Ash Wednesday

This year I actually began thinking about Lent far enough in advance to do a little research and commit to observing it. I found a 40-day scripture reading plan, each day containing Psalms, Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel. The theme for today (in my head) is Sin, more specifically confession of sin.

Today’s reading begins with Psalm 95, urging us into God’s presence with songs and shouts of praise, for He is the Creator. How appropriate is this? Unless we see God as our Creator and King to whom we owe our lives and allegiance and fealty, we will never see our sin for the perverse thing it is. The readings continue with Psalm 32, in which we are promised forgiveness if we will confess our sins. What, then, holds us back? We are assured forgiveness and restoration, why do we hesitate? Psalm 143 then is a plea for God to save us from pursuing enemies. What enemy is more destructive than our sin?  He promises to destroy our enemy for the sake of His great name, which is such an overwhelming comfort, because nothing we do can keep Him from fulfilling this promise.

The Old Testament reading comes from Jonah 3 and 4 and tells us of God sparing Ninevah because they repent in ashes and tears. I was struck for the first time by God’s words to Jonah in 4:10, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.” God labors over us, makes us grow, gives us life. His stake in us is great, He will save us.

In Hebrews 12:1-14 we learn that self-discipline is a necessity in doing battle against sin and becoming holy, as we are called to do. I struggle epically with this. Well, maybe not so epically, since I always give in fairly quickly. The author uses the analogy of a race, “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,” he says. What runner lets any extra weight remain on his body during a race? That’s crazy.

In Luke 18:9-14 we read the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector going to pray in the temple. Luke says that Jesus told this parable to “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.” The moral of the story is Humility. We are truly nothing more than ashes while we remain in our sin, and we need to approach God in this attitude, though perfectly, completely trusting in His grace, which He promises us in advance.

Lent isn't supposed to drive us to despair, it is supposed to drive us to Christ. Interspersed with days of fasting and abstinence and tears are six days in which we celebrate our risen Lord, the One who makes our salvation possible. Take heart, Christian, the cross will take your sin and the tomb will be empty.