This week's post is by Ashley Bowie.

In a small upstairs dining room, in a rented space filled with quick glances and a tangible uncertainty the son of God sat breaking bread and praying. Low candles threw shadows around the room and on the faces of the men with Him. Some were afraid, or worried, most were confused. All sat listening intently through the sounds of eating and drinking and light conversation. With one ear to his brother and one ear to the Lord each of them waited. Something was happening, something was about to change. As they waited patiently they looked carefully at one another, Do you know what this is all about? Have you heard what he plans to do? All of them were looking for answers, all of them could feel the tension. All of them but Peter. Peter sat tall and easy. He sought a lively conversation but could not find it among his brothers. He leaned into his meal instead and focused on flavor. He did not notice when Jesus stood and filled a basin with water. He did not see the Son of the Almighty God wrap a servant’s towel around His waist and carry the water to his own feet. He did not notice until his feet were in the hands of Jesus and it became appallingly clear what He intended to do.

“Lord do you wash MY feet?” This was a job for the lowly, a disobedient servant, a young or very new servant. Certainly not a job for the great teacher, and not at all a thing for God himself to do. He could not allow it, Peter would do anything to serve the Lord and had said so, planned to say so again. I will die for you Lord. He rehearsed in his mind again. No this would not do. Maybe he would stand so Jesus could not wash his feet, or call on his fellow disciples to say something sensible.

“If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Jesus said patiently, with an eternity of longing in His voice. Peter softened, his bravado deflated. Above all, he must be with the Lord forever. Of all the things he had ever wanted, of all the paths in life he had tried, following Jesus had been the only right. If He says I am not clean then I will let Him wash me, he reasoned. If cleanliness is what he wants, then I want to be totally clean.

“Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Don’t count me out Lord! Clean all of me so I can be with you.

“The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean.”

~

I’ve been talking about the subject of this blog for several weeks now. My friends know that when I get excited about something they can expect to hear about it day and night ad infinitum. It was something of an epiphany that hit me as I was reading through the book of John one morning. Like a flame lit in my heart spreading warmth through me. I’m a little bit more afraid of this little candle than I thought, because as it happens, it’s not just a candle, it’s the consuming fire of a real and consistent face to face relationship with Jesus.

When we think of submission, I would guess that most of us think about doing as we are told by whomever happens to be in authority. We think of bosses or parents, and making good choices when it comes to our spiritual lives. We think of abstaining from sin and doing the good right things that the Lord gives us to do. These are good thoughts about submission, right even, but in the context of John 13 we have this miraculous moment when we are commanded to submit to being served by the Lord.

Sit right there, child you have been walking in the world. You have been living and striving and walking to and fro trying to be a good servant and a faithful child and you have collected the dust and filth of the world on your feet. Let me pour this pure water over your feet and wipe them with this towel white as snow.

I have sinned recently. At the time of this writing I am unwilling to tally up all the ways I have been selfish or careless, cold hearted or have let my words get away from me. I’m sure you understand; you are every bit as human as I am. When I am made aware of my sins, the filth of the world on my feet, I have a tendency to wallow for a few days. Then I try to clean up myself. As though I sit with a gavel in my human hearts court room and lay out a sentence. Do three kind things, say words of encouragement to people who annoy you, read nothing but scripture for a week. I have a friend who says that she “grounds” herself. She feels like she cannot go out with friends or do anything fun.

James chapter 4 says that when we do these things we become judges of the law. As if to say that the plan Jesus laid out for confession and repentance is not enough and we need to add our own items to the list in order to feel clean again.

Repentance will never stop being a part of our lives on this side of eternity. There is always going to be something to be sorry for. No matter how hard you try, you will continue to walk through the world and collect the mess on your feet. True, soul deep repentance puts you face to face with Jesus. As He kneels before you, the one He laid down His life for, the one He paid His own blood for, He looks into your eyes and says “You are already clean, just let me take care of these feet. Thank you for coming to me today because I know that you needed to sit here and confess all the mess you have gotten into, and look there, it is finished.”

This story happens within the framework of the last supper. Jesus’s final communion with His disciples included a teaching on confession and repentance. It should be often and intentional that we come to have our feet washed. And when He has washed their feet He gives us this command; John 13:14-15 “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”

I think most of us repent in solitude because we don’t want others to know just how bad we are. I really hate to imagine what people would think of me if they knew how selfish I can be sometimes, or how angry I can get if things don’t meet my expectations. But here we have the example of Jesus; we are not to come to one another with superiority or with any of our own judgments on the law. We are to come with a servant’s towel and humble knees. It is messy to live in the world my friend, and I don’t want you to be slowed down by thorns or a collection of dirt. So let me help you, let me pray with you and we can walk on together.

Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your GOD reigns!”

