Ash Wednesday Reflections on Isaiah 58: 1-12

 Isaiah has a challenging message for us.  I tried not to minimize Isaiah's words, but just give it a context in which to hear.  Not sure how it worked, but I enjoyed preaching this brief sermon!

“Why Do You Fast”, Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church;  Isaiah 58: 1-12

Isaiah 58: 1-12

Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. ²Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God.

³“Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. ⁴Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. ⁵Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? ⁶Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

⁸Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. ⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, ¹⁰if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. ¹¹The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. ¹²Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

Rachel story - one year, Ash Wednesday arrived at the Ole Miss campus  unnoticed by my youngest daughter who she was a student there.

Unnoticed, until several young women, friends of hers, were sitting around the dorm took talking after dinner.

A couple of them were Catholic and had grown up going to church for the imposition of ashes as on Ash Wednesday, as had my daughter for all her years in the Presbyterian Church.

  A couple of them were from church traditions that did not have Ash Wednesday services,  so they talked about what Ash Wednesday was (I would have liked to have been a fly on that wall)

after their conversation about Ash Wednesday, they decided they wanted to take a moment and do the imposition of ashes themselves.

they had no worship service; 

no scripture; 

no liturgy 

but they did have figured a Presbyterian minister’s daughter, who surely would know what to do

so she became the de facto minister imposing ashes.

of course, they had no ashes from the burning of they previous year’s palm branches, 

so they used eye shadow.

she made the sign of the cross on their foreheads with the eye shadow as  she said,

“Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

apparently, the Presbyterian minister’s daughter could remember the words said at the graveside, but could not remember the words said with the imposition of ashes.

they had their Ash Wednesday moment, and then we out on the town with eye shadow crosses on their foreheads.

The marking of ashes on your forehead, even done exactly the way the early church designed it, will not make you closer to God

the marking of ashes on your forward, even if done perfectly with exactly the correct words, will not somehow cause you to repent

the marking of the ashes on your forehead no matter how well done will not change your life.

indeed, fasting 

or giving something up for Lent 

or adding some spiritual devotion to your life for all of Lent will not make a difference either.

Why do we fast O God and you do not see?

Unless, 

unless in the marking,

unless  in the fasting, 

unless in the looking for spiritual growth, 

it pushes us to change our lives and choose the fast God puts before us:

to loose the bonds of injustice, 

to undo the thongs of the yoke, 

to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 

to share our bread with the hungry, 

to bring the homeless poor into your house;

to clothe the naked, 

and to reconcile with your own kin.

Conclusion:  then, and only then, when our rituals shape us into choosing the path to which God calls us in the service of others.

Then, 

then, the light shall break forth like the dawn.  Amen.

Reflections on “All Were Astounded” Luke 9: 37-43

 

this was the last sermon of the current preaching series.  Ash Wednesday, we begin the Lenten preaching series.

The sermon text was the alternate for the lectionary reading from Luke.  it takes place after the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain.  The Transfiguration story from Luke is found below as is the passage from Paul's 2nd letter to the Corinthians that were referenced in the sermon.

I probably did not make enough of "all were astounded."  

“All Were Astounded”, march 2, 2025; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Luke 9: 37-43

Luke 9: 37-43 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. ³⁹Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. ⁴⁰I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” ⁴¹Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴²While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

⁴³And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

Introduction:  This is the last Sunday of our sermon series on God’s expansive love and claim on our lives and God’s expansive call.  Ash Wednesday we begin Lent and a new preaching series.

Today is also Transfiguration Sunday when we remember (and often tell) the story of Jesus taking Peter, John, and James up on the  mountaintop where Jesus is literally transfigured before them becoming dazzling like the veil over Moses when Moses came down off Mt. Sinai after encountering God

Speaking of Moses,  Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophet, if you will,  joined Jesus as they stood before the three disciples on the mountaintop.

The choir’s anthem told the story well with its emphasis on the dazzling light of the transfigured Jesus.

That is the story just before the passage we read in Luke.

In this morning’s story, Jesus, Peter, James, and John have come down off the mountaintop to a crowd waiting to get near Jesus.

they may not be telling people just yet what they have seen on the mountaintop, but Peter, John, and James now have an even greater understanding of who Jesus is.

, how they understand anything Jesus does or says from here on out is shaped by the transfigured Jesus and the voice of heaven they have seen and heard on the mountaintop.

