"Showing off" by C. David McKirachan
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Showing off
by C. David McKirachan
Matthew 6:1-5, 16-20
When I first moved to my present parish, I offered the folks a few new traditions for their worship. One of them was an opportunity to celebrate the beginning of Lent with the receiving of ashes. Attendance was better than I expected for a mid-week service, and just about everyone came forward to receive the sign of the cross on their forehead. I was pleased.
The next day I received a call from a delightful lady who’d been a member of the church for decades. She was giggling. Her husband, a fun guy, member of the choir, and willing participant had come to her after the Ash Wednesday service and told her they needed to go grocery shopping. When she asked him why, he told her that all during his childhood on this day he’d felt like a second class citizen. ‘Everybody in my neighborhood was Roman Catholic. They all got ashes on their heads. I was protestant. We didn’t get them. I didn’t think it was fair that they got to show the whole world they were Christian and I didn’t.’ So, his wife went on to tell me, he finally got to let everybody know just who he was. He went on to tell her that she should plan to go shopping late on every Ash Wednesday from now on.
Now, this believer wanted to wear his faith. Some of his motives may not have been pure. There was a good amount of pride in what he felt. But at the same time there was a sense of inclusion that this simple act of devotion allowed. He wanted to represent, to be counted as one of the faithful. He wanted to stand out for his Lord. He wanted to publically say, ‘I am Christian.’
I wouldn’t call him a hypocrite. It takes more than a desire to publically take on the death of Christ to make one of those. Just so, it takes more than wearing some ashes to take on the death of Christ. Confronting our own sin, our own stubborn denial of need, our own arrogant refusal to give up control, our own judgment of others, and more, that is what Ash Wednesday is about. That and Jesus’ willingness to give up all his clarity and joy for our arrogant souls.
I told the story at George’s funeral. I told the congregation that I thought about putting ashes on him in his casket. But then realized that he didn’t need them anymore.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. Two of his books, I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder, have been published by Westminster John Knox Press. McKirachan was raised in a pastor's home and he is the brother of a pastor, and he has discovered his name indicates that he has druid roots. Storytelling seems to be a congenital disorder. He lives with his 21-year-old son Ben and his dog Sam.
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StoryShare, February 18, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
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