Ash
Wednesday Meditation (2/10/16)
Michel Drolling, Alms to the Poor
On Ash Wednesday I offered a brief meditation on the season of Lent. My primary text was Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21.
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.”
Meditation
Good
Evening! I’m so glad to see all of you here on this cold night. Earlier today I
got a phone call from a gentleman who wished me a happy Lent. Before I could
respond he said, “Wait, is it right for me to wish you a happy Lent?” I
suggested that penitence and introspection are more appropriate states of mind
for Lent. Although God certainly wants us to live into the joy of His
overwhelming love, in this season of Lent, it is our duty to remember all the
ways that we are separated from God—all the ways that we attempt to separate
ourselves from God’s love.
In a
few minutes, each of you will be invited to come forward and receive ashes on
your forehead. The ashes are a reminder of our own mortality. We are to be
humble and penitent. From dust we were created and to dust we shall return.
Jesus’
message from the Gospel of Matthew also reminds us to be humble: we are not
supposed to draw attention to our acts of charity, piety, or repentance. Jesus
reminds us that if we are looking to gain public approval through these acts,
then we have the wrong motives in our hearts.[1] So
even when we do the right things, if we do those things with the wrong motives,
then we separate ourselves from God. Jesus urges to direct our love towards
those who need mercy and charity; Jesus urges us to direct our personal
devotions to God alone. The focus is on the one who is receiving, not on the
one who is giving.[2]
It’s not about us!
Christ’s
call is for righteous actions that spring from our faith in and love for God.
In this way, his call is consistent with such Old Testament prophets as Amos
and Micah, who speak with the voice of God, saying:
·
I hate, I despise your festivals, and I
take no delight in your solemn assemblies … Take away from me the noise of your
songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down
like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:24)
·
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
According to Claudio Carvalhaes, a professor at
McCormick Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian seminary in Chicago:
When our worship and
pious gestures are disconnected from our work for justice, we turn God’s power
into congratulatory self-aggrandizing, we confuse God’s glory with
self-deception, God’s might with bad psychology, God’s demands with
rationalized excuses, and demands to take care of our neighbors as self-pitied
individualism. When justice is not on the horizon of our giving, prayers, and
fasting, when peace is not a struggle on the streets… our offerings of worship
will be empty. Our giving will mean nothing, the words of our prayers will be
nothing more than embellished words of distancing, avoiding, and paralyzing
fear and our fasting, if we ever do it, will be just a self-righteous sign of
suffering.
Again, we are reminded that righteous motives must
underlie our righteous actions!
There
are many Scriptures—in the Old Testament and the New Testament—in the Bible
that use the metaphor of a gardener or the tender of a vineyard. In the Gospel
of John (15:1-2), Jesus says: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the
vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch
that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.” In this season of
reflection and penitence, ask yourself what things are holding you back and
preventing you from growing in faith and acting with justice and righteousness.
Then ask God to strip those things away from you. I urge you to meditate on
those things tonight and throughout the forty days of Lent. Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Benediction
Now,
beloved, as you depart from this place, remember that this is the season to
look inward. Reflect on those things that are holding you back, and then work
to prune those vines. Go forth and be instruments of God’s peace and
reconciliation. Do not return evil for evil to any person, but know that we are
all loved by God, and that we are called to reflect that love to everyone we
meet. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, let all God’s children say, Amen!
[1] Judith
Jones, “Commentary on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21,” retrieved from: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2040
[2] Judith
Jones.
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