Move 1:  off the mountaintop, things are happening with Jesus about like they have been.

a.  Great crowds are now gathering to hear him.

1. Apparently, the stories people are telling about Jesus compel others to come and see him.

2.  One of those in the crowd is this father who is about to Jesus is as amazing, maybe even more amazing, than any story told about him.

3. the man’s only child has convulsions,

foams at the mouth

if you have ever seen someone convulsing like that, you know the helplessness those around feel.

Any of us who have seen a loved one suffer from an ailment recognize the desperate need of the father to find someone to heal his son, to cast out the demon.

3. We notice that the father first goes to some of the disciples, but they are no help.

we do not know who else he has reached out to for healing,

but we do know he now stands before Jesus, desperately seeking healing for his son.

4.  Jesus delivers.

he casts out the demons and heals the young man.

b.  A powerful story.

1.   Peter, John, and James surely interpret this casting out of the demon and the healing in light of what they had just seen on the mountaintop.

the dazzling white Jesus who is in conversation with Moses and Elijah, 

the dazzling white Jesus about whom the voice from the heavens says, “this is my son, listen to him.”

2.  I bet they are listening now!

Move 2:  But all the people, not just Peter, John and James, all the people “were astounded at the greatness of God….everyone was amazed at all that he was doing,” 

a.  They should be!

1. what Jesus is doing is miraculous!

2.  not only healing, but giving new life.

3. There’s a reason people like this boys’ father have joined the crowds flocking to Jesus and  calling on him. 

4. Jesus is doing things no one else can do.

b. the crowds are astounded and amazed

And they ain’t seen nothing yet!

1.  Jesus is not just the dazzling white transfigured one, 

Jesus is not just the one with whom Moses and Elijah talk

Jesus is not just the one who can cast out demons and heal a young man.

Jesus is not just the Son of God

Jesus is the resurrected one.

2. The glory on the mountaintop is just a prelude to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

3. The one who can cast out demons will be the one who defeats sin and death and offers all of us new life.

3.  All are astounded at Jesus’ healing,

All were amazed at what Jesus was doing.

4.  And it gave them hope.

It gives us hope.

5. MOVE 3:  as Paul tells the Corinthians in the letter we read this morning, “Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with boldness.”  

a. We act with boldness.

1.  To follow Jesus means giving ourselves over to him;

to follow Jesus means turning to him and allowing our lives to be transformed;

to follow Jesus means daring to believe that God is still at work among us.

to follow Jesus means living as Jesus calls you to do even when the world says do otherwise.

2. the one who heals, 

the one who casts out demons,

the one who is transfigured

the one who is resurrected

calls us into new life, 

new ways of living in relationship,

new possibilities for all of us. 

b.  Are you ready to follow Jesus with boldness?

1.  It seems to me that is the question for Peter, John and James as the disciples come off the mountaintop.

2. That is the question that hangs in the air as the crowds gather and watch Jesus cast out demons and heal.

3. That is the question before each of us today and every day:  “Are you ready to follow Jesus with boldness.” 

c.  I am reminded of a story Will Willimon tells from his time as the Dean of the Chapel at Duke University.  and he got a call from an irate parent one day.  It was the father of one of his students who called to say that he held Rev. Willimon personally responsible for his daughter's ridiculous decision to put off graduate school to "throw it all away" to go do mission work for a year in Haiti with the Presbyterian church. 

            The father saw this as an absolute waste of her time and his money, with a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Duke, she was going to dig ditches in Haiti.  "You were completely irresponsible to encourage her to do this," the man said to Rev. Willimon.  This was one mad daddy, as Willimon describes him.

            Willimon was able to calm the man down somewhat and suggested that it was really he and his wife who started this process with their daughter.  

They were the ones who had her baptized and read the Bible to her.  they were the ones who took her to Sunday School and Youth Group.  Rev. Willimon said, "You're the ones who introduced her to Jesus, not me."

            "Maybe so," replied the father, "but all we ever wanted her to be was a Presbyterian."[1] William Willimon, Pulpit Resource, Sept 10, 1995) 

Conclusion:   All were astounded.

All were called to follow Jesus and discover the new life only Jesus has to offer.

All of us.

Amen.

Luke 9: 28-37:  28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³⁰Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. ³¹They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. ³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. ³⁵Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ ³⁶When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

2 Corinthians 3:12 - 4:2Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, ¹³not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. ¹⁴But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. ¹⁵Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; ¹⁶but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

4Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. ²We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.