Have a Happy Lent!

Brad Sullivan
Ash Wednesday, Year A
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 103
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21



Happy Lent, y’all. Today on Ash Wednesday, we begin the season of Lent, our time of fasting and preparation for Easter. One might call Lent a time of heightened religious observance when we are more intentional about our religious practices, and so as we begin our Lenten journey, hearing the passages from Isaiah and Matthew is very appropriate. Both passages speak proper religious observance, how properly to fast, to pray, to draw near to God.
First, in today’s lesson from Isaiah, the prophet seems to be speaking to a people who are very confused about religious observance. The people ask God: “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” The people think they are very devout in their religious observance, and they probably are. So why does God seem unimpressed? His answer is very direct. “Look,” he says, “you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.”
In short, the people had devout religious observance with little or no connection to the rest of their lives. They wanted God’s blessing and so they followed the religious rules and made the appropriate sacrifices, but then didn’t treat people very well in their work lives, or their home lives, or their public lives outside of the religious establishment.
This same disconnect between religious life and the rest of one’s life still exists today. People often say they can’t behave a certain way because they are in church. People often tell me they can’t tell a certain story or use a certain word because I’m there. “If the priest hears me, then I’m really in trouble.” Now, that we try to be on our best behavior at church isn’t really a bad thing, but there seems to be a feeling that God will really notice if I say or do the wrong thing here. Once I leave these walls, I’m ok.
Such a way of life reminds me of how many of us were as children, going to bed at night, would seek protection from our bed sheets. “The monsters can’t get me if I’m all covered up,” so we wrap ourselves up tight as children, keeping the monsters away. This works pretty well for kids especially since there aren’t really monsters, but for adults thinking, “I’m away from Church, God can’t see me now,” doesn’t really work.
God isn’t pleased if we follow all our religious practices within these walls, but then treat people badly once we leave. How do we treat people outside of church? I remember a scene from the TV show “Dirty, Sexy, Money”, a show I kinda like, where a priest, collar on and everything is cussing a guy out, shouting at him, threatening him, insulting him. Then as the priest turns to leave, the other gentleman asks, “Where are you going?” “I have to go do a Baptism,” the priest replies. There’s a disconnect there.
In order to get over some of the disconnect in our lives, our Youth Minister has given the youth group these purple wristbands from “A Compliant Free World.Org.” The idea behind these bands is to help people see just how often we complain, not just point out something wrong, but complain about it, and to help us stop complaining so much. We wear the band on our left wrist, and then, whenever we complain, we’re supposed to put the band on our right wrist, and then when we consciously don’t complain about something, we can put it back on our left. We’re supposed to go 21 days with it on our left wrist to help form the habit of not complaining. In a week and a half, I have so far gone…one consecutive day without complaining. There’s a disconnect there in how I want to behave and how I am behaving, between how I behave here and when I’m not here.
So, regarding our Lenten fasts this year, thinking about what we’re going to give up, try fasting from acting differently here than from anywhere else. “You mean I can cuss and fight in church now?” Yes, if you think it’s ok to cuss and fight anywhere else. The point is, this Lent (and then hopefully beyond Lent) try making all of your life a religious observance. Don’t think God can’t see or doesn’t care just because you’re not at church, just because you’ve got the bed sheets over you. They may protect kids from monsters, but they don’t stop God from seeing or caring about what we’re doing and how we’re acting. So, this Lent, fast from acting one way in church and another way everywhere else. Make all your life a religious observance.
Now this leads us to the passage from Matthew, which I will address briefly, in which Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them…” (Matthew 6:1a) The second clause of that sentence is a very important one: “in order to be seen by them.” Jesus didn’t say hide your religious observance to make sure no one sees you. Seeing someone’s religious observance can be one heck of a witness.
Jesus advised not to flaunt one’s religious practices in order to be seen and praised for them, but we needn’t hide all of our religious practices either. “I went to church on Sunday,” is a perfectly acceptable answer to the question, “What did you do this weekend?” The problem comes when you tell people about your faith life in order to show off or to make others think you’re a good person.
Thinking about why we pray is important this Lent especially because we’ve decided to observe Lent this year at Emmanuel by each one of us praying four times a day for two minutes each time, using these prayer cards, taken from the Book of Common Prayer. If we all stick to praying four times a day, some of us will likely be praying at work or in places where other people might observe us. Don’t be afraid to let other people know that you’re praying. Doing so could start up a conversation about God. God might use you to draw someone closer to him or to draw someone back to him.
We needn’t hide our prayer. Remember, all of our life should be a religious observance, so we shouldn’t hide our faith. The danger comes when we try to be seen in order to be praised. Don’t flaunt your prayer, but don’t hide it either. Take this Lent as an opportunity to get the rest of your life more in sync with your religious life. Pray these four times each day; don’t flaunt it, but if someone sees you, let them know why you’re praying. Think about how you treat others beyond these walls. Observe the kind of fast God asked for through Isaiah, and have a happy Lent. Amen.