Facing Temptations, Lent 1, March 5, 2017

First Sunday of Lent (Year A)

Sunday, March 5, 2017

And they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God - A sad change! Before they had sinned, if they heard the voice of the Lord God coming towards them, they would have run to meet him, but now God was become a terror to them, and then no marvel they were become a terror to themselves.

– John Wesley

Theme: Facing Temptation

Reflection:  Today’s scripture lessons make me ache, from the Garden of Eden to the Gospel.

In the Garden: A familiar story – possibly more allegory than narrative. I must admit, reading about talking snakes just makes me wince. But if we’re willing to understand the snake as an incarnation of this world’s evil and power to tempt, it’s perfectly clear. We break the rules God gives us. And while the first humans didn’t stop living from eating the apple, death still is very present in this story. The perfect relationship between God and humans died. Trust died and was replaced by fear. Their innocence died.

Adam and Jesus: This is the heart of Paul’s theology – that Adam and Eve caused our sinful natures today by their “fall.” We inherited original sin. I don’t buy it – I’m sinful because I’m human and make bad choices, not because of the bad choice of our original human ancestors. I stumble and you stumble over our God-given free will. “One man’s disobedience” didn’t make us all sinners – we sin because it is our human condition. Thank God for God’s abundant grace, revealed to us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

Confession is good for the body AND the soul: One of the seven “penitential psalms,” Psalm 32 (like last week’s Psalm 51) often is attributed to King David, reeling from Nathan’s condemnation of his guilty liaison with Bathsheba and the cover up that led to Uriah’s death. Of course, this incident wasn’t David’s only misstep. Like any of us, David was a sinner as well as a saint. The psalm, a maskil, or wisdom song, conveys this truth – living with guilt and shame is harmful beyond our egos. Our minds and bodies are connected, so when we don’t confess, we hurt – in body, mind and soul.

When I read Psalm 32 in the Living Bible translation this week, it occurred to me that it basically mirrors a 12-step program – “There was a time when I wouldn’t admit what a sinner I was. But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration (Psalm 32:3 TLB).” So many of my clients are working to stay clean and sober. But it’s much harder when they try to go solo, alone with the temptation to relapse, and bottle up all the ways they’ve hurt themselves and others. And just like the psalm, AA suggests a guide/sponsor is critical. Inside or outside of 12-step programs, the advice is solid. Don’t let a sin eat at you. Confess. Make it right. Heal. Be open to correction.

Temptation x 3: Jesus had just come back from his holy pilgrimage in the wilderness. By way of explanation, “40” is code for “a long time” in the Bible. 40 days on the ark, 40 years in the wilderness for the Israelites, 40 days Moses stayed on the mountain, 40 days Elijah traveled after one angelic meal … you get the picture. Ever wonder why Lent is 40 days (excluding Sundays)? It’s a wilderness time, a time of preparation. So, starving and exhausted, Jesus stares down three temptations, quoting scripture the whole time. I’m guessing I would have caved in to a bottle of water and a sandwich.

What about these four lessons ties them together? We struggle with an identity issue. The same one humans have had since the beginning of time.

Our identity as a child of God does not make us equal to God. NOT EVEN CLOSE. And every time we try to take over from God, we cause hurt – to ourselves, others and God. But how inexplicable that God says we are God’s much loved children, and we are enough. As soon as the world makes us question any of that statement, temptation threatens to unravel us:

• ·         You believe in that religious mumbo-jumbo?
• ·         Could God love someone as messed up as you?
• ·         You’re not good enough until you have _________. (Fill in your own temptation here – is it a relationship, certain possessions, a thinner body, the right job, another degree?)

We’re tempted by people, by media, by the culture, and certainly by our own doubts. It’s challenging to stay in that blessing of “much-loved child of God, and I am enough.” So when I err, it’s easy to go to that doubting place. How could God care about me? I will never be enough.

Instead, I pick myself up, unload my mess before God, and hear God tell me again: “You are mine, and you are enough.”

Faith App: Whenever you are tempted by something the world says you need, first ask yourself, “What is the lie here? Will it help me to draw closer to God?” 

HYMN/SONG SUGGESTIONS

Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days, ELW 319

O Love, How Deep, ELW 322

How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds, ELW 620

Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery, ELW 334 (with Lent 1 verse)

When Long Before Time (The Singer and the Song), ELW 861

Touch the Earth Lightly, ELW 739

Loving Spirit, Loving Spirit, ELW 397

This Is My Father’s World, ELW 824

Change My Heart, O God, ELW 801

No Longer Slaves, Bethel Music

Undo, Rush of Fools

Lord, I Need You, Matt Maher

You Are My Hiding Place, Selah

Your Grace is Enough, Chris Tomlin

LESSONS

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

Psalm 32 I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Romans 5:12-19 The free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin.

