An Ash Wednesday Meditation - Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Piety is simply the way in which we display our faith, the outward sign, one might say. Some people make the sign of the cross during the absolution of sins. Others light a candle after communion. Some people wear cross necklaces while others wear full monastic habits. Piety is personal. To each their own. Piety does not encompass the full life of faith, nor does piety replace it. Christ warns us that piety without the accompanying inner life of faith is spiritually dangerous.

We practice our piety constantly in myriad ways, sometimes intentionally and other times not. These signs of our faith can include anything from saying “bless you” after a sneeze to wearing a smudge of ashes across the forehead. Practices of piety help to anchor our spiritual journey and incorporate our faith into the rest of our lives. Piety permeates our existence. In Lent, we are called to slow down, to listen, and to still ourselves before God. And we do this not by hiding our piety, but by narrowing it and focusing on three spiritual acts: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. 

So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Almsgiving is about giving out of our own bounty and it is about helping those in need. In Lent, we let go of our excess and are intentional about lending aid where we can. We don’t give alms in order to boast or be praised. We do not give alms with concern about the outcome at all. We give in order to be givers. We help so that others may be helped. 

And whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Prayer is not limited to corporate worship. It is not limited to pre-written, eloquent litanies. It is not limited to desperate cries for help. Prayer is any and all ways in which we engage with our Creator. When we are fully present in our bodies during physical exertion or meditation, we are in prayer. 

When we express our emotions to God, our desires, our anger, our fear, our confusion, with words or in silence, we are in prayer. When we unexpectedly remember for just a moment in the middle of the day that God is with us, we are in prayer. 

And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. Fasting is not merely about food. Fasting is about learning that the things we thought we needed to thrive in the world are, in fact, unnecessary in the face of God’s love. Fasting reorients our desires away from the physical and towards the spiritual. We can learn a lot about God when we stop focusing on where to go for dinner and start focusing on listening to God in silence. We can learn a lot about God when we stop focusing on a lot of things: deadlines, headlines, and screens.

Often, we build our faith by integrating ideas and practices from all aspects of our lives. But in Lent, the road narrows so that we can see the wideness of God’s mercy. We slow down the pace of consumption, we stop moving so incessantly, we quiet the noise. We give our attention and intention to almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, and thereby still ourselves before God, in a place where we can hear God’s word and see God’s movement. God is present in stillness, in silence, and in relationship with the least of these. This is where we’ll find God during Lent. 

We have the rest of our lives to find new and creative practices of personal piety, to look for God in the created order, to have new and surprising experiences of God in unlikely places. But in Lent, we turn ourselves directly towards the place where God has promised to wait, in almsgiving, prayer and fasting. And we do this not for simply for the sake of self-denial, but in order to create space for God to draw near. This season of walking toward the Cross is a life-giving treasure for us all, so we will walk it together faithfully, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Amen.