Treasures

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
February 14, 2024

Ash Wednesday

          My favorite part of Ash Wednesday and Lent is undeniably the Lenten devotion booklet that we create together.  The booklet contains a reflection for each day of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter written by a parishioner or friend of Christ Church.  Some of the reflections are written by our children and youth.  Others are written by those with many Lents under their belts. Some reflections are poignant, others challenge us, and some have a touch of humor.  Collectively, all of the reflections speak beautifully about our connections with God, each other, and the world around us.  Each of the reflections is a living example of Jesus’ words at the end of today’s gospel reading.  “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” 

          Ash Wednesday and Lent offer us some treasures so that we know where our hearts are and where they might be better aligned with God so we can be the people God calls us to be.  In the Litany of Penitence which we will pray in a few minutes, we confess the many ways that our hearts are self-centered.  Greed, envy, negligence, failure to forgive, exploitation, anger, dishonesty, prejudice, waste and pollution-it is all there right before us and God in our prayers this day.  Those prayers point us to the many places where we misplace our treasure and thus our hearts. 

          However, the disciplines or treasures of Lent are not punishments for our misaligned hearts.  The disciplines of Lent help us see where our values have gone astray and where we can realign our hearts to better live into our lives as people of God and followers of Jesus.  Jesus also warns us not to take on these disciplines in order to be seen by other people, for that completely defeats the purpose of realigning our hearts to be more in tune with God.  On Ash Wednesday, Jesus gives us three treasures to help us find our true hearts.

          The first practice is almsgiving.  Alms are offerings, whether of money, or time, or of talent.  If we are thoughtful and intentional about our almsgiving, we give in order to recognize our connection with those who have less, who need food or clothing or shelter.  If we are sacrificial about our almsgiving, we go without so that someone else has what they need.  At our Shrove Tuesday pancake supper last night, our offering was a benefit for Habitat for Humanity, making home ownership, something many of us take for granted, possible for those with very limited income.   Or we make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for those who are hungry, warm knitted items for those who are cold, or provide laundry detergent for those who experience more month than money.  Almsgiving helps us recognize the needs of others, value what we have to offer, and treasure the opportunity to serve.  Almsgiving orients our hearts to the needs of others.

          Secondly, Jesus instructs us to pray.  Prayer is a treasure that gives us time with God as we offer God the cares and concerns of our hearts and listen for what God may ask of us.  When we pray honestly, prayer connects us with God, with those for whom we pray, with those we need to forgive, with those whose forgiveness we need, and with ourselves as we reveal to God the deepest longings of our hearts.  When open our hearts and make ourselves vulnerable to God, our hearts are changed.

          Lastly, Jesus gives us the treasure of fasting.  There are many ways to fast, all of which help us recognize our dependence on God and our connection with each other.  We may abstain from certain foods or practices, and that can be helpful.  But there are many other ways to fast.  I know of a church that posts a banner in front of the building that says “This Lent, keep the chocolate and give up bigotry, judgement, misogyny, hatred, bias, and divisiveness.”  That makes giving up chocolate look pretty easy!  Pope Francis suggests that if we want to fast this Lent, that we fast from hurting words and say kind words, or fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude, or fast from selfishness and be compassionate, or fast from words and be silent and listen.  Fasting forms our hearts as we are reminded of our dependence on God as we struggle to go without that from which we fast as we move away from actions that divide us and toward actions that bring wholeness and healing.

          “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  In First Thessalonians, from which we do not hear on Ash Wednesday although I wish we did, the apostle Paul writes “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances.  For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  Jesus puts it more succinctly today when he says “Do not look dismal.”  I believe that our Lenten practices can be rooted in joy-not necessarily happiness, but joy as we seek to find our true hearts in the treasures of Lent. 

                            

                                                                                                Amen.