Post 153—Ash Wednesday Posted…. This Wednesday (2 days ago) was called “Ash Wednesday.” The following is the introduction to the liturgy of Ash Wednesday observed this week in the First Baptist Church of Vancouver, BC, where my wife and I frequently worship. The service itself consists of Scripture readings, prayers, meditations and the singing of hymns. Somewhere during the liturgy, all came forward in order to receive in the form of ashes the sign of the cross on our foreheads. Two days later, right now, in fact, the cross has blurred, but the black ashes are still there to remind me and everyone else I meet this week. Here, then, the introduction, which was followed up with a reading of Psalm 103, which is reproduced below. Since the beginning of the Church, Christians have observed the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection with great devotion. It became one of the greatest traditions of the Church to prepare for these events through serious examination of our spiritual lives. The passion of Lent is a time of penitence, discipline and renewal. In the Ash Wednesday service, we are reminded of our mortality, we confess our sins, and we experience forgiveness through Christ’s death and resurrection. The “imposition of ashes” is a central part of the service. You are invited to come forward to

Post 153—Ash Wednesday                                                     

This Wednesday (2 days ago) was called “Ash Wednesday.” The following is the introduction to the liturgy of Ash Wednesday observed this week in the First Baptist Church of Vancouver, BC, where my wife and I frequently worship. The service itself consists of Scripture readings, prayers, meditations and the singing of hymns. Somewhere during the liturgy, all came forward in order to receive in the form of ashes the sign of the cross on our foreheads.  Two days later, right now, in fact, the cross has blurred, but the black ashes are still there to remind me and everyone else I meet this week. Here, then, the introduction, which was followed up with a reading of Psalm 103, which is reproduced below.  

Since the beginning of the Church, Christians have observed the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection with great devotion. It became one of the greatest traditions of the Church to prepare for these events through serious examination of our spiritual lives.

The passion of Lent is a time of penitence, discipline and renewal. In the Ash Wednesday service, we are reminded of our mortality, we confess our sins, and we experience forgiveness through Christ’s death and resurrection.

The “imposition of ashes” is a central part of the service. You are invited to come forward to receive the ashes on your forehead in the form of a cross. In Scripture, ashes serve both as a symbol of mortality and as a sign of mourning and repentance.

But neither sin nor death are the final word. We leave the service in confidence and gratitude, for Christ has conquered death, and nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Here are the words of Psalm 103. Read it through slowly and thoughtfully. Allow it to enter your heart and into your soul. Let it speak to you and ponder….

Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:
⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵ The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—
¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Praise the Lord, you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    who obey his word.
²¹ Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
    you his servants who do his will.
²² Praise the Lord, all his works
    everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

For those not used to the language of the Bible, perhaps the version called “The Message” is more easily understood, since it says the same time in more ordinary language, less formal but still beautiful to hear a and meditate upon:

A David Psalm

103 ^1-2 O my soul, bless God.
    From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God,
    don’t forget a single blessing!

^3-5 He forgives your sins—every one.
    He heals your diseases—every one.
    He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
    He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
    He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
    He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.

^6-18 God makes everything come out right;
    he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
    opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
    not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
    nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
    nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
    so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
    he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
    God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
    keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Men and women don’t live very long;
    like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
    leaving nothing to show they were here.
God’s love, though, is ever and always,
    eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
    as they follow his Covenant ways
    and remember to do whatever he said.

^19-22 God has set his throne in heaven;
    he rules over us all. He’s the King!
So bless God, you angels,
    ready and able to fly at his bidding,
    quick to hear and do what he says.
Bless God, all you armies of angels,
    alert to respond to whatever he wills.
Bless God, all creatures, wherever you are—
    everything and everyone made by God.

And you, O my soul, bless God!

Post 93—Ash Wednesday

I wonder: Did you observe Ash Wednesday this month?  It fell on Wednesday, February 10. As the name makes obvious, it always is celebrated on Wednesday.  But perhaps, before asking whether you observed it this past week, a prior question is whether you even know what it is. A second question is, even if you know what it is, whether you gave it any thought at all. The answer to the last question probably depends on which church you attend and whether your church pays attention to it. Some churches or denominations do; others ignore it. I attend two different churches/denominations, and both observed it by holding special services on the evening of February 10.

So what is Ash Wednesday? Wikipedia gives the following bare, curt definition: “the first day of Lent in the Western Christian Church, marked by services of penitence.”  As if the writer regrets this curt version, she/he then provides a few more details: “a day of fasting, is the first day of Lent in Western Christianity. It (normally) occurs 46 days…before Easter and can fall as early as February 4th or as late as 10 March. Ash Wednesday is observed by many Western Christians, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists,Presbyterians, and Roman Catholics.”  More recently denominations like the Christian Reformed Church and some Baptist groups have also begun to observe it.  The more recent arrivals have dropped the fasting part of it.

The Gospels tell us that Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness or desert, during which time he faced satanic temptations. The 40 days of Lent, which Ash Wednesday is day 1, mirrors this period of fasting. The name itself comes from the ashes made from palm branches that were used on the previous year’s Palm Sunday. These ashes were/are placed in the form of a cross on the foreheads of the participants by a clergy person, accompanied with formulae like “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19) or  “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). The first and more original of the two sayings are the words spoken to Adam and Eve after their fall into sin and remind worshippers of their sinfulness and mortality along with their need to repent. 

Ash Wednesday in some countries is enriched by some additional traditions. For example, I understand that on that day the Pope traditionally participates in a penitential procession between two churches, where ashes are sprinkled on his head—not smudged on his forehead--, while the Pope also places ashes on the heads of other worshippers. The Catholic Church and, more recently, some Protestant churches as well, participate in the “Ashes to Go” programme, during which clergy go to public places like downtowns, sidewalks, train stations, malls to place ashes on passersby, sometimes even on drivers waiting at stoplights! Another innovation is for small cards to be distributed among the congregation on which people are invited to write a sin they need to confess. These cards are then brought to an altar or table where they are burned. 

The association of ashes with grief, sorrow or repentance has ancient Biblical and cultural roots, even among Israel’s Pagan neighbours as in Nineveh. When Tamar was raped by her half-brother, she sprinkled ashes on her head…and went away crying (2 Samuel 13:19). Job said in Job 42:3-6, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” The prophet Jeremiah called for repentance, “O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes” (Jeremiah 6:26). Daniel pleaded to God “in earnest prayer with fasting, sackcloth and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). In the New Testament, Jesus spoke of the practice: “If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Matthew 3:47; Luke 10:13). There is also reference to it in Hebrews 9:13. 

So my wife and I participated in the ceremony at First Baptist Church in downtown Vancouver. But it was not merely a ceremony; it was a living experience what with the readings, prayers and hymns that goaded us towards a renewed sense of our sinfulness, mortality and need to repent. Though these are daily elements in the heart of a born-again Christian—or should be—a ceremony like this refreshes that awareness and stimulates one’s resolve to revive it. I am happy that I participated in this first step into Lent. The beauty of it all is that, paradoxically, after one goes through what sounds like a macabre exercise, one comes away from it with renewed joy and peace in his heart.

If you have not been in the habit, I strongly recommend attending Ash Wednesday 2017.  Especially for the born-again, for those who are alive in Christ, it is a blessed way of starting your Lenten journey towards the Resurrection of our Lord.