Ash Wednesday Chapel
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“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1-2)
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent, which marks out 40 days to Easter. Traditionally, it is a time, more so than others, devoted to repentance, fasting and prayer. During Lent we set our hearts and minds on the cross. We join with Christ in his 40 days in the wilderness. We join with Christ as he runs towards pain and suffering because of the joy set before him. We run the race because he ran it first and showed us the way. We join with him because of the joy set before us.
Notice that phrase at the end of this section. Why did Jesus go to the cross? Because of coming joy. What is his joy? What was he wanting? Communion with God the Father? No, he had that before taking on human form. To be with the Holy Spirit? To be in heaven? Again, he already had those things before humbling himself and making camp among us. So why did he do it? To get you. You are the joy for which Jesus endured the scorn and suffering. You are the reason Jesus came to earth, was crucified, died and was buried. You are the reason Jesus conquered sin and death. He came because He delights in you. And he wants to be your joy. He wants you to delight in him.
Unfortunately, it’s not something we as humans naturally do. The normal bend of our hearts is to take the easy road, the path of least resistance. We want to follow the crowd and not stand out. Even those of us who strive to be different hang out with people who also strive to be different. It’s who we are but it’s not who we were meant to be.
I'm going to come at this from a different angle. Did you watch the Olympics last month? I love the Olympics. In fact, it's the only reason I hooked up my TV. I'm always in awe at the dedication these men and women possess. These world-class athletes force their bodies into submission to achieve a goal: to be the best in the world at what they do. They train for years in order to: skate around a rink for 2 minutes, or ski down a hill in 2 minutes, or flip through the air like a crazy person, or brush really fast on the ice which never seems to make any difference what-so-ever. I love the summer Olympics too. The women’s soccer team lost a heart-wrenching game to Japan. Men and women dedicate their lives to running a race in 30 seconds, swim 50 meters or vault for 3 seconds in the air. What’s wrong with them? Don’t they like ice cream? How can you not want to eat pizza? Don’t they want to have a normal life? How do they do it? More importantly, why do they do it? What makes a 16 year old girl get up 4 AM every morning to go to the pool or the weight room or to run alone down a cold dark road when they could be in a nice warm bed like the rest of us? The answer is ‘desire’. They love what they do. They have a goal in mind that captures their hearts.
Notice the sports analogy the writer of Hebrews uses. We run with perseverance. This is not some sprint and it’s over; this is a marathon. You run until you take your last breath in this world and your first breath in the next. We run the race because he ran it first and showed us the way.
The apostle Paul talks about it this way.
“23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Cor 9: 23-26).
Notice his strong language: ‘strict training’, ‘striking a blow to my body’, ‘make it [his body] my slave’. What is Paul talking about here? Why can’t he just relax and let whatever happens happen? Why does he always have to rain on the parade? Because of the joy set before him. Paul’s goal is to get the prize. He wants Jesus. He’s not just looking for some pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die Jesus. Paul tasted something that goes beyond just pure will power. You can decide to be good and that will last about a day—maybe even a month if you have a really strong will. Paul tasted joy and desire. He knows there is something more. But he also knows that he can hamstring himself in the race. He knows that if we just kind of let life happen without being intentional, it can kill our faith. It can disqualify us. Can you imagine the apostle Paul thinking about the possibility of not making it?
We talk a lot about discernment at this school—distinguishing between the destructive, the allowable, and the brilliant. In terms of food, it’s about telling the difference between the poison, the celery, and the sirloin steak. Why do we discern? We discern in order to run the race better. For the joy set before Christ he endured the cross. We choose the good because of the joy available to us. We are his delight. Our hearts are his garden. We discern because when the Lord’s love captures our hearts, we willingly give up everything to get him.
Okay, let’s bring this back to the beginning. Traditionally, the journey to Easter is symbolized by ashes, a biblical symbol of grief and repentance and of prayer and fasting; hence Ash Wednesday. As a community, we use this symbol to remind ourselves that often our desires are broken. We often desire the empty promises of the world to the rich life offered in Christ. Wearing ashes on our foreheads marks turning away from sin in our lives and intentionally moving our hearts towards Jesus. We repent of our hard hearts. We repent of not caring. We repent of our wrong desires. We acknowledge our brokenness and our need of a savior.
