Wednesday
02/10/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Ash
Wednesday
Sermon Title: “Humble before the Lord”
Old Testament
Lesson: Psalm 51:1-17
New Testament
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Gospel Lesson:
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
My friends, my brothers and sisters, I want to welcome you
again on this the first day of this season of Holy Lent. This forty-day
spiritual journey that is recognized by many Christian churches worldwide. This
spiritual journey that begins today, and goes through Holy Saturday, which is
the day before Easter Sunday. In reality though,
this period of time is forty-six days, but in many Protestant churches, like
the United Methodist Church, the six Sundays of the Season of Holy Lent don’t
count as part of our Lenten observance. This is because many Christian churches
celebrate Sunday as the day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead on Easter,
and as a result, many Christian churches gather for worship on Sundays. Since every
Sunday then, is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and since
Easter is on Sunday, Sunday’s in our tradition don’t count as part of the
Lenten observance. In essence then, if you were to give up coffee for the season
of Lent, Sundays would not count for your forty-days, unless you wanted them to.
I have heard some pastors call Sundays “cheat days” and etc., during Lent.
With this said, in this season of Holy
Lent, it is has long been a tradition in many Christian churches, like the
United Methodist Church, to enter into a time of spiritual reflection, spiritual
purification, and the casting off of the material world. In some cases, people
during this Lenten season would or still do wear sack cloth and ashes, to
display their humility “before the Lord”. It is the fundamental idea then, that
during the season of Holy Lent, we are all trying even harder than normal to be
"Humble before the Lord”.
Some people in Western culture find it
intriguing that on this day, that many Christian churches impose or place ashes
on the foreheads of believers, as a sign our mortality, our humanness, and as a
sign of our repentance. For these ashes that we have here tonight are for all
of you to receive. In case you are wondering, these ashes will not give you
super powers. I am pretty certain that they will not help you dodge bullets, or
have super human strength. Yet they are to be a symbol to the world, that when people
in the world see them upon your forehead, they should know that you have now entered
into a period of reflection, prayer, holiness, fasting, and of intentionally
drawing closer to the living God. These ashes should be celebrated and seen as
good thing.
This is why the Christian church
created the season of Holy Lent. Further, as Jesus was in the wilderness for
forty-days enduring temptation, so should we have a spiritual period of
preparation to.
For many people, they also “give up” something for Lent,
whether it be coffee, sweets, the internet, hot pockets, and or etc. Some Christians
in some places still crawl to Good Friday mass on their knees. By the time that
they have reached the church, their knees are often bruised and bloodied. Some
people still whip or flagellate themselves, and some people still treat
themselves with great harshness and or self-deprecation during this holy
season.
For me, when I was a young child, Ash
Wednesday and Lent used to be a scary and a dreaded time for me. It was a time
that I felt awful and terrible, and in addition to this, I had to give up something
that I enjoyed for forty-days, as well. As I have grown in my faith though, I now
believe that Ash Wednesday and the Lenten Season in general is call to become
more holy, and a call for us to become made more into the image of Jesus
Christ. If giving up coffee, or sweets, or the internet, or hot pockets, until
Easter Sunday makes you more holy, then great. If whipping or flagellating your
back, if crawling to Good Friday mass on your knees makes you more holy, then
that is your choice. For me though, the question that I have been asking myself
as this season of Holy Lent has been approaching, is how can I become more “Humble
before the Lord”? How can I live like and be more like Jesus Christ?
Instead of giving up a tangible thing for
this season of Lent then, I have decided in this season of Holy Lent to give up
something that I have struggled with my whole life. This sin, is the sin of
pride. Pride being that defense in ourselves that is activated, when we feel
mistreated, neglected, unloved, or put down. Jesus calls us to turn the other cheek
though, yet many of us so often fall into the sin of pride, or envy, or jealousy,
or revenge. Jesus Christ though, says turn the other cheek. Jesus Christ says,
love and forgive.
