Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 6"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. Verse 2"So 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. Verse 3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, Verse 4so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Verse 5"And 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. Verse 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.
Verse 16"And 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. Verse 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, Verse 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.
Verse 19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; Verse 20but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. Verse 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Devotion
Ash Wednesday is so called because on this day worshipers receive ashes in the shape of the cross on their foreheads as a sign of mourning, mortality and repentance. The ashes are traditionally prepared from the burned palm branches distributed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. Their use suggests divine judgment on sin, and our humiliation, repentance and total dependence on God. As the ashes are being imposed we hear the words spoken to Adam following the first transgression, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return," and recall the solemn "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust" of the committal service. Once used for cleaning, however, ashes can also suggest cleansing and renewal.
Prayer
Gracious God, help us to remember that though one day our lives will end, we will die in the embrace of your promise. Amen.