Ash Wed a Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Joel 2:12-19 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

You have heard the same thing all of your life. Do what’s right. Pray to God. Learn self control. All through your life, when you do what is right you get told “Good job.”  In fact you have complimented others when they have done a good job. It makes us feel good when we are complimented for doing what is right.

Jesus throws us a curve in our Gospel lesson, however. He tells you, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”  Jesus is not telling us to stop doing what is right. Worshipping God, doing good deeds and helping others is an important part of being a Christian. In fact, Jesus summarized the two tables of 10 Commandments by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”  And “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” “There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31

Jesus certainly wants you to continue doing good, but a good thing can be done for sinful reasons: therefore, Jesus warns against doing good things in order to draw attention to yourself-and then thinking that these good works earn favor with God. When you perform an act of kindness in order to receive thanks or appreciation, it's not really an act of charity; instead, you are giving money or time in order to get something in return. So what you do is not done to the glory of God, but to the glory of yourself. Jesus tells you that true charity is done unselfishly, drawing no attention to what you have done and not even hoping for appreciation or gratitude.

Let’s take a moment to reflect on His words.  When you do something good, do you do so hoping to receive thanks? When you perform some good work for others, and never receive thanks for it, are you satisfied knowing you did what was right or do you get upset that no one has noticed?  How do you feel when you do what is good and right in the eyes of God and hear only complaints about what you have done?  Does that make you want to stop doing good works?

But not doing good works is just as sinful as doing works for your own glory. You can never be completely sure that the work you do is done in a way that is free of sin and is God pleasing. Even your prayers can be sinful.

Prayer is how you talk to God. God loves to hear our prayers. But even Jesus warns that prayer can be misused. Prayer is an opportunity to give thanks to God and to make your requests known to Him. However, Jesus points out that some use prayer to draw attention to themselves and their own devoutness. They pray loudly in public places to demonstrate how dedicated they are to the Lord.  They pray flowery well worded prayers that are meant to impress those around them. And yet their prayers do not come from their heart and therefore are not directed to God. Prayers and deeds done to impress others make Christianity not about Christ, but about one's own dedication and commitment. It says, "Look at how great and religious I am!"

The same can be said about fasting. In Jesus' time, fasting was practiced as a form of self-discipline. It was a way to appreciate all that God graciously gives including food clothing and shelter.  Many would forego a meal or several meals and use the money saved to give to others who went hungry because they were poor. Again however, some would fast in order to draw attention to themselves.  Even in their own self denial, they were sure to let everyone know just how much they suffered.

But getting all of that attention only shows our suffering in not nearly as great of those whom we are suffering for.  When you pray to God, do you tell Him how much you have given up in order to attend worship? Do you think that God marks a little star by your name when you attend church?  Are you proud that because you have the resolve to avoid certain temptations that others fall into; that your sins are not as bad as theirs? Don’t you know that such pride is sinful?

The fact is that sin clings to everything we do. God knows that we are sinful and Jesus is pointing out that sometimes even the things that people do thinking they are pleasing to God are done with wrong motives.

But God does not want us to wait to do good things in this life until you can do them perfectly without sinful motives, because that’s not going to happen. Don’t wait to do what is good until you can do it without expecting thanks. Don't wait to pray and worship until you can do so free of sin, because that time will never come in this world. But know this, no one can ever stand before God and point to their good works, because all of our works are imperfect.

Jesus wants you to give up believing that what you do could in any way, be counted on to earn God's favor.  Rather Jesus wants you to rely completely on Him for your salvation. Your hope is in Jesus Christ, who does all things perfectly and without sin. Saint Paul tells you, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV) 

Our hope is in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. As we continue through these midweek Lenten services, we'll hear the account of His Passion and see the unselfish love He has for all of mankind. Even during His arrest, trial and execution, while His enemies are condemning Him, He is still performing acts of charity: healing and forgiving.

Clearly, these are true acts of charity, for He expects and receives nothing in return even as He hangs from the cross. He prays from His heart even during His Passion.  He prays that His Father would protect His disciples. He prays for you and me. He prays that His enemies might be forgiven. During His Passion, He displays great self-control: for although He could come down from the cross and save Himself, destroy His enemies, He submits to the pain of the cross to save you and me.

Therefore because our salvtion does not depend on anything we have done, we can be certain that we are saved through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. For that reason, we come to the Lord acknowledging our complete lack of anything to give, rejoicing that the Lord gives us His grace freely.

So we continue to do good works, worship, pray and repent of our sins for the sake of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross.

God uses our imperfect works of faith and charity to accomplish His purpose here on Earth as we live out our faith in Christ. This is the Good News that our Lord teaches. He preaches that Law to make sure you know your salvation lies apart from your works. Then He preaches His Gospel to fill you with grace, faith and eternal life. He fills your heart daily with the love of God and He fills it this night by His Word and Supper; and by these means of grace you may find the peace that only Jesus can give.  In Jesus Name, Amen.