Below is my sermon for Ash Wednesday in the year 2015. I pray it helps and edifies you as we begin this holy season of Lent.
In the
Name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit, Amen!
Ash
Wednesday is the solemn & holy day we begin a new journey, a new season,
the church season of Lent. Many of us
know where this journey will ultimately bring us & I pray that all of us
will come to understand it by the time we reach Holy Week.
As we
begin our journey to Holy Week we are given an excellent opportunity to begin
anew the life-long lifestyle of prayer and fasting. I challenge each of us Christians not to
consider this new beginning as lightly as Western Civilization takes New Year's
Resolutions. New Year’s Resolutions sadly,
have become a reliable way to break a promise or commitment. These vows made at the beginning of the
calendar year are forgotten when the journey of these resolutions begins to
hurt one's preferred comfort level.
So,
what are we going to be about this holy season of Lent? Whatever form of prayer & fasting we
take, I challenge each of us to approach it as Jesus directs us in Matthew
chapter 6, “(Jesus said) When 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.” – Matthew 6:6
Prayer,
fasting…identifying some unneeded thing and replacing it with time spent beside our Saving God in His Word, learning
from Him, listening to Him in prayer and simply spending more time with Him
through His Son, Jesus Christ. May this
restructured time, this replaced focus and changed lifestyle be special and confidential
between our Saving God & us rather than something to pound our chest loud,
proud and in public view (and on our friends’ social media feed).
“(Jesus said) And
when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the
synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their
reward…And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for
they think they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows
what you need before you ask Him. Pray
then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name…” – Matthew 6:5,
7-9
As we
consider what we'll "give up for Lent" let's make sure we understand
that what
is given up is not the point of fasting. The point of fasting is Who & what is
replacing that which is being given up. Think about it, what would be the benefit of
just giving something up and not replacing it with God’s Word? Let’s be real…all that would afford us is
free time to replace it with something else we’d misuse to take our focus, our
worship and our lifestyle off of God Almighty.
There’s a lot of truth to the saying, “idle hands are the Devil’s
playground” and even without Satan in the equation, our sinful nature would be
more than sufficient to lead us to find something, anything other than God’s Word
to fill empty time with.
In the
Gospel of Matthew chapter 6, Jesus teaches His disciples & the whole world
how to pray. We just read the beginning of
this model of prayer. The beautiful
prayer from Jesus known as the LORD's prayer includes our daily plea to our
Saving God, "give us this day our daily bread".
Western
Civlization Christians please read the following sentence seven times. This is a prayer asking God to provide for our
needs (NOT our wants).
This is
ALSO a prayer to God to help us & teach us to grow, mature and get better
at giving things up that we want, so that there is (by the power of the Holy
Spirit) a growing amount of room in our hearts, time on our hands &
changing lifestyles for that which God knows is best for His Creation.
Speaking
of a change in lifestyle…I hope this gives us a different perspective of what
to do about what we’re giving up for Lent once Lent is over! If something is good (or bad) enough to give
up for Lent for the purpose of more time with Jesus, then why would we ever
consider less time with Jesus to get that thing back after Lent?
Whatever
we decide to "give up for Lent" may we grasp the importance of REPLACING
that which we're giving up with daily time (extra time!) committed to prayer,
to reading & memorizing God's Word.
May we be about discipline & self-sacrifice (to live is Christ &
to die is gain) rather than about the pursuit of a comfortable & self-seeking
lifestyle.
Why
should you even consider these words of exhortation & teaching from your
pastor, from a fellow Christian & from your friend? Let's consider what God says in Joel 2:14.
"Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing
behind Him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?"
What if
we came forward for the imposition of Ashes & there was no such thing as
the Sacrament of the Altar, no such thing as confession WITH absolution from
our Saving God?
After
hearing "ashes to ashes, dust to dust...dust you are & to dust you
will return" all we had was..."who knows? Perhaps the LORD will turn
away from His wrath toward us that we deserve..."
Now
THAT uncertainty would be reason to be grieved, dismayed and hopeless! But like Joel's audience, we DO have God's
assurance! We NEVER have to say
"who knows? perhaps the LORD will
turn away from His wrath toward us..." not only because of what God
finishes promising in the rest of Joel chapter 2 but most importantly what
Jesus said on that first Good Friday when He died on the Cross for our sake and
for the sake of the WHOLE WORLD, in our place, with our sin and the punishment
we deserved ALL on Him: Jesus said, “It is finished”, Salvation accomplished.
We
refrain from saying a certain "A" word of thanksgiving &
rejoicing during Lent as part of the solemn lifestyle change to prayer &
fasting. Yet, we are given such a
wonderful gift in this simple realization that we DO have God's forgiveness,
full & free, by the blood of Jesus Christ given for our sake on the
Cross! This Good News of Jesus Christ is
something we NEVER have to go without.
That is amazing – I want more of that Gospel during this new season of
Lent and every season left on this earth.
I want more time with Jesus, how about you?!
So...can
we go without the pursuit of comfortable & self-seeking? Isn't that what being a Christian, a follower
of Jesus Christ is all about in Lent & every season on earth until Kingdom
Come? "For me to live is Christ,
and to die is gain." - Philippians 1:21
Here
are some practical suggestions of giving up something for Lent and MORE
IMPORTANTLY what you'll be replacing that thing, that time of fasting
with.