Matthew 4:1-11 “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

Summary of the Lessons: Instead of making us powerful, trying to go it alone, without God, makes us lonely, guilty, vulnerable and miserable. Every time people are tempted to try to be God, it ends tragically. We seek forgiveness when we understand we hurt God, other people and ourselves when we try to take control.

OPENING LITANY based on Psalm 32

L:  Lay down your sin, throw off your burdens;

C:  Your Creator never meant you to carry that load.

L:  Breathe in life’s freshness, the fragrance of freedom;

C:  Hear God call, “Child, let me take that from you.”

L:  I remember those times I was too stubborn to confess;

C:  Keeping my sin inside left me miserable with despair.

L:  My conscience kept prodding me: “Get rid of this mess!”

C:  Then you forgave me, God, and cleared my guilt away.

L:  When I need to flee from everything that troubles me,

C:  You are my hiding place, a safe haven for me every time.

L:   You don’t mind one bit when I come running back to you;

C:  You wrap me in encouragement, and send me off again.

L:  Come learn from me, God says, and I’ll point the way;

C:  Don’t resist like a mule – gladly follow where I lead.

L:  Trying to take control will make life so much harder;

C:  Joyful are those who trust in God’s steadfast love.

CONFESSION

L:  In today’s lessons, we learn how easy it is to be tempted;

C:  God’s people swallowed the world’s lies from the start!

L:  We hide in fear and turn from forgiveness;

C:  And soon, our connection with our Creator dies.

L:  Our brother Jesus didn’t escape the world’s temptations;

C:  Like us, he faced challenges when he was wanting and weak.

L:  Jesus resisted the call of possessions, promises and power –

C:  But we confess how we wrestle with things we don’t need.

L:  For wanting everything society calls valuable –

C:  Lord, have mercy.

L:  For believing what you’ve given us isn’t enough –

C:  Christ, have mercy.

(Silent reflection)

L:  In our confession, we pray together,

C:  Most Merciful God … we pray today that we will trust you with every part of our lives. We know you want the best for us, but over and over the world tempts us to believe we’re not enough, and we hunger for the latest new thing to make us happy and fulfilled. Help us to see the world’s promises for what they are – deceptions that make us question your provision and love for us. Make us quick to ‘fess up when we mess up, rather than hiding from you.

Here is Good News:  God has given us a world full of good things, with other things we shouldn’t touch. But temptations surround us. They are unavoidable in this world. Even our Lord Jesus experienced temptation – we can’t escape it. And we will succumb to temptation – as Paul says, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Don’t hide in deceit, but freely confess and rejoice in God’s abundant grace. You are forgiven and set free.

In the name of…

Amen.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

L:  We pray together, 

C:  Faithful God … we pray today that you will lead us away from temptations, or guide us past them. In our time of trial, remind us that we are your beloved children, and you provide all that we need to live well. Thank you for your love and mercy when we give in to the world’s enticements – we don’t have to hide, because you’re ready to set things right.  Amen.

COMMUNION BLESSING

L:  We pray together,

C:  We give you thanks, most gracious God, for the abundant grace in this bread, the steadfast love in this cup.  Send us, eyes open, into this world of temptation, knowing that we are part of your family and we need you more than anything this world offers. Equip us to carry your life-giving words of forgiveness to all who need to hear them. Amen. 

SENDING

L:  We need more than bread to keep us healthy:

C:  We feast on God’s words of understanding,

L:  We drink in the joy of worship and praise,

C:  And finish in the richness of God’s amazing grace.

L: Go now, set free by grace, to love and to serve the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God!

First Reading Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: The two Creation stories in Genesis conclude with God setting a boundary. And with any boundaries people face, we can be tempted to cross them.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Second Reading Romans 5:12-19 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: The church at Rome was not founded by Paul. But like some of the churches Paul started, it faced unity issues. But these Christians lacked knowledge of the Gospel. So Paul explains at length what followers of Christ believe.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Gospel Matthew 4:1-11 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: Jesus had just been baptized when the Spirit sent him to the desert for a time of trial and discernment. But his trials continued upon his return, with the devil attempting to defeat his ministry before he started.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

‘One does not live by bread alone,

    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

    and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,

    and serve only him.’”

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Acceptable Sacrifices, Ash Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Ash Wednesday (Year A)

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

When we receive the cross on our forehead on Ash Wednesday, we are invited to remember that it is in Christ and through Christ that reconciliation is possible. Yet, we are also invited to remember that as we leave the church with the seal of the cross of Christ, we are Christ's ambassadors of reconciliation. We are sent as representatives for Christ, in Christ's stead… This is what ministry is all about.