I have missed many opportunities in my lifetime due to not wanting to do something just because everyone else was doing it. Stubborn? Just a little. You'd think by now I would realize the reason that so many people are doing something is because it's fantastic. Can't tell you how much my life was changed once I got over myself and started texting. I'm beginning to wonder if Lent is a little bit like this. Do I miss out in my relationship with Jesus because I don't set aside those "40 days of Lent?" I realize not everyone observes Lent. When I was younger, it seemed as though only those in the Catholic Church observed the period between Ash Wednesday and just before Easter Sunday. Now it seems like each year with the hint of spring comes many people, no matter their faith, giving up a vice/behavior/habit for Lent. Whether it be drinking, television watching or fill-in-the-blank. Instead of setting something aside they may add something, like going to church or eating fish on a Friday. If that is what Lent is- giving something up just because that's what everyone else does then I'm not interested. But if Lent is the idea of a "season of soul-searching and repentance. A season for reflection and taking stock" then that is intriguing to me.

A few years ago for the first time, I declared "I’m giving up dessert for Lent." To be honest, I think it was more of a weight-loss plan that a practice of prayerful self-denial. I don't recall anything being different in my walk with God off or on the sweets. I do recall my husband very kindly requesting I find a different vice to give up should I ever declare to "do Lent" again. As it was that year my birthday, our anniversary, other family members birthdays all fell within that period. Made celebrating a little difficult and I haven't observed Lent since.

 If you were to observe Lent you'd be in a sense imitating the 40 days that Jesus withdrew into the wilderness to prepare for His ministry, only you would be preparing yourself for Easter. Whether you did that by avoiding certain foods that would feel like a sacrifice to you, adding to a devotional reading, fasting, praying, choosing to be wiser and more engaged with your time whatever it may be I think it comes down to a choice.

Do you choose to set something aside for a time, not out of obligation or legalism, but out of a desire to reflect or if need be to repent?  As the time of  Lent approaches, I am drawn more and more to the idea that any time spent quietly pondering or being more intentionally focused on Jesus is a time that can only benefit those choosing to do it.  Does not doing it affect His love for you?  No.  The last thing I would encourage anyone is to "do more."  He already loves you to perfection. Nothing you do or don't do can make Him love you any less nor can observing, this time, make Him love you anymore.  But what if observing Lent caused your love for Him to grow? What if it caused you to know Him a little more?  What if it allowed you to be more connected to Him because you'd spent time being purposeful about your pursuance of Him?  Worth it?  Maybe it's just me but I think with any relationship if you put in 40 days of intentional time in you would leave that season with a stronger relationship.  The cord that tethered you to one another would be strengthened. More durable and less likely to give way under the strain. 

If you choose to observe Lent this season here is a link to the “Journey to the Cross” devotional that could be used and modified by you for you to use during your family devotional time during Lent.

This week's article is by Theresa Adams, a Redeemer member, a wife & a mom, who would someday love to have her own roller skating rink & thinks getting her kids to eat kale is a major victory!

Blog Post by Brandon Adent

A man with a large, pointy hat dipped a bony finger into a glass bowl, like a child reaching for the last morsels of cookie dough. As the finger re-emerged from the vessel, black with dust from the shelf you need a stool to reach, a woman knelt before the hatted man, hands folded anxiously, not bothering to wipe her eyes or stop the purple running down her nose. Reaching out, the finger smeared the substance onto her quivering forehead in the shape of a cross. As the woman stood, she moved her hands in a way I'd never seen, then walked away, tears streaming, as another came to take her place.

It's been many years, but the images have stayed with me, however molded they may be in the years between then and now, images beamed into our living room via the miracle of television. Why would you let a man rub dirt on your face? She's crying, so it must hurt! Why are her hands folded?! She should unfold them, hit him and run away before he hurts anyone else! Why is there a line for that? 

To an 8 year old, the ritual was bizarre. Even now, it seems bizarre.

I grew up in a home that loves Jesus, but didn't really celebrate Ash Wednesday or Lent. When I asked my parents, they said the woman was crying because she was sad about her sin. The concept was mostly foreign to me. Mostly because I didn’t think I had that much of it. Sure, I wasn’t perfect, but Jesus was, right? And He died for the sin that I did have. So why do I need to be sad for my sin?

What Is Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday is the official start of the season of Lent, six and a half weeks in total, consisting of 40 week-days of fasting as an act of repentance prior to Easter, or, Resurrection Sunday. The institution of the day, or the season, is not in your Bible. It was set up by the early church to provide some structure in how to think about, and prepare for, Resurrection Sunday.

First observed in the 7th century, Ash Wednesday served as an invitation for certain people to publically begin a season of penance. This specific practice then fell into disuse, and was re-instituted in the 10th-ish century, but opened up to the general congregation rather than “certain people”.* As a part of the ceremony, the repentant were marked with ashes as an outward symbol of an inward disposition of the heart; that is, a heart that loves Jesus, one that mourns sin as offensive before a holy God, and acknowledges their inability to meet God’s standard of perfection apart from Christ.

