Matthew 6:1-21

Ash Wednesday 2022 | Scripture Readings and Homily | Matthew 6:1-21 | by  Andrew F. Weisner |

The Prophet Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Blow the trumpet in Zion;  sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,  for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near — a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come. [ 3Fire devours in front of them,    and behind them a flame burns. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,  but after them a desolate  wilderness,  and nothing escapes them. 4They have the appearance of horses,  and like warhorses they charge.5 As with the rumbling of chariots,  they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire    devouring the stubble, like a powerful army  drawn up for battle.  6 Before them peoples are in anguish, all faces grow pale. 7Like warriors they charge,  like soldiers they scale the wall. Each keeps to its own course,  they do not swerve from  their paths. 8They do not jostle one another,  each keeps to its own track; they burst through the weapons  and are not halted. 9They leap upon the city,  they run upon the walls; they climb up into the houses,    they enter through the windows like a thief. 10 The earth quakes before them,  the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened,  and the stars withdraw their shining. 11 The Lord utters his voice  at the head of his army; how vast is his host!  Numberless are those who obey his command. Truly the day of the Lord is great;  terrible indeed —who can endure it? ] 12 Yet even now, says the Lord,  return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,  and relents from punishing. 14Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,  and leave a blessing behind him, a grain-offering and a drink-offering for the Lord, your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; 16  gather the people. Sanctify the congregation;  assemble the aged; gather the children,  even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room,    and the bride her canopy. 17 Between the vestibule and the altar  let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord,  and do not make your heritage a mockery,  a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples,  “Where is their God?” ’

Psalm 51:1-18

2 Cor. 5:20b – 6:10

We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [6:1-10] As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, ‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you,  and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’ See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Matthew 6:1-21

Beware of practicing your piety 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. 3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so 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. 6But 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. [ 7 ‘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. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 ‘Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven,    hallowed be your name. 10   Your kingdom come. Your will be done,  on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12  And forgive us our debts,  as we also have forgiven our debtors.  13   And do not bring us to the time of trial,  but rescue us from the evil one.  14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.] 16 ‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as 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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Homily

Sin is a bad, awful thing. The clear impression we get from the Bible is that God doesn’t like it.

Sin is also a mystery: Exactly why it is in the world and exactly how and where it originated, we do not fully know. And this question, too, can occupy us: Is sin so bad because God decrees it so, or does God decree sin to be bad because it is so bad?

Those may be good questions for discussion (for those who delight in such speculations) here at the beginning and throughout the season of Lent. I don’t need to answer them homiletically in order to say, clearly and categorically: Sin is bad, and God doesn’t like it. And this pertains to “sin” in the broadest sense, not just lying and cussin‘ and cheatin’ and carousin’, which, by the way, God doesn’t like those activities either. But also, sin in the broad sense,  for example:

People having cancer, or any other kind of disease, and having pain and suffering; and the suffering that comes to loved ones and families because of illness and injury: those things aren’t good; they represent a break, a disruption, a tendency towards death, in God’s good creation; and God, himself, is pained by them.

The anxiety, fear, and troubles that result from the threat or activities of war (such as our world now experiences in Ukraine); war being declared by nation upon nation, rather than peacefully working out disagreements, and then people being killed and families grieving: God doesn’t want that, and doesn’t like it.

For the rich and powerful to become more rich and powerful, at the expense of the poor and the powerless, who thus become poorer and even more powerless: God doesn’t like it.

Children being hungry and not properly fed – God doesn’t like it.

Children being neglected and abused – God doesn’t like that, either.

People being homeless and out in the cold, especially because of any injustice: God doesn’t like it.

Perhaps you catch a tendency here, that, particularly when suffering and pain result from injustice or any kind of oppression, God is particularly displeased. We see this especially in the Old Testament.

And in the same place, we read that God endures – and is willing to endure – a whole lot from us wayward, “stubborn, stiff-necked” (to use biblical words), willful people, but eventually there comes a time when even God, himself, has had enough. Again, we see this clearly in the Old Testament. For example, from the prophet Amos:

The Lord says this to Israel:

Because they have sold the upright for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals, because they have crushed the heads of the weak into the dust; because they have thrust the rights of the oppressed to one side … the day will come when I shall crush you where you stand; flight (escape) will be cut off for the swift; the strong will have no chance to exert his strength nor the warrior be able to save his life; even the bravest of warriors will jettison his weapons and run away, on that day, declares the Lord (from Amos 2:6-13).

And again, for example, today’s reading from the prophet, Joel:

“Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near —a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains, a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come …”

This “day of the Lord,” described often, especially in the Old Testament, a day of God’s retribution for sin – especially sin that comes from human injustice and carelessness for others –  reads and sounds like a terrible, awful experience; a terrifying experience from which there is no escape. I sure would be scared for myself, or anyone I love – including any of you – to have to go through it.

And thank heavens, we won’t have to … because, such a day of wrath, a day of punishment for sin, has already happened. It is past tense. St. Paul informs us: “For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that, in Christ, we might become the righteousness of God.”

Wrath and any retribution against sin, God has already unleashed through the crucifixion of Jesus. We, though wayward, stubborn and stiff-necked, and willful, have been forgiven, and righteousness – the very righteousness of Christ – has been given to us, even as an exchange for the suffering that Christ accepted and endured for us.

It’s “a done deal;” it’s all past tense; and it’s been done for us. Therefore, in thanksgiving, we recognize and remember, during this Lenten season, God’s love for us; and, confessing our sins, and casting our own sinful pride or selfishness aside by means of works of mercy and love, let us, as St. Paul exhorts, „be reconciled to God,” the God who has already given himself, even unto death, for us.

From: Pastor Andrew F. Weisner
North American Lutheran Church
Antioch Lutheran Church, Dallas, North Carolina