Ash Wednesday: Isaiah 58:1-12; 2 Cor 5:20b—6:10; Mt 6:1-6, 16-21
Epiphany, South Haven                                       Fr. Joseph Neiman (2/6/08)

Homily: “Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you…” (Mt 6:6)

My brothers and sisters in Christ, ministers also in Christ’s name.

“My name is Joseph, and I am dying.” That is how one begins in most Twelve Step recovery programs. You begin by acknowledging the reality that your life is not completely in your control. This is what we do tnight when we come for the signing with ashes. We remember that we indeed will some day in the future die and return to the elements of the earth from which we were created.

Ash Wednesday begins Lent, as even the public media reminds us. Lent is a 40 day period, excluding Sundays, in which we prepare for Easter by embracing various spiritual disciplines. That’s Church talk or Church shorthand. What does it mean in English?

Lent means we take an extended period of time to examine our lives, and through the addition of various spiritual disciplines – which we will talk about in a moment, we seek to develop eyes to see the action of the risen Lord in our lives and ears to hear what it is the good Lord would say to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, Lent is a time to listen, to struggle with our personal “demons,” and to come to a deeper appreciation of what it means that Christ has risen and is present with us in the quiet of our hearts as well as when two or three come together in His name.

Matthew, in these portions from the Sermon on the Month, tells us Jesus said clearly: “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them” (Mt. 6:1). And then we have the refrain cited three times: “your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Mt. 6:4, 6, 18).

We are all in recovery in one way or another. While we are familiar with recovery programs for persons struggling with smoking, alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, and over-eating, we may not realize that we too are struggling with the effects of our self centered lives, seeking peace and happiness in all the wrong places. So we are all in recovery or ought to be.

Jesus taught, Matthew tells us: “Whenever your give alms, do not sound a trumpet… as the hypocrites do.. so they may be praised by others…. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Note to begin with, Jesus says “whenever you give alms” not “IF you give alms.” Giving alms is expected of a faithful disciple of Jesus. Generosity is the automatic response of one who is thankful for all the gifts he or she has been given by the good Lord. It is the response of one who knows that he or she is temporarily a steward of the things called our own. Have you ever seen a U-Haul trailer behind a hearse? We can’t take our things with us when we die and appear before the judgment seat of the good Lord.

Note also Jesus says that curious statement about not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Our “right hand” giving, so-to-speak, is our tithe, what we owe back to the Lord. In biblical terms, it is the first 10% of all that we have. In practical terms for us that means we do not take into consideration what we regularly are giving – or should be giving – back to the Lord when we come to a decision about giving alms to those in need. Our generosity in giving alms is added on top of our generosity in giving our tithe.

Why should I do that? We’ll come back to that question in a moment. Let’s look at the other teachings this evening.

Jesus teaches us, Matthew tells us, “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words…. But when you pray, go into your room and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Mt 6:7, 6).

The “super Tuesday” election results reminds me of a quaint story that illustrates this teaching on prayer. Have your ever heard of William Jennings Bryant? William Jennings Bryan lived from 1860 to 1925. He was a Congressman from Nebraska early in the 20^th century. He ran for president in 1896, 1900, and 1908, and later Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson. He had a great booming voice, spoke eloquently, and was a frequent lecturer in large assemblies held throughout the country as a means of teaching people what was happening in the world since they did not have CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS and the Internet. At one of the assemblies, he was asked to begin with a prayer, and he responded with eloquent words ending with a paraphrase of the 23^rd Psalm. At the close of the meeting, an elderly pastor was asked to pray. He also led the 23^rd Psalm. The organizer apologized to Bryant because the pastor used the same Psalm. Bryant is said to have responded. “That’s okay. I know the words, but he knows the Shepherd.”

