Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent. We take the ashes of the Palms that honored Him last year and burn them in contrition for the fact that we have failed to honor Him along the way. It is easy to shout our Hosannahs but we still fail in life and faith to serve Him. Hence, a season of examination, confession and contrition, called Lent. Itis one of the of most somber parts of the church calendar, yet, it moves us through our own evaluation of our service and reverence for the Christ...It all culminates in Easter when we see the open tomb and know that we are still precious in the realm of the Saviour who comes to love us in spite of our sins.
For many people Lent is a time of sacrifice--of giving up something that we dedicate to Jesus. Some give up chocolate..cookies..desserts..meat for certain days...anything that is something we enjoy. We give it up to show that we dedicate that part of our life in the season of Lent. Again, most of us fail, even here as we can only "give it up" for so long. Sacrifice is not only giving up something, it is asking ourselves why we are doing what we do and how that will make us more aware of His sacrifice and love in this season.
The opposite of "giving up" is taking on or doing something special for a real reason. For a long time I fasted on Monday of each week of Lent. No food, only liquids and it taught me something about hunger but it also taught me something about doing something with what I was doing. What I would have spent for food on Monday for my three meals was totaled up and put in a jar...that money went to feed the hungry as my act of service and my lesson in hunger. Then one year I took on a different thing for Lent.. I contated people that had somehow fallen in the cracks of life... people that I used to write and correspond with but somehow had not done that for along time. One person each week would be contacted and the letter would renew past experiences. I know of other people who have "taken on rather than giving up" who spent time at a Food Pantry and some who worked with children in a remedial learning program. There are all kinds of places we can plug in to give of time and talent as our gift of Lent. We need to look around and ask ourselves if that is something we can do for others and make a committment to carry out that part of the season. Whatever you may do is up to you but consider adding a place or time of service you can dedicate to Him
Lent is a hard time in the journey of our faith for it shows us our failure and we need to become aware of a Suffering Servant once again. It is hard for me to identify with the Jesus in the purple robe being mocked and spat upon, standing in my place and carrying my cross to the ash heap outside of the city. Many of the events leading to the crucifixion are as diffifult as Good 'Friday and to see them unfold is as hard as standing and looking up at the cross. Yet, we need to go through them all before we can ever approach this day called Easter. Lent leads us through the bog of our sin to the joy of Easter and the open tomb. Take it seriously and be sure to see all that unfolds along the way... from denial to crucify! from Hosannah to give us Barabbas! It is all there and now we begin to see it all over again.. Behold, the Son of God who takes away the sins of the world.....He is the Saviour of the season of Lent... He is the Holy One who walks from the Tomb...He is your Saviour, your Lord and your Friend... His name is Jesus...