Ash Wednesday February 25, 2004 - Preaching Helps

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Psalm 51:1-17

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

The season of Lent begins with the stark reminder that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Our foreheads are smeared with ashes in the shape of a cross, a dramatic contrast to the cross made on our foreheads at baptism. We are reminded of our mortality, reminded that we are merely dust, reminded that we are utterly dependent on God to save us from our sin. But because it is the cross that is so vividly marked on our faces, we are also reminded of the resurrection that we have received through the One who died on that very same cross and rose again. We are called back to our baptism, when our old self was drowned in the waters poured over our head and we were reborn children of God. In receiving the sign of a black cross, full of despair and yet full of hope, we are being called back to God who desires salvation for all of God's children.

God wants us back! God wants us back from our fears during times of trial, the despair we experience in our suffering, from our annual Lenten fasts that draw attention to ourselves rather than to the God who saves us. Too often we begin Lent with the announcement, "I'm giving up chocolate (or alcohol or television) for Lent," with the intent of appearing to others as spiritual giants with amazing self-control. We do not consider how such a fast is related to the black cross on our forehead or how our fast will draw us back to God. Throughout Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, God is calling us back from anything that separates us from God. The texts for Ash Wednesday in particular help us to hear God's call to "return to the Lord, your God."

In a time when a swarm of locusts is destroying the land, the prophet Joel calls the people to repent, to "return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing." This description of God was offered to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:6-7) and was used by Jonah to accuse God of being too merciful (Jonah 4:2). Joel offers this description to a people who are perishing under the invasion of an army of locusts, agents of judgment, and the bringers of a day of darkness, the day of the Lord. Joel calls the entire community together to fast and to return to God--the aged, the children, the infants, the bridegroom and bride, the priests and the ministers. Though a state of emergency is the impetus for repentance, for turning back to God, Joel suggests that God may turn from God's anger and leave a blessing behind for the people. We ourselves may not be called to worship in such a time of great calamity--though moments such as September 11 come to mind--when entire communities gather together to pray for God's mercy. But we do experience God's blessing every Sunday when we begin our worship service with God's call to repentance, followed by our confession, and later on, when we receive "a grain offering and a drink offering" (Joel 2:14) at the table of our Lord. God promises to bless us, as God has blessed God's children throughout the ages, when we return to the Lord our God.

In contrast to the day of darkness and gloom as described by Joel, Paul depicts "an acceptable time," a day of salvation. Now is the time to be reconciled to God, now is the time to return to God, for God was in Christ reconciling. God made Christ to be sin so that sin would no longer have power over us. In this act of mercy and grace, God calls us back. The smear of the cross on our foreheads will still be felt as we continue to experience afflictions, hardships, and calamities. But God's grace, which was able to transform the cross from an instrument of death into an instrument of salvation, is able to transform those trials as well into something of power. By responding to God's call to return to the Lord, your God, we will rejoice even in our sorrow, make many rich even in our want, and possess everything--forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life--though we have nothing to claim as our own.

Though our foreheads are marked with a black, ashen cross, Matthew warns us to practice our piety in secret. Matthew references three basic acts of Jewish devotion--almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. While not denouncing these acts, Matthew criticizes those who practice them to be recognized by others. Jesus refers to these people as "hypocrites," which in the Greek literally means "play actors," an appropriate term for those who seek accolades for their admirable performances in these faith practices. Jesus wants us to give to the poor, to pray, and to fast, but these acts of piety should be directed towards God, done for the glory of God and not for show or for the purpose of being seen and recognized by others. They should be done out of love for God, in gratitude for what God has done for us, and for the sake of our relationship with God, not out of love for the praise and honor that is given by others for doing these religious acts.