 – Karoline Lewis, Luther Seminary

Theme: Acceptable Sacrifices

(This is the final segment of a six-part series from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ teachings to his disciples – us included! – about his mission and his interpretations of scripture.)

Intro:  Put yourself on the hillside one last time, in the tightly knit group of Jesus’ disciples. By this time, you are surrounded by a mass of people who have come to hear this teacher tell people how they are to live. What started with Jesus clarifying his mission has turned into a revival, a call to change the way people worship God and treat one another.

Reflection:  I don’t recall ever deciding to give something up for Lent.

Giving up meat on Fridays was the standard Catholic practice. Classmates discussed giving up soda, candy, desserts or video games for six weeks. I never understood how deprivation prepared one for Easter. (OK, Lutherans give up Alleluias – so we can sing them with joy and gusto starting at sunrise on Easter morn!)

Several years ago, newly absorbed in my faith, in preparing for the Easter season, my mind went the other way – I wanted to add in things for Easter, to enrich my mind and spirit. Prayer, reading, music and worship were at the top of that list.

Several phrases stood out this time when I read the annual Ash Wednesday texts. In Joel 2:12-13a, just before the familiar “Return to the Lord, your God” verses, this stood out, “Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.”

Of course, that’s why people deprive themselves of something. A private fast, with respect to Jesus’ admonitions in the final text from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:16-17, to refocus our hearts. Prayer and giving alms also would channel our weeping and mourning for the injustices of our lifestyles and privilege. Inwardly, our failures to live according to Jesus’ guiding should break our hearts.

These texts provide a second gem in the psalm verses of confession, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” from Psalm 51:10-12. But my eyes fixed on verse 17: “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

More brokenness.

Sacrifice is another way of explaining “giving up.” So, our remorse needs to be more than confession, more than saying we’re sorry we’re not living as God’s people. Our hearts aren’t clean and our spirits are dragging baggage. Words and prayers just won’t cut it for the way we’ve broken God’s heart. For me, that translates to healing some open wounds, tracking down people I’ve cast aside, and unloading my pride and shame.

I could use some fasting – beyond food – from harsh words and inconsiderate actions, intolerance and impatience, willfulness and wrath.

Return to the Lord, your God, for God is gracious and merciful.

Return to God with all your heart.

Return.

(Make sure you read the footnote today for a beautiful Ash Wednesday blessing from one of my favorite poets, Jan Richardson)

Faith App: What would you like to give up for Lent – perhaps an unproductive or hurtful habit? The six weeks of the Lenten season provides time to acquire a new behavior. Consider replacing your former habit with something positive.

HYMN/SONG SUGGESTIONS

Once We Sang and Danced, ELW 701

Savior When in Dust to You, ELW 601

Restore in Us, O God, ELW 328

Healer of Our Every Ill, ELW 612

Take, O Take Me as I Am, ELW 814

Change My Heart, O God, ELW 801

Our Father, We Have Wandered, ELW 606

Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling, ELW 608

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, ELW 807

Out of the Depths I Cry to You, ELW 600

Give Us Clean Hands, Chris Tomlin

All You’ve Ever Wanted, Casting Crowns

Kindness, Chris Tomlin

Keep Making Me, Sidewalk Prophets

From the Inside Out, Seventh Day Slumber/Phillips, Craig and Dean/Hillside United

Come, Let Us Return to the Lord, Matt Redman

Restore to Me, Mac Powell/Candi Pearson-Shelton

LESSONS

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful.

or Isaiah 58:1-12 Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

Psalm 51:1-17 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Beware of practicing your piety before others to be seen by them.

Summary of the Lessons: Lesson 6 – Acceptable Sacrifices.  God’s grace is a gift. Period. But our call in this season is to turn back to the Lord and be reconciled, to let God recreate our broken and contrite hearts, restore our humbled spirits with joy. Part of our practice may be a personal sacrifice, like fasting, recommitment to prayer or charitable giving, but it is personal, not public piety God honors.

OPENING LITANY based on Psalm 51:1-17

L:  Lord, here I am, all but hidden beneath my sin,

C:  Hoping you recognize me as one of your own.

L:  My mess covering the God-goodness you created –

C:  Cleanse me, Lord, restore me to newness again.

L:  Lord, I’ve been stuck in this rut since I was young.

C:  My scarred heart held hostage by my guilt and pain.

L:  Break it wide open, set me free with your truth –

C:  Cleanse me, Lord, let joy release my spirit’s despair.

