Ash Wednesday Reflection

The Way

In the beginning of the Church, disciples were actually not at first called Christians.

Acts 9:2- Saul is said to be looking to persecute anyone who “belonged to the Way.”

In Acts 18:25 we learn that Apollos had ben “trained and instructed in the Way.”

In Acts 24 a now converted Paul says that he is a member of the sect that many call the Way.

The word “Christian” only shows up in the Bible three times, and in all three cases it’s being used as an insult by people who don’t get why the followers of the Way aren’t worshipping Caesar.

The early church did not consider themselves to be a spiritual movement.

The early church did not consider themselves an after-life insurance policy.

The early church really didn’t even consider themselves a religion per se.

They saw themselves as a way of life.

Christian is an adjective that you can put on just about anything.

We have Christian music.

We have Christian books and tv.

I even once came across a Christian utility knife.

But to be a follower of the Way, to be someone who lives in to a prescribed way of life, you should be able to see that right away and from a distance.

Early Church Rituals

So in the earliest days of the Way, there was a discussion about how to belong to the Way.

Because the Way was a threat to other ways of life, it experienced a great deal of persecution.

It still does in other parts of the world.

So from time to time “secret agents” would try to get in to the church to better persecute and harass those who belong to the Way.

So the early church had to set up guard rails to see who was legitimately interested in living their life in accordance with the Way of Jesus.

There was one day that made sense to them to hold baptisms, and that was on Easter Sunday.

Nothing celebrates a resurrection Sunday quite like being raised to new life in the waters of baptism!

But they wanted to make sure they weren’t baptizing these fakers, so they set up a season of time to train those who wanted to be baptized.

Time to watch how they spoke.

Time to watch how they behaved.

Time to watch how they lived.

Looking through scriptures at the stories of Noah, and Moses, and Jesus’ time in the wilderness, they settled on 40 days as a good length of time to train up these new believers.

And so the backed up from Easter 40 days, and created a season called Lent.

This is why Lent is associated with discipline.

This is why Lent is associated with giving up our vices and picking up new virtues.

This is why Lent places such an emphasis on our actions and behaviors.

Because Lent is about seeing how well your life matches up with living according to the Way.

Assumptions

In our text tonight, we see Jesus lift up a couple of different practices that will mark followers of the Way.

Giving alms, actually giving financial assistance to those who are in need, is a mark of a disciple

Praying, lifting up our needs before God, is a mark of a disciple.

Fasting, giving up certain comforts is a mark of a disciple.

I find two things interesting about this list:

There are Christians today who assume that these are sort of optional pieces of our faith.

There are Christians who don’t give financially to either their local congregation or directly to the poor and needy, because it feels optional.

There are Christians who claim they are praying for their brothers and sisters in need, but when really pressed don’t have much of a prayer habit.

And fasting, actually going without food or drink or other things, is hardly a practice among the church in any meaningful way today.

But for as optional as we seem to think these practices are, Jesus assumes them.

Not if you give alms, but when.

Not if you pray, but when.

Not if you fast, but when.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a nerd, and had to assume this was coming…but!

There’s a television show called The Mandalorian from the Star Wars universe.

One cult of characters in the show, the Mandalorians, whenever they come across the unique way they live life, say to each other “This is the way.”

So in this story, Jesus is making an assumption about us as Christians:

Giving alms? This is the Way.

Praying? This is the Way.

Fasting? This is the Way.

Hypocrites.

Now, to be sure Jesus has some harsh words for some folks in this passage tonight, but not for who you might think.

He’s not going after folks who aren’t living according to the Way.

He’s not mad at the people who don’t give alms.

He’s not upset with people who don’t pray.

He’s not frustrated with those who don’t fast.

He is deeply offended at those who claim that they are, but only for show.

He’s offended that someone would make a big deal of their charity so that other people will respect them more.

He’s offended with people who make a colossal deal about their prayers, lifting up wordy and insincere prayers.

Jesus is offended with people who make themselves look miserable so that everyone will know just how much they’ve given up to fast.

He has a particularly harsh word for these folks: Hypocrites.

A hypocrite is someone who says one thing, and does another.

A hypocrite is someone whose inside does not match the outside.

A hypocrite is someone who isn’t so much interested in living in the Way, but saying they belong to it anyway.

Hypocrisy is something Jesus has a huge problem with throughout the Gospels.

Perhaps one of the commentaries I read on these verses said it best: Hypocrisy is the root perversion of discipleship.

Hypocrisy is the magnet pulling us off the true north of the Way.

Hypocrisy is damaging to the Way because it makes us seem insincere, arrogant, and not worth joining to those on the outside.

What needs to die?

Ash Wednesday is a really neat holiday.

We kind of know the end of the story!

We know that Easter is coming.

We know that we are going to be brought to new life.

We know where this story is headed.

And yet, we can’t just jump right to the resurrection story.

For their to be new life, the old life needs to go.

For their to be empty tombs, there need to be full ones.

For their to be resurrection, there needs to be death.

One writer put it that Ash Wednesday is a bit like Christians attending their own funeral.

In fact, every practice and habit that makes up the Way has an opposite practice and habit that needs to die.

To say yes to one is to say no to another.

To say yes to giving alms is to say no to selfishness.

To say yes to prayer is to say no to rugged individualism.

To say yet to fasting is to say no to unrestricted consumption.

Throughout Lent, we’re going to be exploring other practices and habits that make up the Way of Christ.

But tonight, as we approach this table, we might want to ask ourselves what needs to die in us?

Perhaps you have been holding a grudge for a really long time, and that anger in you needs to be put to death.

Perhaps you’ve been stingy and materialistic, keeping your treasures here on earth and not in heaven, as we are instructed?

Perhaps you think far too highly of yourself, and that arrogance needs to be laid in a tomb?

Perhaps on the other side of it you find yourself predisposed to a joyless existence, short on patience and celebration?

These are just a few examples, there are any number of practices and habits that we have to say no to.

Not because we like saying no, or because we just don’t enjoy having fun!

We say no to the toxic and destructive habits in our lives so that we can fully say yes to the Way, to life in the Kingdom of Earth as it is in heaven, to resurrected living!

Invitation

Tonight, I’d like to offer that invitation to you!

I’m going to ask Dennis to play quietly for a few seconds here, but I want you to spend a few moments before you come up to receive the ashes.

What is it in your life that needs to be laid in a tomb, to be put to death, to be reduced to ash?

Try to come up with a concrete example for you.

Then, when you are ready, come forward to receive the ashes if you are so inclined.