Ash Wednesday

Good Morning,

Today is Ash Wednesday, and it represents the first day of Lent. Lent is observed as a period of repentance leading up to Passion Week - the last week of Jesus' life.

Ash Wednesday is a sacramental exercised traditionally practiced in the Roman Catholic Church, and some Protestant Churches as well.  It is sacramental in that the tradition of marking the sign of the cross in ashes may be bestowed upon anyone; as opposed to a sacrament which is normally reserved only for members of the church.

The tradition is derived from Old Testament practices such as found in Job 42:6 which says,

"Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

In Old Testament terms, to mark oneself with ashes was a sign of great sorrow and remorse for sin, and an intentional act of repentance.  In today's modern day Christian churches, people will attend a service to have their foreheads marked with the sign of a cross in ashes by the Priest.  The cross is to supposedly stay on the forehead until it naturally wears off.

I think the practice of Ash Wednesday is wonderful as long as the meaning is significant, and not held exclusive to its ritual practice of only once a year.  There is really nothing significant to having one's forehead marked with ashes, except in terms of what it should represent.  There is no supernatural power in the ashes themselves that suddenly removes the conviction of one's sins.  This can lead to a false sense of security in the practice itself.  In other words, one can practice the rituals of Ash Wednesday and Lent and never inwardly repent of their sins.

True repentance is an act of the will.  It is to feel remorse and sorrow in your soul, which leads to repentance of your will before God.  And we do not have to wait until Ash Wednesday to initiate the act of repentance.  The Holy Spirit wants to work His redemptive ministerings in your life 24/7, 365 days a year.

Rituals are useful as long as they are recognized as just rituals.  We should not see any siginificant power in the ritual itself.  They should simply act as reminders of the power of God upon our lives, and serve as examples that continually lead us into His will.  On the other side of things: rituals that are practice without any significant meaning at all to the person practicing them are nothing more than empty practices serving no real purpose.

I think the author of Hebrews has it right when he says:

"The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonial unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.  How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished before God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God."  (Hebrews 9:13-14)

Have a great Wednesday, because this too is the day that they Lord has made and we should be glad in it,

-Leo