It's Ash Wednesday. A holy day when Christians gather to repent for their sins, to be forgiven and to be smudged with ashes on the forehead. It is a solemn worship. The Gospel is Matthew 6:1-6; 16-21. The sermon was offered at St. David's Episcopal Church in Minnetonka,MN, where I have been serving as "priest intern." This was the second sermon of the day, and is a revision of the first offered at noon.
One of the things I like about the Tuesday morning Bible
Study is the variety of Bible translations used. The opportunity to study scripture through
different lenses, from different perspectives, can sometimes illuminate the
depth of the word of God.
With that in mind, I would like to read the beginning of tonight’s
Gospel again from Eugene Peterson’s The
Message. [1]
Matthew
6:1-4 “Be especially
careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out
of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.
2-4 “When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to
yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure— ‘play-actors’ I call
them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting
compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get
applause, true, but that’s all they get. When you help someone out, don’t think
about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your
God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.”
It is amazing to me how different this version feels from the earlier reading. I feel
like I am a part of the conversation with Jesus, and that Jesus understands how
living as a Jesus Follower can be complicated if we let the world get in the
way.
Society puts a lot of emphasis on
giving credit where credit is due. On
providing feedback. Of rewarding good behavior.
There are bonuses and prizes, ribbons and trophies, acknowledgments given for
gift giving—from thank you notes, tax credits and listing names on donor lists—and
a general attitude of “good job” when a good deed is done.
But Christians are called to
simply do these things because they are the right things to do. They are expressions of our faith in the one
who created each of us. It is living
lives of stewardship all the time.
God calls us to live in community, to be good stewards of
creation, to give and receive from one another the Christ within each of
us.
To be stewards of all that has been given is about more than things. It is about individual
identities—of personalities, of talents, of abilities, of time—and how these
are shared in the name of God. It is
about how to express belief in God in the minutiae of the “every” day. And now is the time to assess what has been
done and what has been left undone.
Lent is a time of opportunity to explore how to live in
relationship with God from dust to dust; from birth to death.
Lent is a time to re-affirm that relationship by paying
attention to faith practices and through individual, daily choices.
Lent is a time of introspection and action.
Lent is a time of fasting, without complaint, from foods or activities, because the act of the fast may result in being able to give more, pray more, live more into unique relationships with God.
We are given the words of today’s Gospel as a road map, if
you will, for living into a faithful life without fanfare, without trying to
prove to anyone besides God the depth of our faith.
I came across a photo of a man cutting the hair of a
homeless person. The caption said that
the man works in a salon every day but Sunday.
The average price for a haircut in the salon where he works is
$150. On Sundays, his days off, he cuts
the hair of the homeless for free. This
act of kindness is a great example of living into our faith, of doing for
others, of being Christ in the world. It
is just what Jesus is expecting we will do in his name.
The photo touches me, because
someone noticed his kindness and has made public the generosity of the
man. I suspect the man may be
embarrassed that his kindness has been broadly distributed on the internet. I
bet he was trying to cut the hair of the homeless as privately as he could. He probably wasn’t wanting to toot his own
horn. And yet, he is an example of
someone using his God-given gifts, talent and time, of being a steward not for
recognition or personal gain, but to provide dignity to someone in need.
Why?
I don’t know. Maybe he had once
been homeless. Maybe a loved one is
homeless. Maybe he watches the homeless
out in the street while he works. It
really doesn’t matter. He has compassion
for his fellow human and he acts. As a
result, his generosity has been noticed by another and his story is being told
far and wide.
There are so many stories of
generosity, of individuals whose lives are affected by small acts of kindness.
Have you ever had a friend say that someone in the drive
thru line paid for their food or beverage, not knowing who did it? What kind of ripple effect occurred as a
result of that kindness?
The trendy language is “paying it
forward.” In the Christian community, we
call this stewardship. It is the story
of the anonymous giver who causes a tidal wave of giving.
In his Lenten message our Presiding
Bishop, Michael Curry said, “The season of Lent is upon us. It is a season of making a renewed commitment
to participate and be a part of the movement of Jesus in this world.”[2] Bishop Curry challenges us to take the risk
of following where Jesus leads, to give up chocolate (if we must) or to offer
our services for the benefit of others.
How? With action, with prayer, with fasting and
with putting our “stuff” into perspective. Give up looking for credit. The credit belongs to God. Just do and be who God designed you to
be. Use Jesus as a guide. Get caught up in the Jesus movement.
Ash Wednesday
is a day reminding us of our role as stewards of creation. Our worship tonight will be filled with
images and examples of how being responsible stewards happens from ashes to
ashes, from dust to dust.
As the
ashes are placed on our foreheads the words of Psalm 51 will be sung/said/read. I am particularly fond of verse 11: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew
a right spirit within me. At this time
each year, Christians are reminded of our human nature, reminded that sometimes
the choices made are not so good, reminded of our frailty as humans. But this psalm offers a change of heart. A re-created heart. A fresh start to live again into our
relationship with God. A new beginning
to be renewed and compassionate stewards in the world.
In a few
minutes we will be confessing our inability to fulfill our stewardship
responsibility, and we will ask God to forgive us. We will ask to be restored through God’s
mercy, into a joy-filled relationship with God.
In the end, it’s all about being compassionate stewards
of all that has been given by God. And
that is something that can be done each day.
Share the love of God each and every day. At home, at work, at
school. Show compassion. Be a part of the Jesus Movement. But like Eugene Peterson wrote in The
Message, Just do it—quietly and
unobtrusively.
And always
remember, from ashes to ashes, dust to dust, from birth to death, you are ever
embraced by the love of God.
Let us pray.
God of all goodness, be with us as we live in this world doing the work we are called to do in your holy name. Guide our hearts and focus our minds on living lives of stewardship, of giving of our selves without earthly recognition. Lead us as we pray, fill us with what we most need when we fast, help us to always remember that our treasure is with you. All this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son. Amen.
God of all goodness, be with us as we live in this world doing the work we are called to do in your holy name. Guide our hearts and focus our minds on living lives of stewardship, of giving of our selves without earthly recognition. Lead us as we pray, fill us with what we most need when we fast, help us to always remember that our treasure is with you. All this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son. Amen.
[1]
Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993,
1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
[2] http://www.episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/episcopal-church-presiding-bishop-michael-curry%E2%80%99s-message-lent-2016