Ash Wendesday Sermon

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me a spirit of despair, sloth, love of power, and idle talk. But give to me, your servant, a spirit of sober-mindedness, humility, patience, and love. Yes, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother or sister, since you are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen. (The Prayer of Saint Ephrem of Syria)

Isidore the Priest said, 'If you fast regularly, do not be inflated with pride, but if you think highly of yourself because of it, then you had better eat meat. It is better for a man to eat meat than to be inflated with pride and to glorify himself.'

As we journey these 40 days of Lent, St. Ephrem & Abba Isidore both encourage our faithful practices of Lent by praying, fasting and giving alms. In fasting, we are encouraged, to make it a true sacrifice to have meaning for our lives. To do it from our humble hearts, those two early saints would remind us.

But fasting too often in our society is seen as just dieting (it’s about the waist line) and it is not seen as a sacrifice. We do it for personal reasons and it has no meaning for others or God. And yet there is much more to fasting in a Christian context and I think of Robert Herrick’s poem of the 17th Century in thinking about fasting (printed in the bulletin):

Is this a fast, to keep
The larder lean ?
And clean
From fat of veals and sheep?

Is it to quit the dish
Of flesh, yet still
To fill
The platter high with fish?

Is it to fast an hour,
Or ragg’d to go,
Or show
A downcast look and sour?

No; ‘tis a fast to dole
Thy sheaf of wheat,
And meat,
Unto the hungry soul.

It is to fast from strife,
From old debate
And hate;
To circumcise thy life.

To show a heart grief-rent;
To starve thy sin,
Not bin;
And that’s to keep thy Lent.

Fasting is about circumcising our life and giving from our fast to the hungry souls in the world and what they need (food, encouragement, etc.). Fasting is useful if it leads us back to ourselves becoming more whole, more connected with our hearts to God and to our neighbors. Herrick’s poem reminds me of the last 2 verses of Psalm 51 we will read today:

Had you desired it, I would have offered sacrifice, but you take no delight in burnt-offerings.
The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

What God is really interested in, is our hearts, hearts that are grief-rent, broken and contrite because it is then, we can truly see our need for God and God’s love of us. When we are satisfied, when we make no sacrifices, when all is well and good and our platters are full then we have no need for God, and we have no need for others… But if we understand ourselves more deeply, knowing that indeed we are God’s beloved and we are also broken by sin then we know we need God and we need one another. Fasting can help us do this.

Bishop Jeremy Taylor said in the 17th Century, “All fasting is to be used with prudence and charity; for there is no end to which fasting serves but may be obtained by other instruments; and, therefore, it must at no hand be made an instrument of scruple; or become an enemy to our health; or be imposed upon persons that are sick or aged, or to whom it is, in any sense, uncharitable, such as are wearied travelers; or to whom, in the whole kind of it, it is useless such as are women with child, poor people, and little children.”

Fasting has its rightful place on our Lenten journey, to help us, to free us, but it is not an end itself and it certainly is not for everyone. Done right, fasting helps our hearts find our place again.

I think of Ann Weems poem on Lent (also found in the bulletin) that helps us explore this:

Lent is a time to take time to let the power

of our faith story take hold of us,

a time to let the events get up

and walk around in us,

a time to intensify our living unto Christ,

a time to hover over the thoughts of our hearts,

a time to place our feet in the streets of

Jerusalem or to walk along the sea and

listen to his Word,

a time to touch his robe

and feel the healing surge through us,

a time to ponder and a time to wonder….

Lent is a time to allow

a fresh new taste of God!

Perhaps we’re afraid to have time to think,

for thoughts come unbidden.

Perhaps we’re afraid to face our future

knowing our past.

Give us courage, O God,

to hear your Word

and to read our living into it.

Give us the trust to know we’re forgiven

and give us the faith to take up our lives and walk.

This holy season before us, asks us to fast from what is holding us back, to live more intensely unto Christ & allow a fresh new taste of God in our lives. May our practices: fasting, prayers, and what we charitably give away, reflect this; so that our journey to Easter begins today in our hearts. Amen.