When
you give up your morning coffee, replace that five minutes of coffee (or whatever
your morning drink is!) with those extra readings recommended in the Daily
Treasury of Prayer. I promise you…scratch
that, God promises you that a whole Psalm and the rest of a
chapter from the Epistle or Gospel reading is not going to be a waste of the
additional five minutes you take.
Or how about 15 minutes reading the assigned texts in the Daily Treasury
of Prayer if you’re not already in the habit of daily devotions individually and
especially as a family, sitting in the same room together, reading, sharing God’s
Word outloud daily.
Here’s
something to consider: isn’t it sad when we’re pleading with one another about
a few extra minutes with Jesus as if time was the bartering chip, the most
valued treasure in life rather then seeing time as a precious gift to be with
the most valuable treasure – God’s promises, God’s one and only Son, our one
and only Hope, Jesus Christ and what He says?
When
you give up a certain type of food or creature comfort, set aside a fixed time
slot each day to recite the LORD's prayer & then a prayer to God in your
own words, read a psalm & then stick to that daily routine. Be disciplined & treat this dedicated
time to prayer & fasting as the one thing you NEED each day (because we do
need it more than anything else, as Jesus taught us in His daily example of
prayer). Jesus IS the bread of life (John 6:35) after
all!
When
you give up 30 minutes (or more!) of using technology for fun - think of how
many times you pick up your phone to check for texts in the last 45 seconds,
work emails in the last 5 minutes & missed “likes” to facebook posts since
we last glanced at/bowed down to social media.
Why not
use that routine action of picking up our "electronic leashes" to
remind us to die to ourselves by setting the phones down & spending the
next 30 minutes fasting from that technology so we can walk with Jesus. That additional time with Jesus is used by
God in His Word to give us knowledge, wisdom, truth - where real, eternal
hope is found. Hope is given, shed for
you and the whole world at the Cross of Calvary where Jesus died to forgive our
sins. Hope was given to you by God
Almighty at your Baptism when He declared you as His redeemed child, remember
your Baptism! Hope is given at the LORD’s
Supper in the bread and wine which IS the very body and blood of Jesus
Christ just as He said. Take and eat
Christ’s body broken for your forgiveness, take and drink, Christ’s blood was shed
for your redemption, your salvation, Amen!
As we
get into the practice of putting down our “electronic leashes” we’ll be
afforded the time to realize that social media can not give us hope when facing
the reality of our sin and just as important, facing the reality of our death
and the death of everyone in the world.
Spending
the next 30 minutes as if whatever is waiting for us on that phone is
definitely less important than remembering Who has given us hope, joys &
comforts in His spoken & written Word.
Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Victor over Sin, over Death and the Grave…YOUR
Grave.
Jesus
taught us to pray. Jesus taught us how
to pray when we He went away to a quiet place (again & again & again)
to pray to His Heavenly Father. Will you
fast from something this Lent season with a clear idea of what you'll be doing in
place of that which was given up?
It's not about giving up something, it's about Him, Jesus who takes its
place that matters in the spiritual discipline of fasting & prayer. Jesus took away the sins of the world,
certainly it won’t hurt things if He “takes” a few minutes of time in place of
something unneeded! It’s about knowing
God’s Word, God’s promises better & better.
Christ
died for our sake...that we would be declared righteous in God's sight, that we
would be delivered from our sin, our death & the eternal punishment we
deserve. May that be more than enough to
inspire us, instruct us & direct us to give something up for Lent &
replace it with intentional time for prayer & fasting in God’s Word, by God’s
Grace & through God’s Holy Spirit.
Jesus
taught us to pray so we would know how to spend our God-given time now that
we're forgiven & set free. We're not
set free to return to our old way/own way of doing things - we're set free by
Christ to pray, to rend our hearts & not our garments. That is how we are fed, nourished and
strengthened for the new life He gives us as we await the New Heavens and the
New Earth in the Resurrection. We have
been fed and equipped with God’s Word to SHARE the hope He gives with the world
around us (also known as, speak out loud the Gospel of Jesus Christ). And what a time we live in…the Good News of
Jesus Christ, the Victor over Death and Sin is certainly needed all over the
world in this year, 2015!
May we
take time to fast from that which gives no hope & watch the LORD fill us up
with hope, thanksgiving & faith through His Word again & again, day
after day for the next forty days. Lent,
like every season given by our Saving God teaches us... that “To
live is Christ, and to die is gain." - Philippians 1:22
May we
be about fasting from something that will never be able to give true and
eternal hope. By God’s grace, in God’s
Word and through God’s Holy Spirit may that unneeded thing be replaced with
more time with Jesus. Devote time to the
one & only hope - the One & Only, Jesus Christ & His Promise - the
spoken, written & Holy Spirit-filled Word that really is our one & only
Hope, this Lent & every season on earth.
Ashes to
ashes, dust to dust. Dust you are &
to dust you will return. And then Jesus
Christ will raise you up in the Resurrection to eternal life in His joy, His
family & His Kingdom where sin, tears, sorrow, injustice & death will
be no more.
Who
wouldn't want more time to hear about all Jesus gives us?! We take our first steps in Lent by taking
more time with Jesus.
In the
Name of the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit, Amen & Amen!
