At one time, I took comfort in church formalities and rituals. At the time, I did not have a personal relationship with Christ. I wasn't aware that I had not been re-born spiritually. I wanted to do what felt 'right'. Honoring God felt good.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lent season. You won't find the words Ash Wednesday or Lent in the Bible. These rituals have a long history. Lent has the longest history going back to AD 325. We can see the beginnings of Ash Wednesday in the 10th century becoming official liturgy in the 13th century.
Both of these celebrations center around one thing; the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The focus should be on what Jesus has done for those who believe in Him, not what we do to please God or gain favor with the 'religious' people of the day. The Catholic Church, as well as some mainline Protestant churches that follow a liturgical calendar put great emphasis on these 'holy days'. Evangelicals, not so much.
What is the significance of ashes on our face? If we look for some Biblical support we can read Ezekiel 9:4.
The Lord called to a man and said. . ."Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over the detestable things that are done in it."
Apparently the mark was made with dust, refer to Genesis 3:19. God is speaking to Adam after he and wife Eve ate the forbidden fruit and became sinful human beings - as we all are.
"By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
These are Old Testament verses were written for the Jews who were under the law and lived religiously. They don't apply to the New Testament church who is under grace, not the law.
Way back in high school chemistry I learned that our human bodies contain the same 18 elements as a handful of dirt. Knowing that fact can bring us down a notch or two and give us a reason to show humility - we're made of dust! David wrote in Psalm 103:14 that God remembers that we are dust and Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:20 that all come from dust and to dust all return.
We know that Jesus had a resurrected body as we shall someday. God will gather all that dust and give us a new body that will never die and decay. Billy Graham passed into glory recently at age 99. What a humble man he was whose only desire was to share God's love. He has been called the greatest evangelist and teacher since the Apostle Paul who wrote a good deal of the New Testament.
I remember Mr. Graham saying that one day we will hear that he had died. "Don't believe it" he said, "I'll be more alive than ever and in the presence of God." Amen! A good and faithful servant.
Eventually, the dust became the ashes of the palm branches used the prior Palm Sunday which had been dried, burned and saved for this ritual. Omar Khayyam, the 11th century Iranian thinker whose poetical works have become universally classic, spoke to us in quatrains. I wonder if this Persian man read the Bible.
"Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust Descend;
Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie,
Sans Wine, Sans Song, sans ginger and - sans End!
If Khayyam understood who Jesus is and what He has done for those who know Him, he might have replaced the 'sans' (without) to 'avec' (with). Oh poor Omar, he couldn't picture eternal life with wine, song and ginger; only lying under the dust forever with no life, no joy. Sad.
Lent is described by the Catholic Church as a time of 40 days and nights set aside to reflect on all that Jesus has done for us. We can trace this ritual back to the Council of Nicaea AD 325. Giving up something is often used to remember what Jesus gave up for us - His life, everything! Why the number 40? In Matthew 4:1 we read where Jesus went out into the wilderness for 40 days to fast and pray and was tempted by Satan. Notice He was "led by the Spirit" to do this. We think of not eating food as fasting, but it also has something to do with Spiritual hunger.
This Spiritual hunger is what gives joy and hope to life. To seek a relationship with the God of the Universe, to know His Son Jesus, and to feel the power of the Holy Spirit in our life is what gives us hope, confidence and security. Shedding ritual can be very freeing, perhaps closer to God's heart.
Ash Wednesday and Lent are not occasions for us to display our devotion to God - so He'll like us better - or boost of our own holiness. In October we celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation initiated by God who used Martin Luther, a Catholic monk, to show that the church was wrong in many ways for many reasons. Luther pointed out that "The righteous shall live by faith." Romans 1:17. "Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because "The righteous will live by faith." Galatians 3:11.
Romans 8:1 - "There is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ."
Romans 8:29 - 30 "For those God foreknew he also predestined ...those he predestined, he also called, those he called, he also justified, and those he justified , he also glorified."
Romans 10:4 - "Christ is the end of the law so there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."
JESUS HAS DONE IT ALL. We can't add to what he's done, but we can be aware of how blessed we are to experience His love and grace. When Jesus was on the cross He said,"It is finished."
This is the 'Good News' of the Gospel! Don't you want to share it with everyone?
For those who don't feel the need to have a face dirtied with ashes, or giving up something during the lent season, why not add something to your days that will give you peace and joy? Read through the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The first three tell the story of Jesus' life, each one is a little different. John has a a unique way to tell the story of Jesus..."In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." John is saying that Jesus is God.
Thank you Lord for doing it all! Having you in the midst of our lives on a daily basis is the most precious experience on earth.
