 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
“Remember that You are Dust”
The Reverend Alice Marcrum
March 1, 2006
|
Most Ash Wednesdays, I preach about the importance of fasting and spiritual discipline, but today the Lord has laid something else upon my heart. It is not that repentance isn’t important, because ‘unless we repent we will likewise perish’. It is that the Giver of life is often overlooked during this time in which we are supposedly trying to draw closer to the Lord.
Too many times, Lent becomes almost competitive. It seems like whoever can keep their vows of our fast the longest or even better until Easter - wins. While competition is important, as most vividly seen in the recent Olympic Games; it is the spirit of the fast that pleases God.
In the New Testament, Jesus was continually pointing out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, including their fasting. In fact, He did not have anything good to say about the manner of their fasting. Instead, Jesus warns us in the scriptures to not be like the Pharisees.
Now the Pharisees were looked upon by the people of those times as the most holy of men. They were held in high regard for their spiritual disciplines. Many a Jewish mother probably hoped that her son would grow up to be a Pharisee, because of the great respect they were given in society.
Yet, Jesus admonishes His followers to be secretive about several spiritual disciplines. These disciplines are (1) giving to the poor, (2) praying and (3) fasting. The reason He gives is that it is better to seek the praise of God than the praise of men. For example, the gospel of Matthew reads, “But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Because the Pharisees seek the approval of people rather than the Lord, they miss out on the highest praise; the praise from God the Father to His children.
Personally, I would rather that none of you fast if it is not done in the right spirit. It is better to not receive the praise of others than to anger the Lord by seeking praise only from those on earth. Now don’t go telling everyone that your pastor told you not to fast during Lent, because I do want you to fast, but only in the right spirit. Do you see the difference?
Okay, let’s turn to Genesis and look at a passage that might help us better understand this matter. By the way, there are Bibles in your pews if you care to follow along. I am reading verse seven in chapter two of Genesis, “then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” Does any of that ring a bell with Ash Wednesday?
According to scripture, from where did man originate? Now we are not here to debate the merits of Darwin’s theory of evolution. I am just asking, ‘From what substance does the Bible say we originate?” The answer is “from the dust of the ground”. Now later in the service when ashes are placed on the foreheads of those who choose to receive, ‘What does the priest say?” “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Where do you think that idea came from? The answer is the Holy Scriptures or more specific, the Book of Genesis in the Bible. Now let’s read that verse again this time together, “then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”
According to what we just read together, humans did not exist until the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of the Universe, formed humans from the dirt of the earth and then breathed into that form of clay, life! Our very existence came from God. Each breath we breathe is from God. Without God, we would have remained a formless pile of dirt for the animals and creatures to walk or crawl upon.
Now let us look at verse twenty-six in chapter one of Genesis. The scripture reads, “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image according to our likeness….’” We will stop there for now. This is the only time where God got personally involved in creation. In the other passages, the words “God said, Let there be light” or whatever was being created is spoken into existence. Or God calls upon the waters or the earth to do things, such as “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear,” or “And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind”. Yet, for the creation of human beings, God thought that so important that He personally formed us Himself and in His likeness.
As much as God loves the world and all that He created, we humans have been especially dear to Him from our beginnings. We are His children and we have broken His heart. We have disobeyed our Creator and our Father God from our beginnings. When our ancestors first disobeyed God, God’s heart was broken. His heart was so broken for us that He intervened in our behalf by sending us His Son to bring us back to Him.
This is why we fast. Not to show off to others that we have great self-control, but because we have broken our Father’s heart. Every time that we have strayed away from obedience to our Father’s will for our lives, every word, every deed that is not according to His Word; every thing we have done and not done that takes us away from our Father’s presence breaks our Father’s heart.
The Lord God Almighty first created us in His image and then even sent us His most precious Son for our salvation, yet, we continue to break His heart. Instead of holding fast to that which is precious in our Father’s eyes, we have chosen to seek our own ways. That which the Father has declared to be evil and forbidden, we have not only chosen but have held our sins to be dear to us.
As long as we refuse to repent and turn away from our sins that strike at our Father’s heart, then all of our fasting is in vain. It is worthless. It is a mockery of the suffering Christ did for us on the cross. So yes, we do need to fast, for we need to humble ourselves before our Creator and Father, but only if we are willing to change our lives and determine within ourselves to live our lives for God and not for ourselves. This is the spirit that the Lord favors, a spirit of repentance for the sins we have committed against the Giver of our very lives.
Let us heed the words of the prophet Joel, “Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
