Ash Wednesday – Feb. 17, 2010
Matthew 6:1 – 6
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' in front of others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Jesus recognizes our tendency to perform religious acts in order to get something from them. We attend worship, engage in prayer, serve at the shelter, and give time in our favorite ministry, then we hope someone will notice, or that some benefit will be given to us, or that some storehouse of holiness will be opened to us because of our faithful practice. In Jesus’ teaching, the “trumpets” and “streets” symbolize spiritual practice that is undertaken for external reward.
Who among us is not concerned with how we look before others? We guard our reputations, fretting over what others think about us. We go to great lengths to guard the opinion others have of us, even manipulating it subtly when we are able.
Spiritually, this kind of external focus is an illusion. Here on Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten season, we might as well call it what it is: lie and illusion. A life lived externally focused will not hold true. It will not stand up in the storms of life.
Instead, Jesus uses another term for an inward focus: the “secret room” or the “hidden room.” This is Jesus’ language for the inner landscape of a person, the more soulful interiority which is at our core. He invites us to grapple with the nuances of life inwardly, going into our “room and closing the door” in order to offer a healing, freeing presence in the outer world. God is closer to us than our next breath. We’ll have difficulty noticing God in the outer world if we’ve never come to terms with God in our inner world.
On Ash Wednesday we receive ashes crossed onto our foreheads and hear words like, “Remember, from dust you have come and to dust you shall return.”
We remember the “inner room” so we don’t need to blow “trumpets” on “street corners.”
We remember that we are more than what we do and the things we accomplish.
We remember who we are so that the traps of busyness and distraction do not hijack our lives.
We remember that we are not our image, we are not our successes or our failures.
We remember the One who shapes life and gives life.
We remember that life on earth is not forever, that in our limited time we had best live the one wild and precious life that has been granted to us.
Ash Wednesday shapes the rest of Lent, gives perspective, and provides framework for the days ahead. We are invited today – and then through Lent – to give attention to our inner room. We are invited to remember who we are and then live fully into our identity.
A blessed and holy Lent to you!
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' in front of others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Jesus recognizes our tendency to perform religious acts in order to get something from them. We attend worship, engage in prayer, serve at the shelter, and give time in our favorite ministry, then we hope someone will notice, or that some benefit will be given to us, or that some storehouse of holiness will be opened to us because of our faithful practice. In Jesus’ teaching, the “trumpets” and “streets” symbolize spiritual practice that is undertaken for external reward.
Who among us is not concerned with how we look before others? We guard our reputations, fretting over what others think about us. We go to great lengths to guard the opinion others have of us, even manipulating it subtly when we are able.
Spiritually, this kind of external focus is an illusion. Here on Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten season, we might as well call it what it is: lie and illusion. A life lived externally focused will not hold true. It will not stand up in the storms of life.
Instead, Jesus uses another term for an inward focus: the “secret room” or the “hidden room.” This is Jesus’ language for the inner landscape of a person, the more soulful interiority which is at our core. He invites us to grapple with the nuances of life inwardly, going into our “room and closing the door” in order to offer a healing, freeing presence in the outer world. God is closer to us than our next breath. We’ll have difficulty noticing God in the outer world if we’ve never come to terms with God in our inner world.
On Ash Wednesday we receive ashes crossed onto our foreheads and hear words like, “Remember, from dust you have come and to dust you shall return.”
We remember the “inner room” so we don’t need to blow “trumpets” on “street corners.”
We remember that we are more than what we do and the things we accomplish.
We remember who we are so that the traps of busyness and distraction do not hijack our lives.
We remember that we are not our image, we are not our successes or our failures.
We remember the One who shapes life and gives life.
We remember that life on earth is not forever, that in our limited time we had best live the one wild and precious life that has been granted to us.
Ash Wednesday shapes the rest of Lent, gives perspective, and provides framework for the days ahead. We are invited today – and then through Lent – to give attention to our inner room. We are invited to remember who we are and then live fully into our identity.
A blessed and holy Lent to you!
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