Ash Wednesday
February 18, 2026
Read: Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Humans have been performative since long before Instagram. We learned long ago that we can curate the image we want others to see by just showing what we want to show them. The people of God have long had signs for repentance and lament. The ashes we receive on Ash Wednesday are an heir to those signs. (I must admit that I like to get my ashes the first thing in the morning so everyone sees them!)
The appointed scriptures for today address the performative possibilities of our signs of repentance. They address the sacrifices we ostensibly make for God. They may, indeed, be for God. They may, though, be for others’ approval or acceptance or favor. Actual repentance and confession create a low-pressure system, inviting grace to replace the pride that has been emptied. It is when we have actually emptied ourselves of pretense that the Holy Spirit can move within us. Our performative signs of sacrifice could simply be the continuation of pride and self-interest that doesn’t allow space for the Spirit.
The aroma of genuine sacrifice is sweet to God. Self-righteousness stinks.
When we ignore those who are hurting around us, self-righteousness is particularly noxious to God. It’s no surprise that Jesus’s admonishment against “storing up for yourselves treasures on earth” comes soon after the Beatitudes. Jesus is simply echoing Joel and Isaiah, among other prophets. “Your self-righteousness stinks.”
Genuine sacrifice, then, happens within our hearts and among our neighbors. This may be a helpful way for us to think about this inward and outward activity. On the vertical plane, you are engaging in devotion, the individual act of prayer and connection with God. You may also be regularly engaged in worship, the corporate act of prayer and connection with God. On the horizontal plane, you can choose to engage with individuals in a compassionate way. You may also work for justice, recognizing and pushing against the ways that groups are disadvantaged or chronically afflicted by society.
However you choose to proceed in these 40-plus days, it’s not for the ‘Gram or Snap-worthy. It’s for God, for your neighbors, and for you.
Prayer:
O God, who knows the impulse of our hearts and before whom our souls are bare, grant us grace while we empty ourselves in this season, so that devotion, worship, compassion, and justice may be the signs of our repentance. Amen.
The Reverend Dr. Brian Miller is Vice President for External and Church Relations at Huntingdon College and an ordained elder in the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church.
