What Is This Lent Stuff All About?

Here's the Ash Wednesday message I gave last week:

A Meditation on Ash Wednesday
Read Mark 1: 16-20

It is a well worn phrase to say that God loves us. Most of us have probably heard that before. We’ve also probably heard that God loves us just the way we are. These things are true. He not only loves us the way we are, he loves us the way we were – at our worst moments, our lowest moments. God loved us at that moment when made our greatest failures, our worst decisions, committed our most selfish actions. How do I know that? Because Colossians 1: 21-22 says while we were God’s enemies, in other words when we opposed to everything he loved, it was then that his Son died for us. God not only loves us the way we are, he loves us the way we were. This is true. But the Christian life is not a call to stay the way we are. The call of Jesus is a call to travel. It’s a voyage, a journey of transformation. When Jesus speaks to those fishermen by the sea he makes an offer to them to be something more than what they were. I will show you how to become fishers of men. I will take you on adventure and equip you to be something special in God’s scheme of things.

That is really what the church season of Lent is about. There is nothing mandatory about celebrating church seasons. Some churches use them and others don’t. Nowhere in the Bible does it say we must celebrate Christmas or Easter or Pentecost. And, in our better moments, we know that we should be mindful of the truths of the Incarnation and the Resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit all year long. But setting aside a day or a season to spend time celebrating Jesus’ birthday, or his Resurrection from the dead is a good tool. The same is true of the season of Lent. Lent is the church season leading up to Easter. It is roughly 40 days long, a length of time that is highly significant in the Bible. The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days. These were periods of time in which faith was tested and refined. And we are reminded that if we wish to follow Jesus, he beckons us forward, wishing us to change us.

So we use the Lenten season as a time to reflect on our walk with God. Are we being transformed? Are we walking with the Lord? Lent is a time to do something a little special in our walk with God. That often takes the form of some sort of food fast. Some people give up some kind of food – coffee or chocolate for Lent. These things can be helpful to teach us discipline, to show that God, rather than some trivial pleasure is the most important thing in our life. Another idea is to do something that is going to make more room for God in your life. For many of us, the thing that keeps us from growing closer to God and knowing him better is that our lives are too full of other things – we work, we watch TV, we surf the internet. We are constantly doing something. And then we say we would like to pray or read our Bibles or whatever but we can’t find time to do it. I was working out at the gym this morning and there’s a sign posted up in the wellness center that says something like, “You will never find time to do anything. You must make time.” Perhaps during Lent you could fast from some of your television programming, or internet surfing, and set aside a half hour to read your bible.
Another suggestion for Lent is think of one bad habit you have and give it up for Lent. I heard that one woman decided that she was saying too many negative things about people. She was always being critical. So she decided, one Lenten season that she would give up saying critical things. She said that for the first week she was stunned at how little she had to say. She was rendered almost silent. And yet by the end of the Lenten season God had really changed the way she talked and the way she thought. I know another person who decided to fast from cursing during Lent. She felt that it was not a habit a daughter of God should have. She struggled a bit, a slipped up But at the end of the season, Lo and behold, God used her commitment to change her habits of speech.

You could use Lent for all sorts of things – to work on a relationship that needs mending – what would happen if you made a vow to give a compliment once a day to someone you normally quarrel with? Or you could decide to go out of your way to do something kind for a complete stranger once a day.

Lent is about the journey of becoming something new. It is about being transformed into the Image of Jesus Christ. Why do we think that is going to happen without any intentionality on our part? Life is a journey. We are going to be reminded of that in a few minutes, with the little ritual that is called the Imposition of Ashes. If you desire, you may come forward and either Greg or I will make the sign of the cross with ashes on your forehead. This has many meanings. The ashes represent our humility before God, our desire to be changed, our need for forgiveness and our desire to be different. The sign of the cross is the reminder that it is by the Death of Jesus that we are set free from slavery to all self-destructive habits. The cross is our victory. The cross says that change is now possible for us. And we wear its mark on our foreheads to show that we are the People of the Cross. And as the sign of the cross is made, Greg and I will say words from the Scripture – “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” This reminds us that we are all on a journey. We may think we can stay where we are, but that’s an illusion. All life belongs to God, and sooner or later we must give it back to him. All of life is moving toward a meeting with God when all accounts will be settled and all things given their true value.

So, while you are waiting to have the ashes placed upon your head, use the time to think about what you will do with Lent. Jesus has called to you. Will you journey with him?
Amen