The party is over, and today we begin the journey to the cross. This is the beginning of Lent, a period of 40 days (not including Sundays), before we get to the celebration of the resurrection. This is a time of deeper reflection and a season to put aside those items that interfere with our relationship with our Creator, our Savior, and the Holy Spirit. As we reflect upon Christ’s sacrifice, we understand our mortality, and offer ourselves to God as an act of repentance from the sinful lifestyle we live.
Why Ashes?
The practice of the imposition of ashes can be found to date to the 10th or 11th century. When the church leaders stated, “We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast.”
The use of ashes in a Christian sense is found throughout scripture during times of
mourning, mortality, and penance. The during Job’s suffering he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, as an act of repentance the people of Nineveh put on sackcloth and ashes, and Daniel in his earnest prayers put on sackcloth and ashes when prophesying. These are only a few places where this practice is found in the Bible, but it should not be construed as an extra biblical idea that ashes are a part of our devotion to God.
Remember, man you are dust and to dust you shall return.
Giving Up
Often during Lent, people turn to giving something up, or fasting from a joyful experience or thing. This is a Christians way to mimic the 40 days Jesus fasted in the desert prior to the beginning of His ministry on Earth. It is well known that many Catholics practice giving up eating meat, and even McDonald’s, among other fast food chains, capitalize on this practice by advertising their Filet-o-Fish heavily during Lent. If you have practiced “giving something up” for Lent, that is a great practice, but it must also be something that you don’t do for public consumption, but rather as a practice of private devotion, because we must hear Jesus warnings not to be like the hypocrites.
Many years I too practiced giving things up. Among the fasted items were: soda, sweets, Starbucks, social media, fast food, among many other items that do not immediately come to mind. These were just things that I gave up temporarily, and “celebrated” the Resurrection by engorging myself with them. At times, I joked with the idea of giving up sin for Lent. In this attempt at humor, I might have been closer to the true intention of the fast. Giving things up is a great introduction to the practice, but if we just wait for Easter to dive back into our old ways we miss the point.
This act of giving something up is better expressed in the practice of burying our Hallelujah during Lent. This means that during our times of worship and praise we put away the songs that are upbeat and filled with Hallelujah language. We do this for a time, so that when we bring them back on Easter it is a jubilant and joyful reintroduction celebrating Christ’s resurrection from the dead. We don’t pretend that Christ is not risen, but rather we put these types of praise away for a time, so that we appreciate them even more when they are out. The UMC site compares this to having our Christmas lights out, and that we don’t appreciate that neighbor that has them out all year, but when they come out in December we get a special sense of joy.
A Simplified Season
At the beginning of this season, the Holy Spirit draws us deeper in, and asks us to put aside those things that get in the way of our relationship. Let go of the other voices pulling us in different directions, and fully embrace our calling to Jesus, and to follow Him. This may mean giving things up, but it may not just be for 40 days, it may actually mean give things up. Use this season as a season of simplicity. Give up what you need to, and don’t give into the temptation to give up. Simplifying, like Sanctifying, are processes and may not be mastered overnight.
This is my drive this season to simplify, not just as an act of penance, but as an act to bring me closer to the man God wants me to be. Also, I have already messed up, but I don’t stop working on it. May God be your spark of joy this season, and may we use this season to draw closer and closer, getting rid of everything pulling us in every and any direction.
May you find blessing today and this season.
Elpis and Shalom 