Sermon - Ash Wednesday, February 14th - The Rev. Jack Alvey

In the name of one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

The first words out of Jesus' mouth

in tonight's gospel lesson are,

beware of practicing your piety before others.

And in just a few minutes, I'm gonna paint,

or Emily's gonna paint a big black cross on your forehead.

When you walk out of church tonight,

you'll be broadcasting to everyone you encounter.

It's a little easier for y'all,

because it's six o'clock,

but you'll be telling everyone you're a Christian

and that you went to church.

Beware of practicing your piety before others.

Well, Jesus technically doesn't say,

don't practice your piety before others.

He simply, she's a warning.

He says, beware.

And now I think this is really important

for us to consider as we enter this season of Lent,

a time when we recommit to God,

recommit to those spiritual disciplines

that draw us closer to God.

So that being said, before you choose a Lenten discipline,

or before you continue to follow through with it,

I encourage you to ask yourself, why?

Why am I doing this?

Am I doing this to feed my ego?

Or am I doing this so that I might decrease

and that God might increase in me?

Is this Lenten discipline about accomplishing something

that I can check off a list?

Or is it about living into the truth

that God has accomplished everything

that needs to be accomplishing,

that needs to be accomplished through Jesus?

Are you trying to prove how good you are?

Or is this about remembering how good God is?

This past Sunday at our Episcopal 101 class,

we talked about a core belief among Anglicans

or Episcopalians.

I'm not gonna bore you with the Latin phrase,

but it basically says, we are what we pray.

We are what we pray.

Praying shapes believing.

Our prayer shape what we believe,

and what we believe shapes how we behave.

So if our prayers don't seem to be leading us

to a transformation of self,

then we might be seeking our own glory

as opposed to the glory of God.

Now, I don't deny that our prayers can

and do influence God.

I believe our prayers are much more likely

to influence us and those around us.

Prayer isn't really about getting God

to conform to our will to do what we want.

Rather, prayer is meant to help us

conform to God's will and God's dream.

As Jesus said in the garden before his death,

not my will be done, but yours.

On Ash Wednesday, we are invited to notice

the gap that exists between the human will

and God's will or the divine will.

That's not to say the human will cannot

be influenced by the divine will.

Rather, left to our own devices,

the human will seeks to save the self,

whereas God's will seeks to save the other,

regardless of the cost.

In just a few minutes when we read

the litany of penitence, we might come to realize

that the gap that exists between the human will

and God's will is actually wider than we thought.

One response is to feel more guilty than we already do,

but God doesn't want us to feel more guilty.

Even more, God didn't really even come

to make us feel less guilty.

I think God wants us to think less about ourselves

and our own needs and more about

the needs and concerns of others.

And if we live for the needs and concerns of others,

then what do we have to feel guilty about?

Through Christ, God is calling us

to live a life of humility.

And C.S. Lewis gives the best definition I found of humility.

Humility isn't about thinking less of yourself,

it's about thinking of yourself less.

It's not about thinking less of yourself,

it's about thinking less of yourself less.

Now before we start to think about all those people

who aren't so humble, let me remind you

that it's hard for someone to think

about the needs of others

if they don't believe their own needs are met.

So after we make sure we have food and clothing

and shelter and safety, what do we really need?

What do we really need in this life?

I think we need to know we're not alone.

I think we need to know that we are seen and valued.

I think we need to know we are loved.

If we believe we are alone,

if we believe we aren't needed,

if we believe we're unlovable,

then how can we ever believe that God or God's people

wanna have a relationship with us?

A relationship where we are seen and valued,

a relationship where we are loved without condition.

And that is the relationship that God is calling us into

each and every day, but especially on this Ash Wednesday.

That Ashen Cross that you will bear today

is less about your righteousness

and more about God's righteousness.

Ultimately that cross points to Jesus.

The cross points to a savior who has taken on a commitment

to love the whole world,

which in the end he gives his all for,

his own death on the hardwood of the cross.

The Ashen Cross is a reminder that there is nowhere

that Jesus won't go to find you

and call you back to himself no matter the cost.

There is no heart that is so hard

that can't be softened by his unconditional love.

There is no one in this world

that Jesus doesn't wanna have a relationship with.

You are not alone.

You are valued.

You are seen.

You are loved.

Jesus died on the cross to show you this truth.

So now the big question wonders,

in light of today's gospel lesson,

will you wear that Ashen Cross when you leave church today?

Like a good Episcopal preacher,

I'm not gonna give you an answer.

I'll offer some questions though,

the same sort of questions I asked in the beginning.

Will wearing this cross do nothing more

than inflate your ego?

Or will this Ashen Cross help you think

of yourself less and of God more?

Is this cross meant to show others

that you accomplished going to church today?

Or is it meant to remind you and others

of what God has accomplished in Jesus?

Are you trying to prove how good you are

or do you bear this cross to remind others

how good God is?

At the end of the day,

it's about what's on the inside that really matters.

Jesus says at the end of today's lesson,

where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If what you take on or what you give up, this Lent,

encourages a loving and life-giving relationship

with God and others,

then I believe your heart is in the right place.

If what you take on, this Lent, or give up, this Lent,

sort of gets in the way of a loving

and life-giving relationship with God and others,

then I think you might return to God in prayer

and remember the truth that we all yearn to hear,

a truth that Jesus died to tell you,

a truth most clearly conveyed by the cross of Christ.

You are not alone.

You are valued, you are seen, you are loved,

and so is everyone you encounter this night,

those who wear an ashen cross and those who do not.

Amen.