The Rev. Robert Lundquist Ash Wednesday 3/1/06 St Paul’s, Ft Collins

“Rend your hearts and not your clothing.” This may sound odd to our ears, but it hearkens back to the time of the prophet Joel, when people would show the world that they were in grief by tearing their outer garment. We’ve all experienced that grief that makes us want to rip something. The Jews mourn the dead for a year, and clothes were made to incorporate a ritual rending. Look at a man’s suit coat – the notch in the lapel is a present-day continuation of that ancient custom of tearing one’s clothing in grief. And it has become an empty symbol – we no longer acknowledge the origin of that rent.

This is not what God desires, this surface show, according to the prophet. Instead, “rend your hearts.” And notice the plural – the entire community is called to God. This is not to be a solitary act of piety, mourning the loss of relationship with the Divine. True repentance – turning around and finding where one strayed from the path – brings God’s blessing and pardon. This cannot be an empty ritual. “Rend your hearts.”

In today’s reading from the Gospel according to Matthew, we hear Jesus comment on the three religious duties of the first-century Jew: almsgiving (or charity), prayer and fasting. This passage is from the Sermon on the Mount. It is meant to be encouragement, not condemnation. Jesus is speaking to thousands of people, all of them hungry for a word about the God of love. This is why they sought out Jesus. This is why they loved him.

Almsgiving is about your relationship with others. Note that Jesus assumes when he says “when,” not “if.” His expectation is that we are already helping each other out of our love of God. Give in thanks to God, says Jesus, without hope of human recognition. Give to another because it is right.

A tobacco company once gave $125,000 worth of food to a charity, according to an estimate by The Wall Street Journal. Then they spent well over $21 million telling people about it. From à http:/www.thetruth.com/index.cfm?Found=Facts

“Let not your left hand know what you right hand is doing.” Lent is the time to sort out your motivations and examine what it is that really drives you. It is a time to clarify your values. It is a time to clarify your relationships with other people.

Prayer is about your relationship with God, of course. Again, Jesus assumes that we are already praying. But he goes further, pointing out that the way you pray, and the reasons you pray are as important as the prayer itself. Pray not in the hope of being acclaimed as especially pious, but pray in your spontaneous expression to God. This is the sincere communion of spirit and purpose that God desires. Love, grace, peace and mercy – these are the gifts of the Spirit, these are the fruits of your deepening relationship with God.

Fasting is about your relationship with yourself. How do you deal with yourself? How do your take care of yourself, being made in the image and likeness of God? Perhaps more importantly, “Who is driving the bus?” (I’ve seen a bumper sticker that instructs, “If God is your co-pilot, change seats!”) So many things can get between you and God – job, TV, food, sex, exercise, even family can inappropriately intervene with the source of our life and being. Fasting is a discipline of denying the immediate desire in order to obtain the greater goal. A fast is meant to be purifying and freeing. It can tease out the addictions in daily life that we may fall into – the things we “can’t live without” – the daily cuppa Starbucks, glass of wine, or French fries…

A fast is a private discipline, not an outward display, says Jesus. And is not to be merely an exercise in self-denial for its own sake. Your fast is meant to clarify your values, your relationship with them, and your relationship with yourself.

Ashes – three aspects:

They remind us of who we are without God. “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19 You are not God. You are created, not Creator. You are dust. This is good news.
They are an instrument of cleansing. Ashes were used by the ancients in the absence of soap. Ashes are clean – all impurities have been burned away. Today we use ash in lieu of the water of baptism to mark the sign of the cross on your forehead. Ash is our symbol of utter purification.
They remind us that life is short.

“We were born by mere chance, and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been;… the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts. When it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes, and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.” Wisdom of Solomon 2:2-3

Remember you are dust… and remember where your journey will end – not on the cross, broken and abused – but in the empty tomb, the place of resurrection.

Rend your hearts. For where you treasure is, there will our hearts be also. This is the season of the heart – yours, mine, ours and God’s. Amen.

A Parish For All People!