Sermon for Ash Wednesday, February 26, 2020 House of Prayer Lutheran Church

Matthew 6::19-21; 2 Corinthians 520b - 6:10

Have you ever heard the story of Saint Lawrence? He was a deacon in the early years of Christianity, and Lawrence was basically the treasurer of the Church in Rome. This was in the 200s, when Christians were still a persecuted minority, and he was responsible for the church’s material goods, and for giving alms to the poor. In 258 AD Emperor Valerian was persecuting Christians. He had just martyred the pope at the time, Pope Sixtus II, so as a leader of the church in Rome, Lawrence knew his time on this earth was short.

As the legend goes, when Lawrence knew he would be arrested, he sought out the poor, the widows, the orphans of Rome and gave them all the money he had on hand, selling even the sacred vessels of the altar to increase the amount of money he could give away. When the prefect of Rome heard of this, he imagined that the Christians had lots of wealth; lots of treasure. He sent for Lawrence and said, “You Christians say we are cruel to you, but I’m a nice guy. I hear your priests offer gold, and the sacred blood of your sacrament is received in silver cups, and you have golden candlesticks at your evening services. And I hear your doctrine says you must render to Caesar what is his. So bring these treasures to me—the emperor needs them to maintain his forces. Besides, God does not cause money to be counted: He brought none of it into the world—only words. So Give me the money--and be rich in words.”

Lawrence replied that yes, the Church indeed rich. He said, “I’ll show you our treasure. But give me time to set everything in order and make an inventory.” After three days he gathered a great number of the blind, the lame, the maimed; lepers, orphans, and widows and put them in rows. When the prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “These are the treasure of the Church.”

The prefect was so angry he told Lawrence that now he would die—but it would be a slow death. He had a great gridiron prepared with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it. After Lawrence had suffered for a long time, the legend goes, he gave some cheerful last words. “I’m well done on this side.” he said. “Turn me over!” https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-lawrence/

There is some doubt as to whether that last part actually occurred quite like that, but because of it, Lawrence is actually considered the patron saint of comedians! So whenever you see a comedy roast, you can thank the legend of St. Lawrence.

Apart from that, however, he is a good person to remember on Ash Wednesday, because he lived by the words Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount, which we heard tonight: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Saint Lawrence knew where to find true treasure: in Christ alone, and in the people and places where Christ has promised to be present. Jesus came into this world, and lived and taught and healed with God’s love; and sought out sinners with God’s forgiveness. Jesus promised to be present with those who are suffering; with the least and lost and little; among those who’ve been knocked down to the dust; and even among the dead. It’s the paradox of our Christian faith: If you want to lifted up, humble yourself. If you want to see God’s glory, look in the ash heaps.

This is not where worldly wisdom teaches us to look. But God has a habit of turning worldly wisdom on its head. And we know there are a lot of things in this life we don’t fully understand. Tragedies that strike that we feel powerless about, and we don’t know how we’re ever going to move forward. Lots of things that knock us down, cause a challenge to our faith, and we wonder how we’ll make it through.

Ash Wednesday reminds us: We came from dust, and one day we’ll return to dust. In the meantime, sometimes we’ll even feel like dust. But you know who’s in the dust? Jesus. And in God’s good time, he will raise us from the dust, and lift us up from the ashes, and carry us as he once carried the cross, knowing that our Heavenly Father will never give up on us. And that even when we’ve got nothing to offer but empty hands--even then, we’ve got everything we need in Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.

So tonight we’ll come forward to the altar and see a little heap of ashes held before us, made from the palm branches we once waved on Palm Sunday. From that ash heap, a cross will be traced upon your forehead. Even in the ashes and dust, Christ is present. He is with you. He is our true treasure. You are marked by his love forever, and no one can take that away.