Ash Wedesday : Pastor's thoughts
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Ash Wedesday

by DAVID GOODFELLOW on 03/07/19

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season. You could go all day and never encounter a reminder that this is Ash Wednesday. Or you could go to the bus stop and see someone wearing ashes on their forehead in a mark that looks something like a cross. As I am writing this, I have not seen a single person this year with ashes on their forehead.

 

Earlier today I got an mail entitled “It’s Not Too Late: 3 Ways To Enhance Your Lenten Reflection”. In it, it said that Lent is a time of preparation for Easter. I believe that Ash Wednesday can help us begin to prepare for Easter as we enter the Lenten Season. Some people celebrate holidays or Holy days without ever encountering the meaning: Thanksgiving Day without the giving of thanks, Christmas day without a living Savior, and Easter Sunday without a risen Lord.

 

In Mark 2:17 it says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

 

These words serve as a good introduction to Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is when the journey toward Easter begins. Ash Wednesday can help us begin our preparation for Easter by teaching us to mourn the past (repentance), to examine the present (rededication), and to look forward toward an exciting future (hope). This can be done through various ways such as fasting, praying, meditation, reflection, etc.

 

Ash Wednesday is about repentance: Jesus reminds us that repentance can include sackcloth and ashes. Perhaps we have lost our first love in following Christ and need to repent, or turn around. We all need to repent of something. Psalm 51 is a good reading for Ash Wednesday.

 

Ash Wednesday is about rededication. When Jesus said that those who are healthy do not need a doctor, He was asking each one of them to examine themselves. Only those who admit they are sick will go to a physician, and only when we acknowledge our sin can we receive (experience) His forgiveness. Ash Wednesday is an opportunity to examine our need anew and to affirm that we will always need a Savior. Perhaps we need to repent and then rededicate ourselves. Colossians 2:6 says, “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him.”

 

Ash Wednesday is about hope. As Ash Wednesday begins our journey through Lent, our final destination is Easter Sunday. We know the outcome. He’s Alive!!!!! And Easter Sunday is more than a remembrance of the past. It is about hope for the future. Perhaps after we have repented and rededicated ourselves, we need to reflect on the promise of the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15 is a must read. Christ’s resurrection is the promise of our resurrection, complete with an eternal future of joy. Amen!

 

God bless you as you journey through the Lenten season towards Easter.

 

Pastor David

 

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Smithfield Avenue Congregational Church
514 Smithfield Avenue
Pawtucket, RI  02860
401-725-5153