Where is your treasure?
Collect of the Day
Almighty and everlasting
God, you hate nothing you have made, and forgive the sins of all who are
penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the
God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen.
1st Reading: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Joel is one of the later prophets, active after the return of the
Babylonian exiles and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and its temple. The purpose
of his prophecy is to discern God’s will in a huge storm of locusts which has
ravaged crops. He takes it as a call to the people to lament, a ritual
expression of grief. In chapter two the
shofar sounds the alarm. The Day of the Lord
is coming like that plague of locusts.
The people’s grief must become repentance, and Joel lists some practices
of repentance in his day. However, he is also clear that those practices must
be outward signs of an inward commitment. The final sentence is an appeal to
God’s sense of honor and duty.
2:1Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my
holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds
and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and
powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again
after them in ages to come. 12Yet
even now, says the Lord, return to
me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13rend 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. 14Who
knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a
grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord,
your God? 15Blow the trumpet in
Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the
congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the
breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. 17Between the vestibule and the altar let the
priests, the ministers of the Lord,
weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should
it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
Or this
1st Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12
The prophet is told to reveal to the people the incongruity between
their lifestyle and the values they express in their worship. The scene is a liturgical one, announced with
the shofar. After pointing out this
incongruity, the Lord reveals what
genuine fasting (and other spiritual practices) should result in: the practice of justice and a turning away
from oppression. As we begin Lent, it is
not only a good idea to deny one’s self something as an act of devotion, but to
take on a practice of compassion and justice as well.
58:1Shout 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.
Psalm 103:8-14
Psalm 103 is an expression of trust in the compassion and mercy of God. God’s mercy covers not only the forgiveness
of sins, but also the healing of infirmities. In a striking image, God is said
to remove our sins “as far as the east is from the west.” God’s infinite compassion comes from his remembrance
that “we are but dust” (from Genesis 2:7).
On Ash Wednesday we are called to remember this as well.
8 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, *
slow to
anger and of great kindness.
9 He will not always accuse
us, *
nor will he
keep his anger for ever.
10 He has not dealt with us
according to our sins, *
nor
rewarded us according to our wickedness.
11 For as the heavens are
high above the earth, *
so is his
mercy great upon those who fear him.
12 As far as the east is
from the west, *
so far has
he removed our sins from us.
13 As a father cares for his
children, *
so does the
Lord care for those who fear him.
14 For he himself knows
whereof we are made; *
he
remembers that we are but dust.
2nd Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10
In its context this passage is a summary of Paul’s defense of himself
as an apostle. This defense has been
going on since the beginning of the letter.
Someone has challenged his authority and, more importantly, the content
of his teaching. He claims for himself,
and all those who would follow Jesus, the ministry of reconciliation. We are called to this ministry in all the
suffering and the joy of our lives. The
catechism of The Book of Common Prayer teaches that reconciliation is the primary ministry of the church: “The
mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other
in Christ” (p. 855).
5:20bSo we are ambassadors for Christ, since
God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God. 21For our sake
he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God. 6:1 As
we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God
in vain. 2 For he says, “At an acceptable
time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See,
now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way,
so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4but
as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great
endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings,
imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,
holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7truthful
speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right
hand and for the left; 8in honor
and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and
yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet
are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not
killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing
everything.
Gospel Reading:
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
6:1Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your piety
before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from
your Father in heaven. 2So whenever
you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I
tell you, they have received their reward. 3But
when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is
doing, 4so that your alms may be
done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 5And whenever you pray, do not be like the
hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street
corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have
received their reward. 6But
whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father
who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 16And whenever you fast, do not look dismal,
like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that
they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and
wash your face, 18so 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. 19Do
not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and
where thieves break in and steal; 20but
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.”
The
Scripture quotations (except for the psalm) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ
in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. The Collect of the Day and the Psalm
translation are from The Book of Common
Prayer. Commentaries are copyright ©
2020, Epiphany ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY 14843, www.epiphanyesources.com. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment