Preached on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at the Church of the Holy Trinity on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Lectionary texts this homily is based on can be found by clicking here.
You can listen to this sermon on the parish website by clicking here.
You can listen to this sermon on the parish website by clicking here.
Today is perhaps the most ironic day in the Christian calendar. Our actions on this day are in direct contradiction to the gospel that we read on this day. Or so it might seem. The point of Jesus’s admonitions against public displays of piety have to do with, not so much the actions themselves, but with the intentionality inherent in those actions.
It is a great temptation to make a public display of one’s piety, one’s self-denial and good works. It is, after all, very rewarding to be admired for such actions. Jesus notes that those who make a show of their prayer, their fasting and their charity have already received their just reward. They are admired by others, and therein is there sole reward.
Jesus tells us, where our treasure is, there will be our heart also. What we value, the relationships we invest in are roadmaps of our hearts. If the destination you seek is a high place in the esteem of others, then your reward will be that, and only that. If the destination you seek is a deep place, somewhere near the bottom of your heart, a place of deep and profound intimacy with God, then you’ll disregard the esteem of others, and seek through your prayer and self-denial and charity a deeper relationship with God.
If the point, if the intention, of our prayer is communion with God, then in God will we find our truest heart, our deepest love, our treasure. If our acts of charity are meant to impress others, then our deepest desire is for the approval of other people, a shifting sand if ever there was one. To strive for God, to look for our hearts’ deepest desire within God is, is the reward of a holy Lent.
The prophet Joel tells us to ‘rend out hearts, not our clothing’. He’s referring to the custom of tearing one’s clothing as a sign of deep grief and distress. Again, an outward sign. But Joel tells us to rend our hearts, to tear them open.
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| Rend Your Heart © Jan L. Richardson |
A heart torn open is one in which all is exposed, every sin, every bad thought, every vanity, every harsh word. But a heart torn open is also one in which every hurt, every disappointment, every moment of doubt and fear is exposed, laid bare as well. When we rend our hearts we acknowledge those parts of our hearts in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. When we rend our hearts, we offer to god those parts of our hearts in need of God’s healing love.
Nothing found in a human heart torn open will be a surprise to God. And no sin or hurt therein is beyond God’s mercy or healing grace, no heart is beyond the redemption and salvation of God.
Rend your hearts, open up to God in the coming forty days. Seek God in the prayers of your hearts. Set aside unnecessary things so you can focus yourself on God. Serve others so as to honor God, seeing in those you serve the face of the living God.
Rend your hearts, and return to the Lord.
© The Rev. Mark R. Collins
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