Like the Hypocrites Do?

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

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?’”

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

“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.

What should we do with Ash Wednesday?  A couple of years ago on Ash Wednesday I had a sudden and disturbing wondering.  Was I enabling people to disfigure their faces so they could go out into the world and be seen by others?  Was I enabling people to “practice their piety before others” like the hypocrites do?  Well, I thought (attempting to justify myself), at least here, the ashes come in the context of confession, scripture, prayer, eucharist, and instructions for keeping a holy Lent.  But that didn't make me feel any better.  After all, we were still leaving here and going back into the world where others would see them.  And being seen by the world, this lesson seems to tell us, will be our reward… rather than any sort of reward from the Divine.  So, what should we do with Ash Wednesday?     

I’ve seen some folks dismiss worriers like me by saying THESE Ashes represent “repentance” and are not an indication of “fasting” so they're different than what Jesus warned against.  I personally don’t own a pair of tweezers fine enough to pull that distinction apart.  So, what should we do with Ash Wednesday, to keep it from just being a way to signal our piety to the world?    

I think the answer comes from the prophet Joel who says, “Rend your hearts and not your clothing.”  I think the answer also comes from Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, and Paul who get way more personal than just talk about clothing.  They all tell us that what God is looking for is not a circumcision of the flesh… not an outward change in appearance… but rather, what God is looking for is a dramatic circumcision of our hearts!   

But what does it look like in our day and age to rend our hearts instead of our clothing?  To circumcise our hearts and not our bodies?  To impose ashes on our hearts rather than on our foreheads?  I think… it looks like taking the next right step on the path toward doing justice and loving kindness with humility... rather than with an outward show.  So, what should we do with Ash Wednesday?

Should we get ashes today or not?  Keep them on when we leave, or wash them off?  To get to that answer we each need to discern if the ashes received now will help us to mark a first step on this season’s recommitment to doing justice and loving kindness in our hearts.  If ashes, and the accompanying words, "you are dust, and to dust you shall return" help you mark that recommitment… then by all means get ashes!  

Will having those ashes on your head for the rest of the day be a constant reminder and drive that recommitment more deeply into your heart?  If you believe those ashes will do that, then keep them on!  

Likewise, if fasting will assist you in changing your heart, then fast!  If giving alms or doing acts of service will rend your heart, then do that!  If additional prayer and meditation will facilitate an inward transformation, then please, please, please do that!  Ashes, fasting, generosity, acts of service, prayer and meditation… whatever will work to aid you in a genuine change of heart… driving you deeper into doing justice and loving kindness in the world… THAT is the discipline to which God is calling us this Lent.

The last thing I have begun to think about Ash Wednesday is that more important than ashes, fasting, alms giving and any other Lenten discipline you might consider, is Joel’s call to, “Call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged and gather the children.”  I am beginning to believe that the Lenten practice of presence… genuine, in person, in the flesh... presence… the holy practice of showing up and investing real, significant time to be together in community, consistently… some might even say “religiously”… I am beginning to believe THAT sort of sacrifice of significant time... spent in the physical presence of one another, might possibly be, in our individualistic, drive thru, To-Go sort of world, the most important thing we could do to experience a holy Lent.  

What we are called to be about for Ash Wednesday and what we are called to be about through the season of Lent… is whatever it is that will assist us in rending our hearts so they become hearts that drive us to do justice and hearts that move us to infect the world with kindness and hearts that never worry about who gets the credit along the way.  Whatever practice… ashes, fasting, generosity, service, prayer, presence… whatever practice it is that will help you do THAT… THAT, I think, is what you should do about Ash Wednesday.  Amen.