L:  Then, Lord, I’ll dance to the tune of your freedom,

C:  Love’s unchained melody streaming from my lips.

L:  Not one thing I give up could earn your compassion,

C:  My humbled heart turned to you will make you glad.

CONFESSION

L:  Tonight starts a new season for us, a time to repair –

C:  To learn to reconcile, to God and one another,

L:  To allow God to restore our commitment to justice,

C:  To recognize our sin and return to our merciful Lord.

L:  Tonight we begin a season of reflection and preparation –

L:  Grace is pure gift; we are forgiven by God’s mercy.

C:  Earthly wealth is fleeting, unlike kingdom treasure.

C:  Dust is what we were, what we are, and what we will become.

L:  Tonight we commence a season of self-examination –

C:  Considering our practices of sacrifice, prayer, and service,

L:  Choosing to take up our crosses for the hurting and poor,

C:  Cleansing ourselves from finger-pointing and privilege.

(Silent reflection, or a setting of “Return to the Lord, Your God”)

L:  In our confession, we pray together,

C:  Most Merciful God … Create in us clean hearts, Lord, and renew us by setting our spirits right with you. Don’t let us stray from your presence, but guide us with your Holy Spirit always. Refresh us again with delight at your abundant grace, and let your Spirit uphold us forever.

Hear this Good News:  The prophet Isaiah says “The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places.” God continually waters those places in you that need refreshing. Even when we wander into the wilderness away from God’s presence, God stands ready to restore us into relationship, repairing the breach we cause. Accept and rejoice at the gift of God’s forgiveness.

In the name of…

Amen.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

L:  We pray together, 

C:  Steadfast God … guide us into Lent transformed through your teachings, set into right relationship with you and each other. Keep working to repair the breaches we cause, to see in strangers and those who struggle the faces of brothers and sisters. Help us to walk the way of the cross with you now, as humble disciples, choosing your ways of healing, justice, hospitality and generosity.  Amen.

COMMUNION BLESSING

L:  We pray together,

C:  We give you thanks, most gracious God, for satisfying our parched places through this simple gift of bread and wine, shared with our family in Christ.  Thank you for your steadfast love that allows us to return to your mercy, again and again. Rend our hearts, Lord, for those who suffer in our world. Send us out, each day empowered to speak and act in the ways of justice and your love. Amen. 

SENDING

L:  We respond to God with a willing spirit,

C:  When we honor the Lord with service,

L:  When we are humble in prayer and giving,

C:  When we truly understand how loved we are.

L: Go now, marked with the cross of Christ, to love and to serve the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God!

First Reading Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: The “Day of the Lord” to us is a promise, something on which we set our hopes. For Joel, who prophesied 400 years before Jesus, the “Day of the Lord” spelled doom. He calls the people to repent.

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.

Yet even now, says the LORD,

    return to me with all your heart,

with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

   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.

Who 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?

Blow the trumpet in Zion;

    sanctify a fast;

call a solemn assembly;

    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.

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?’”

OR

First Reading Isaiah 58:1-12 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: This Isaiah text should sound familiar, as it was read just a few weeks ago. Isaiah urges the people to service and justice for their neighbors to honor the Lord. Later, Jesus the teacher would expand on the words in the last of three sections of Isaiah, probably written by three different authors.

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.

Second Reading 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: Paul wrote to the church at Corinth multiple times, two of which are included among Paul’s epistles. Paul often had to contend with false teachers, so this section reminds his readers of what he and his colleagues have gone through for the sake of the message of Jesus.

We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 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! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Gospel Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: It’s likely the Sermon on the Mount was a teaching session, not a sermon, as Jesus was sidetracked during this passage to teach the disciples how to pray. The word “hypocrite” means actor. Wrapping up his teaching, Jesus contrasts acting for people with being humble before God.

“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.

An Ash Wednesday Extra

Rend Your Heart

A Blessing for Ash Wednesday

By Jan Richardson, The Painted Prayerbook

To receive this blessing,

all you have to do

is let your heart break.

Let it crack open.

Let it fall apart

so that you can see

its secret chambers,

the hidden spaces

where you have hesitated

to go.

Your entire life

is here, inscribed whole

upon your heart’s walls:

every path taken

or left behind,

every face you turned toward

or turned away,

every word spoken in love

or in rage,

every line of your life

you would prefer to leave

in shadow,

every story that shimmers

with treasures known

and those you have yet

to find.

It could take you days

to wander these rooms.

Forty, at least.

And so let this be

a season for wandering

for trusting the breaking

for tracing the tear

that will return you

to the One who waits

who watches

who works within

the rending

to make your heart

whole.