Wednesday, February 14, 2018

When the Darkness Comes

Ash Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Sound the trumpet in Jerusalem!  Raise the alarm on my holy mountain!  Let everyone tremble in fear because the day of the Lord is upon us.  It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of thick clouds and deep blackness.  Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains, a great and mighty army appears.  Nothing like it has been seen before or will ever be seen again.
That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time.  Give me your hearts.  Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.  Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.”  Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.  He is eager to relent and not punish.  Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this curse.  Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord your God as before.  Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem!  Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting.  Gather all the people—the elders, the children, and even the babies.  Call the bridegroom from his quarters and the bride from her private room.  Let the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence, stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.  Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord!  Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery.  Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say, ‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”  Joel 2:1-2, 12:17(NLT)
Ash Wednesday, along with Good Friday, are among my least favorite days of the year.  Let’s face it, this is an invitation to go to church with fasting, weeping, and mourning.  On the whole, I’d rather be in the dentist’s chair when he says, root canal!
Now, putting my personal preferences aside (which is certainly a big part of becoming a Christian in the first place…you remember, denying self and taking up the cross daily). Well, laying to the side my preference for the celebration days of Easter, Christmas, Pentecost, and all the other happy times, it is this day I NEED more than any celebration.
Ash Wednesday is:
·       the day of my personal mourning and repentance for my own sins
·       a time for clearing-out the cobwebs of conveniently-forgotten promises to God
·       a moment to confront those failed attempts to get back on track with living the faith life of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, this Ash Wednesday coincides with Valentine’s Day, and, consistent with all the other sentimentality which creates the Hallmark syndrome throughout the year, too many of us will opt for chocolate over confession; we want a celebration, not a solemn meeting.  After all, wouldn’t we rather be happy  instead of going to a somber service, singing Just As I Am, and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Actually, I may have just stumbled across the point…how can you actually BE happy WITHOUT this day of confession?  How can you survive eternity without that wondrous blood-stained cross and the marvelous grace that says you can come to Christ just as you are, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me?
Which would you rather have?
·       Celebrating “love” in a sentimental gush of emotions, fueled by flowers, chocolate, four-star dinner, and maybe a few diamonds, making the owners of that every Kiss begins with K slogan deleriously happy (not to mention rich), knowing you’ll have to top that next year…or…
·       Connecting with the author and finisher of all faith in a way that experiences the cleansing power of mercy and grace…and sensing a renewal of that child within, cleansed, forgiven, re-purposed and strong?
This isn’t a harangue against St. Valentine, Hallmark, or even celebrating the day by thinking of your loved ones; it’s just a reminder that there is a better target that is being held in a whole different place.  Don’t miss that target…go for the ashes!
For You Today
Celebrate the cross…that’s the REAL DEAL when it comes to love!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

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