Ash Wednesday, Yr C (2025) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

Ash Wednesday, Yr C (2025)                                                 The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

Isaiah 58:1-12                                                                      St Andrew’s Episcopal Church

Psalm 103

2 Cor 5:20b-6:10

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

In the name of the one, holy, and loving God:

            in whom we live, and move, and have our being.  Amen.

On this Ash Wednesday as we begin our Lenten journeys,

 we hear, as we do every year, about prayer and fasting,

self-examination and repentance,

and meditating on God’s holy Word.

All of these things are well and good,

            but the key question is:

                        to what end?

Do we observe such disciplines for the sake of discipline?

            I mean, discipline is not a bad thing.

But might there be some other purpose?

Why do we take 40 days of our Christian year to observe a Holy Lent?

To keep it simple I am going to suggest that the purpose of our Lenten journey

is to find our way to saying “Yes!”

“Yes” to God.

“Yes” to Life:

            life for ourselves,

                                    life for our neighbors,

                                                            life for the whole of creation.

So…what if,

this Lent,

      we each engaged disciplines/practices through which we seek to say “Yes?”

One way to discover our Lenten practices requires a bit of self-examination,

perhaps using this question:

What separates me from whole-heartedly loving God,

my neighbors,

my world,

and myself?

In other words, what prevents each of us from embracing God, our neighbors, ourselves?

If we discover what stands in our way of a complete “yes,”

then perhaps we can seek assistance in removing those things.

Let me offer an example:

At the beginning of every yoga class,

we usually sit for a few minutes in silence and focus on our breathing.

The instructor often says something like:

 “I invite you to be fully present here on your mat.”

Following this opening invitation, I remember one instructor asking,

“Is there anything that you brought in with you today that you need to let go of?”

“Maybe it’s anxiety….”

To be honest, I have no idea what she said after that!

I had brought in with me that morning heaping loads of anxiety…

anxiety about the state of this country and the world,

anxiety about getting everything done,

        anxiety about friends and parishioners who are struggling with illness and mortality.

My thoughts immediately went to the question:

What would it look like to fast from anxiety?

How might that change the way I experience life?

Might fasting from anxiety help me to say “yes” to God…

 and “yes” to life?

How might letting go of anxiety change the way I move through each day

            and the way I relate to each person I meet?

Might I be able to be more present to others…

even to myself,

        without ever-lurking anxiety?

Is it even possible?

I reckon any little bit would help

because it seems, that for me, anxiety inhibits life.

When worry takes over,

we are no longer truly present to life in the moment.

We are instead trying to assert our own control

rather than resting in God’s grace.

When the yoga instructor invited us to let go of anxiety,

            for that moment I found some freedom in life…

                        some freedom to live from a posture of abundance…

I found some freedom…

some open space…

to say “YES!”

So… the next questions that arises is:

how in the world do we fast from anxiety?

It’s a great question;

let me take a stab at answering it.

This last Sunday of Epiphany we heard God say of Jesus:

            “This is my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.  Listen to him.”

Listen to him.

            Listen to Jesus.

      Pay attention to him.

Well…if we pay attention to Jesus… what did he do?

He listened to God.

He suffused himself in the Scriptures,

meditating on the word and love of God.

He took time to go away by himself and simply sit in the presence of God.

Thomas Keating says that prayer is the opening of mind and heart –

            our whole being –

      to God, the Ultimate Mystery –

                        who is beyond thoughts and words and emotions.

One form of contemplative prayer is to sit in silence in the presence of God…

            not grasping on to thoughts and anxieties as they surface

      but letting them go.

                        Letting them float on by,

                 rooting ourselves instead in the knowledge that we are loved and held by God,

         resting completely in the Grace of God,

                        without worry or fear.

Sitting in silence in the presence of God for 30, 20, or even just 10 minutes a day,

            will change your life.

Daily anxiety dissipates…at least to some degree.

            Resting in God becomes more palpable

      and that Peace increases our ability to say “yes.”

Perhaps sitting still isn’t quite your cup of tea!

There is also walking meditation…

            or listening to music and letting it seep into your bones…

      or gazing upon an icon or piece of art.

These can all be forms of contemplation…if the goal is to be in God’s presence,

            letting go of our earthly anxieties for a moment.

What other practices may help us to say “yes?”

In the vein of fasting,

is there anything that you need to step away from to bring you closer to Life?

For example, if you find the daily news overwhelming,

perhaps you just listen to the NPR recap at the top of the hour

      (but not every hour…maybe once in the morning and once in the evening). 

And then you can hold those pieces of news in prayer,

hold them up to be infused with the Light of Christ,

        without your Spirit being weighed down by the darkness of too much news.

Maybe you engage in Spring cleaning

and give away anything you no longer use or need to someone who could use it,  

       providing more fullness of Life for someone else.

As we begin our Lenten journeys, I ask you to consider this question:

What is it that you bring here today that you need to let go of…

                        something that inhibits your love of God, neighbor, self, or creation?

Or, maybe saying “yes” for you means you need to take something on.

I invite you all to read and reflect

on the daily meditations in Anna Fitch Courie’s book, Walking with God,

        examining your own spiritual journey,

      and then sharing your story with others on Wednesday evenings.

This Lent, what will help you to say “yes” to God and to abundant life,

for this is what God offers us…

all of us.

In Paul’s letter to the Church at Corinth, he says,

            “We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

    ….we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 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 healing!”

I pray this Lent that we each may find anew God’s healing love and presence

            so that we, having been reconciled to God,

may bear the Light and love of Christ in the world.

Amen.