Devotional - March 2, 2022
Ash Wednesday
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
An audio recording of last Sunday's service can be found on our website: https://www.citrusspringscongregational.org
Bible Study on Wednesday, canceled in lieu of Ash Wednesday Service at 10 AM
Choir practice Friday at 11:00 am.
Isaiah 58: 1-12
58 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
The sentiments found in the Ash Wednesday service usually find their range somewhere between the melancholic to the morose. After we have been through a few, we shuffle in knowing the particulars of our mortality will soon be presented to us. And as we leave, they will literally be marked in ashes upon our foreheads. With marketing like this, there is no doubt it took God to keep the church going. Why do we subject ourselves with this kind of ceremony, year after year? Some would say, it is a way of confronting our fear of death. Yet, I do not see it that way at all. Jesus said, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds (John 14:24). Traditionally, we interpret Jesus' parable referencing His own death and the Kingdom it would initiate in the future. But, the philosophy behind the teaching is a little broader in nature. Ash Wednesday, believe it or not, bears some similarity to what we do on New Year's Eve. We reflect on the year-gone-by, and the experiences therein, as we seek better times in the future. In Jewish teachings, they believe you cannot have a new year, until you let go of the old, or let it die. Paul, talks about putting to death the deeds of the flesh, by the power of the Spirit in your life (Romans 8:13). Ash Wednesday gives us an opportunity to let go of our attachments that hinder our relationships with others and with God; making way for more things that enhance our lives. We place the cross upon our foreheads as a reminder of the resurrection and all it represents: God's faithfulness, forgiveness, grace, and eternal life. As the ashes are removed, so too goes all that works against the life God has given us; it dies away. It is an intentional process. It is something we do consciously, and once done, we move on. Because, we know that our lives here on earth are not forever, but what we do and who we are while here, has a significant impact on our community. Wasting time on the past or things that detract is not worth it. Ashes come from fire, and in our Christian faith, fire is what tests and purifies. In our text, you read that God, through Isaiah, challenges the Israelites to reconsider what fasting was all about. When they fasted, as a sign of humility, they put ashes on themselves as a way of showing a penitent heart. They went through the motions, but they did not do the work. In fact, they did not even skip a beat in their daily treachery. In their eyes, they lost nothing by doing so. God said, they were missing the very treasures that are found in one's life with God. So today, if you do not make it to church, allow for some time to observe Ash Wednesday where you are. Use this time, this day, to pray and let some things fall to the ground and die. Be refined, and make new, ...be reborn. Ash Wednesday is not about death, it is about life. And oddly, one of the things that can result from this kind of contemplation is celebration. As you ponder your life, thinking about all that has occured, you realize how blessed you are and hopefully that brings a sense of gratitude and warmth to your heart.
Pray with me ...Holy God, grant us the peace of mind, and the wisdom of Your Spirit, as we reflect on our life. Grant us the strength to let things go, that need to go, so that we can live a better, fuller, life with You and others. Bless those we love and care about. Be with them and bless them according to their needs. Bless our church, that we may be the blessing You desire us to be, in Jesus name, Amen.
God's peace,
Pastor Brian
