This sermon is based on Joel 2. 1-2, 12-17 and Matthew 6. 1-6, 16-21.
Well here we are, Ash Wednesday, the cusp of Lent. It seems like only a few days ago we were celebrating Christmas and yet here we are, beginning our journey to Easter.
Lent, despite what it’s become in the wider mindset, isn’t New Years mk 2, another chance to have a stab at cutting down on chocolate (a resolution which you managed to break at approximately 2pm on January 1st). Lent goes much deeper than that, it’s an annual Shofar call to return to God, to come back when we have wandered off. That prophecy of Joel, ‘blow the trumpet because God is coming, the day of the Lord is near’, you can almost feel the earth tremble. Those opening verses really capture your attention. And Joel goes on ‘turn back, the time is short’. God could arrive at any moment and woe betide anyone who isn’t prepared. But look at the heart of the passage, it’s not about destruction or wrath, it’s that much quoted description of what God is like ‘for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love’. Come back, not out of fear, but because God longs to forgive you, to bring you back into the fold. Come back to the one who is gracious and merciful, whose love towards us is steadfast, it never wavers, no matter how much ours towards Him does. Now we aren’t in the same situation as the people Joel is prophesying to, we aren’t ancient Israelites under the law, our salvation isn’t dependent on us, it’s dependent on the one who is steadfast. But that call is still the same, come back, because it’s so much better when you’re back. Lent is a period to examine our hearts, it’s a process. We can easily think of it as a sprint, pick the thing you want to give up then hang on tight until you reach the sweet release of Easter, and in a way that’s a little true. It can be good to give something up which we can take back up at Easter to make our rejoicing even more complete, but if that’s all we do then we’re missing out. Lent is a process, the process of examining our hearts. But that sounds a tad theoretical, a nice concept, a noble concept perhaps but what on earth does it actually mean in practice? What does it actually look like? Jesus says where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. If we want to examine the state of our hearts, a good place to start is looking where our treasure is. And we all know the good Christian answer to the question of where our treasure is, our treasure is Jesus. Job done, lets move on. But where is your treasure really? It’s a rather abstract question so let’s make it a little more concrete. Where are you spending your treasure? Where are you investing it? And here I mean literal treasure, our money. There’s nothing that gives away our true priorities like where we spend our cash, where it goes and how much of it goes into different areas. Had a bit of a windfall, where we splash it may well give us insight into where our treasure is. Where is your treasure? When you first wake up in the morning what do you do? Does the phone or laptop come out, a quick check of your messages, a look at what’s happened since you went to sleep? Or maybe its straight to the newspaper. What’s the priority when you wake up? Where’s the treasure of your time going? That free time where you don’t have to be doing anything? Is it a quick extra dust of the house to make sure its spotless? Is it spent in front of the TV flicking channels? None of these things are bad things, I do all of them too (well, apart from the dusting), but what are they telling us about our priorities? What are they telling us about where our hearts are, wherever our treasure is, there our hearts are. Can you see how this goes so much deeper than the surface stuff we can distract ourselves with during Lent. This is why Jesus is so harsh in this passage about those who make a show of fasting or giving away money or making great long public prayers. None of that stuff is about sorting out our hearts, all that stuff is motivated by looking good, appearing pious to those around us. Everyone else can look on and marvel at how amazing we are but deep down nothing has changed, everyone else see’s the outward appearance but God is looking at our hearts. Are they tuned to Him, or some other frequency? And the wonderful thing about Lent is that it is that annual shofar blast, that reminder to retune. Because over the year we slip, we may start out with the best intentions but all sorts of stuff happens to us over the year and things start to slip, and perhaps we don’t notice. Maybe we do and we’re not sure what to do about it. Historian Tom Holland (who isn’t a Christian) was recently quoted about the Christian concept of original sin saying that it’s ‘incredibly democratizing’. We’re all in the same boat, none of us can point the finger. As we begin Lent don’t feel that your somehow lagging behind, that you’re not as good as anyone else, we’ve all fallen short, none of us can say we’re doing better, we all have our faults, we’ve all slipped this last year, maybe even these last few years. Let’s build one another up this Lent. No man, woman or child left behind. Let this Lent be a space to discern where our hearts are and, where it has gone astray, to prayerfully tune it back in to God. Let’s not finish Lent where we started, but instead find ourselves further along in our journey, tuned back in to God, following in His steps. Ready to rejoice at the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
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AuthorAn Anglican Curate in my 20's I was raised in an Anglican Church, went to a Youth Club run by an Evangelical Church, attended a Baptist Church while at Uni and was a member of a New Monastic Community after graduating. As such my faith has been influenced by these experiences and traditions into what I hope is a more rounded viewpoint. Archives
September 2022
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