February 21, 2007 At Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK
Joel 2:12-18 + Psalm 51 + 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10 + Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Islam with it’s face to the ground, Israel with covered heads. Ashes on our faces, because we are not worthy. Ramdan, Passover, Lent: we fast, all of us. Financial Sacrifice for the sake of others because God expects it from everyone. The mood this day, the spirit of this occasion for all of us
is not a matter of convenience or how we feel. We are not “invited” to pray to fast, to give. It is command. It is what we do because of who we are.
Yet this is not the sort of talk we like. This age, and this western culture in which we find ourselves believes that convenience trumps all that freedom means choice that if it doesn’t feel good, we don’t do it, and that if we don’t get something, we’re not about to give.
The prophet says, NO to that thinking. The “Lord” in this reading doesn’t say: “Could I please have your attention?” or “Would you mind looking this way?” He says: “Return to me.” It means: “Get over here.” “And while you’re at it, Get on your knees. Get hungry,and do so0mething for someone who can’t do anything for you.”
There is nothing soft or easy about what God expects of us, and this season simplifies the message. The mercy of God is useless to those who have not repented and asked for it. The kindness of God is not available
to those who know nothing of kindness. The generosity of God is not going to be experienced by those who are not generous.
This day and the season it begins is about rediscovering the image in which we have been created. We have forty days to figure out how much we resemble God; God as we have experienced Him in human form: Christ Jesus. We shall in the weeks to come explore in depth that human form of God And if we have prayed like him, fasted like him, and given like him, we shall first of all be able to resist temptation as we shall soon hear this Sunday. And finally when the forty days of our lives are complete, we shall rise like him from the dead. Until then we shall wear the mark of death but only as an exterior sign of something going on inside. Within, we shall pray more than ever.
Our prayer shall be for mercy, and we shall seek forgiveness in a public way which is just what the Sacrament of Penance is all about. If you think you can just handle it privately between you and God, then why not just make your own Ashes? There is a connection between this action and confession of sins. Mercy is not imposed. It is given to those who ask.
We shall fast, and it doesn’t mean giving up chocolate. Fasting is not a diet or a return to healthy eating. It is a refusal. It is saying “No: to an appetite: every appetite. By saying, “NO”; we resist temptation and sin. That’s what it’s all about, learning again the meaning of “NO!” We don’t like that word in this culture, but this culture needs to be redeemed, and it will only happen by fasting.
We shall also make and offer sacrifices, and it doesn’t mean loose change that we don’t need anyway. It means feeding someone, putting a roof over their head, or heat in their house, because we have too much to eat, too many empty rooms and beds, and way too many coats. The bottom line is, we have no right to these things. What we have is obligation. The freedom and the choice we have is what to do, not whether or not we should.
These are tough words and tough things to think about. This season is tough, is serious, and very, very real. Forty days in a desert is tough business. Accepting the mark of the cross is not for show. It is for life and for salvation.