God and one another. Seek to pace your life in rhythm of Jesus’ gentle way of being present with those who sought him out. In this season of penitence, know that God is more ready to forgive than we are to repent. Repent of the ways in which your life is too full to find time for God. Repent of the hording of things, even good things. Repent of the lack of trust that allows you to be generous with time and money. Repent of the suffering, the damage, and the deaths our war has caused. Repent of the lack of peace and harmony in our own church and the world. Repent that too many of our neighbors are hungry, underemployed, under or uninsured, homeless, or alone.
During Lent, put time aside to be with God. Let God transform you by the assurance of forgiveness, the abundance of grace freely offered, and by the awareness that you are loved. You, you, you are loved. To live a holy lent is to rediscover who we are as God’s people.
So for 40 days: give us rushing, unclutter your life, and treat none as stranger. Though we are but dust, God invites us to sparkle with eternal light.