|
|
|
Ash Wednesday Isaiah 58:1-12 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Gospel according to Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 "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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WHEN I WAS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WE LIVED IN A NEIGHBORHOOD OF OLD VICTORIAN HOUSES, BUILT CLOSE TOGETHER. SOME WERE ONE FAMILY, SOME TWO FAMILY HOMES. MANY WERE IRISH AND ITALIAN FAMILIES, MOSTLY ROMAN CATHOLIC. IT WAS LIKE MANY NEW ENGLAND CITIES, TIDY, AND VERY NEIGHBORLY. WE WALKED TO SCHOOL, THE WORTHINGTON HOOKER SCHOOL SOME TEN BLOCKS AWAY. THERE WERE NO BUSES. AS I LEFT HOME, I MET FRIENDS ALONG THE WAY. WE WALKED IN A CLUSTER. IT WAS A SOLEMN WEDNESDAY EVERY YEAR, WHEN MY FRIENDS JOINED ME WITH ASHES SMEARED ON THEIR FOREHEADS, HAVING BEEN TO AN EARLY MORNING MASS. THEIR CONVERSATION WAS ABOUT WHAT THEY WOULD BE GIVING UP FOR LENT FOR THE FOLLOWING 40 DAYS. I WAS CLEARLY AN OUTSIDER, SIMPLY THINKING HOW DEPRESSING IT ALL SOUNDED. FOR THE 20 OR MORE YEARS AFTER THAT, AS I GRADUALLY BECOME CONNECTED TO THE CHURCH, MY FAMILY WAS UNCHURCHED, I THOUGHT LITTLE OF ASHES AND LENT. THERE IS NOTHING IN SCRIPTURE ABOUT ASH WEDNESDAY AND WE JUST DIDN’T CELEBRATE IT IN THE CONGREGATIONAL AND METHODIST CHURCHES I ATTENDED. IT WAS A CATHOLIC THING. WHATS’S MORE IT SEEMED SUCH A DOWNER TO THINK THAT CHRISTIANS WOULD TAKE DRIED PALMS FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR’S HOLY WEEK, BURN THEM, AND THEN USE THEM TO MARK A PERSON’S FOREHEAD WITH THESE WORDS, "REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DUST AND TO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN." I WONDERED WHY WE MUST THINK ABOUT DEATH? IN MY THIRTIES I BECAME AN EPISCOPALIAN, AND EVEN THEN I SKIPPED THAT ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE. IT SEEMED SO UNNATURAL TO GATHER AS A COMMUNITY, ON OUR KNEES, (THAT WAS AN ADJUSTMENT FOR ME IN THE FIRST PLACE) CONFESSING OUR SINS. AFTER ALL, EACH SUNDAY WE CONFESSED OUR "MANIFOLD SINS AND WICKEDNESS." WASN’T THAT ENOUGH? A FEW YEARS LATER, AT THE INVITATION OF OUR PRIEST, EDD, I DECIDED TO VENTURE FORTH ON ASH WEDNESDAY. SURPRISINGLY, I WAS SO DEEPLY MOVED BY THE LITURGY, THAT SINCE THAT TIME IT HAS BECOME A SIGNIFICANT MARKER IN MY LIFE. IT IS A MARKER IN THAT IT CALLS ME TO ASK GOD TO "CREATE AND MAKE IN US NEW AND CONTRITE HEARTS," AS THE COLLECT SAYS. IT IS AN INVITATION TO ASK GOD FOR FORGIVENESS OF THINGS THAT HAVE PASSED. IT IS AN INVITATION TO CHANGE AS WELL. IT IS A SIGN EACH YEAR FOR ME TO STOP, LOOK, AND LISTEN. INSTEAD OF A TIME OF DARKNESS, IT BECAME A TIME OF LIGHT. IN TODAY’S GOSPEL MATTHEW HAS GIVEN US JESUS’ TEACHING ON HOW WE MUST GIVE ALMS, HOW WE MUST PRAY, AND GUIDELINES FOR FASTING. THE HUMAN TENDENCY TO WANT TO STAND OUT, AND STAND ABOVE OTHERS, TO BE SEEN AS VIRTUOUS AND HOLY IN THE EYES OF OTHERS, IS NOT WHAT BRINGS REWARD HE SAYS. GOD ALONE IS TO KNOW WHAT WE DO. AND THEN JESUS GOES ON TO POINT DIRECTLY AT OUR TREASURE. "DO NOT STORE UP TREASURES ON EARTH. BUT STORE UP FOR YOURSELF TREASURES IN HEAVEN, WHERE NEITHER MOTH OR