02/14/18
Freeville UMC – Ash Weds. Sermon
Sermon Title: “Piety and Humility before God”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 51:1-17
New Testament
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Gospel Lesson:
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Welcome again my friends, my sisters and brothers in Christ,
on this our Ash Wednesday, which is also the first day of this the season of
Holy Lent. The season of Holy Lent and the season of Holy Advent are not
seasons that we are required to celebrate in the bible, but rather these are seasons
that developed through the years of the church worshipping and living together.
Like the story of Noah being on the sea in the Ark for forty-days, and like the
Israelites wandering in the wilderness for forty-years, we have this forty-day
season. It being forty-days is a biblical framework, but we did create the
seasons of Holy Lent and Holy Advent. This is why some Christian Churches don’t
celebrate Lent or Advent.
So why celebrate these seasons? To me the annual liturgical
calendar or church calendar of the Christian Church reflects the ebbs and flows
of our lives, our spiritual lives, and at different times we are able to
reflect, pray, and connect to God in various ways.
In this being the first day of this the season of Holy Lent
we are given a forty-day period, minus Sundays, to prepare our hearts, our minds,
our souls, and our bodies, for the death and then the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. This is a season of holy preparation, reflection, repentance, love and
goodwill, and a season where we can reflect upon our lives and how we live.
I remember that in growing up in a mostly Roman Catholic
family that my aunts, grandparents, and others would bemoan every year the
tradition of giving up something for Lent. How many of us have ever given up
something for Lent?
The
idea behind this tradition was that Jesus Christ came to earth to teach us to
love, heal, and forgive, and died for us, so in response we therefore should
give up something we like to show our sacrifice and contrition. More
specifically we should sacrifice something as Christ has sacrificed for us.
Some Roman Catholic Christians and clergy in Medieval times would flagellate or
whip themselves, or mortify there flesh in other ways, almost as punishment for
what Christ has done for us.
While we are invited to give up something for Lent, the
idea was always supposed to be about drawing us closer to God. For example, if
we give up chocolate, let us do it because it draws us closer to God, to Jesus,
not just so that we can be angry and irritable for the next forty-days. Further,
in this season of Holy Lent, we can also give things away. We can love others
even more, we can give away things that we don’t need, and we can give
generously. The goal of Holy Lent I believe however, while it has been altered
and manipulated, has always been about us drawing closer to God, to Jesus
Christ.
The ashes that we will receive tonight, should not be a
mark of shame and guilt therefore, but rather ones of repentance and victory.
We are Christians, we are loved by an amazing and all-encompassing God. We are
forgiven by Jesus Christ, and as such, the ashes that we will receive tonight
remind us of our own brokenness, our own mortality, and our own need for the
grace of Jesus Christ. Holy Lent is about making us more like Jesus Christ, and
living into his image. In Ecclesiastes 3:20 it says:
“All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to
dust again”
(Ecc.
3:20, NRSV).
This is a humbling verse of scripture
that reminds us that only thing eternal is God and His kingdom. As Christians,
we believe that when we die our earthly deaths that we enter into the warm
embrace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. On this earth though, we are
called to live this faith out in radical way, by teaching, loving, healing, forgiving,
and by pursuing God’s justice. Yet we are all broken, and each and everyone one
of us are sinners. In this season of Holy Lent, and especially on this Ash
Wednesday, the ashes that we will receive tonight should remind us of our
frailty, our humanness, our forgiveness, and our need for God’s grace. These
ashes will indicate that we are followers of Christ, and that we seek to be
more like him.
So are we all broken people? Yes, we
are. Do we all fall short of the glory of God? Yes, we do. Jesus Christ though
offers us forgiveness and hope, and his gospel is Good News, not bad news.
All of this then leads up to my sermon
title for tonight taken from our Gospel of Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 reading. In
this reading, we are instructed by Jesus Christ on how we are to be before the God
of the universe. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that we need to tremble
before God, but how should be before the living God. I believe on this Ash Wednesday,
our ashes should represent “piety and humility before God”.
According to www.dictionary.com one
definition of “Piety” is:
1. “Reverence for God or devout fulfillment of religious
obligations”.
So we should be reverent and devout before God. Also
according www.dictionary.com one definition of “Humility” is:
2.
The quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance,
rank, etc.
We are
supposed to be not arrogant before God, but humble.
To me, being pious and humble before God, is really what the
ashes we will receive tonight represent. They we tell the world who sees them,
that we are God’s children, and that we are called to love, heal, and forgive,
in the name of Jesus Christ.
In looking more
closely at our gospel reading from the gospel of Matthew for tonight, Jesus
instructs us one again:
“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”
(Mt.
6:1-4, NRSV).
So
do we serve others, go to church, give and love just to get praise from others
on this earth? Or are we doing what we are doing to love and honor God?
Jesus then once again continues on and says:
“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” (Mt.
6:5-6, NRSV).
How many of us
sometimes display our faith and our religion, because we think it will be of
benefit to us? Let us go before God with “piety and humility”.
Jesus continues on once again and says of fasting, or
withholding eating as a spiritual disciple that:
“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” (Mt. 6:16-18, NRSV).
Lastly Jesus says once again:
“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” (Mt. 6:19-21, NRSV).
What is fascinating
to me my sisters and brothers, is how many people affix the label “Christian”
to themselves. It would seem that a variety of politicians from various
political parties, especially during the campaign season, find themselves being
“pious and humble” about God and faith. We have seen many such elected
officials with cameras rolling attending church services. To state that we are
Christian for many gives them the idea that we not only believe in Jesus, but
that we are also committed to living like Jesus.
My point is, is
this, many people can say that they are a Christian, but does our faith mean
something? Does it look good to get ashes, or do we take our faith seriously?
Do we believe in living and being more like Jesus Christ, in being “pious and
humble” before God, or do we just like getting ashes on our heads.
I have a friend say
it best once at a men’s Christian retreat weekend. He said, “If we were on
trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?”
What he mean by this, is that many say they are Christians, but are we living
faith out? If we are, there should be evidence for this, or fruit? It’s not a
competition, but yes, there should be evidence. I think that it right and
proper on this our Ash Wednesday to come here to worship, to receive ashes, and
do all this with “piety and humility before God”. Amen.
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