Today is Ash Wednesday. For much of Western Christianity, this is the day that marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent is a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. It is the period of forty days, excluding Sundays, before Easter. During this time, Christians prepare for Easter. We identify with the forty day period that Jesus spent in the wilderness after his baptism. We imitate in some small measure the thirst, hunger and temptation to which he was subjected. As we remember the fasting and preparation of our Savior in the desert, we also mourn for him as we prepare with him during this season for his greater sacrifice on the cross just weeks away.
We impose ashes on our foreheads as an outward witness of our repentance. We remove ourselves from the privacy of our prayer closets in order to acknowledge not only the sacrifice of a risen Savior, but also our earnest desire to be forgiven for our participation in the sin that drove him to that cross. We remove the flowers and adornments from the sanctuary to help us remember what is coming.
In the book of Esther (3:12-4:3), a plot is hatched by Haaman, the King’s assistant, to kill the Jews. When Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, hears of the decree, he tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth and ashes and goes out in the middle of the city to cry out. As the word spread to the provinces, the Jews followed suit, dressing the same way and fasting and mourning. It is an old custom, this practice of looking sad and doing without in the midst of crisis.
Today, we mark our foreheads with ashes and oil to remember. It is no matter that we were not born when Jesus’ sacrifice was completed, for he came and died for all sin, and that means he died for you and me just as surely as he did for those who came before us.
The prophet Isaiah reminds us that true worship has little to do with ritual and everything to do with restoration. He encourages us to fast to call attention to injustice, to oppression, to hunger, to providing shelter, clothing the naked, not turning away from the needs of our neighbor. Worship is more than ritual, fasting more than form. The appearance of humility inside this sanctuary impresses little if thrown aside like a cloak once we leave.
If our fasting is to be acceptable to our Lord, we must act our testimony and not just ritualize it. If our prayers are to be listened to by our heavenly Father, they must arrive on the wings of our witness. If our worship is separated from our daily life, it is not worship and we are not righteous. The glory of the Lord here and now is seen in the eyes and acts of his disciples. This is our act of righteousness. This is our true worship; that we act as God’s people. It is for this reason that we gather in this season of Lent. Let the oil which bonds the ashes of repentance to our foreheads be a healing balm for us. Let the sign of the cross of Christ so become our true character that no cross will need be painted upon us for that witness to be seen. May we present ourselves anew as living sacrifices to our Savior. May we, in this season, remember, repent, and restore.
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