Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 - Ash Wednesday
[Joel 2:12-18 and 2 Cor 5:20-6:2 and Matt 6:1-6, 16-18]Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God. [Joel] Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them;otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. [Matthew]
Every year we are presented with a choice on Ash Wednesday. We can choose to "rend our hearts" or we can choose to "rend our garments" as a way of "returning to the Lord." The prophet Joel leaves little doubt as to which choice is the better one. Jesus' preaching in the Sermon on the Mount (today's gospel scripture) takes the same position. The choice is between an exterior observance of Lent ("giving up" something material, e.g. candy or alcohol) or an interior one ("forgiving someone or a group of people whom we believe have done damage to us"). Some of the external or material observances can have a positive value when we "give alms" by donating the money we would have spent on the candy or alcohol to a charity like the "Rice Bowl." However, I fear that the externals are basically the same each year, and outnumber the "internals" by a good margin. (We joked in my family that every year my father would give up two things he didn't like anyway: watermelon and grand opera!). They are the stuff of conversation, especially on Ash Wednesday! "What are you giving up this year?" The "official observances" of the church in this country are really minimal and apply to persons 18-59 years of age.
Some beneficial questions we can ask about our Lenten observance are these: Will this Lenten observance bring me any closer to God? Does it change my consciousness of my faith? Does it hold out the possibility of a permanent "conversion" in a particular matter of the heart/mind that has been an obstacle to holiness? If an external observance such as "giving up" something will accomplish that result, then I think it's worthwhile doing. But if the external observance is something we are just going to stop doing during Lent (except on Sundays) and restart at the end of Lent, then I wonder why we bother? The hard work of forgiveness or developing spiritual discipline is less visible but can "rend" the heart considerably and result in a "return to the Lord, your God." If the "ashes" stay on the outside, the inside will be no different at the end of Lent. AMEN
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