Raul Garcia III
Ash Wednesday
March 1, 2017
Ash Wednesday
March 1, 2017
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, this evening we begin another season of Lent, another journey in faith, in which we attempt to follow our Lord on the road to Jerusalem and the cross. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, prepare our hearts and minds to appreciate the gift of our Lord’s redemption, which we receive through our faith and baptism into his death and resurrection. Open us to the truth of your Word, that we might be strengthened in faith in your gift of grace. We ask this in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
Anyone know what yesterday was? Fat Tuesday or in french Mardi Gras. What do you think of when I say the words Mardi Gras? When I mentioned those two words it usually means celebrations, beads flying in the air, smiles on the faces of millions of people parading through places like Bourbon Street in New Orleans!
But that isn’t how it all started! It was started a long time ago to remind us to take time and celebrate the goodness of God. They celebrated “Fat Tuesday” by eating richer, fatty foods before beginning their time of fasting during Lent.
Some would say that it was a time for good Christians to get all of their sinning out of the way before Lent, some say it is a time to sin big so you have something to feel really sorry about during Lent.
I believe the real theology behind it all is focused on remembering that there is a time to celebrate in the Lord, it’s also a time for us to reflect, pray, and to prepare.
So, we begin Lent with a celebration… and guess how we end Lent!
(With another celebration. EASTER!!)
For Jesus, those 40 days in the wilderness, was a time of contemplation, fasting, reflection, and preparation. By us observing Lent, we choose to join Jesus on this journey. While most of us will probably choose not to go off into a desert to fast and pray, several will choose to give something up, sacrifice something, to deprive ourselves so that we can contemplate on the meaning of Lent, reflect on Christ’s sacrifice, and prepare for the night we will remember Christ’s death and prepare for the celebration to come at Easter.
(With another celebration. EASTER!!)
For Jesus, those 40 days in the wilderness, was a time of contemplation, fasting, reflection, and preparation. By us observing Lent, we choose to join Jesus on this journey. While most of us will probably choose not to go off into a desert to fast and pray, several will choose to give something up, sacrifice something, to deprive ourselves so that we can contemplate on the meaning of Lent, reflect on Christ’s sacrifice, and prepare for the night we will remember Christ’s death and prepare for the celebration to come at Easter.
Tonight, our 40 day journey begins! If you went to your calendar and counted the days between now and Easter, you would come up with 46?!?! Does anyone know why? It is because in our Western theology… we “skip” Sundays since every Sunday we continue to “celebrate” Christ’s joyful resurrection. A celebration to start… celebrations mixed in on Sundays… and a celebration at the end!
But, before we go crazy focusing on the celebrations, we need to remember that tonight is not about celebrating… it is about ashes! Why Ashes? Isn’t it just a Catholic ritual we Lutherans have stolen? Truth be told… no, it is not. It’s a Jewish thing… a Jesus thing we’ve kept going.
As I’ve said, Lent is a time of putting ourselves into the proper mindset, that mindset is knowing just how much we need Jesus Christ. We are broken! We are sinful! We are imperfect, and we need to remember, that without Christ we are hopeless! Therefore, tonight, our thoughts are focused on mourning and on penitence. Here is where we get ashes from.
The Jewish society of the Old Testament and of Jesus’ time relied very heavily on wood fires for heating and cooking, which meant that keeping ashes under control was a major housekeeping task. Then as now, if a person was preoccupied with something serious, they didn’t always tend to the housekeeping—it was the least of their concerns. Imagine that there is a death in the family. A friend stopping by to pay their respects might gently say, “Did you know you have ashes on your face?”
So ashes became a sign of remorse, repentance, and mourning. Today someone might wear a black armband to signify that they are in mourning, back then people put ashes on their foreheads.
But, before we go crazy focusing on the celebrations, we need to remember that tonight is not about celebrating… it is about ashes! Why Ashes? Isn’t it just a Catholic ritual we Lutherans have stolen? Truth be told… no, it is not. It’s a Jewish thing… a Jesus thing we’ve kept going.
