Treasure

A Sermon for Ash Wednesday

February 22, 2023

The Rev. Robin Teasley

 

Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God.

"Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?"

 

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself?

Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast,a day acceptable to the Lord?

 

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

 

If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.  Isaiah 58:1-12

 

 

Jesus said, "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. 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. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

 

"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. 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.

"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. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 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.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

 

Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return….

In a few moments we will hear these words as our foreheads are marked with ashes in the shape of a cross. We will be reminded that we live in a dusty world, and that we are just as dusty as everyone around us. Our life on earth is the space between the dust of creation and the dust of death. These are somber and serious thoughts, words, and actions. Some of us could probably admit that as we thought about attending this service today, we thought, who wants a downer like that? Let’s just skip that. 

 

But what if Ash Wednesday could be seen differently. What if this day on the threshold of Lent could help us prepare for the forty days in a more positive way? What if we take this time to be honest and real, to speak truth to ourselves, and to hear the truth about ourselves? Can we admit that we need to be here more than almost anywhere else today? Why? Because we are ready for and in need of forty different days, not the routine, busy, exhausting, stressful days like we always have. Some of us are in need of a slower pace, more silence, more time to be still and ponder a few things. Others of us may have a less busy life though we still avoid the silence. If we will take these forty days to hear the truth about ourselves, we might ponder who we are, and how we measure up to who we believe God has created us to be. We might also ponder ways we may have disappointed God, others, and ourselves.

 

The Ash Wednesday liturgy is powerful, it speaks to our hearts. Listen for the voice of God to remind us of where we may have fallen short. But also listen for the voice reminding us that God loves us faithfully no matter our shortcomings and failures. Isaiah reminds us that it is not the outward appearances of righteousness but the actual doing of righteousness that God loves. The prophet’s words call the people to task, almost reading their minds as he says, “If you remove the yoke [of oppression] from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted…”  How well Isaiah knew the people, and how well he knows us.  If Isaiah knew how we oppress, point fingers, speak evil, and forget the hungry and the afflicted, then how much more does God know?

 

While Isaiah knew only too well the ways we are capable of disappointing God, disappointing others, and disappointing ourselves, he also knew that God desires our honesty, and that God would guide us and meet our needs in the parched places of our lives. God will rebuild the ruin in our lives when we can confess what it is that needs repair and restoration. Turning from the ruin to the restoring work is repentance. We are also called to do righteousness – to raise up the foundations, repair the breach, and restore the streets wherever we see these actions needed in the world.

 

Our gospel reading reinforces this, reminding us that practicing piety is not the same as doing righteousness. In truth, our readings today cover all the bases and we could spend all forty days of Lent on the Ash Wednesday readings alone. But the many Lenten disciplines we could adopt from all of these truths come down to the last line of the gospel, I think, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

It’s all about treasure. It’s about what we consider to be our treasure and what we are doing with our treasure. It’s about where our treasure comes from and whether or not we believe that with our treasure comes responsibility.

 

As the ashes are placed on our foreheads in the shape of a cross, and as we hear the powerful words of the Ash Wednesday liturgy, may we be honest with God and with ourselves. May we commit to taking time this Lent to ponder where our treasure is, and how we are called to use it to love God and our neighbor.

 

Finally, ponder these words from another of God’s servants, Father Pedro Arrupe, a Jesuit priest.

 

 

Nothing is more practical than

finding God, than

falling in love

in a quite absolute, final way.

What you are in love with,

what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.

It will decide

what will get you out of bed in the morning,

what you do with your evenings,

how you spend your weekends,

what you read, whom you know,

what breaks your heart,

and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love,

and it will decide everything.

 

Servant of God Pedro Arrupe, SJ (1907-1991)