Sermon for Ash Wednesday.

Readings: Joel 2:12-18; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 

When we attend the liturgy and listen to the readings of the day, we always need to remember that they fit into a wider context of the Gospel. So, it is interesting to note that the reading for Ash Wednesday is a part of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, which begins with the Beatitudes. Matthew presents our Lord as the new Moses giving the New Covenant for his disciples to follow. Christ takes the Law of Moses and raises it to a new dimension of meaning and thus completes and perfects it.

Today’s reading about how we go about almsgiving, prayer and fasting is a good example of this. These three acts are the Pillars of Jewish Piety. Our Lord assumes that we, his disciples, will observe them, “When you give alms...”; “When you pray...”; When you fast...” Therefore, this is not about optional extras but the manner in which we practice them. The sharp warning is about observing them without drawing attention to ourselves – for we do them for God’s glory.

It is obvious that some, in the time of our Lord, made an ostentatious display of their piety and he calls them hypocrites. In the Greek of the New Testament, a hypocrite was an actor. Our Lord gives a scathing example of some of the Jerusalem nobility, who would go to the Temple with a donation, which was placed in a bag and carried before them by a slave, whilst another blew a trumpet announcing the donor. Our Lord makes the point, that if you have paid for such a charade to attract the praise and notice of others, then you have got what you paid for – but God is not interested in this transaction

The word discipline is related to discipleship. It is something we need, to help shape and mature our Christian life. Lent is the time when the whole Community of the Church is to become more intensely aware of Christ’s love, compassion, and his redeeming work to save us. In reality, it is good to have a season of the Church’s year to remind us of what we should be doing all the time! This Lenten season offers us the practice of Christian discipline - and a journey of prayer, scripture and sacrament that opens our eyes to the reality of our weakness - but also the infinite merciful love of Christ our Lord.