Ash
Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a period to focus on turning
away from the ways of the world and seeking the ways of Christ.
Ash
Wednesday has only been a common practice of the church for a millennium and
widespread in this nation for half a century.
Ashes
are traditionally associated with repentance
and sometimes
with mourning. But we have repented and seek to draw closer
to God. Why should I participate?
It has
nothing to do with your salvation. It’s about that ongoing battle with the old
self and focusing on living
as the new creation you are meant to be.
Jesus never participated
in an Ash Wednesday service. He had no need to repent or to model repentance as he had modeled
servanthood. Realize, it’s an old but modern tradition as
far as the church goes. It should remind
us to cast
off everything that hinders and seek the Lord with all of our heart, soul,
mind, and strength.
If it doesn’t
seem right to you, then don’t participate but do
not disparage others who are trying to grow
closer to
God.
All should
seek to grow closer to God and Lent offers a special time to do this just as
you worship at a specific time in the assembly with other believers, so too is
there a special time to make a surge effort to turn away from the evil in the
world and seek
God, his kingdom, and his righteousness above all thins.
Some fast
during this period. We are counseled not
to fast as the Pharisees did, with
long faces announcing to the world that they were obeying God.
Some seek to
lift
burdens and oppression from others who are worse off than we are.
Some partake
of a form of sacrifice
usually by giving up a food item or something that gratifies us.
Some just pray
more, give more, or judge less.
It is a shared
time with individual worship and service as people are led to participate.
For this
year, I suggest the following three things over and beyond your current service
and worship.
Give up half an hour each day of things that
are usually not fruitful—television, Facebook, watching videos, and the like. You might want to give up things not so easily
measured in time: complaining,
disparaging others, insistence on your own way.
Give a food offering every time you enter
the church building.
Give an offering to the Goat and Two
Chickens offering.
You may
choose something else or nothing at all but these are three things that we
could do together. Because during Lent we suspend our weekly offerings to support Martha, you may want to make a special offering for her.
At the end
of this period, we will have a special day to celebrate the resurrection. We should celebrate the resurrection of the
Lord and our life eternal every day, but will have a special celebration on
Sunday, 4 April 2021.
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