Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday 2014   (Matthew 6:1-6; 16-21)

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures on Earth…”

What do you treasure? What do you value?

During Lent, Our Heavenly Father invites all of us to consider this question. The Father sends the Holy Spirit to help us. The Holy Spirit directs our attention to the Son to form both the question and the answer.

One way to identify your treasure is by examining your priorities. Where do you place your time and attention? How do you respond or react to God’s priorities.

For example, Moses, the prophets and Jesus never condemn the rich for being rich. They do remind the wealthy that with money comes responsibility. In the long history of the Bible, most people most of the time did not think or act from the place of responsibility. They insisted on their individual right to assert their self-will in how they used their money, power and time.

The prophets teach something different. The prophets teach that the power to reject God’s standards, principles and priority does not confer a right. And, it does immerse the soul in rebellion, sin and death.

Jesus came to save us from rebellion, sin and death. He came to save us from the prideful assertion that the individual has the right to from his own values and set his own priorities.Jesus is the example of a life lived by the prayer: Heavenly Father, not my will but Thy will be done.

More than just an example, Jesus is the eternal pattern of love by which God the Father created us in the power of God the Holy Spirit.

God revealed the very essence of this pattern to Moses. God called the prophets to proclaim this pattern, God the Father sent God the Son to restore this pattern to each of us.

The Holy Spirit encourages us, advises us and helps us to make a responsible choice to reset our lives according to the pattern of love in Jesus Christ.

How you do this is less important than taking the first step to do this. Lent is the time in the Liturgical year to make that first step, or for some: the next step. Whatever discipline you choose to keep a holy Lent under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is indeed your choice. Fasting, prayer, Bible study, confession are all elements of keeping a holy Lent. They are instrumental for one great purpose.  That one great purpose is to restore the pattern of divine love to our souls.

Jesus invites us to accomplish that purpose by examining our values. What do you treasure in your life? Where do you direct your time and attention? How do those choices measure up against the original pattern of humanity as revealed in the life and teachings and real presence of Jesus Christ?