Actions as loud as words
We begin a time when what we do is as important as the words we say. When my oldest son was about five he came to the altar rail on an Ash Wednesday with trepidation. When he looked beside him there at the rail and saw his mother's face with ashes on it he reacted with horror. That is just one among many experiences I've had that convinced me that young children are often much more in tune with spiritual realities than we adults. My son knew that something radical and dramatic was happening when those ashes were crossed on the forehead. All too often adults have had to spend so much energy on "grown-up" things that we become overly rational and too intent on controlling the outcome of things.
Later in Lent when we come to holy week each of the liturgies will have actions that often are louder than the words we speak. Waving palm branches. In Honolulu I enjoyed every palm Sunday leading the congregation out on to one of the busiest city streets and singing our way to the nearby McDonald's and back. Maundy Thursday. Every place I have served, even in Hawaii where people takeoff their shoes all the time, washing another's feet is a powerful and intimate gesture. Good Friday. Bowing before a wooden execution device. Holy Saturday lighting a candle that symbolizes the very light of the world.
We begin the imposition of ashes in just a little bit with an invitation to keeping a Holy Lent. The words are powerful and full of significance.
Holy Lent
Every time I have read the invitation to a holy Lent in the prayer book, I get chills. One of the things I think is that if all of the people here took seriously these words, the world itself would change. Another thing that hits me every time is that in this text of our book of common prayer there is a sentence that has never made grammatical sense to me.
The tools it invites us to use: self examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, and concern for others before concern for self, and reading and meditating on scripture. These are tools that the church has passed down through centuries. They are tools that have been found to form Christians, to fashion them into faithful followers of Christ.
Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving (From Gospel)
The gospel reading for today is in someways striking and challenging to us as no other passage that we read in the church. I can't think of any other time when the church has read a passage where Jesus speaks and as a congregation we go on to do the exact opposite of what he says.
whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting ... 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.
Jesus says whenever you practice the discipline of Lent, whenever you pray, whenever you fast don't make a big deal out of it. Don't make sure other people know about it. God knows already what you're up to. No worries.
But on Ash Wednesday we do just the opposite of that. We purposely put ashes on our foreheads. I have been impressed over the years at how powerful it is to publicly proclaim our faith by means of those ashes. Clearly, however, Jesus is telling us that our concern ought not to be what others think but rather about our own sincerity before the Father.
Jesus is telling us in today's passage from Matthew's gospel that integrity, compassion, honesty, -- that these are far more important than any specific action we may take.
Prayer
We can be so focused on particular prayers, or a particular way of praying. We can be so devoted to the Book of Common Prayer that we miss the opportunity to have a conversation with God. Prayer is more about listening than about talking. More about open hands than grasping hands.
Matthew’s gospel goes on after today's section to teach his disciples what we call the Lord's prayer. As if one particular association of words was sufficient. What Jesus shows and teaches us is that prayer truly lived fills one's life. It becomes a 24/7 opportunity to live in the presence of the Living God.
Fasting
By tradition we have associated fasting with giving up certain things. In the world we live in most of us don't lack for necessities, but long for things we would like. Pope Francis gave words to the kind of fast that Jesus had in mind.
- Fast from hurting words and say kind words.
- Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
- Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
- Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
- Fast from worries and trust in God.
- Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
- Fast from pressures and be prayerful.
- Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy.
- Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others.
- Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
- Fast from words and be silent so you can listen. (2016)
Almsgiving
Giving alms isn't just about putting money in an offering plate. It is that, but it is more. It is about letting go of our controlling concern for ourselves. It is about service for others. It is about experiencing ourselves as connected to a community of persons, each of them beloved by God and reflecting the image of God.
Closing
Someone said about Lent,
Why do Christians need to fast during Lent? Because most of us have just about everything we could ever need. We are fat & happy, and that situation is not good for the human soul. We need to go without for awhile, and tap into the deep well of strength that lives just beneath the surface of our soul.
It seems that we are a people who have far more than we need. What we lack – Shalom, Peace in our hearts, peace that passes understanding, – we can only achieve by letting go of what we grasp and hold onto. What we fear losing. These 40 days are a time to remind ourselves of how much we have clutched on to but must let go of if we are to claim our place at the Passion & Resurrection of the Lord.
I invite you then to the keeping of a holy Lent. By means of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting may you grow more fully into the knowledge of who God made you to be so that as you go forth into the world in the power of the Spirit, the world will see and know the glory of the One you follow as Lord and Savior.
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