Ash Wednesday

Transcripts are computer-generated and may not be 100% accurate.

Ash Wednesday has always been one of the most meaningful traditions to me in the liturgical calendar and for the past nine years of my ministry it's been my job to help middle school and high school students think more deeply about the Lenten journey and that's not always easy. I don't know why I did this to myself but in my previous church I got the bright idea that the youth group should be in charge of the Ash Wednesday service. And so every year I helped the teenagers pull off the service and honestly it became a tradition that they really took ownership of and everyone looked forward to it.

But one year we'd run low on ashes and so we added a little bit of oil to the bowl to make the ashes go further and I told them to use it sparingly because a little bit would go a long way. Well I don't know what a middle schooler's definition of sparingly is but they caked it on everybody's forehead. And when they got done, I looked out at the congregation and black goo was just running down everybody's face. It looked like we were on the set of a horror movie. But as I looked out at this row of teenagers with black ash all over their hands and a congregation behind them who just embraced that they had black goo running down their faces, there was an odd holiness to it. Because our theme that year was Jesus's temptation in the wilderness and everything we did in that service centered around the messiness of the human experience. And how Jesus didn't have victory because he escaped the messiness but because he stayed faithful in it.

And it just so happens that our scripture passage tonight is the temptation of Jesus in Matthew chapter 4. Well I don't want anyone to end up with black goo running down their face tonight. I do want you to have the reassurance that Jesus has been faithful in the wilderness. He has resisted the allure of empire and power and as we are tempted by the allures of empire and power today we too can resist by remaining faithful in the messiness as Christ did.

So Matthew chapter 4:1-11 says this:

"That Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights and afterward he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you and on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against the stone." And Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, do not put the Lord your God to the test."

Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and he said to him, "All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you Satan for it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve only him." Then the devil left him and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

This passage from Matthew has deep historical roots from the Old Testament and in order for us to understand the gravity of what Jesus is doing here there's a few things that I want us to know. Each of these temptations are temptations that the Israelites faced in the wilderness. After the Israelites escaped Egypt they were led into the desert where there were very little provisions but instead of trusting God to provide they complained, told God that it would have been better if they had just died back in Egypt and so God provided food from heaven for them. They get their fill of quail and manna and they start traveling again but it's not long before they get thirsty and they start yelling at Moses and claiming that he brought them out to the wilderness to die.

It seems like if God can provide quail and manna from heaven miraculously that the people would also trust God to give them water. So Moses tells them, “Don't put the Lord your God to the test,” which is apparently the wrong thing to say to a thirsty angry crowd because they're ready to throw stones at Moses, when God intervenes and tells Moses to strike a rock with his staff and water would flow from it for the people.

Unfortunately these miraculous provisions never seem to satisfy the people for very long. Moses leads the Israelites to Mount Sinai where they received the law but before Moses can even get down the mountain the people have already melted all the gold they had and turned it into a God to worship. And because of the people's repeated failure to trust that God would be with them and provide for them most of the Israelites including Moses never even make it to the promised land.

This history undergirds the temptations that Jesus faces, because at his baptism God declares “This is my son with whom I'm well pleased.” His baptism serves as a coronation service of sorts where God crowns him as the heir to the throne. He's the Messiah but the question remains what kind of Messiah will this be. We've seen this story play out already Israel as the children of God go into the wilderness for 40 years. They're tempted and they fail to trust God and now Jesus is in the wilderness for 40 days. He's fasted the entire time and he's famished and Satan shows up in Jesus's most desperate hour to tempt him. The difference is that Jesus doesn't fail. In this story we see Jesus resist power and empire at every turn to draw his strength from God alone. And the implications of Jesus's resistance for our lives is crucial to hear in these days that we find ourselves in.

In the first two temptations Satan probes at Jesus's identity. “If you are the son of God prove it.” Son of God was a title claimed by Caesar and Caesar had no problem flexing his power to show everyone who was in charge who had the divine favor but Jesus wasn't interested in making sure everyone thought he was God's son. Jesus was focused on his mission and so his question was never “Am I God's son?” but “What does it mean for me to be God's son? How do I live out my calling in the world?”

And Jesus chooses solidarity. When the devil tries to get Jesus to turn stones to bread he's essentially asking him what kind of king allows himself to go hungry? If you are God's Son then flex your power. But Jesus refuses to operate from his privilege. He would rather stand in solidarity with us than use his status to provide for himself and of course he knows that we need our daily bread to survive but he also trusts God enough to know that he doesn't have to compromise the value of God's kingdom in order to be provided for. He will not use his privilege for his own gain and he will not allow his need to change his convictions.

And so the devil takes him to the highest point of the temple and tells him to jump because if he's really God's son surely God will rescue him if he falls. I mean Jesus does plenty of miracles during his ministry but the kingdom is not about flashy displays to garner attention. It's about faithfulness in the face of the powers that work in this world. When Jesus does a miracle it's always a demonstration of the values of the kingdom. It's never self-seeking and it's never meant to show God acting arbitrarily like saving Jesus from falling from the temple. Satan is unable to make Jesus question his identity enough to even wonder whether God would provide for him and protect him. And so Satan offers Jesus a kind of empirical power that would be hard for anyone to refuse. Just like other empires, Rome functioned as a hierarchy of power with the most privileged controlling the resources while keeping the vulnerable at the bottom.

