CAMINANDO WITH JESUS: Apostles to Go

Ash Wednesday

By the Rt. Rev. Sam Rodman

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“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. 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. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But 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. 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. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

- Matthew 6:1-6, 6:16-21

Ash Wednesday marks the invitation to a Holy Lent. And the gospel from Matthew reminds us the season is observed by time-honored practices such as prayer, fasting and alms giving. Jesus cautions us not to go public with these disciplines, lest they become self-serving. Instead we should pray, fast or give in secret. The intention of these practices is to draw us closer to God, not to impress other people.
 
I want to honor the deep teaching Jesus is offering here. The invitation to a Holy Lent is an invitation to open ourselves to disciplines that help us see the reality that God is nearer than we sometimes recognize, nearer even than our own hands and feet.
 
There is a message here also about humility. True humility comes not from thinking less of ourselves. Humility is actually not thinking of ourselves at all. True humility is born of a deeper recognition of God’s presence, God’s nearness, the gift of God’s enveloping love. Such an awareness leaves us feeling humbled by God’s love for us.
 
This awareness also brings some form of regret, because in the nearness of God, we also experience an awareness of the difference between who we are, at any given moment on the journey, and who we are called to be. This is not a shaming, but it does make us vulnerable. As Bishop George Council used to put it, it is the recognition that “God loves us just exactly the way we are, and God loves us enough not to leave us exactly the way we are.” We call this regret repentance. And the ashes, on Ash Wednesday, are a sign of this repentance.
 
But isn’t wearing ashes on our forehead on Ash Wednesday a way of displaying our piety, a way of going public, as it were? And to carry the question further, what about the practice of “Ashes to Go,” which in more recent years has become a way the Church has tried to take the message of the gift of repentance to the streets?
 
How do we make sense of these practices in light of Jesus’ teaching to keep our spiritual practices to ourselves?
 
One possibility is to return our focus to the presence of God and to the invitation of self-examination at the heart of this season. When we leave the ashes on our foreheads after the service, we become a reminder of God’s presence and a sign of repentance and the promise of God’s love and forgiveness. Ashes are a sign of vulnerability. Jesus’ teaching was to guard against turning signs of vulnerability into badges of holiness.
 
And what of “Ashes to Go”? In this day and age, I believe we all need reminders of God’s love for us, of our vulnerability, of the call to holiness and of the ways we fall short.
 
“Ashes to Go” makes available, accessible, to many, this ancient sign, this gospel teaching, and the promise of God’s love, that we are not alone in our vulnerability.
 
For me this an extension and invitation: an invitation of the Way of Love, an extension of beloved community. It is a reaching out to our brothers and sisters to make a connection between their journey and the way of Jesus.
 
In this sense, “Ashes to Go” can be a visible symbol of the gospel promise and the power of repentance offered as an expression of the mission of the Church. We are called to be disciples who make a difference. We are also called to be apostles sent to meet the people where they are, with the gift of Jesus’ gospel of love. We are not displaying our piety, but sharing our vulnerability.
 
This Lent, let us remember the path to holiness, the Way of Love, is a journey of humility and vulnerability, a journey of self-examination and self- awareness, a journey of regret, repentance, healing and hope.

Let us consider the invitation to a Holy Lent as an invitation to be not only disciples making a difference, but “apostles to go,” called out into the world to share the promises of Jesus, the gift of God’s ever-present love and our own vulnerability as beloved children of God.

The Rt. Rev. Sam Rodman is the XII Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina.