SERMON AT ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH, FARLEY – WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2023 – ASH WEDNESDAY
JOEL
2:1-2, 12-17; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:20b-6:10; Maathew 6:1-6, 16-21
May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
and may these words be yours and bless all who hear them. Amen.
And so, today, begins that long period in the Christian
calendar called Lent representing the forty days and forty night’s which Jesus
spent in the wilderness before he began his ministry – forty days and forty
nights ending in being tempted by the devil.
Very often Lent has been synonymous with giving something up
– alcohol, chocolate, cigarettes, cakes etc. – in other words something
pleasurable to us and our bodies.
Indeed, only last week when reminding somebody that I was preaching at
this service and that Ash Wednesday was the beginning of Lent I was immediately
asked as to what I was giving up. I thought for a moment and realised that I
hadn’t actually given it much thought and after all the deprivations of
lockdowns during Covid came to the conclusion that rather than giving things up
I would rather use the time of Lent for some more positive reflection on the
creative wonders of God’s world and universe through increased meditation,
scriptural reading, walking amongst God’s beautiful countryside and, of course,
viewing the wonders of the night sky.
All of these things I can do quietly on my own whilst still eating my
chocolate bar too if I so wish.
In our Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus talks direct to his
disciples warning them of showing off their piety in front of others in order
to be seen by those others rather than true worship and reflection on God
himself. Jesus extols his disciples to
give alms, pray and give praise to God quietly and not simply to show off to
others how good they were in their divine devotions. We too can get caught up in this desire to
show off how much holier we are than others – I know, I have done that in the
past, but as I have grown older I have come to realise that I was only doing it
to feel good about myself and better than others around me.
I have seen and experienced this often in some of the
Evangelical Free Churches where, unless you go forward at the altar call to ask
for prayer, you can be looked upon, or at least feel looked upon as a lesser
Christian somehow. Jesus actually came down to Earth as God incarnate and left
us the Holy Spirit so that we might go directly to him and not need all the
trappings of the Temple system – that is the significance of the Veil of the
Temple being torn down the middle from top to bottom (not bottom to top) that
the barrier of ritual through the high priests should not be a barrier to our
own direct access to God.
Now I am not advocating that we simply ignore Lent, what I am
trying to convey is that simply giving something up which we like for forty
days and forty nights doesn’t necessary make us a better Christian than
somebody who doesn’t. It matters what
you do with the extra time which might be generated by abstaining from doing
those things which you have given up and what you do, I suggest, is to try and
spend more time communicating with God by enjoying his presence through prayer
and being attuned to his creation. Asking yourself, what was the true reason
for giving up the pleasure which you did?
During Lent we have an opportunity to join a Lent Group to
help us use up some of that devotional time we create. I do serious recommend that you do this, but
if you cannot for some reason – such as you have other responsibilities to
family or career or the Lent Group meets on a day or time not suited to you,
don’t beat yourself up about it – God exists everywhere, he is not in a pigeon
hole in a church or house group, he is with you wherever you go and is freely
available to accompany you on your life’s journey.
Prayer is massively important and requires us to listen
closely to what God might be saying to us as well as sending out our
supplications – requests.
Jesus tells us in the Gospel passage that we do not need to
make a big fuss either about praying. God knows already what is in our hearts
and hears us through all the turmoil of our daily lives. Those, he says, who
make a big fuss about their prayer and alms giving and worship, have already
received their reward. In other words
the mere fact that they have been seen to be righteous by others is enough for
them, but those who pray, give alms and worship quietly or in secret will
receive their reward from God because it is for God, and not the people around,
that they seek to do those righteous things.
Today, those of you who wish to will have ash and oil smeared
on your foreheads. That is a simple symbol to remind us that we are only here
for a season and that we came from dust and to dust we shall return. As an astronomer I can tell you that this is
a very true statement – we were, in fact, all made from stardust and one day
our earthy remains will all return to the cosmos. We must make the most of our life and continue
to remember that our very existence is dependent upon God and no other single
person. Earlier on in my Christian journey, I liked to profess my Christian
faith by keeping the sooty smear visible on my forehead for as long as I could
– quite easy with my lack of follicle covering; but here we read from Jesus
that his disciples are expected to wash their faces and look healthy, not
suffering from lack of nutrients through fasting or going around with a clear
sign that they are fasting. The prophet
Isaiah also asked the question of the usefulness of fasting if we don’t use it
as a means of remembering and praising God.
On Sunday our Gospel scripture reading was Matthew’s account
of the Transfiguration and when I read tonight’s reading, also by Matthew, I
was struck by Jesus’s instruction to his disciples not to look dismal, like the
hypocrites, or to disfigure their faces. Like him, we as Christians, have the
light of Christ already in us by accepting him as our Saviour and being filled
with the Holy Spirit. That light is
expected to shine out from us, like the stars from which we are born.
Finally, Jesus reminds us that storing up riches here on
earth will only result in them turning to rust or stolen or eaten by moths –
even the finest clothing. Having recently been the victim of a theft I know
only too well how easily that can occur. More important is the richness of our
relationships with God and others. That is what is meant by storing up riches
in Heaven, for the future.
So a good thing for us all to reflect upon and your homework
for Lent is to spend some time each day thinking about what is really important
you in life. Who are the main people you
love and where is God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in it and what part in your
life do they play or you want them to play?
How you do that is a matter of your own personal choice –
whether giving something up – fasting – helps you or not. Maybe giving
something up means simply finding an extra for minutes in the day to pray and
reflect remembering that you are doing this to enhance your relationship with
God and not to show off to others and feel good about yourself. The riches promised are immeasurable.
Amen MFB/21022023/184
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