RUST CONSUMES AND WHERE THIEVES DO NOT BREAK IN AND STEAL. FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE WILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO." THAT’S A TOUGH CALL IN OUR MATERIAL WORLD. IT GIVES ME MUCH TO REPENT! THE THOUGHT OF FASTING IS ANOTHER ONE THAT IS HARD FOR ME, LOVER OF FOOD THAT I AM. FROM SUNUP TO SUNDOWN IS THE CALL IN SCRIPTURE, NO FOOD. AT OUR DIOCESAN COUNCIL MEETING LAST FALL, AS A BODY, WE AGREED TO FAST ONE DAY A WEEK SHOULD WE AS A NATION GO TO WAR. I’VE BEEN TRYING TO IMAGINE WHAT THAT WOULD BE LIKE. WILL WE ALL CHOSE THE SAME DAY? ARE WE DOING THIS FOR PUBLICITY OR BECAUSE AS INDIVIDUALS WE WANT TO PROTEST, AND THIS IS ONE SIGNIFICANT STEP WE CAN TAKE IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES. CAN WE DO SOMETHING WITH THE "FOOD" WE DON’T EAT, THAT WILL MARK OUR CONCERN FOR THE HUNGRY, FAMILY LIFE MINISTRIES FOR EXAMPLE? WHATEVER HAPPENS, WE MUST REMEMBER NOT TO LOOK "DISMAL." AND SO WE ARE CALLED TO MEDITATE TODAY ON SOME OF THE WISDOM JESUS HAS GIVEN TO US, TO LOOK AT OUR LIVES DIFFERENTLY. A NEW BEGINNING MIGHT BE TO EXAMINE WITH A FINE TOOTHED COMB WHERE OUR TREASURES LIE. WHAT ARE THE THINGS WE VALUE AS TRULY IMPORTANT IN OUR LIVES - NOT JUST CARE ABOUT, BUT TREASURE. AND ARE THERE SOME NEW TREASURES WE MIGHT BE CALLED TO "STORE UP" THIS LENT, OR ONES WE CAN THROW AWAY? SHORTLY WE WILL BE PROFESSING BEFORE GOD THAT WE HAVE SINNED IN A MULTITUDE OF WAYS, AND THAT WE ARE POWERLESS TO OVERCOME THIS EVIL WITHOUT THE SAVING GRACE OF CHRIST. SO HOW SHOULD WE LEAVE THIS SERVICE TODAY? OUR FOREHEADS WILL BE DARKENED WITH A CROSS OF ASHES AS AN OUTWARD SYMBOL OF OUR MORTALITY AND PENITENCE. WILL WE HAVE SHARED OUR SINFUL NATURE ALONG WITH OTHERS IN THIS CONGREGATION? YES, WE ARE A COMMUNITY. HAVE WE BEEN RELEASED AND FORGIVEN BY GOD? YES. HAVE WE RECOMMITED OUR LIVES? I HOPE SO. ARE WE RENEWED? I HOPE THAT TOO. AND NOW, STRENGTHENED BY THESE GIFTS WE BEGIN THE FORTY DAYS OF THE LENTEN SEASON. FORTY DAYS IS A LONG TIME. AND EACH OF US, PLUMBING THE DEPTHS OF OUR OWN HEARTS MUST DECIDE HOW BEST TO USE THIS TIME. SOMEHOW WE MUST DECIDE WHAT IS "GODLY WORK" FOR US, BUILDING ON THE FOUNDATION OF THE HOPES AND PRAYERS WHICH WE WILL HAVE EXPRESSED TODAY. TO FAST CAN MEAN TO STRENGTHEN OUR STAYING POWER, IT CAN MEAN HOLDING ASIDE TIME FOR DAILY MEDITATION, ACCEPTING NEEDED DISCIPLINES, ALLOWING MORE TIME TO LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT AT WORK WITHIN US. I SEEM TO SPEND AT LEAST AN HOUR EACH DAY IN MY CAR LISTENING TO PUBLIC BROADCASTING. I PLAN TO TURN OFF THE RADIO SO THAT THIS THEN CAN BE A TIME, WITHOUT DISTRACTIONS, FOR HOLDING UP TO GOD THOSE PEOPLE, THOSE ISSUES WHICH ARE ON MY HEART. LENT IS A TIME WHEN OUR LITURGIES BECOME STARK, NO ALLELLUIAS, NO FLOWERS ON THE ALTAR, NO VEILED CHALICE. IT IS A TIME WHEN WE CAN CALL OUT TO GOD TO LIVE WITH US, TO WALK AMONG US, TO HELP US, SO THAT AS WE JOURNEY TOWARD THE CROSS, TOWARD THE SAVING ACT OF JESUS, WE CAN SHARE HIS PAINS AS HE LIVES OUT HIS LIFE, OBEDIENT TO GOD’S WILL FOR HIM. MAY WE BE GIVEN STRENGTH TO DO THAT. The Rev. Ruth T. Healy - Priest Associate
|
