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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The three Readings appointed for Ash Wednesday together sound themes of returning, reconciling, and being righteous. Under that heading, then, we will consider each of the readings in turn, beginning with the Old Testament Reading from the book of the prophet Joel, and noting especially his call for the people to return to the Lord their God.
The prophet Joel, son of Pethuel, likely lived in Judah and prophesied in Jerusalem. Precisely when he did so is debated, but the placement of his book in the Old Testament between those of Hosea and Amos may well indicate his working between those two men. Regardless, from the content of Joel’s prophecy as a whole, we can tell that the people of Judah and Jerusalem were increasingly unfaithful and were fooling themselves into thinking that the coming day of the Lord would bring judgment only to the other nations and that they themselves, no matter what, would receive deliverance and blessing. Joel tells them that their unfaithfulness would be punished, too, and that their restoration and blessing would come only after their repentance. As we heard, there was still time for God’s people to escape judgment by sincere repentance and mourning, for God is gracious and merciful, and so Joel continued to call for a solemn assembly consisting of people of all ages, likely even using ashes as a sign of their repentance.
As the people at the time of the prophet Joel thought, so Christian people of all ages in our time can think: that God will judge others, that God will deliver and bless them no matter what. They might normally distance themselves from their first parents’ fall into sin, thinking that since, after being made of the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7), they were the ones who ate of the tree of which God had commanded them not to eat (Genesis 3:11), so they will be the ones to return to the ground out of which they were taken (Genesis 3:19): earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Such Christian people forget the many ways they are like their first parents, both in the stuff of which they are made and in their disobedience of God. Even we, who are here for this solemn assembly consisting (or at least intended to consist) of people of all ages, are by nature no better. We individually are no better than any who are present here tonight, and we are no better than any who are not present here tonight. We who have received ashes are no better than any who have not received ashes. Apart from God, all people are disobedient and deserving of death now in time and the torment of hell for eternity. Twice in the last two days I had conversations with people in the community who thought that they might be too sinful for the Church. I told them how, generally speaking, we all by nature are equally sinful in God’s eyes, how Jesus came specifically to call sinners, how He associated with notorious sinners, and how He was criticized by the religious leaders of His day for that association. All people, unbelievers and believers alike, need to heed God’s call to repent like that spoken through the prophet Joel: Return to the Lord your God.
The prophet Joel’s call in tonight’s Old Testament Reading to return is not all that unlike St. Paul’s call in tonight’s Epistle Reading to reconcile (and, for that matter, St. Paul’s call to reconcile is not all that unlike Jesus’s call to be righteous, but we will get to that in turn). The prophet Joel and St. Paul were in the same Office of the Holy Ministry, and so they faithfully proclaimed both its message of law that shows us our sin (and so also our need to repent) and its message of Gospel that forgives our sin on account of the God‑man Jesus Christ, Who took our sin on Himself and to the cross, there suffering the separation from God that we deserve. On Christ’s behalf, St. Paul implored his hearers in Corinth—apparently suffering from some misunderstandings that he explained in the letter—he implored them: be reconciled to God. And St. Paul thereby also implores all of us: be reconciled to God. God made Christ Who knew no sin to be sin for them and for us, so that in Him we all might become the righteousness of God. We should not let God, Who hears our call for help, offer His grace in vain, but we receive it as He enables us to do. And, we do so now, for now is the favorable time; now is the day of salvation.
And, that grace, that favor, that salvation, comes to us now in the ways that God wills for it to come to us: through His Word in all its forms: in words of preaching and of individual Holy Absolution via the Office of the Holy Ministry, with water in Holy Baptism, and with bread and wine in Holy Communion. As those of us in our Midweek Bible Study were reminded last week in reading the Old Testament book of Numbers, the ashes of a red heifer, cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet yarn were combined with water for a cleansing from impurity that points forward to Holy Baptism (Numbers 19). As the author of the New Testament book of Hebrews says, if the sprinkling of the ashes of heifer purified a person’s flesh, then all the more the blood of Christ purifies a person’s conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:13-14). That blood of Christ is linked to the water of Holy Baptism, but that blood of Christ is really, physically present in Holy Communion. Here at this rail, with His body and blood, Jesus today associates with us notorious sinners, forgiving our sins and so giving us life and salvation. Here, those who return are reconciled and, here they are also made righteous—a righteousness that shows itself in practice, in how the righteous person lives.
In tonight’s Gospel Reading, Jesus warns His hearers not to practice their righteousness hypocritically, with the primary goal of having it be seen by other people, for, if they do, that “being seen” is the reward of such practice. Jesus gives examples of such hypocritical giving to the needy, hypocritical praying, and hypocritical fasting (eating little or no food for a period of time for religious reasons). Imagine if Jesus were giving examples today! His examples might well include hypocritically sharing pictures of yourself with ashes on your forehead via such things as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest (if you do not know what all those things are, ask a teenager). To be sure, Jesus does not prohibit all public giving to the needy, praying, fasting, or other such religious “discipline”, such as our receiving ashes or our observance of Lent in general. We give to the needy, pray, fast, and keep other such “disciplines” not hypocritically but sincerely, as we live each and every day with repentance and faith and so in the forgiveness of sins. As we so live, we forgive one another and live at peace with other notorious sinners—even prodigal and rebellious family members, drug users, those sexually indecent, thieves, liars, and those who are covetous and not content.
Ashes or not, we—who return, reconcile, and are righteous—as Jesus says, have treasure in heaven. Our bodies may first be committed to the ground—earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust—but they are so committed in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +