Fasting Can Be Useful, But . . .

This past week marked the beginning of the annual 40-day journey we Christians make with our Lord to the cross of Calvary. It is a most serious time for all of us, because it reminds us how much we rely upon His grace and mercy. Unfortunately it was a rocky start for me this year. I found myself confined to my home, unable to lead in worship or even to join in worship with my fellow believers. For reasons best known to my Lord, He allowed me to be afflicted with strep throat. Not only did this infection bring great pain to my throat, it also affected my eyes and caused a cough in my lungs. The doctors I consulted told me they needed to know if it could be best treated with antibiotic drugs or not. They made me wait—in misery—for four days before assigning any meds. They tell me they have no way to fight viral infections like colds and had to wait to be certain the drugs would work against the strep throat.

So I suffered through (and that included Ash Weds.) at home, unable to read or write on my computer, forced to stay away from the fellowship of the saints (other than my wife). Finally the meds arrived and with their help I am now on the mend, writing again as you can tell. And as I return to writing I am reminded of something I wrote about earlier in my studies of the book of Hebrews.

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. - Hebrews 12:4-8 ESV

This is a very difficult lesson for any of us to learn. And learn it we must for sin continues both in this world and in our hearts, even after Christ's Spirit has entered to grant us new life in Christ. So we return to the value and importance of the Lenten season. In our catechisms we are reminded that setting aside times like the 40-day Lenten season to deny ourselves can be good training in the exercise of will power, but it does not gain us any good will before God. We are ever at His mercy.

At the same time the Lord Himself will put us to the test by removing something from our lives. In my own case this past week He removed my good health for a time. And I thank Him for it, because it reminds me very strongly that I am a grave sinner and yet also a beloved son. As His son He continues to train and discipline me so that I may become an even better servant of His. And how grateful I am for this, for sin continues to attack and trouble me daily. And I have much to learn about prayer, patience, long-suffering, moderation and many other things of that sort.

If you are choosing this Lenten season as a time to fast and deny yourself I can only encourage you to continue, as the Apostle does when he says,

. . . for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. - 1Ti 4:8 ESV

The godliness Paul refers to is faith in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and all the teaching that derives from and is in accord with that teaching (1 Tim. 6:3-6). Not only must our physical bodies be trained, but also our spirits. Using this analogy, the Apostle further writes,

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. - 1 Cor 9:24-27 ESV

 We are ever a whole person, body, mind and heart. So use this season to train yourself in all ways. Deny some bodily pleasure if you will. And joyfully accept any discipline that the Lord Himself places upon you. Then do not fail to spend time with the Word of our Lord and in prayer, praise and thanksgiving. This is why we set aside special times of worship during the Lenten season.

All this is so that you may rejoice when you come to His Table to receive His Body and His Blood, knowing that your sins are indeed forgiven. At the end of these 40 days you will be better prepared to rejoice in the great Sign of forgiveness He has given to us.

When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. - Luk 11:29-30 ESV

As Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and nights, so the Son of Man was in the embrace of the grave (Matt.12:40-41). But now is He risen and we know for certain we have forgiveness for all our sins. This is why we continue to celebrate His resurrection each Sunday, also during Lent. We do not include the Sundays as part of the 40 days for they are ever our reminder that Christ is risen. The Father has accepted His sacrifice and in Him we have full and complete forgiveness. Praise be to Him forever!

The Ashes of Ash Wednesday

Today Christians around the world begin the 40 days journey leading to Holy Week, Good Friday and on to Easter and the celebration of Christ's resurrection. This day has a very strange name, Ash Wednesday. It is a day when many worshippers gather to have their foreheads marked with the sign of the cross by ashes. The ashes are from burning the palms of the previous year's Palm Sunday celebration.

When and how did this strange practice begin? The Bible refers to the use of ashes as a sign of repentance or despair. The LORD commanded Jeremiah to call the people of his day to repent lest they suffer disaster and ruin for their idolatry and greed. Inevitable judgment is coming, he says. Then you will truly feel sorrow and pain.

O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us. - Jer 6:26 ESV

The best example of true repentance is found in the book of Jonah. After he had been vomited from the belly of the great fish who swallowed him during a storm at sea, Jonah finally went to Nineveh to command the people to repent. Word of his preaching reached the king of Nineveh . . .

. . . and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish." - Jon 3:6-9 ESV

In the New Testament we hear Jesus proclaim sackcloth and ashes as signs of repentance.

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. - Mat 11:21-22 ESV

More about the actual history of this practice is found in the American Catholic website.

Despite all these references in Scripture, the use of ashes in the Church left only a few records in the first millennium of Church history. Thomas Talley, an expert on the history of the liturgical year, says that the first clearly datable liturgy for Ash Wednesday that provides for sprinkling ashes is in the Romano-Germanic pontifical of 960. Before that time, ashes had been used as a sign of admission to the Order of Penitents. As early as the sixth century, the Spanish Mozarabic rite calls for signing the forehead with ashes when admitting a gravely ill person to the Order of Penitents. At the beginning of the 11th century, Abbot Aelfric notes that it was customary for all the faithful to take part in a ceremony on the Wednesday before Lent that included the imposition of ashes. Near the end of that century, Pope Urban II called for the general use of ashes on that day. Only later did this day come to be called Ash Wednesday.

At first, clerics and men had ashes sprinkled on their heads, while women had the sign of the cross made with ashes on their foreheads. Eventually, of course, the ritual used with women came to be used for men as well.

In the 12th century the rule developed that the ashes were to be created by burning palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday. Many parishes today invite parishioners to bring such palms to church before Lent begins and have a ritual burning of the palms after Mass.

Lutherans accept this history as their own and so many parishes follow the same practice.