In praying, we need to learn to become quiet. To cease our laundry list of the things we want the good Lord to give us, and realize, as Jesus teaches us, “your Father knows what you need before your ask him” (Mt 6:8). We don’t need eloquent words for praying, just the cries of a wounded heart. We need to simply present before the Lord the demons we are struggling with and ask for help in overcoming them so we can become faithful and fruitful disciples.

St. Paul teaches us: “The Spirit help us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit , because the Spirit intercedes for the saints [for us!] according to the will of God” (Rom 8:26-27).

The third teaching we are given this evening is about fasting. Jesus teaches us, Matthew tells us: “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, … so as to show others that they are fasting…. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father… who sees in secret and will reward you” (Mt 6:16-19).

Note once again, it is now “IF” you fast, but “when you fast” for fasting needs to be a regular part of our lives. As Americans, we eat and drink too much – I know I do – and fasting would not only be good for us, but it would help us to appreciate the true hunger experienced by so many brothers and sisters around the world who do not have the blessings which we have in this land.

So how should we observe this Lent, this 40-day period in which we try to develop disciple’s ears and eyes to see how the risen Lord is at work in our lives and in the lives of others around us?

Giving alms…. Let us examine our contributions to the Lord through His Church and other charities. Are we tithing? Can we move more toward that 10% goal this Lent? Tithing and the giving of alms force us to look at our budgets and our shopping habits. We all have entirely too much stuff in our homes. Most of us are impulse buyers. Try not buying anything this week, other than groceries or gas for getting to work. Feel the addiction you have to buy. The good Lord would set us free from being possessed by our possessions and tithing and the giving of alms are gifts to help us conquer this addiction and more importantly, to help us serve others in need as we are called to do as faithful disciples.

Praying…..  Faithfulness at Sunday worship goes without saying. This is a solid component of a faithful disciple, for it is here we are feed by the words of the Lord and by His presence in Communion and in the assembly together. What about your daily prayer? Pause before your first sip of coffee or tea of juice and thank the Lord for your blessings, and ask for guidance for changing your life toward the well being He offers us if we but listen.

Pray before meals. Teach the children to pray and join them before bed time. Do they know the Lord’s prayer? The 23^rd Psalm? Do you? Most of all find some quiet time this week to sit in silence with the risen Lord and let him speak to your heart. Light a candle, pray the Lord’s Prayer, and then enter into the quiet and push away all distracting thoughts. Use a prayer word, such as “peace” or “love” or “Jesus,” to keep you focused on the presence of the Lord rather than the many distractions that arise in your mind.

Fasting….  Give up desserts and candy if you wish, but more importantly, look at how much you eat and drink, drink other than water. Can you eliminate some of both? This time of year dieting is a great American fad, but fasting, while it can help with the diet, is really aimed at changing our addiction to food and drink, to set us free and on our way to better health.

Fr. Henri Nouwen has taught us:

“One of the greatest dangers in the spiritual life is

self-rejection. When we say, "If people really knew me, they

wouldn't love me," we choose the road toward darkness. Often

we are made to believe that self-deprecation is a virtue,

called humility. But humility is in reality the opposite of

self-deprecation. It is the grateful recognition that we are

precious in God's eyes and that all we are is pure gift. To

grow beyond self-rejection we must have the courage to

listen to the voice calling us God's beloved sons and

daughters, and the determination always to live our lives

according to this truth.”[1]

One more thought: the Greek word for "sin" means "missing the mark," "off target," and such. The target is the abundant life the good Lord promises us. "I came that you may have life and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10). Anything, any relationships, possession, addiction or whatever that keeps us from walking on the path that would lead to that abundant life is sin, and we need to be forgiven or set right so we can get back on target.

Let us enter into the Lenten season with gusto giving alms, praying and fasting, and learning along the way that God indeed sees us as beloved sons and daughters, loves us more than we ask for or even imagine, seeks to give us the “abundant life” now and forever after our death (Jn 10:7-10).

God bless you and keep you this day and always, and remember that the good Lord does indeed love you more than you can ask for or even imagine. Do you believe it?