As I’ve said, Lent is a time of putting ourselves into the proper mindset, that mindset is knowing just how much we need Jesus Christ. We are broken! We are sinful! We are imperfect, and we need to remember, that without Christ we are hopeless! Therefore, tonight, our thoughts are focused on mourning and on penitence. Here is where we get ashes from.
The Jewish society of the Old Testament and of Jesus’ time relied very heavily on wood fires for heating and cooking, which meant that keeping ashes under control was a major housekeeping task. Then as now, if a person was preoccupied with something serious, they didn’t always tend to the housekeeping—it was the least of their concerns. Imagine that there is a death in the family. A friend stopping by to pay their respects might gently say, “Did you know you have ashes on your face?”
So ashes became a sign of remorse, repentance, and mourning. Today someone might wear a black armband to signify that they are in mourning, back then people put ashes on their foreheads.
You can see in the following scriptures ashes were used throughout the bible.
Jeremiah 6:26
Daniel 9:3
Job 42:1-6 NIV
Our 40 day journey begins tonight. It is a journey that is supposed to involve praying, is supposed to involve some sort of fasting maybe, is supposed to involve some sort of sacrifice and preparation. And tonight, it begins with ashes. Ashes symbolize our own grief, ashes symbolize our own fears, ashes symbolize our penitence, and ashes symbolize our turning wholeheartedly towards the Lord!
Ancient Christians wore ashes upon their heads to show their sincerity as they mourned their sins and repented of them. Tonight you came up to have ashes placed on our foreheads, to hear those ancient words “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Sounds kind of shocking to hear those words? You are not alone. I read a post recently, where a Pastor said, “I’m not really a Lent kind of guy. I believe in celebrating what the Lord has done, not in feeling bad for myself! I’m a Mardi Gras kind of person not an Ash Wednesday kind of person.”
My response is, if we are so willing to be with Jesus during the good times, to enjoy the goodness and celebrate the joy found in Christ, why are we not willing to be with Jesus during the bad times too? Why do you want to focus on the happy things Christ did, and overlook the hard things Christ did? Why are we so happy to read Jesus’ words about not worrying, about having joy, about receiving much and avoid the times he talks about depriving ourselves, giving everything of ourselves, and taking up our own cross to follow him?
As true faithful Lutherans and friends of Christ, we should watch, pray, and stand by Him on Maundy Thursday, we should not flee from Him at the cross on Good Friday, and we should stand by him now as he begins his 40 day journey into the wilderness.
If we do, let me tell you, we will find that the joy and celebration of Easter morning will be so sweet because we understand the sacrifice of Jesus during Lent.
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Daniel 9:3
Job 42:1-6 NIV
Our 40 day journey begins tonight. It is a journey that is supposed to involve praying, is supposed to involve some sort of fasting maybe, is supposed to involve some sort of sacrifice and preparation. And tonight, it begins with ashes. Ashes symbolize our own grief, ashes symbolize our own fears, ashes symbolize our penitence, and ashes symbolize our turning wholeheartedly towards the Lord!
Ancient Christians wore ashes upon their heads to show their sincerity as they mourned their sins and repented of them. Tonight you came up to have ashes placed on our foreheads, to hear those ancient words “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Sounds kind of shocking to hear those words? You are not alone. I read a post recently, where a Pastor said, “I’m not really a Lent kind of guy. I believe in celebrating what the Lord has done, not in feeling bad for myself! I’m a Mardi Gras kind of person not an Ash Wednesday kind of person.”
My response is, if we are so willing to be with Jesus during the good times, to enjoy the goodness and celebrate the joy found in Christ, why are we not willing to be with Jesus during the bad times too? Why do you want to focus on the happy things Christ did, and overlook the hard things Christ did? Why are we so happy to read Jesus’ words about not worrying, about having joy, about receiving much and avoid the times he talks about depriving ourselves, giving everything of ourselves, and taking up our own cross to follow him?
As true faithful Lutherans and friends of Christ, we should watch, pray, and stand by Him on Maundy Thursday, we should not flee from Him at the cross on Good Friday, and we should stand by him now as he begins his 40 day journey into the wilderness.
If we do, let me tell you, we will find that the joy and celebration of Easter morning will be so sweet because we understand the sacrifice of Jesus during Lent.
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Amen.
