Ash Wednesday

Jann Martin March 1, 2006

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Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21

Gospel Lesson

Teaching about Giving to the Needy

"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 Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Ash Wednesday is when we mark our foreheads with a sign of the cross made from the ashes of last years burned palms from Palm Sunday. It is an outward sign that we are Christians, and we can also wear cross jewelry as a sign that we are Christians. The most important way we can show we are Christians is to attend worship regularly and to reach out in compassion to others in need. We are to live our lives following the examples that Jesus taught us in the scriptures.

Lent covers a 40-day period, not counting Sundays, from Ash Wednesday until Easter. Lent is a time when we give up something that we really like, such as eating a particular food (chocolate, pop, or ice cream) or watching TV or a show that we really like. Or we can add something to our schedule like meditation, more prayer time or reading Christian books. The 40 days reminds us of the people wandering in the desert after they left Egypt. God was their guide and protector during that time. He watched over them and cared for their every need. Their clothes and shoes didn't wear out, and they always had the food they needed.

The 40 days also reminds us of Jesus after His baptism. He went out into the wilderness for 40 days to pray and meditate, and He was tempted by the devil during this time. We can use this Lenten season to strengthen our faith by spending more time in prayer and meditation.

An easy way to take more time in prayer is to recite the Lord's Prayer. Take each petition and expand it to include the names of people and issues that you are concerned about. Here are some examples "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." Here you thank God and praise Him for all He has done for you, taking time to list all of the different things you are grateful to Him for doing in your life. We continue with "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." At this point, we pray for our families, our church, our nation and ourselves. Take a moment to pray by name for each of these areas.

Then pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." In this petition, we ask for help in doing the will of God. Also, we ask for any specific need that we may have, whether it be for food, job, or our health.

The next petition is "and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." We ask God to forgive us for what we have done that is not pleasing to Him, and we may forgive others for what they have done against us.

We move on to "and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." As we pray this petition, we are to prayerfully put on the armor of God. We are to gird our loins with Truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, shoe our feet with Preparation or Readiness of the gospel of Peace, hold the shield of Faith, put on the helmet of Salvation and carry the Sword of the Spirit. With all of this protection of God, we can then pray for Him to guide us forward to do His will.

We end this prayer in praise just as we began in the phrase "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever."

Another way to help yourself in meditation is to walk or use a small desktop labyrinth. I have a desktop labyrinth I use when I need to focus myself. You can begin the journey on a labyrinth by slowly saying the Lord's Prayer, then, as names or situations come to mind, pray about them.

In our lesson 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 only 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, getting down on their knees, and 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 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 pray. A prayer closet can be your bedroom, den, living room, porch, a hill, the office, your car, or 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 as a show of piety and for public display. Fasting was intended as a time for deep contrition and spiritual communion. A hypocrite will dishevel his hair, make his face look tired and make comments about 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.

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 2006