Ash Wednesday - This Wednesday

Lent

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on the Saturday before Easter. The word Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lencten, which means “spring,” the time of the lengthening of days. Lent lasts forty days, not counting Sundays.

Why Forty Days?

Jesus was in the wilderness forty days facing temptation and discerning the kind of ministry God intended for him (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13). In Scripture forty days or forty years is often the duration of a time of punishment, repentance, fasting, or vigil: The children of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years; Jonah preached that Nineveh would be destroyed in forty days; Acts 1:3 reports that the risen Christ appeared to his followers for forty days before his ascensions.

Why Not Count Sundays?

In the first century an epistle attributed to Barnabas says, “We keep with joy the day on which Jesus rose from the dead.” In the second century Justin Martyr wrote, “We all gather on Sunday because on the first day…Jesus Christ out Savior rose from the dead.” Sunday is always a celebration of Jesus’ victory over sin and death. Even during Lent, Sunday is a “little Easter.”

Ash Wednesday

The date of Ash Wednesday, determined by the date of Easter, may fall anytime from February 3^rd to March 10^th. Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent with worship that focuses on the themes of sin and death in the light of God’s redeeming love in Jesus Christ. Traditional words used during the service are “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” We receive everlasting life only as a gift of God’s grace.

Ash Wednesday worship, whether with a congregation or alone, is a call to observe Lent as a time of self-examination and repentance, of prayer and self denial, of reading and Bible study, of meditation on Jesus’ life and death, and of giving oneself to others, especially those who suffer and are in need.

Significance of Ashes

Scripture has many references to ashes used as a sign of mortality and of repentance. Abraham spoke of himself as being “but dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27). After Job lost everything, he sat among the ashes (Job 2:8). The king, the people, and even the animals of Nineveh donned sackcloth and ashes as a sign of repentance (Jonah 3:5-10). And Jesus spoke of cities repenting in sackcloth and ashes (Luke 10:13).

In many churches palms used on Palm Sunday the previous years are burned and mixed with a little water to make ashes for Ash Wednesday. Sometimes persons write a particular sin or wrong or something they want God’s help in overcoming to be burned with the palms. Each worshiper is invited to then "mark themselves" as followers of Christ

The Meaning of Lent for Us

In our busy, secular world, we all need times of reflection and renewal. Lent can be such a time. Lent is above all a time to remember Jesus, to walk with him in study, prayer, and service to others, a time to engage in personal and family worship. Yet in order to be the body of Christ, Christians need to come together to worship and study with others – on Ash Wednesday, on Sundays, and at special services during Lent and Holy Week. Lent is a time for congregational worship.

Giving Up and Adding On

Giving up something for Lent is a tradition that probably grows out of the history of Lenten penance and fasting. Most of us have things in our lives that we need to give up permanently. Lent is a good time to begin. Or we might give up something we value in order to identify with what Jesus gave for us or in order to help people in need. Churches or individuals may make an offering of money saved from the practice of self-denial to give people in need. We may want to add some things for Lent – acts of kindness, generosity, compassion, and love.