Silent Trumpets and Secret Hands

Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21

 Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent. During this time, Christians prepare for Easter by fasting, repentance and observance of spiritual discipline. The period reminds us of the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness just before beginning his ministry. We try to identify with the fasting and preparation of our Savior in the desert. We do so knowing that while his temptation was a tremendous ordeal, it paled in comparison to that which awaited him on the cross.

In the season of Lent, we spiritually relive the sacrifices of Jesus that helped to prepare him for what would follow. We impose ashes on our foreheads as a sign of our repentance. While we are taught to pray in private and without seeking the approval of men, we now publicly acknowledge our desire to be forgiven for our part in that which made his sacrifice inevitable. We remove the flowers and adornments from our church buildings and we stand with our ashes marking us, for God has come into our midst to pay the price we could never hope to pay, to bridge the unbridgeable gap between Savior and saved.

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is instructing his disciples. They are his followers. When he is gone, it is they who will spread the gospel. Christianity will rest on the shoulders of a few fisherman, a tax collector, a zealot and a few more unlikelys. Jesus tells them to give to the needy, but to do so in secret. The giving is to be without fanfare. The hypocrites sound trumpets in order to be noticed. Jesus wants the disciples to be noticed only by God. Even their own hands should not know what each other is doing. Then Jesus gives them instructions on fasting. Fasting was something they understood. It was a way of preparing, of showing repentance. Jesus told them to disguise their actions, to look normal and well fed by all outward appearances. Again, their actions were to be private communications, tender obediences between them and the Lord. Jesus was preparing his followers for true discipleship.

Worship is more than ritual, fasting more than form. The appearance of humility inside this sanctuary impresses little if thrown aside like a cloak once we leave. We must act our testimony and not just ritualize it. We must do so to the tune of silent trumpets. If our prayers are to be heard by our heavenly Father, they must arrive on the wings of our witness. Our testimony must be real and transparent. If our worship is relegated to sanctuaries and church pews, then our daily life is not worship and we are not righteous. Our true worship is that we act as God’s people. In this new season of Lent, we are again presented with the opportunity to repent and the obligation to witness.  On our way to Easter, may we find that true character reserved for each us by our Creator. Let our hearts become more pure, our hands more busy as we lay up treasure in heaven…in Jesus’ name.

Let us pray.

2/22/12, Rev. 2/13/13, Rev. 3/2/14