In Jesus Holy Name February 14, 2024
Ash Wednesday John 3:16 Redeemer
“Red Roses for Ash Wednesday”
In the month of February, you’ll experience holidays such as Valentine’s Day and US Presidents’ Day, and this year Ash Wednesday. This year more than 250 million red roses will be purchased and delivered. The red rose is the most popular symbol of romantic love. A favorite note often attached to the bouquet of red roses goes like this: “Loved you yesterday, love you still, always have, always will.”
These words are the same note God has sent us, visible in Jesus: “Loved you yesterday, love you still, always have, always will.” “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that who soever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
What a wonderful phrase. “He loved you yesterday, loves you still today, He always has and always will.”
This year Valentines Day coincides with Ash Wednesday. Did you know that there is a flower called the Lenten Rose. It is a perennial that blooms in the spring and has the color of a red rose and a similar shape.
We know that Ash Wednesday, begins the season of Lent. This year it coincides with Valentine’s Day! The two holidays needn’t be at odds with one another. We can celebrate the people we love while reflecting on the greatest love of all: that God loved us so much he died so that our broken commandments which separate us from God’s love would be removed. As the Psalmist wrote “As far as the east is from the west.”
Ash Wednesday is one of the most attended services in the Roman Catholic faith. People stand in long lines to receive the “mark” of ashes and forgiveness. In the church year calendar people think the obvious days of celebration are Easter and Christmas. Even the celebration of Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit –is high on every spiritual experience. But in many ways, Ash Wednesday gets even closer to the heart of the Christian gospel.
On Ash Wednesday we recognize our weaknesses before God in a way that we probably do not do on other days – we reflect that we are but a tiny part of God’s creation – a tiny and rather imperfect part.
As we reflect on our weaknesses, with ashes on or forehead, we do so with the knowledge that God is loving and merciful and always ready to accept us just as we are… And that however tiny and however imperfect we may be, God loves us with an incredible unbreakable love…
On Ash Wednesday we begin a journey through Lent in which we seek to build up our relationship with God. God created us, but we so often have failed to live as he wants us to live. In spite of this He still loves us, but when we repent and turn to Him for help and guidance, then He is ready to receive us with open arms, and ready to walk with us on every step of our journey of life….
The ancient custom of applying ashes, they said, reminds us of the wages of sin; that we are dust and to dust we will return. The ashes remind us that our sins need to be removed by the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
The three pillars of Lent – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving – serve as a reminder of the importance of spiritual growth and reflection. Through these practices, individuals can deepen their faith, strengthen their relationship with God, and live a more meaningful and purposeful life.
The Biblical writers are quite clear that all humanity is guilty of evil behavior, unacceptable to God. We know this to be true. Even in a civilized society we pass legislation to protect us from the evil actions of other human beings. Human beings can not be trusted to settle their own disputes with justice and without self interest. A promise is not enough…we need a contract. Doors are not enough. We lock and bolt them. Law and order are not enough, we need police to enforce them.
Psalm 14 laments the universal nature of human sin.
“They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds
there is none that do good.
The Lord looks down from heaven upon the
Children of men to see if any act wisely
And seek after God.
They have all gone astray. There is none that
Do good, no not one.”
We see the evil behavior displayed on our nightly news.
We saw the selfish anarchy from Settle to Washington DC.
In the 19th century a liberal optimism flourished. It was widely believed that human nature was fundamentally good and that evil behavior was caused by ignorance, bad housing and that education and social reform would enable men to live together in happiness and good will.
This view of human nature saturated English society prior to WW II. This was the religious view of Neville Chamberlain, the Prime Minster of England. In all of his meetings with Adolf Hitler he failed to see the evil nature of Hitler’s desire to control Europe and rid Europe of “undesirable” souls.
In the book of Isaiah we find these words. “All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way.” In the first 3 chapters of Romans Paul notes the degraded morals of the pagan society of Rome and Greece. He then adds that the Jew who possesses God’s holy law is no better. For even though one possesses the truth of God’s law ….no one is able to keep it… “thus all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
The most terrible result of sin is “alienation”. Sin cuts us off from one another and from God. Our highest destiny is to know God for we were created to be in a personal relationship with him. But lest take a look at the 1st Commandment.
“You shall have no other gods before me.” This is God’s demand for our exclusive worship. It is not necessary to worship the sun, or moon or stars to break this law. We break it when ever we give something or someone other than God the 1st place in our thoughts and affections. It could be an engrossing sport, absorbing hobby, or selfish ambition. We may worship a god of gold or silver in the form of safe investments or a healthy stock portfolio, property or possessions.
None of these things are wrong in and of themselves. It only becomes wrong when we give it 1st place which belongs only to God. Sin is fundamentally the exaltation of self at the expense of God.
In Alcoholics Anonymous, they always tell you that the first step toward getting sober is to say: “I have a problem. I’m an alcoholic. Once you do this you will find mercy and understanding and support. The same is true with God. The story of the Prodigal Son is the story of a forgiving God. After the boy hit rock bottom and wasted his inheritance, he realized the error of his ways and said, “Father I have sinned against heaven and you….”
Repentance! That’s when you realize that your life is going in the wrong direction and you start heading toward Jesus.
The season of Lent is a reminder that God has provided the gift of “reconciliation.” It is not something we can achieve by our own efforts. The cross of Jesus, and his blood shed there has brought peace to those who accept His gift of forgiveness by faith. Sin broke fellowship with God. The cross offers us a bridge. When two men, Joseph and Nicodemus came to the cross to receive the corpse of Jesus they had the relics of His death. Three nails, a braided crown of thrones, touched with the dried blood of the man who died. But this blood was not man’s blood, but God’s blood in the person of Jesus.
God was in the world in Jesus. He was bridging the gap, restoring peace and harmony with us, by not counting our sins against us. Paul reminds us that those nails held our sins to the cross and they were left there. (Col 2:14) For God made Christ who had no sin, to be sin for us so that by faith in Jesus we might be righteous before God the Father. II Corinthian's 5:21
. Even before we were born: “He loved you yesterday, loves you still today, He always has and always will.”
