Ash Wednesday

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

[Jesus said to the disciples:] ¹ “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
  ² “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ³ But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

  ⁵ “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
  ¹⁶ “And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

  ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

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Seen Differently

Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Who would we rather see us, God, or the world? 

My sister-in-law, who may catch up with my sermons occasionally, has had a very successful corporate career in marketing. Believe me, the world makes a lot of effort to see us. Market research, surveys, focus groups, and more recently social media metadata and A.I., all trying to figure out what we want, what we may need, and how to sell to us for a profit. The technology nowadays is amazing. Allegedly, artificial intelligence is becoming able to predict consumer behavior patterns and anticipate how much ink an easter egg manufacturing plant will need in stock by 2030. People at large appliance companies study the neurological effects of the beeping sounds of washers, dryers, refrigerators, dishwashers, etc., because it makes them more compelling to us. The word would give a million bucks for our thoughts and the world wants everything we are willing to give.

Justice to be told we are more than gladly to be seen by the world. Everybody does. Unless, of course, one is an introvert with not an ounce of extroversion in their Myers-Briggs personality test. [It’s a sermon for another day]. Now seriously, there is always someone or a community that we want to be seen by, not necessarily because we want to brag about something or feed our narcissistic personality disorders. 

Be seen is good for the soul. We usually appreciate having our achievements acknowledged or our opinions heard. We want to be noticed by the scout or the coach. We want to be seen by those who evaluate us to get that salary bump that will come with a promotion, or the college admission or financial aid that will open the world’s doors. We may want to be seen by partners, friends, or family for things like comfort, encouragement, and love. Our brain gets rewarded by this kind of visibility, and not being seen can rend the soul and harden the heart. The denial of visibility combined with the desire to be seen can make our spirit a prisoner of what the world wants from us. 

Sisters and brothers, on this Ash Wednesday, we are invited to remember that we die alongside everything else in the world but are reconciled, created anew, transformed from the ground to live again and again as servants of the good news of Jesus Christ for the world. We are invited to a state of repentance that invites the Spirit to shatter the cement imprisoning our hearts and tear the veil that prevents us from seeing that the God who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love sees everything in us. 

God sees our afflictions, our hardships, our sleepless nights, our hunger, our fears, and our sorrows. God also sees our endurance, our courage, our patience, our kindness, and how genuine our love is. God sees in us what the world can’t. God sees our holiness because God has declared us to be so, by faith and grace, alone. Unlike the world, God does not need anything from us, for we already possess everything. Welcome to Lent. Thanks be to God. Amen.