This is what Satan is offering Jesus. If you say yes to me I can take you straight to the top where you can maintain power over the systems in place instead of being subject to them. Just worship me and I will give you the world. Satan needs worship so that he can consolidate power and fill in control even though he is not. That's a desire that comes from a place of insecurity. And so Jesus rejects that offer and tells Satan to go away because he hasn't come to rule over any kingdom that Satan could offer. He's come to usher in the kingdom of God.

When someone or something demands your loyalty and the motivator behind that demand is fear, insecurity, and a thirst for power, I promise you it will not end well if that's where you choose to align yourself because that path will lead you to compromise yourself over and over again until there is nothing left and that is not God's way. The kingdom of God will not ask you to walk in fear but in love. Insecurity will never be a motivator for you to align with the kingdom but rather God will seek to grow your confidence in him and power in and of itself will never be an end. Power will always be a means towards abundant life for all of us.

I am a Christian and not something else because when I meet God one day, I hope God is like the Jesus that we meet here in the Gospels. Not some power-hungry monster that demands to be worshiped but a loving and humble creator who uses his power to stand in solidarity with his creation. I believe that God wants to build the kingdom together with us. I believe that God wants to grow something meaningful in this world that's grounded in love and that will never happen if we are all individually grasping for our own power.

The temptation to grasp for power and compromise on our values is just as strong now as it ever was. Empire will ask you to settle for the broken state of things in exchange for personal gain but we must resist that urge. We must continue choosing the way of God's kingdom. We are God's children, citizens of the kingdom and that identity will be brought into question over and over again throughout our lives. But as people of faith who are following the ways of Jesus, the question that we should really linger on isn't if we are children of God but who we are going to be as children of God.

For example, it's so tempting to thank God for the blessings we have and then hoard those resources for ourselves when in reality we must stand in solidarity with our neighbors and share our daily bread. People who are secure in their God-given identity will never need to prove it by how many blessings they have. But that identity will be evident in the confidence we have to share our daily bread with a neighbor. The same is true with our faithfulness in the face of difficulty. Empire will always demand a flex of strength, a sign of power. But for the follower of Jesus, power is found in faithfulness to the kingdom of God, not self-serving miracles.

The temptation to associate ourselves with power will always be a strong one, especially when the empires of this world abuse their power. But the way of Jesus is to remain faithful. If we fall into that same thirst to show off power and influence, we inevitably end up using the tactics of empire, violence, manipulation, domination—tactics that are self-seeking, always craving more power and more authority. That's why Satan offers Jesus the world in exchange for his worship. If he can just get Jesus to forfeit his identity as Son of God, if he can just get Jesus to forsake the values of the kingdom for his own selfish gain, the power will rest in the hands of the tempter.

I am so glad that Jesus overcame in the wilderness. Because he refused to turn the stones to bread, he went on to feed thousands with just a few loaves and taught the disciples to pray for their daily bread. Because he refused to throw himself from the temple and prove God's protection, he was able to endure the cross and the taunts of the naysayers around him. And because he turned out Satan's offer of the world's kingdoms, he was able to offer the kingdom of God to the world.

We are living in challenging times, where the same offer is on the table for us as it was for Jesus. If you will just forfeit your identity a little bit, if you will just cave on your values for your own benefit, the world can be yours for the low, low price of every good thing God created you for. So as tempting as empire and power are, we must resist it. And thankfully we have a Messiah who has shown us the way.

We're about to move into a time of response that will come in three parts: communion, the imposition of ashes, and reflection. And tonight as you receive the body and the blood of Christ, I want you to take in those elements as an act of resistance. His body and blood serve as that reminder tonight that even in the wilderness God is providing and protecting because God is the authority over life and death.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread, broke it, and said, "This is my body given for you. Take and eat in remembrance of me." In the same way, he took the cup and said, "This is the blood of my new covenant poured out for you. As often as you drink of it, remember me." I want you to take a moment to pause this recording and gather the supplies that you have available for communion. A cracker and juice would be just fine, whatever you have on hand.

And then you'll also need something for the imposition of ashes as well. And that could be black paint, coffee grounds, or even dirt from a household plant. So pause this recording, gather your supplies, and then I'll give you instructions when you return.

Over the next few minutes, as Hannah leads us in a song, gather with those around you and share in communion. As you take in the bread, hear these words, "The body of Christ given for you." As you take in the juice, hear these words, "The blood of Christ shed for you." After communion, you'll take your ash, you'll make the sign of the cross on the forehead of yourself or a person with you, and you'll hear these words, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

Let this cross serve as a reminder to you that, yes, we are only humans made of dust, and we will certainly be tempted by the ways of power and empire, but we are also marked as beloved children of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. But we can resist, we can overcome. And then with the remaining time of the song, take a moment to reflect in prayer. Whether that be a time of gratitude for God's protection and provision, or whether it be a time to mourn and seek forgiveness for the ways that power and empire have taken root in your life, let that moment be whatever it needs to be for you.

[Hannah sings “Beautiful Things” by Gungor]