Ash Wednesday Season of Lent, February 13, 2013
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
What will you, your family, or your congregation take on for Lent? You might have pancakes for supper on Shrove Tuesday. You might have a Bible study on Wednesdays during Lent.
Presbyterians do Lent on Sunday. We use the liturgies from Presbyterian World Service and Development. Our bulletin covers have purple borders. We avoid hallelujahs and praise Gods in our hymns. Preachers may preach on spirituality or social justice. Lenten worship may feel a little wintry.
But Sundays don’t count in the forty days. Sundays in, not of, Lent can refresh us, so we work harder at our discipleship every other day.
The Ash Wednesday gospel is worth re-reading throughout the season. We may take these words of Jesus as reason for our typically understated witness and personalized spiritual practice. Does going to an Ash Wednesday service and spending the rest of the day with a smudge on your forehead go against Matthew 6:1?
Jesus is angry when he looks at the recognized religious elite and sees no balance. Their practice is all about demonstration and has nothing to do with transformation. He says those who parade their piety “have their reward.” Does he mean God doesn’t bother to listen to prayers that are really meant for others to hear?
Giving alms, sharing wealth with those in need, is hard to hide. It might make a difference in someone’s life. But if the giver takes credit for it, he has his reward. Fasting, giving up things that satisfy our bodies for the sake of our souls, is hard to hide. It takes a physical toll. Jesus says the one who fasts should smile. It’s a better witness, and leads to a better reward (verse 18).
Jesus’ words condemn imbalance. They don’t rule out acts of conspicuous faithfulness.
Jesus challenges us to go in with intense focus and deep humility. He doesn’t tell us to hide what we take with us when we say, “Amen” and go back out into the world.
Is our imbalance a way of discipleship that is so personal, so internal, no one could ever guess we’re Christians? Our neighbour, with his smudged forehead, sure stands out. A public sign can be a witness to what’s deep in the heart. Maybe the gospel for us is, “Practice your piety before others in order to be seen by them.”
Your elderly Catholic neighbour goes to Mass every day as a Lenten discipline. You see her come and go, and there’s something even more winsome than usual about her. The young couple next door go to that church in the movie theatre. They’ve covenanted with some friends to spend two evenings each week in February downtown, sharing cocoa and sandwiches with people on the street. Do you have an old blanket they could give to someone who needs it?
Your daughter brings a Lenten calendar home from Sunday school. She asks if the whole family can take on each day’s assignment at suppertime. It’s just a five-minute assignment: Say a prayer. Read a verse of scripture. Find out about someone in need and talk about what you can do for them. Practicing your piety together can lead you to go deep on your own.
What will you take on for Lent? We can all think more seriously of things we ought to let go of to restore balance in our lives. Lent’s for practicing how to live the new life that comes at Easter. Giving up something isn’t easy. Taking on something is even harder. But it’s worth it.
