Today begins the Season of Lent. What is Lent, you ask? It’s a time of remembrance. It is a time of examining one’s own spiritual life. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, which traditionally uses the ashes of the palms from last year’s Palm Sunday.
Lent is a time to focus inwardly. To get our “house” in order, if you will. We hear several scriptures proclaimed: The Prophet Joel proclaims to the Israelites (and to us!) to “gather the people, sound the trumpet, corporately confess of your sins”. In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us to pray in private, to not show off our personal spiritual practices.
Do these two passages contradict each other? No. Do they stand in tension? Most definitely yes! On Ash Wednesday, as we prepare the journey toward Jesus’ death and resurrection, we gather as the Body of Christ. We confess our individual shortcomings as well as the mistakes we’ve made as a group of people.
And God invites us! God is ready to embrace us in God’s arms. Like a parent whose child has come back home or like the friend who seeks to repair a strained relationship, God seeks us out and embraces us with loving arms!
Beloved, let us take this Ash Wednesday to take a look at ourselves as individuals and a group. Let us acknowledge our failings. Most importantly, let us rest assured that God loves us so very much and is ready to heal our hurts and brokenness.
Christ’s Love,
Pastor T. Wes Moore