Readings:
Joel 2.1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51; 2 Corinthians 5.20b-6.10; Matthew 6.1-6 (7-15) 16-20
May I speak in the name of God, always Creating, Redeeming, and Sanctifying. Amen.
There are two themes in our readings for Ash Wednesday:
return to God (i.e. repentance), and
intent.
In Joel, God says, “rend your hearts, not your clothing.”
King David sings to God, “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
In Matthew, Jesus warns his listeners against religiosity – the practise of religious practices for the sake of being seen to be doing them, rather than for the ways in which they bring us closer to God. To be seen by our friends and our frenemies, rather than to return to God.
Paul says that Jesus became sin for us so that “we might become the righteousness of God.” And he reminds us that the acceptable time is now, the day of salvation is now!
Every day is a new opportunity for us to turn our hearts ever more toward God, and this period before Easter is our time to focus specially upon it. We do this as Church. It is corporate. It is done as the body of Christ. So, you can feel uplifted when you stumble and know that everyone else is lifting you up.
But that corporate nature also carries the danger of misplaced intent. Because we are “one body”, we can see when others are practising their commitments to God. Sometimes, we might share with each other what we’re fasting from, or what we’re including during Lent. It can, and has, taken on a competitive streak which means we fall right into the traps that Jesus was speaking about.
When this happens it really doesn’t help anyone, and I wonder if its where the idea that fasting during Lent was meant to make one suffer originated? When we make decisions about what to put down and what to pick up, if we’re making those decisions to be seen as righteous by one another, then it will cause suffering rather than freedom. Rather than being able to return to God with all our hearts, we will just sink into emptiness and resentment.
Now, that might sound like I don’t think there is a place for lament, but you all know me pretty well by now. Lament is an incredibly important first step. We recently marked the National Day of Mourning in January. This was a day of lament, where the whole country was invited to reflect on how we got to the point of two people massacring 15 others. It was a day to lament the senseless loss of life, but crucially, it was a day that we could take stock on a national level and notice the tiny pieces of the puzzle that we’ve all played in getting to where we are now.
This is what God is always asking of the Israelites. It doesn’t matter if Joe Blogs down the road didn’t participate in this-or-that, the whole nation joins in the lament. The whole nations joins in turning their hearts back to God.
So as we embark on our Lenten journey, I commend to you to either pick up a practice that brings you closer to God, or put down a practice that keeps you from God, so that you, personally, are able to turn your attention to God. Then we, corporately, will become the righteousness of God, through Jesus Christ.
I heard yesterday about a practice from Nadia Bolz-Webber, a Lutheran pastor in America. She told the story of her recovery from addiction and how one of the things she was asked to do was to practice gratitude. But she felt because so many things were still so bad, it wasn’t right to notice and give thanks for the small things that were good. She says that by only focussing on the negative, she devalued the blessings that were present. Focussing on the good, doesn’t mean that the bad doesn’t exist, that we’re ignoring it, or that it doesn’t matter. We focus on the good because its quiet and easily drowned out; God’s voice and presence in our lives tends to be quiet and is easily drowned out.
The practice is to post everyday, on whatever social media site you use, something that brings you delight. A picture of a flower; a witnessed act of kindness. It has to be something that you experience first-hand! The purpose is so that we pay attention to our everyday blessings and turn our hearts towards God.
I plan to post something on our Facebook page every day and you’re welcome to join me by posting your things. If you’re not on Facebook, maybe you’d like to email them in so that we can share some of them each Sunday. Thereby lifting each other up to be the righteousness of God.
Amen.
See Nadia’s post here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AV6L6hQM3/