A lot has happened since then. Ash Wednesday has probably been abused and misused, twisted to mean something it was never meant to over the years. I don’t know the specifics, and even if I did, I wouldn’t get into them here.

Again, it’s important to remember that  “Ash Wednesday” the service, the start of the season of Lent, is not in our Bibles. Because God has not prescribed structure here, we are free to use old traditions and modify them to our current context, so long as they are not sinful and offensive to God or harmful to our community. 

Over the next six minutes or so, I want to explain why we celebrate Ash Wednesday today, how we celebrate it, and why it matters as we go about our lives.

Why We Celebrate

In the Bible, we see several instances where God calls His people to Himself in “solemn assembly” (Neh 9, Numbers 29:12) The primary objective of these gatherings was not to subjugate people with feelings of guilt or condemnation. Rather, it was to show off the glory of God by the preaching and reading of his word, realize the inability of His people to meet the standard set, to recognize that sin is willful slavery, and to respond in worship to a God who shows mercy (the withholding of punishment) and grace (unmerited favor) to His people.

Ash Wednesday is a continuation in that tradition. We need to constantly be reminded that our sin is a big deal. That it’s offensive to our Creator. That it’s rebellion against the King of the universe. That it’s hurtful to our Father in Heaven, that it makes Him sad and angry that we would choose to worship anyone or anything but Him.

So, if we’re talking about something so harmful as sin, why do I keep talking about how and why we “celebrate” Ash Wednesday?

Again, the purpose of this service is not to make us feel guilty for our sin; it’s to remind us that Jesus is bigger and better than our sin. Where we fail, Jesus has succeeded, and being found in Him is more satisfying than any act of sin we can conceive.

Such an occasion calls for celebration!

How We Celebrate

Since and Ash Wednesday service follows in the tradition of “solemn assembly”, we celebrate in many ways that the Bible says people celebrated. We’ll read God’s Word. We’ll hear God’s Word explained. We’ll sing some songs. We’ll pray. We’ll receive communion. All things that we would do in a typical Sunday service.

However, as a tangible, physical reminder of repentance and the mercy and grace found in Jesus, we’ll do a little something extra, that has its roots in the establishment of Ash Wednesday.

Ashes

Back in the days when the Old Testament was written, people used to dump ashes on their heads as a sign of mourning sin, either that they had committed, or had been committed against them.  (Tamar in 2 Sam 13:19, Mordecai in Esther 4:1, Job in Job 42:6). Ashes were a symbol of mourning in ancient culture, and often accompanied by sackcloth (think wearing an itchy burlap shirt) and fasting. One did this to 1.) be physically miserable as a reminder that they needed communion with God more than they needed physical comfort and 2.) Show everyone how miserable they were.

You wouldn’t tell a joke to a person in mourning. In fact, you would probably go out of your way to avoid such a person. Such signs show that we care about sin and brokenness, recognize that it grieves our Father and King, that we wish it didn’t exist, and that where the sin is ours, we want to turn from it.

Anointed With Oil

Similarly, people would be anointed with oil as a sign. But not as one of mourning. Being anointed with oil was a sign of favor, of holiness, of set-apartness. The kings were anointed with oil when they were called to lead and serve their people (1 Sam 10, 16:13), priests when they were called into temple service (Exodus 30:22). 

The oil is fragrant, the point being that the wearer can -figuratively speaking- smell God’s favor on their foreheads.

This is an outward sign of an inward reality that God ordained before time itself. The oil does not put God’s favor on you. Only Jesus can do that. 

And if you’re in Him, He has! God knew who you would become before you were born. He knew the sin you’d commit, no matter how hidden you think it is. And He sent His Son to die for you, that you would be washed clean of all your wickedness given a perfect, sinless, good-deed-filled record before the Righteous Judge, and adopted into the family of God Almighty.

The oil is meant to remind us of all this, and mixed with the ashes, it reminds us of the favor we have despite the sin in our lives.

Why This All Matters

We’ve talked about the roots of the Ash Wednesday “holy-day”, where it comes from, and how we observe it as a church.

So why does all this matter?

In 1517, Martin Luther began his 96 Theses with “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.”

Repentance, as we said before, is the act of turning from sin toward the Savior.

Every moment of every day, we need to face the Savior as individuals. But we shouldn’t stop there. God has certainly saved us individually, but when He saves us, He saves us into a community of people that we get to call family.

Ash Wednesday is a great opportunity to get together with members of the family and seek after God together. To see and hear how great He is, to really take a look at the ugliness of our sin and the sweetness and beauty of His grace, and to turn to Him in repentance.

If you’re available, we’d love to have you join us Wednesday, February 18 at 6:30 PM to celebrate Ash Wednesday.

Source: “Ash Wednesday” Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church Page 116. Copyright 2005 Oxford University Press.

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