This last Wednesday evening, we had members of our Church meet here to usher in the beginning of Lent with an Ash Wednesday service. Invariably, a few questions come to mind:
- What do they mean to you and me?
I want talk to all three questions briefly before I speak in more detail about this time of reflection (Lent), leading us to the most Holy day in the Christian year Easter.
Ash Wednesday, the placing of ashes on our foreheads has traditionally marked the beginning of another observance also not required by our Church, Lent. A time of reflection leading to Easter. This practice is traced back over a thousand years to the 900s AD. Marking the forehead with ashes in the sign of the cross falls under a later variation of repentance and observance.
In the Middle Ages, ashes were used to mark those who had been separated from the church because of serious sin. People who were hoping to be re-admitted into the church, and were redoing the process for church membership along with those joining for the first time. They were sprinkled with ashes and given rough garments to wear (Sackcloth and ash) as a sign of sorrow for sinning. This was to show the world their commitment to seek God’s forgiveness and renewal in Church life through this season of reflection.
As with anything man made, and Ash Wednesday is, because we are not commanded in scripture to perform this act of penance, at any specific time. Through history, and over time the act of forcing people through such trials, in many cases abused, and created downcast, and there were people being mistreated. This is when Christians who were not required to wear the marks of repentance and penitence, started to choose to. As a way of walking with those who were in the midst of their trials and efforts to rejoin the church on good standing.
Since the tenth century, the observance of Ash Wednesday has become a general observance in the Western Christian Church. With this idea in mind; We all fall short of the grace of God, and so all deserve to death.
Ash Wednesday, and Lent that follows (which is why our Cross is draped in purple, to remind us), helps us dedicate some time to addressing our own sin, and in our Church’s case, to walk with others in their affliction. When all is said and done, there is a time for everything in this life of ours. Just as today’s Call to Worship instructed us this morning. Reading this time from Ecclesiastes 3:1-9, plus 10-13;
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Please let me interrupt to say; There is a time for repentance and a time for reflection, and for some of us, that is what Ash Wednesday and Lent in so many words are for. Continuing now with some additional words from our Old Testament instructor at verse 9:
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
When we are in sync with our God, we are afforded a glimpse of what the good life in and with our Lord can feel and look like. Where we find satisfaction, and even outright joyfulness in our work serving our God by serving other people. In the scheme of things, I believe this is the never-ending gift from our Lord to those in the family of God!
The concept of sin and grace, how we struggle with one, and life from the other are a reoccurring drama in the human condition. Centered around God’s plan for all of us that are willing. A gift that Paul explained with even more clarity in his letter to the church in Rome. Reading from Romans 5:12-15;
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned-
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
*Interrupting Paul to say; regardless of if someone were living under the Ten Commandments, or under some tribal, civil, or national custom, death was the reality of all who suffer from the fall of humanity since the Garden with Adam and Eve. Now Paul will explain where our gift, our hope comes from. Verse 15;
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
In so many words, when Adam attempted to be like God, and went with Eve on their own way instead in of God’s direction, all of mankind fell with them from grace. Our God has shown us His love for us by taking our sin upon Himself and overcoming it at the Cross. What an incredible gift!
The gift of grace is available to all, when we come to our Lord, and apologize, and mean it, and work at not repeating the junk that has been separating us from our Lord. Simple, yes! Easy, sometimes, many times, no! But essential, because when we don’t admit our fault to God, and to ourselves, sin continues to reign in our lives like a runaway train. And it festers if not addressed.
Lent, an Old English word for the days are getting longer (spring), will last from now until Easter. As we enter into this time of reflection, this season of soul-searching, it is important to keep in mind, that reflection, soul-searching, and repentance in the Lord are as old as the family in God. Going all the way back to our Jewish ancestors, there has always been a need to come to the Lord for forgiveness. For clarity, here are the words of David, from Psalm 32; (Of David)
1 Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
*Please Hear what David is saying; when he remained silent, not repenting his sin to the Lord, perhaps convincing himself that he has done nothing wrong, God’s hand was heavy upon him, and his strength and his bones wasted away. How many of us carry the burdens of past stuff that is wreaking havoc in our lives? Well, David has the answer, on to verse 5;
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
**Now; David will change the tense of his instruction to speak directly to you and me. Verse 8;
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!
So as in days of old when David wrote Psalm 32, we in the here and now, may take solace in the fact that when we take time to reflect and repent in the Lord, our lives take on the dimensions of eternity. When we are willing to divorce ourselves from our sin and walk into a life where we work on being more like our Lord, we are showing ourselves, other people, and God, that we want to live the good life in and with Him.
As we embark upon the journey into this time of reflection, taking time to look deeply at our relationship with God, God’s family, other people in our lives, as we look forward to Easter is it can begin to feel like we are going through the wilderness. The wilderness of our sin. Initially many of us initially went down the road of sin to fit in, to be a part of the crowd. A rebel without a cause, heck more like a rebel without a clue. And all of our shenanigans resulted in feeling all alone and vulnerable to all kinds of stuff. But the Good News of our God is this; you are not alone!
As a commercial recently attested to during this last Super Bowl: He Gets you! God knows you, understands you, and gets you in spite of us doing almost anything possible to keep our God from loving us.
He gets us because He in fact has walked a mile and more in our shoes, and knows what it’s like to be hungry, tired, and heartbroken by each of us. He knows what temptation is, and how to overcome it, even in the face of the adversary, the devil himself. Case in point, here again is today’s Message Reading from, Matthew 4:1-11;
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Our God will not lead us where His Grace cannot sustain us. And when we are able to remember that, we are afforded new strength in Him who has overcome all challenge. As we begin to experience in the upcoming days the concept of; Lent as a Journey Thru Our Wilderness! Perhaps all of us instead of focusing on what we are going to give up as some do at this time of year, maybe we can focus on what we are going to do.
As the days get longer in this season of reflection, I personally am going to:
- Live in the here and now. Not in the past or waiting for the future, but richly, deeply, and robustly in the present.
- I am going to tell people in my life how important they are to me.
- I am going to focus on what God wants done instead of what the world says is impossible.
- I am going to look for the good in others.
May you all find time to be alone with your Lord to explore the richness that life with Him affords, and then take that goodness and share it with the people God places in your life.
Amen!