Coming Out of the Closet

PROPERS: ASH WEDNESDAY 

TEXT:       MATTHEW 6:1-6,16-21                                                   

PREACHED AT ST. JOHN’S, PASCAGOULA, ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

 

ONE SENTENCE:        The irony of Ash Wednesday.

 

            The ironical nature of Ash Wednesday has always interested me.

 

            In a few moments, you will come forward, to join me, as we are smeared with the ashes from last year’s Palm Sunday branches, as a sign of our faithfulness and penitence.

 

            We will go forth from here, wearing our crosses on our foreheads – and the world will see.

 

            And we will do so just a few moments after hearing Jesus’ words:

 

“…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.”

 

In fact, in all of this passage, Jesus cautions us about wearing our faithfulness on our sleeves.  At the root of all this, is the sin of pride – pride of who we are, pride of what we do, pride in what we profess to believe.

 

As a contrast, he uses a metaphor.  He urges us to go inside a closet to pray. This is a season of going within. It is turning so inward so that your right hand does not even know what your left hand is doing.

 

This season – and Jesus’ admonitions – are so contrary to the modern world.  They may have been more doable in AD 30, in the remote area of Galilee.  But today we are drawn away by so much that is immediately demanding of our attention – social media, television, telephone which go wherever we go. There is little silence, and less solitude.

 

Jesus’ call is still the same… maybe even more so. Maybe even more urgent, more applicable.

 

All of the busy-ness we face on a daily basis is like a drug. It anesthetizes our senses, making us numb and resistant to quiet and solitude. In a medical sense, we are releasing dopamine – getting a sense of pleasure by staying on the fast track.

 

Lent is the response. Slow down. Turn off the phone.  Stay away from the news. Resist the siren’s call of social media.  Read… pray… be quiet… be still… be alone.

 

            If you do that daily as a discipline during the great 40 days of Lent, I suspect you will find what Jesus found during his time in the wilderness – the still, quiet voice of God, deep within.