For me then, in this particular season
of Holy Lent, I just don’t think that giving up coffee, or the internet, or TV,
will do for me. Instead, I would rather try to give up those things that
separate me from the living God, that separate me from Jesus Christ. If we are
called in this season of Holy Lent to draw closer to God and to become more
like Jesus Christ, then what can we give up, or further, what worldly
possessions can we give away, so that we might become more like Jesus Christ?
Further, what if we give up some of the sins that plague us, or some of our
possessions that we don’t need, and what it we give them up for longer than
forty-days? What if we them up for good? What if we really try to be “Humble
before the Lord”? If the season of Holy Lent is truly about becoming more like
God, more like Jesus Christ, then how can we do this better? What can we give
up or give away, that brings us closer to the living God in the season of Holy
Lent?
Well sisters and brothers, I believe
that our gospel of Matthew narrative for tonight is perfect for this service. This
is probably why the church chose this gospel scripture. The gospel reading for
tonight, begins with Matthew 6:1, where Jesus says, “Be careful that you don’t
practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do,
you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 6:1, CEB). The
goal of Ash Wednesday, and of the goal Holy Lent then isn’t to become churchier,
but it is to become more holy. The goal of tonight and of this season, is to
change our hearts, not just our behaviors. Instead, as our hearts are changed, so
may our behaviors be changed to.
The
gospel of Matthew then says, “Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your
trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the street so that they
may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get.
But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right
hand is doing so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees
what you do in secret will reward you” (Mt. 6:2-3, CEB). We have a lot of
poverty in this country, the richest country in the history of the world. How
can we help the poor in this season of Holy Lent?
Jesus then goes on to say in this
gospel narrative, “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to
pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will
see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. But when you pray,
go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in the
secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you” (Mt.
6:5-6, CEB). These are powerful words from Jesus, who is encouraging us to be “Humble
before the Lord”.
Jesus continues on to say, “And when
you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces
so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward.
When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. Then you won’t look like you
are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret
place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you” (Mt.
6:16-18). We are called to be “humble before the Lord”.
The last thing that Jesus teaches us tonight
in Matthew 6:19-21 really speaks to me, about our world today. Jesus says, “Stop
collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat
them and where thieves break in and steal them. Instead collect treasures for
yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t
break in and steal them. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”
(Mt. 6:19-21, CEB).
I wonder brothers and sisters if many of the people in our
culture no longer have a heart for God, for Jesus Christ, like they used to? We
seem to live in such an era of greed and selfishness. We have a culture where
some people have untold amount of resources, and at the same time some children
go to bed hungry. I wonder what would happen in this Season of Holy Lent if people
who had so much, gave some of it to those who had nothing? I remember recently
watching a video of a pharmaceutical executive who was being interviewed by a
congressional committee on why he raised the price of one pill of one of his
prescription drugs from about $3-dollars a pill to $500-dollars a pill. This
man literally laughed and disregarded the comments and the questions that these
congresspersons posed to him. These congresspersons told this man that people
could die in not being able to afford the medication that they needed to live. Now
with my sin of pride, I wanted to punch this man in the face! Then I
remembered, “but Paul, Jesus says turn the other cheek”.
For Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also” (Mt. 6:21, CEB). One of the reasons that my wife and I try to
give as much away to God as we can, is because God is our treasure, Jesus
Christ is our treasure. On this Ash Wednesday and in this season of Holy Lent,
where is our treasure, where is our heart? Are we truly “Humble before the Lord”?
Imagine then if we don’t look at this
Ash Wednesday or this season of Holy Lent as gloomy or scary. Imagine instead,
if we look at tonight and this season in general, as way to grow closer to God.
As a way to become more like Jesus Christ. What if Ash Wednesday, and what if
Holy Lent is our way and our path to continue to make the world better. To
continue to make the world more like Jesus Christ.
My sisters and brothers, happy Ash
Wednesday, happy Lent, and as the historic Christian church said, “Remember
that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”. May we all grow closer to
God, to Jesus Christ, in this season of Holy Lent. Praise be to God three-in-one,
one-in-three. Amen.
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