Ash Wednesday

 Sermon based on the gospel reading, according to St Matthew chapter 6 beginning in verse 1

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent; it is marked with ashes as we remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return.

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I remember listening to an old man talk about his life on one of my home visits. He told me many things about his early life, about the type of work he used to do, the successes and the disappointments in his life, the death and loss of his wife, that his children had all moved out of the area in which he lived, and that he was about to turn 75 years of age. 

He said, “This isn’t what I thought my life would be like when I turned 75. I am just not sure where my place in the world is anymore.

”His question regarding his life’s reflection stuck with me.
“Where is my place in the world?” 

It is the kind of question that gets asked over and over again by many people at differing stages of their lives. 

In fact, this particular question seems to accompany all the significant movements and changes in our lives. 

A spouse dies or a relationship ends, and the question is, “Now that I am not a couple where is my place?” 

For some, retirement or unemployment causes them to ask the same type of question. 

At some point our bodies will get tired, old, or sick. And we may ask, “Where is my place in a world that places importance on youth, beauty, health, and success?” 

With the joy and celebration of marriage or children come new roles and responsibilities as a spouse or a parent. And we might ask, “Where is my place in these new relationships?” 

Sometimes we even describe our spiritual or emotional lives by saying “I am in a bad place right now.” 

We seem to instinctively know that there is another place, a better place. Regardless of how they come about, the changes of life, it seems, leave us wondering, “Where is my place in life?”

The Church answers and says: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” 

This very day the Church reminds us of our place. It reminds us that we are dust and we will all return to dust. 

This is the reality of who we are, where we have been, and where we are going. 

In these few simple words, we are being asked to remember that our life begins and ends in God. 

We are to recall that God formed us from the sacred dust of the earth and breathed life into that dust. 

He breathed us into existence. 

As I look at my own life and listen to the stories of others, I realise that most of us have at some point found our place in life based on what others say to us, or based on what others think about us, or based on others’ expectations for us, or based on the presence or absence of someone else in our life.
As such we tend to forget, ignore, and sometimes even deny that our existence is from the dust of the earth and from the very life breath of God. 

When we forget this important truth, we spend our lives trying to create a place for ourselves.

We live our lives on the outside. Our identity and relationships become externalised, and we lose our place in the world.

And pretty soon everything seems out of place.

Jesus recognizes how easily we can lose our true place. In the gospel reading he warns us about living our lives on the outside in order to be seen and noticed by others.“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.”

The risk to this, is that we will turn our lives into an activity to be seen, judged, and even admired by others.

When that happens our place in life changes according to the opinions or life of someone other than our Creator and Saviour. 

Jesus is calling us to consider our lives from the inside. 

He challenges us to live life from the inside out. He challenges us to move from the outer world to the inner world. 

He challenges us to let go of living our lives before others in order to be seen by them. 

Secret alms, secret prayer, secret fasting is the way we begin to break our dependence on others. 

It is not so much about how we give alms, how we pray, or how we fast. It is about the place, and the location. 

When we move into that secret place with God, we will no longer depend on others to give us our identity. 

We will no longer depend on others to give us our place in life. In that secret place we will remember that we are dust. 

We will begin to see that our identity, who we are, is who we are in God.

Despite the disappointments in our lives, the suffering, the success of our business or non-successes, the children who grow up, the children who move away, the frailty of our bodies, the pain of our losses, the changes of life, the fear of the unknown – we are, we always have been, and we always will be the beloved sons and daughters of God.

Application 

Today the Church invites us to the observance of a holy Lent by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word. 

This is the journey back to our ‘dustiness.’ 

These are the practices that point us to that secret place where God resides. “To dust you shall return” is not God’s threat or punishment. 

And it is not simply a statement about bodily decay after death. 

It is a statement of God’s faithfulness to us. 

It is a statement of God’s love and desire for us. 

It is the promise of a resurrected life. 

So, when you leave here do not wash off the ashes on your forehead. 

Rather rub them in. 

Rub them deep into your being. 

“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” 

Amen.