On Ash Wednesday, Bishop Hughes reminds us that making a bold statement about our faith is especially important in the world that we’re in right now. Our piety, prayer, fasting, giving – all of that can remain private, but our faith needs to be something that people can see. (Time: 5:29.)
Video Transcript
This is Bishop Hughes in the Diocese of Newark. It is Ash Wednesday, and the first day of Lent. Most Episcopalians will observe that by attending a service at some point during the day. Some of you probably already have, some of you might have it at noon today or sometime this evening, and during that service, there are two specific things that you’re going to hear. There are things you’ll do, but there are things that you’re going to hear.
One of those is an invitation to a holy Lent. I want to read you a part of it.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self examination and repentance, by prayer, fasting and self denial, and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word.
And we do all those things, not just to prove that we are faithful, but we do those things so that we turn ourselves to God. That word repentance that is in there, repentance means turning back, turning away from something else and turning back over to God.
You’ll also hear from the sixth chapter of Matthew – and Matthew talks very specifically about these same things that you’ll hear in the invitation to a holy Lent – talks about the way that we pray, the way we give to others, the way we stay in relationship with God, the way we fast. And he says in that particular piece of the gospel that when we do those things, we don’t do them to make a fuss about ourselves or to humble brag about our faith. No, we do it in secret, that our piety, our way of practicing the faith, is done in secret so that God can work with us, and it is not about what we’re doing in front of other people, but is about our being in relationship with God. And that piety is private. That’s something that’s very important to Episcopalians. We like a private piety.
I want to add a third thing, because one of the things that we do on Ash Wednesday is to receive ashes, and those ashes are a very bold statement. It really is literally burned up ashes. Ashes are used to mark the sign of a cross on our forehead, as a symbol of who we belong to, as a symbol of our mortality, and as a symbol of what we believe in – that one day we will be raised again the same way that Jesus was raised. There is something about those ashes walking around on us that defies everything that we hear in that service, which is to be quiet about your piety, but still make a bold statement – that your faith makes a bold statement.
And I want to say, this third piece of making a bold statement is especially important in the world that we’re in right now. That your piety, your prayer, your fasting, your giving, all of that can remain private, but your faith, your faith needs to be public. It needs to be as public as those ashes that are on your face. Your faith needs to be something that people can see.
I keep remembering all that we heard about Jimmy Carter, about President Carter and his death. How many stories people talked about him saying, I have to make this decision, because my faith tells me I must make a decision. I need to help people get into a home – my faith tells me I must do that. That he was open in talking about his faith, and he was open in making faithful decisions. We’re going to have to make those decisions going forward, and it is our faith that makes those decisions.
I’ve been struck by the number of people who have told me that the whole notion of keeping people safe in church sounds like I am telling them to break the law. There is no law that tells us we cannot be kind to our neighbor. There is no law that tells us we cannot see to the safety of those who are endangered. As a matter of fact, our laws actually protect safety. They actually tell us how to do that, and the law for us as Christians that really guides how our faith happens in the world is the one that says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.
I want to invite you along as a part of that invitation to a holy Lent, to look for the ways that you can make someone feel welcome, to look for the ways that you can make someone feel safe, to look for the ways that you can assure those who are afraid and those who have been targeted for cruelty – there is nothing else to call it but targeted for cruelty – that you look for the ways that you can help and assist them. That can be lawfully done in the United States, and it can also be done as a faithful Christian in a way that upholds not only the greatest commandment – that would mean the greatest law that Jesus gave us – but would uphold every vow in the Baptismal Covenant that has been given to us.
Do your prayers in secret, but do your faith in public.
