Ashes

Today is Ash Wednesday, an important day in the Christian Calendar and one that we who come from more informal fellowships ought to note. It is easy to note that Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent aren’t mentioned in the New Testament – but then neither are church buildings, but most of us find that acceptable!

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent – a forty day period (not counting Sundays) leading up to Easter. In most traditions, Lent is a time of repenting and fasting. It is an attempt on the part of those participating to recognize both our unworthiness before God, except for His grace; and a time of reminding ourselves that we truly can learn to control our physical bodies. Lent focuses on moderation and can be an extraordinarily important part of our spiritual discipline.

While Ash Wednesday is not mentioned in Scripture, the use of ashes as a sign of repentance is found. I 2 Samuel 13:19, Tamar, having been violated by Amnon, “put ashes on her head.” In Esther 4:1, Mordecai, learning all that was being done around him, “put on sackcloth and ashes.” After Satan “smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head,” (2:7) the righteous man Job was found “sitting among the ashes.” (2:8) The prophet Daniel gave his “attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” (Daniel 9:3)

When our Lord denounces cities where He had performed miracles but there was no repentance, He declares that even Tyre and Sidon, had they seen what these cities had seen, “would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” (Matthew 11:21)

Whether or not we choose to note Ash Wednesday as an important day in our own personal Christian Calendars, the simple truth remains that the idea of repentance, prayer, and fasting is an important part of any person’s desire to be more like Christ. Who among us can look in the mirror of our own hearts and not think, “I need to do better”?

Few passages of Scripture are more compelling when it comes to the biblical idea of repentance and cleansing than the words of King David in Psalm 51. Here is a portion of what he said:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving kindness;
in your great compassion blot out my offenses.
Wash me through and through from my wickedness
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you only have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight.
And so you are justified when you speak
and upright in your judgment. (Psalm 51:1-5)

It’s true that ashes on our forehead once a year are but a symbol. Of course it is true that sometimes symbols are just that – symbols, but not the real thing. But it doesn’t have to be that way – that symbol can become the reminder that we all need that we are called to be the holy people of God.

I don’t know about you – but I have some work to do in order to live up to the grace that has called me to be a child of God. Ash Wednesday can be a step in the right direction!