Regularly Scheduled Maintenance - Ash Wednesday
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
February 14, 2024
Today’s Gospel lesson reminds us of
the importance of treasure. When
I got married in December of 1988, I received two treasures. The most important one was of course my dear
wife Linda, who remains my wife 35 years later. The other treasure was much less obvious. It was an old steel blue Plymouth Horizon
Linda brought with her into our marriage.
There was no doubt then or now
about Linda being a true treasure. But
even on its best day, factory fresh from the showroom, it’s debatable whether
that Plymouth Horizon was a treasure. By
the time Linda’s parents gave it to us, it was already worn out. But I’d never owned a car before, and so to
me that old Horizon represented the freedom and independence I longed to
experience at that stage of life.
I was convinced that I was carefully
tending my treasure of a car. I kept it
full of gas and even knew how to add windshield washer fluid. But my illusion of responsible car ownership
was completely punctured one morning in my in-laws’ kitchen when my
father-in-law, Dave, casually asked when I had last changed the car’s oil. My eyes got big and I became
uncharacteristically quiet. So he
pressed on. “You do know you have
to change the oil, right?” At
this part I started to stammer. “Oil? You mean oil in the
car? Um, yes, cars have oil, don’t
they…”
It was clear that I didn’t know
what I was talking about and that I had never in fact arranged for the
car’s oil to be changed since it came into our possession. And so for the next ten minutes I received a
lecture on the importance of changing the car’s oil on a regular basis, because
if I didn’t, the engine would suffer catastrophic damage.
Sensing this was a critically
important teaching moment, Dave then went on to quiz me about the brakes. I admitted that lately I had to press really,
really hard on the brake pedal to get the car to stop, and when I was on a
downslope it was an open question whether it really would stop. That earned me another on-the-spot tutorial
about the life-saving importance of car brakes and how the pads wear out. Needless to say, after that weekend, I found
a good mechanic.
Ever since then, I’ve been very attentive – and perhaps even a little fanatical – about making sure my cars are
regularly serviced. At the time, that
conversation with my father-in-law was more than a little embarrassing, but I’m
glad he cared enough to ask about our car’s condition, because a poorly
maintained car will not be a treasure for long. Even more importantly, a poorly maintained car puts the health and
wellbeing of everyone on the road at risk. You’ve got to take care of your treasures.
Everything I’ve just said about
cars could be said about our bodies, because they too are treasures. We only get one body in this life, and if we
don’t take care of ourselves with nutritious food, good rest, and regular
check-ups, both the length and quality of our lives will be diminished. Sometimes that means a doctor’s going to
lecture you about your health, just like the lecture I got from my
father-in-law about car maintenance. But
it’s worth it. You’ve got to take care of your body. You’ve got to take care of all your
treasures.
Of course, there’s a treasure even
more priceless than the most expensive automobile in the world, and a treasure
even more valuable than your health. That
treasure is your soul. The season of
Lent is our annual opportunity to assess how well we are caring for that
treasure. How well are you doing in
tending your spiritual wellbeing?
Our Gospel lesson lays out three
time-tested ways to assess how you’re doing. Think of them like the warning lights on your car’s dashboard. They are the traditional Lenten disciplines
of giving alms, praying, and fasting. (1) Giving alms: how generous are you in your giving to the poor and to
the ministries of the church? (2)
Praying: how often do you pray as an individual, and how regularly do you
gather with your church for worship? (3)
Finally, fasting. Unlike some Christian
denominations, like Roman Catholics who forego meat on Fridays or the Eastern
Orthodox who designate various days and seasons for abstaining from certain
foods or ingredients, we Lutherans tend to eat and do whatever we want whenever we want. Jesus doesn’t love us any less because of that, but I wonder if our tendency to overindulge our every
appetite and desire dulls our ability to love Jesus.
After all, when you read both
Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospels, the first message Jesus delivered during his
ministry was not to sing the old Billy Joel song, “I love you just the way you
are.” He told us to “repent.” It’s the most loving thing he could possibly
say. It’s a reminder that we humans
easily get sidetracked. We invest our
time and our money into worldly treasures that won’t last, and we neglect our
true treasures – our souls, the Kingdom of Heaven, and our relationship with
Christ.
Now look, you probably feel as
uncomfortable right now as I did all those years ago when my father-in-law told
me some hard truths about taking care of my car. But he delivered that message out of love,
because he cared about me and Linda and our wellbeing. It’s that very same spirit of love that now compels
me to speak directly and plainly to you.
Friends, we all know that in the
world today, faith in Christ is about as low as it’s been in a very long
time. That was the case prior to
the COVID pandemic, but COVID accelerated all of these dangerous trends. Across all denominational and ideological
lines, people are praying less, giving less, and attending worship less. Look, I know this won’t be popular, but
worship is more important than any sports game, school event, or just about any
other occasion you can think of. And
I’ll say it again: of course Jesus loves us. Eternally and unconditionally. But he wasn’t going to force me to take my car to a mechanic, and he’s
not going to drag you into either a church or heaven if you don’t want to be
there.
But what he has done is give us
this remarkable day of Ash Wednesday and this amazing season of Lent as a
chance to honestly take stock of our lives. We, just like our worldly treasures, are nothing but dust. Here today, and gone tomorrow. Yet despite this, Christ considers you the
absolute most beloved thing in the entire universe. It pains him to see us spiritually limping
along like cars with engines about to fall apart. It’s not that he needs our praise or
attention. Rather, he knows us better
than we know ourselves, and so he knows how much we need to be close to him.
Jesus calls us to give generously because a heart that gives is a spiritually healthy and
alive heart. Jesus calls us to pray because a heart that prays is a
heart that beats with the spirit of Christ himself, and that’s a heart that’ll
beat forever. And Jesus calls us to fast – to, in other words, live sacrificially and not indulgently, because that sort of simple, humble life will keep
us focused on the treasures that really matter – heavenly treasures – and not get obsessed with treasures moths and rust consume.
And so friends the season of Lent
begins. It’s a blessed opportunity for
us to tend our true treasures and course-correct as needed. I know it isn’t easy. But when it gets difficult, don’t
despair. You aren’t alone. Your Lord is with you as you strive and
struggle. He never leaves your side,
because you are his greatest treasure. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Gospel
Lesson: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
[Jesus said to the disciples,] 1 "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.
2 "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. 3 But
when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is
doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father
who sees in secret will reward you.
5 "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. 6 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.
16 "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. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your
head and wash your face, 18 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.
19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rustconsume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes
and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Copyright Rev. Scott E. Schul, 2024 All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
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