LET US TURN

 

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

 

Isaiah 55:6-7

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

 

 

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.

Historically, the Lenten period of fasting and renewal corresponds to Christ’s forty-day fast (Matt. 4:2), and, by counting forty days back from Easter (excluding Sundays, which remain “feast” days or mini Easter’s), arrived at the Wednesday seven weeks before Easter.

In earlier times Lent was primarily viewed as a period during which new disciples and followers of Jesus prepared for baptism on Easter Sunday, but later the season became a general time of repentance and renewal for all Christians.

The themes of Ash Wednesday tend to have 3 key emphasis,

1) to meditate on our mortality, sinfulness, and need of a savior;

2) to renew our commitment to daily repentance in the Lenten season and in all of life;

3) to remember with confidence and gratitude that Christ has conquered death and sin.


Ash Wednesday is filled with gospel truth. It is a witness to the power and beauty of our union with Christ and to the daily dying and rising with Christ that this entails.

In many Christian traditions “ashes” are a central aspect the days worship service. You may recall that Ashes show up frequently in the Bible. There we understand ashes or dust as a symbol of frailty or death (Gen. 18:27), sadness or mourning (Esther 4:3), judgment (Lam. 3:16), and repentance (Jon. 3:6). Some Christian traditions also have placed emphasis on “ashes” as a purifying or cleansing agent. All these images are a way to be reminded of our need of mercy and grace.

I read the following summary that I found helpful, “In Christ’s passion we see God’s judgment on evil; in our penitence we express sorrow and repentance for our sins; in our rededication we show that we are purified and renewed.”

There is this beautiful act in the worship setting on this day in which a cross of ashes is made on each person’s forehead, called the “imposition”, as this is done these words are spoken, “Consider yourself dead to sin and alive in Jesus Christ.”

While ashes play an important gospel visual on this day the crucial act of Ash Wednesday is, as we saw in our Bible verse yesterday that disciples “rend their hearts” (Joel 2:13).

Lent is a journey of deepening reflection and renewal, an opportunity to make new commitments in faith. We prepare for the journey by setting aside burdens that would weigh us down. Let us turn to God and confess our sin.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Amen.

Psalm 51:1-2, 6, 10-12