Ash Wedneseday C

Matthew 6.1-6, 16-21

February 17, 2010

            Lent, bleh! 

            Isn’t that how we all feel as this day approaches?  Lent, bleh.  Lent means giving up something for many of us.  No chocolate, dessert, alcohol or some such thing for the next 40 days.  For others of us, Lent means taking on yet another responsibility—I will attend that midweek service or study, even if it kills me.  I will open my Bible and read that devotion in the morning whether I want to or not.  I will bow my head in prayer each evening, even if I don’t feel like it.  Lent, bleh!

            And, of course, Lent means a lot more work for those involved in the life of the church.  The altar guild has extra services to prepare, study leaders must dutifully rally the troops for extra lessons, and worship leaders must have all their ducks in a row for all the extra services.  There are more bulletins to prepare, more volunteers needed, soup to make, and supplies to purchase.  And all for what?  To provide studies and worship that people will drag themselves to because we are all good Lutheran’s and we must do these things because it’s Lent.  Bleh. 

            So also for us Lent is that lovely time of year when our churches lay bare.  The beautiful trappings of worship disappear.  The alleluia’s are painfully missing from our liturgy, the flowers no longer adorn the altar.  Lent is a time to ponder our mortality, the death that imminently lies in wait to claim each and every one of us.  Lent is a time to grasp hold of the sinful nature we all cling to and to wrestle ourselves into repentance and submission to a benevolent God.  It’s time to look in the mirror and behold the sinful wretch that is reflected back.  Lent, bleh. 

            And, of course, being good Lutheran’s, we know that there’s no great reward at the end of the 40 days.  It comes to us as no surprise that the tomb is empty.  We are, after all, saved by grace through faith.  We can’t earn more jewels in our crown.  We can pray in secret or we can pray on the street corner.  We can give our alms with a sound of a trumpet or we can sneak our offering quietly into the plate.  We can fast looking dismal and pathetic or we can fast and pour oil on our heads, our reward has already been earned for us by Christ on the cross at Golgotha.  So, Lent, a pointless exercise?  Lent, bleh. 

            No, I don’t think Lent is just a time to go through the motions of self denial or adding more work to an already full plate.  Nor do I think that Lent is just a time for the church to look busy because Jesus is coming.  Nor do I think that Lent is a time to mentally flog ourselves for being sinful and I most definitely do not think that Lent is a time to take for granted that Jesus has already earned our salvation for us and thus we can sit back fat and happy and do nothing. 

            We are invited today into an opportunity, a 40 day opportunity, to experience a holy Lent.  Forty days set aside for reflection on what it means to be a holy people of God. 

            We are first invited into a time of self examination and repentance.  We are most definitely sinful.  We are most definitely all going to return to dust.  We are in need of turning and facing God, aligning our wills with God’s will.  And yet as we partake of the discipline of self examination, as we look in those mirrors, do you also see the person created in God’s image?  Do you see the person who was marked with the cross of Christ forever? Do you see past the man or woman in the mirror to see the child of God, the one in whom God delights?  Do you see the child who God loved enough that for you God sacrificed his only son for your salvation?  And as you desire to repent, do you see God with outstretched arms awaiting your turning and running into his warm embrace. 

            Our God calls us to be a holy people, a people set apart for God’s purposes in the world. We aren’t called to be perfect, but to be the face of Christ to a hurting and broken world, a people blessed by God’s grace. It is our call to reflect the grace and mercy and peace of God to all people in the world. 

            We are invited into a time of prayer and fasting.  We are offered in this forty days the luxury of sitting in relationship with our savior, denying ourselves the things that would distract us from honest conversation and listening to the voice of the one who calls us his own. 

            The form of our prayer this Lenten season could mimic the rhythm and pace of the Psalmist:  “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love.”  What beautiful words are scripted for us.  As surely as we are in need of mercy, God responds with steadfast love for God’s people.  As surely as we need grace; grace upon grace is poured out for our life, well being and salvation.  “According to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”  As surely as I sin and pull away from God’s grace, Christ draws me back to himself. 

            “Oh Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.”  As surely as God has saved me, it is my delight all of my days to return thanks and praise for what has already been done on my behalf. 

            We are invited into a time of sacrificial giving and works of love.   The sacrifice that God requires of God’s holy people is a sacrifice of praise; that with thankful hearts we would come before him in worship, participating fully in the work of the people as we gather together to give glory to God’s holy name.  As we say in our communion liturgy, it is our duty and our joy to give thanks and praise to God. 

            As we reach out our palms to receive the bread of life, we turn to the world with our arms extended in love to share with others what has first been given to us.  We are privileged to be called to feed the hungry and offer a cup of cold water in Christ’s name. All of our needs have been met by a generous and merciful God.  Because we know that God will continue to provide for us out of the abundance of creation, we can generously share with those around us, meeting their needs.  We can open our pocketbooks to make possible the continued rebuilding of the Gulf Coast and to begin the healing and rebuilding of Haiti. We can distribute food to the needy through the Food Shelf and other ministries of this area.  We can spend our time cooking meals, doing laundry, building relationship with families in the care of RAIHN. We can build houses for the poor of our neighborhoods through Habitat for Humanity. The list of opportunities is endless and intended to bring joy to the giver as well as the recipient. 

            Lent is not six weeks of pure drudgery to be endured.  It is a time to reflect upon the new life given to us in our baptism; to ponder our identity as God’s children, as God’s people; to work together for the good of the Kingdom of God, living lives reflecting the salvation that is ours in Jesus Christ.  Lent, a forty day opportunity to come closer to the living God who walked out of the tomb and into life so that you and I could have life and have it abundantly.  Lent, yay! Amen