Ash Wednesday – Pr. Faugstad homily
Text: St. Matthew 6:16-21

In Christ Jesus, who served us in all humility, so His perfect righteousness would be credited to us by faith, dear fellow redeemed:

Today we observe Ash Wednesday, the day that marks the beginning of the penitential season of Lent. Lent is forty days long not counting Sundays to tie in with Jesus’ forty days and nights in the wilderness. Over those forty days, He fasted and was tempted by the devil as He prepared for His public work. We walk with Jesus through these forty days, hearing His Word, receiving His strength, and dedicating all we do to Him.

But the devil is actively tempting us just as he tempted Jesus, and we are not as resilient as our Savior. We are weak. We are prone to sin. We have often fallen for the devil’s temptations. We have followed the lead of our first father Adam, who knew God’s command but chose to reject it. This is why when ashes are applied to the foreheads of the baptized on Ash Wednesday, it is accompanied by the LORD’s word to Adam and all sinners, “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19).

Dust and ashes are often paired together. When Abraham prayed for the people of Sodom and continued to lower the number of believers for which God would spare the city, he said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27). Job described himself as having become “like dust and ashes” in the depths of his suffering (Job 30:19). We hear the same phrase in our hymns: “Though I lie in dust and ashes” (246:4), “Though dust and ashes in Thy sight” (382:1), “See, I but ashes am and dust” (320:6).

This is a confession that apart from God, we have no life in us. Apart from God, we have nothing to look forward to but death and our bodies turning to dust. That is why it is strange that we spend any time boasting about our own greatness. But we do—all of us do. Jesus calls it out in today’s reading from His “Sermon on the Mount.” He points to our tendency to want others to see when we are making sacrifices, when we are doing something good.

He says, “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.” Fasting is a sacrifice. It is going without food for a period of time. It makes the stomach growl. A person may start to feel weak. Why would anyone ever put himself through this?

In one of his Catechism sections on the Sacrament of the Altar, Martin Luther wrote, “Fasting and bodily preparation are indeed a fine outward training.” The reason that God’s people have fasted throughout history is so that they would be reminded of their weakness, and also so that they would prepare themselves to receive the gifts of God through His Word and Sacraments. The fasting that is most common among Lutherans today is fasting in preparation for the Lord’s Supper. As we feel physical hunger, it reminds us of our need for the greatest food there is—our Lord’s body and blood.

But imagine if someone were fasting, and he or she posted regular updates on social media to let everyone know that “I’m fasting today,” and “It’s really hard to do.” That is the hypocrisy Jesus points out, that something that is supposed to be done in secret out of love for God is done in public out of love for man’s approval. This could apply to any part of our life: going to school, doing our job, taking care of our families, helping others. Do we do these things for recognition? Or do we do them out of thankfulness to God for giving us the opportunities and giving us the skills and the strength to do them?

The approval and praise of the world and whatever riches or possessions we might gain in this life are only temporary. It will all slip through our fingers one day. Jesus says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” We may certainly enjoy what we have on earth. God has given many blessings to us for our own needs and for the good of others. We are stewards of these things, and we want to manage them well.

But we must not put our trust in them or let them become the primary focus of our life. “Instead,” says Jesus, “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” And what are those treasures in heaven that you are to lay up? They are all the gifts you have by faith in Jesus: everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness; perfect love, joy, and peace; fullness of life and light.

You have all these things now, but you cannot see them or experience them fully until you are delivered from this sinful life. While you are here, God has prepared wonderful works for you to do to the glory of His name. He has given you important tasks in your callings as a member of your family, as a member of the church, as an employee, and as a neighbor in your community. He sees all the good things you do in these callings. He sees the sacrifices you make. He sees the hardships you endure. He sees the many ways you show love to others, whether or not you are recognized for that love or thanked for it.

You do these things for your Father who is in heaven. “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” This is not a reward for earning His grace. It is the reward of faith, which is always active in bearing fruit. Your faith was a gift from God to you, and so are the good works you carry out in His name.

And when you have not been so good, when you have looked for praise from others, when you pursued the world’s treasure as the best treasure, then you can join Abraham and Job in their words of repentance and faith, “I am nothing but dust and ashes. Apart from You, I am lost. But in You, I have all I need.” This connection between repentance and faith comes through beautifully in the hymns I mentioned before:

Though I lie in dust and ashes
Faith’s assurance brightly flashes:
Baptism has the strength divine
To make life immortal mine. (246:4)

Though dust and ashes in Thy sight,
We may, we must draw near. (382:1)

Lord, I believe, dear Lord, I trust;
Help for faith’s weakness give me!
See, I but ashes am and dust;
Ne’er of Your Word deprive me!
Your Baptism, Supper, and Your Word
My comfort here below afford;
Here lies my heart’s true treasure. (320:6)

Our treasure lies in our Lord’s Word and Sacraments. This is a gift that keeps giving day after day, year after year, until we are delivered from dust and ashes here to feast and to rejoice in His eternal kingdom.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

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(woodcut of the poor, the blind, and the lame being invited to the banquet from the 1880 edition of The Story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation)