Sermon - Ash Wednesday - Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Today marks the first day of that holy season we call Lent. The word Lent simply means Spring. You know that season when the sun is hotter, the snow melts, and the buds begin to break. That season when everything's made new and has a fresh start. So Lent in the church is all about having that Springlike beginning in our lives as well. Lent is about beginning anew, by changing earthy, physical behaviors to focus on Christ, so that most importantly our hearts might be set on Christ as well. Lent is all about refocusing on Christ.

Our Lord declares: “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” So often we hear those words and the only part of it we hear is: “rend not your garments.” Likewise with the Gospel, Jesus says: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” But all we hear Jesus say is: “beware of practicing your righteousness.” So we conclude that we should not change any part of our lives to be more righteous.

But that conclusion couldn’t be any further from the truth and it actually ignores the entirety of what we just read. Because what our Lord says in both Joel, Peter, and Matthew is that part of returning to Him entails making physical changes in our lives. When we’re repentant over something it’s helpful to physically exhibit this in our lives, to make a real physical tangible change in order to better solidify our repentance.

So it’s a good idea during Lent that we would increase our almsgiving, it’s a good idea that we would increase our praying, it’s a good idea that we would fast and abstain from something which is bad for us. We make these changes in our lives not so that others might see us and think that we’re so righteous and certainly not so that we might earn our salvation; but we make these tangible changes in our lives because they’re good for us. Thus, the idea of doing these things more regularly only during Lent and then stopping after Easter doesn’t make any sense! 

Rather, Lent is like Spring, and it’s a time to make a renewed effort towards making changes in your life that you need to make. Don’t just plan on making these changes temporarily, but plan on making some changes permanently. Use this as a chance to identify some issues with your life, some areas that don’t fit with our Christian faith, and make some lifelong changes for the better. Instead of giving up social media just for Lent, simply set healthy boundaries for yourself. Instead of giving up sweets or fast food for Lent, come up with a balanced plan for life. Instead of doing a Lent devotional just for 40 days, start with the Lent devotional and then keep that devotional habit everyday for the rest of your life. 

Ultimately, what all of these physical changes of your life should be doing is to reorient both your body and your heart away from your earthly treasures, and towards your heavenly treasures. The reason that we make changes and go on this Lenten pilgrimage is because of what lies at the end of Lent: Good Friday and Easter! Jesus died for us and rose for us! Christ lives even now and we live in Him! The point of this whole thing is that God is gracious enough to die for us, forgive our trespasses, and raise us to heaven with Him! 

Joel cries out: “Return to the Lord your God!” Why? Why should we return to Him in sackcloth and ashes? Because “He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; He relents over disaster.” The Lord has pity on us His people! So in Christ God died for you. God paid for your iniquity. We could never make enough changes in our lives to appease God’s wrath over our sins. But Jesus lived the sinless life and so He died for you so that you might live in Him. He now offers that new life for you here in His Word. This is where your treasure is! This is where our bodies and hearts should be oriented! It’s all about Jesus! 

Here this evening we repented of our sins, received ashes upon our foreheads, but the greater thing was that God forgave our sins! Here this evening we will shortly receive Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper and receive that medicine of immortality, that feast beyond all earthly feasts! This is the treasure! This is where Christ wants us to focus our bodies and hearts, because only here do we receive the heavenly treasure. Forget food, forget social media, forget tv and entertainment and hobbies and work and money and vacations, forget it all! Forget it all, forget the clutter and the distractions, and instead just look on Christ your treasure.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”