Text: Matthew 6:16-21 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
Concerning Fasting
16 “And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Concerning Treasures
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] consume and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust[b] consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
If ever a statement ran counter to our culture, it’s that one. Ash Wednesday is not exactly the most popular religious observance. We don’t like hearing “to dust you shall return.” I know I certainly don’t! I’ve said before that I don’t think I’m going to be one of those people who age gracefully. I spent my lifetime living our culture of Eternal Youth, the nation of botox, tummy tucks, and face lifts. As Ellen DeGeneres once said at an Academy Awards show, “We all know that the most important thing in the world is youth.” We don’t like thinking about aging, much less the reminder that, yes, one day the Grim Reaper will be at our door, too. Then here comes the double-whammy: The other theme of Ash Wednesday is our sinfulness before God. So, taken together, these two themes make Ash Wednesday for many people about as popular as bread mold.
And – strange but true – many churches don’t even observe Ash Wednesday, and they give various reasons why: “It’s not mentioned in the Bible,” just to mention one example; and so, if it’s not in the Bible, why do it? Martin Luther himself threw it out for that very reason. And I don’t recall my home church observing Ash Wednesday when I was growing up – maybe it did, and I just don’t remember. But a lot of churches – even whole denominations – don’t “do the ashes.”
However, I think the reasons why Ash Wednesday might make us uncomfortable – sin and death – are exactly why we need Ash Wednesday. It’s precisely because Ash Wednesday flies in the face of our culture and brings these things to mind that it is so important for us to observe it. Going back to the “bread mold” – it may be useful to remember that bread mold gives us penicillin. We might say that, just as penicillin inoculates and cures us of diseases, so does Ash Wednesday help to “cure” us of being too chained to our culture. An imperfect analogy, maybe, but I offer it for your consideration, anyway.
But the bad news of sin and mortality – that we are dust and will return to dust – is eclipsed and overwhelmed by the triumph of Jesus Christ over sin, death, and the grave.
That is really what tonight is all about. Behind the “doom and gloom” is a tremendous promise.
Turns out, Ash Wednesday is not meant to be a “downer” at all, but simply a sober reminder that our time here on Earth is indeed not infinite, and that God has something far more wondrous in store for us than we can ever imagine. It’s meant to serve as a wake-up call to us to take stock of who and what we are, to kick off the season of Lent which invites us to get rid of the things that bog us down so we can focus on what God’s plan for us might be. So, a little “spiritual housecleaning” never hurt anybody.
Ash Wednesday – as Lent itself – is about transformation as much as it’s about sin and death. It’s about sharing in the death of Jesus by dying to the old ways – the ways of the world – and then, like Jesus, being reborn in the life God holds out for us and participating in Jesus’ resurrection. And then, on Easter Sunday, we can shout out the joyful proclamation that Jesus lives, and because He lives, we live, too. Forever.
So, tonight is not about “no.” It’s not about what we’re going to give up. It’s not about going around with long sad faces for the next 40 days. It’s about “yes.”
As Alyce M. McKenzie wrote on the Patheos Christian portal a couple years ago: “When we answer Christ’s call to say no to destructive practices, energy is left to say yes to positive disciplines. We can fill the space and time left by our fasting with some positive disciplines to help us respond to God’s love more intentionally. John Wesley called them the means of grace: prayer, searching the scriptures, fasting, acts of kindness aimed at justice, and regular attendance at corporate worship where we participate in the sacraments of baptism and communion and meet God as the scriptures are read and proclaimed.”[1]
Definitely worth a smudge of ash on the forehead, it seems to me!
Let’s say “yes”!
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen
[1] http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Saying-No-and-Saying-Yes-Alyce-McKenzie-03-09-2011?offset=1&max=1