Ash Wednesday

Jann Martin February 9, 2005

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Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21

Gospel Lesson

Teaching about Giving to the Needy

¹ "Take care! Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, because then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give a gift to someone in need, don't shout about it as the hypocrites do-blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I assure you, they have received all the reward they will ever get. ³ But when you give to someone, don't tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. ⁴ Give your gifts in secret, and your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you."

Teaching about Prayer and Fasting

⁵ "And now about prayer. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure you, that is all the reward they will ever get. ⁶ But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you."

¹⁶ "And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, who try to look pale and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I assure you, that is the only reward they will ever get. ¹⁷ But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. ¹⁸ Then no one will suspect you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in secret. And your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you."

Teaching about Money and Possessions

¹⁹ "Don't store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be."

This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

We can look back to ancient Israel to understand what the symbolism of ashes was for them. They saw ashes as a very forceful reminder of how human sin is in all aspects of our life. It was also a reminder that we all will eventually die. The ashes represent for us as humans what is burned out and wasted.

Jesus tells us in three different ways how we are to live our lives. He starts out telling us that, when we give to the needy, we are to do so quietly. We are not to be loud and showy when we are helping. We can quietly help at the food bank, soup kitchen or Family center. It's not necessary to be on the news or in the paper when we are helping others. The reward of those who are showy is what the papers or news reporter has to say, but the reward of the quiet giver is being acknowledged by God for what we do.

Next Jesus speaks of praying in public. Some people make a big scene of crossing themselves and getting down on their knees making sure many around them know that they are praying. But God wants us to just quietly come to Him with prayer in our hearts. We can pray with prepared prayers from our worship books or just pray from the heart very quietly. A prayer can be as simple as HELP, or seeing the sunrise or sunset and just saying thank you for the beautiful view. Sometimes, I've just said great job Father that is really beautiful. We are told we are to go into our prayer closet, shut the door and then pray. A prayer closet can be your bedroom, den, living room, porch, on a hill, the office, in the car, wherever you can take a few moments to talk with God. You will be rewarded by God for taking the time to spend quietly with Him.

The third example that is given is fasting. Fasting was prescribed under the Mosaic Law with reference to the Day of Atonement mentioned in Leviticus 16 as a voluntary fast of that time. The Pharisees added two extra days to fast to as a show of piety and of public display. Fasting was intended as a time for deep contrition and spiritual communion. A hypocrite will dishevel his hair and make his face look tired and make comments about how he is fasting and praying. To truly make the time of fasting and praying worthwhile we need to make ourselves look as good as we can and not boast about what we are doing.

Lent is typically a time when people give something up. If you give something up, it needs to be something that you will really miss. As an example, you could give up chocolate, if this is something that you really like and eating a lot of it will be missed during the 40 days. If, however, you only eat chocolate once in awhile, it would not really be a sacrifice. Or, if you give up watching TV or a certain show that is a favorite, you can use that time do something for someone else, and no, you can't tape it and watch it on Easter Sunday. Or, instead of giving something up you can add something to your schedule. An example of this can be to start doing a daily devotion, or if you already do a daily devotion, take time to read more in the Bible or a Christian novel. You could also make a special time for prayer. Take the Lord's Prayer to use each petition and pray for those in your life, family, friends, and political leaders. Each petition can be used as a separate prayer.

The final portion in this lesson reminds us not to worry about our earthly possessions. What is most important is our family, friends and our relationship with God. If we keep God in our heart, everything else in our life will fall in place.

Amen.

©Jann Martin 2005