Sermon Notes: Ash Wednesday I still remember the first Ash Wednesday sermon I ever heard. (I know, funny, most sermons aren t that memorable.) 1 I remember my first Ash Wednesday. I grew up moving from church to church - my parents were like that, and although they were very devout Christians, my family didn t keep the church year. So I didn t know about fasting days and seasons of reflection, which were regularly scheduled. Anyway, I was about thirty and I d been going to an Episcopal church for a while and so one year I decided to go see what these weekday holy services were all about. The priest stood up and said said that although many of us grew up giving something up for Lent, that was kind of negative. 2 Although we all grew up fasting, before taking communion, and also on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. But fasting was hard on the body. So he suggested that we consider adding a practice. How about daily prayer. Or reading a Lenten devotional book. Or joining a study group. Yes. You all know that sermon. And it turns out, it s a pretty typical Ash Wednesday reflection. 1 Notes from a sermon given on Ash Wednesday, 2015, by the Rev. Dr. Paula Harris at St Luke s Episcopal Church, Madison, WI. 2 I m not sure it would be helpful to name the priest or parish, but the date was in the early 90s.
2 Maybe I remember it because I ve heard it more than once. Or maybe, because it was so new to me. I grew up thinking that daily prayer was the basic practice of the Christian life, and if you added something, maybe it would be Bible reading. And sometimes I d be very faithful at that, and other times let s say less regular in my prayer life, and then there were days when I was more gracious with myself about how regular my spiritual practices were. or less gracious All Christians occasionally struggle with their prayers -And in the times when I was praying extemporaneously, I would come to times when I struggled with what words to use, or with an excessive focus on myself and the people I know, and their problems -And so I d pray with a book, and my prayers were certainly more steady and broader - my own concerns took their place with gratitude and the grandeur and beauty of God, the praise of God, but I occasionally felt less emotional resonance, or connection, and needed to cultivate patience with my heart. Emotions aren t prayer. -But with a book, I confess to getting bored and a new liturgy would help -And when I was praying in silence, centering prayer, or meditation, or some kind of silence, things would come up that I needed help interpreting and so I took a spiritual guide, some decades ago. All Christians occasionally struggle with their prayers and so the priest was right, my first Ash Wednesday, to invite the community again, to return to a daily practice of prayer. But you know, I m not so sure about what he said about fasting. Imagine, you re in a very noisy restaurant. You have loud neighbors at the next table.
3 A kind of music is on. (Reminds me of Crema, I love it but it s always loud, and sometimes I don t particularly like the music.) There s an open kitchen, and you can hear the pots and pans and back of house staff shouting. A counter nearby, where the front of house is taking orders and calling out whose take out is ready. IF you are trying to hear your guest s soft voice would you add a sound? Imagine, you ve been eating and drinking too much. Anybody relate? Yes, so, first it was Thanksgiving with one side of the family and then the other side. and leftovers four types of pie don t get eaten in an evening. And then Christmas Eve, and Christmas, ham and turkey and stuffing and sweet potatoes, and vegetables with sauces and special bread rolls I forgot the sweet rolls in the morning on Christmas, with the omelet. And New Years holiday after holiday after holiday. Christmas cookies and Valentines cookies. And some how eating and drinking what was available and abundant, has become too much, and my waistband is tight. We know the solution. Unfortunately. Let me give you a third metaphor. A gardener went to plant his vegetable garden. (Not this time of year.) He planted tomatoes and greens and turnips. Turnips sounded good in winter soups. and carrots and lettuce and herbs, and tomatillos to go with the cilantro. Yes.
4 And first he prepared the soil, very carefully. He wouldn t be like the gardener Jesus talked about, throwing seeds on the path where birds could eat them, and seeds on the rocky soil. 3 No, he carefully turned the soil, dug out last year s weeds, piled up the rocks pulled the weeds, which Jesus said were the cares of this life dug them out and piled the rocks up on the path, to walk on. and the gardener added organic compost to enrich the soil and finally, planted his seeds. I told you what he wanted to grow. and during the hot weather (couldn t get much father than that now) but during the hot weather, the gardener made sure he was very steady, very faithful about getting his seeds the water they needed. and soon enough they sprouted healthy plants, first a tip, and then an inch, and before you knew it lively healthy plants. Unbelievable, that you could just plant seeds, and all this wonderful stuff would just come up, with a bit of sun, and water, and good soil. The gardener knew he knew, that at a certain point, he needed to prune back the tomatoes. to yank out, some of the dill and mint to thin the carrots and turnips. But he just couldn t bring himself to do it. They were good plants. Perhaps the carrots and turnips and potatoes would grow anyway, sheltered by their neighbors. When it came time for the harvest, the gardener went out, to dig up his sweet organic carrots and there weren t any. the plants only grew greens! 3 Matthew 13, parable of the sower.
5 Carrot greens and turnip greens. Because he didn t thin the plants, and throw some into the compost heap, he only grew greens, not vegetables. 4 Growing takes space. Time. Cultivating a spiritual life is as much about what we will not do, as it is about what we will do. Jesus said, if your enemy compels you to walk a mile, give him two. Whoever has two coats, give one way. To the rich young ruler, who kept all the commandments, Jesus said, one thing you lack, sell what you own, and give to the poor. Cultivating a spiritual life takes discernment. Am I in a season, where I lack daily practices? Do I have a regular habit of daily prayer? Do I read the Bible? Do I talk about my faith with people who can help me keep my commitments? These are things we can add, if we lack them. In that way, the old priest was right. It s terribly hard to be a Christian, without these basic habits. Lent can help. But in another way, I think he was wrong. Fasting may be old fashioned. But it s a bit like thinning the garden. 4 This parable of thinning (familiar to any gardener) is taken from Wayne Muller s Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal and Delight in our Busy Lives, 184-5.
6 We also live in a time where so many seeds have sprouted, there is so much growing and going on around us, that our spiritual lives fight for sun and air and water. We live in a time which is noisy, the news and the text messages and things said on Facebook and things to read and hear and see. In a noisy time, the question to ask is what to stop doing. What to turn off. We live in a time, where we overeat. We eat too much and drink too much. I am speaking for myself. And so this Lent, I invite you to consider what you can let go of. The smallest thing. One less TV show. A book, returned to the library unread. A bedtime snack. One commitment on your calendar. Growing things take time. Souls, particularly. Link to our Facebook page to comment on sermon