5 March 2014
Text: Matt 6:1-6, 16-21 (Joel 2:12-19, 2 Pet 1:2-11)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
Our
Lord Jesus Christ warns us: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.” In this regard, we Americans are
worse off than people living in third world countries. We citizens of the United States are at risk
in ways that do not affect much of the rest of the world. They struggle with their want, while we
struggle with our abundance. Even in
times of economic distress, of inflation and unemployment, we still have one of
the highest standards of living on the planet.
And
that is our greatest danger.
For
where is our treasure? Where do we
invest our precious time and our hard-earned money? Do we give sacrificially of our first-fruits
to the church for the ongoing mission of this outpost of the Gospel, or do we
spend more time and money on entertainment and luxuries? For this is our greatest temptation, dear
friends. When Jesus says that it is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to
enter heaven, he is talking about us.
Every person in this sanctuary lives like a king even compared to the
richest people on the planet a century ago.
We have running water. We have
heat and air conditioning. We have
indoor plumbing. We have television and
computers and cell phones and cars and spare time to take up hobbies and sports
and extracurricular activities. We go on
vacations. We eat, drink, and are merry.
And
again that is our weakness. That is
where Satan attacks us.
Our
Lord says: “When you give to the needy...”
He is not talking about once a year writing a check for twenty
bucks. He means that giving to the poor
is an ongoing way of life for His people.
Charity is not something to be done at special times of the year, while
tooting our own horn about it. Rather,
it is as natural to the Christian life as breathing, sleeping, and eating, and
we certainly don’t call attention to doing those things.
Is
this how you live, dear brother or sister?
Do you regularly commit to support of the needy? Could you do more? Or does greed get in our way?
“For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Our
Lord says: “When you pray...” He is not
talking about once a week (or once a month, or twice a year) in church. He does not mean every few years when we have
a brush with an accident or a health scare.
He means daily and continuously.
Fathers, are you leading your families in prayer? Mothers, are you teaching your little ones
the prayers of the church? Parents, are
you making sure your children are at Divine Service week in and week out, as
well as at Sunday School? Or are other
things more important?
Again,
prayer to the life of the Christian is like breathing is to any organism. When you stop doing it, you are dying, minute
by minute, cell by cell. Prayer connects
you to the Lord, the Giver of life. Prayer
binds you in communion with your Master and Creator. Prayer unites you with your Savior and
Redeemer.
“For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Our
Lord says: “When you fast…” Many
Lutherans actually brag about how they don’t fast, and ridicule those who
do. But our Lord says: “When you fast…” He doesn’t set out a complicated schedule of
when you can’t eat meat, or drink milk, or eat eggs. There is no absolute prohibition against
eating meat on Fridays. But our Lord
says: “When you fast…” To give up meat
(or dessert, or facebook, or any other pleasurable thing) on Friday is a
reminder of the Lord’s cross, of Good Friday.
He does, after all, invite us to “take up your cross and follow
me.” If we can’t even turn down a
helping of tiramisu or a t-bone as a discipline, what kind of disciples are we,
dear friends?
Our
Lord says: “When you fast…” And again, He
says: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
And
this, dear friends, is why we have ashes on this first day of Lent. It is not to show your neighbors and friends
how pious you are, but rather to confess how sinful you are. You are marked with the death that you
deserve. “For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.”
Remember, O man, you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
But
remember, O man, that the ashes are stuck to your forehead with oil, which we
use to bless the newly baptized, which we use to anoint those who are confirmed
into the faith. The name “Christ” means
“the anointed one.” The oil that binds
the ashes to you is the anointing of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the
one and only one who died but never even began to return to dust. For His treasure is in pleasing His
Father. And that is where His heart –
pierced by the Roman spear and exuding blood and water – is also.
And
remember, O man, that the ashes are stuck to your forehead in the form of the
holy cross, the sign traced both upon your forehead and over your heart when
you were baptized into Christ unto your redemption and salvation. For though the cross is a symbol of death and
suffering, the Lord Jesus Christ bore our cross, suffered our passion, and died
our death to pay for our sins and to deliver eternal life, forgiveness, and
everlasting righteousness and blessedness to us. He has transformed the cross into a symbol of
life and fulfillment.
And
so, dear brothers and sisters, take this body of death that has been corrupted
by sin, imposed with the dust to which you will return because of sin, and
remember, O man, that Jesus went to that cross, that Jesus, who was anointed
Messiah and Savior of the whole world, has died for you.
It
is in His name that we ponder our own sinfulness and are called to repent and
turn away from the evil one, to change our hearts and minds to reorient them
away from the broad way that leads to death, and to place them firmly on the narrow
way of life.
Let
us treasure the Word of God and the preaching of the Gospel! Let us treasure every opportunity to be in
His presence and to be in fleshly communion with Him! Let us treasure the chance to be called to
repentance. Let us treasure every moment
the Lord grants us to serve Him in His kingdom.
And let us treasure His gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation.
For
our Lord Jesus Christ promises us: “Where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.” Amen.
In the name of the
Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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