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ed. by U. Nembach, J. Neukirch, R. Schmidt-Rost

Ash Wednesday - 25. February 2004
Sermon on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (RCL) by Walter W. Harms

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The Spirit of Lent

Beauty is only skin deep, so the expression goes. I guess that is a warning to gullible men not to be attracted only to the outward beauty of a woman, but to look more closely at the inner, the spiritual beauty, if you wish, of a woman. I know that a woman whose makeup is always meticulous, is a one who spends hours in front of a mirror. Men, you will have to wait a long time on that kind of woman.

Jesus' words to us, from that part of the Bible called, the Sermon on the Mount, seem to tell us much the same. Watch out that your piety, your spirituality is not just on the outside. Do your good works in response to what God has done for you. If you do it for what people will think of you, that's all you are going to get out of what you do.

Lent is a special time for people who trust in Jesus as the One who rules and as the One who brings wholeness and healing to lives. It is a time to examine their lives, to do something about their spiritual life, to reflect again in depth I would hope on what Christ Jesus has done for them, and to get in touch again with the core values of their relationship with God through Jesus our Savior.

That is the spirit of Lent. It will walk you through the sufferings of our Lord, the commemoration of his death on Good Friday, the pause of total emptiness which takes place on Holy Saturday, and then the next day's explosion of the myths and fears of our lives as we begin to get in touch with the new reality: Christ lives! We shall also live!

The spirit of Lent, these 40 weekdays before the Festival of the Resurrection, is to expose the error of our lives known as formalism, of external piety. Jesus warns us: "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 6:1). It is quite simple. You cannot seek to please both God and man at the same time. You can't play to two audiences at the same time. You can please one or the other, but not both.

That sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? It is, in reality, much more subtle than it seems on the surface. No devout Jew, and certainly none of us would try to please God and disregard God at the same time. We know that would be quite stupid.

But how much today don't we believe that God approves of us because we seem to have man's applause, and/or the approval of our peers. Quite simply, if you want to know how well you are doing spiritually, see what your associates are saying about you. If that is how you judge how well you are doing before God, well, then, get as much praise from others as possible.

Jesus explodes that myth. He says you cannot serve God and get man's approval at the same time. And if you do gain the approved of men, then you get people's approval, but you forfeit any possibility of "reward" from God.

The spirit of Lent is that we want to know the God who loves us enough to send his one, his only, his beloved Child to this world to rescue us from this false and finally fatal sin, we want to know God is getting our message when it comes to our spiritual and our charitable acts. That message is: we are beginning to understand your sacrifice for us. This how we are responding to you. We love you, Lord; we love you.

Jesus then unfolds this spirit we are to have in three areas: giving, praying, and fasting.

Examine for a moment your giving, whether that is to the poor, or to church, or to other charities. Far too many of us give because we are asked. We seem to be blind when it comes to the needs of others. So we don't give unless we are asked, and then, of course, we want to be thanked. You can walk into any major hospital or university building and find there the names of the major donors or donor.

The church and all charities seem to have to beg us for gifts. We fail to realize that all we have is a gift to us. Everything--starting from life itself to our external material possessions--is a gift to us from God. When we factor that into that our restored relationship with God through Jesus, his presence in our lives constantly, his gift of eternal life, a sure hope that we will be taken by the hand and lead home as we travel this road on earth, we are rich, rich beyond what we think and what we imagine.

We need to respond to Jesus. And as he says at the very end of the Good News for this Ash Wednesday: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

We know about the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, who had a heart 4 sizes too small. Are we worse than the Grinch who takes but never gives, or gives with great reluctance and with some kind of recognition necessary?

I remind you of a man despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, a man beaten for our iniquities and whipped for our offenses, who gave up his life, so we could have his life. A person who has freely given us all things. Is our giving of what we have generous, according to whose standing? Where is your heart? It is well to examine our spirit of giving in this time of Lent.

Have you ever seen a couple who are making every effort to show they love each other in public? They hang on each other like wet leaves on concrete. They kiss constantly, look fondly at each other, and stop and embrace without thinking anybody is looking. Actually they are playing to the crowd. They have no desire to be alone, for there is no audience there. In contrast, think of the husband and wife who deeply love each other, but rarely show any sign of affection. Who are you when it comes to giving?

Our praying should not be acting. That is the meaning of being a hypocrite. We should not be playing to the crowds, or to other Christians. Only acting, no truth at all. Some of the Pharisees at Jesus' time said that they would pray at certain hours of the day. Guess where they were when those times came? You guessed it. In the market place. Suddenly they would stop, and spend the next moments in prayer. They wanted to be seen, Jesus says, they were seen and that is their reward.

When Jesus says we should not pray babbling on and on, it reminds me that some people just like to talk and they talk and talk and they talk. Today we have prayer partners, prayer chains, and prayer warriors. Pray in secret, not to be seen but to be heard by your heavenly Father. Pray at all times, everwhere because you are praying in the secret of your heart to God.

Fasting is a little known among us, although it is coming into vogue again by some Christians. In a day when luxuries are considered necessities, it would be of great benefit for us to understand what are necessities, by giving up luxuries.

Someone recently stated that there is a lot of fasting going on. It is called dieting, and everyone is crowing about how they are dieting. Is it to those people that Jesus is speaking perhaps?

Dr. Martin Luther, talking about fasting in preparation for receiving Holy Communion, says in his Small Catechism: "fasting and bodily preparation are indeed a fine outward training, but he who is truly worthy and well-prepared has faith in these words: given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."

Before we pass over this section where Jesus speaks about fasting, we might well consider how indulgent of ourselves we have become. We buy anything we want, we eat anything we want, we go where ever we want, we buy more than we can use, we waste food at a phenomenal amount, our garages are filled to capacity, we need public storage, and we are all guilty of conspicuous spending.

Fasting aside, perhaps using less and giving more, praying with more insight into what we are praying for or about, or just praying a bit more is the spirit of Lent.

A great Roman war hero was returning home. They were giving him one of those triumphant marches we have seen so often in the movies or on TV. Soldiers were lined along the streets to keep the masses from getting in the way of the parade. A little boy tried to break through. A soldier got a good grip on him and said: "Don't get in the way of the emperor. The boy replied, "He may be the emperor to you, but he is my father."

That is the spirit we should use in giving, praying and fasting. He, our God is our Father, knowing all about us, caring for us deeply, wanting to help us. Lent is the time we see him helping us more intimately, in the person of Jesus.

It is that spirit that is the spirit of Lent. May it be ours as a gathering of God's people, and individually as persons brought with the precious blood of God's son, so we may always be in the presence of the supreme, almighty, ever living God. Amen.

Walter W. Harms, retired pastor
Austin, TX, USA
Comments? waltpasto@AOL.com


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