And that's where fasting comes in. The reason we fast is because we want to awaken hunger inside of ourselves for the steak instead of the poison. We want Jesus instead of the lie. We want to want life instead of that which destroys us. We fast to kill the power of sin in our lives. We fast in order to beat our bodies into submission. We fast to awaken our hearts to the delight of the Holy Spirit. We do not fast in order to gain God’s favor or to try and manipulate him into doing what we want. We fast to make room for more of Him in our lives. We fast to change our spiritual taste buds. We fast out of a desire to encounter our Bridegroom God.
This Lent, I challenge you to think of what you might lay down before the cross in order to get more of him. Usually, Lent involves the fasting of food, but there are plenty of other ways to be inventive in fasting. What sucks up your time? What grabs at your heart more than God? What feeds your apathy and spiritual complacency? We all have those areas. Is it TV? How about Facebook? Music? What about media altogether? What about your cell phone? If the fear pang hits you, that might be the area God is putting his finger on. Remember, fasting is not about refraining from sin; you should be doing that anyway. Fasting is about laying down your rights; it’s about giving up the good for a time to get the best. What is the Lord asking you to set aside for the next month and a half? Once you know tell someone else so they can hold you accountable.
Now hear me in this, if you decide you’re going to give up TV, don’t fill that hour and a half with some other menial task like checking your email 50 times. At least take a part of that time to read your Bible and pray.
[Invite the 4 Seniors up]
In a moment I'm going to pray and then invite you to come forward to have ashes put on your forehead as a symbol of your desire to seek after Christ during this season.
Prayer:
Father, we give to you our lives. We give to you our desires. We want you to be the treasure in the field we willingly and joyfully sell everything to get. We want to want you more than anything else. We want to walk free from the shackles of sin. But God, right now, many of us don’t see that reality in our lives. Our hearts are pulled every which way. We sin and say we will never do it again but we end up doing it over and over and over. We repent. We are your broken children and we ask you to come and fix our hearts. Change our desires. Come be the Joy set before us. Amen.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, this morning I invite you to the cross. I invite you into Lent--into a time of repentance, fasting and learning to delight in Jesus.
Students putting ashes on foreheads say:
"Die to yourself. Rise with Christ."
- Or-
“Repent and believe the good news”
[after students have come forward and the music stops]
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent, which marks out 40 days to Easter. Traditionally, it is a time, more so than others, devoted to repentance, fasting and prayer. During Lent we set our hearts and minds on the cross. We join with Christ in his 40 days in the wilderness. We join with Christ as he runs towards pain and suffering because of the joy set before him. We run the race because he ran it first and showed us the way. We join with him because of the joy set before us.
Notice that phrase at the end of this section. Why did Jesus go to the cross? Because of coming joy. What is his joy? What was he wanting? Communion with God the Father? No, he had that before taking on human form. To be with the Holy Spirit? To be in heaven? Again, he already had those things before humbling himself and making camp among us. So why did he do it? To get you. You are the joy for which Jesus endured the scorn and suffering. You are the reason Jesus came to earth, was crucified, died and was buried. You are the reason Jesus conquered sin and death. He came because He delights in you. And he wants to be your joy. He wants you to delight in him.
Unfortunately, it’s not something we as humans naturally do. The normal bend of our hearts is to take the easy road, the path of least resistance. We want to follow the crowd and not stand out. Even those of us who strive to be different hang out with people who also strive to be different. It’s who we are but it’s not who we were meant to be.
I'm going to come at this from a different angle. Did you watch the Olympics last month? I love the Olympics. In fact, it's the only reason I hooked up my TV. I'm always in awe at the dedication these men and women possess. These world-class athletes force their bodies into submission to achieve a goal: to be the best in the world at what they do. They train for years in order to: skate around a rink for 2 minutes, or ski down a hill in 2 minutes, or flip through the air like a crazy person, or brush really fast on the ice which never seems to make any difference what-so-ever. I love the summer Olympics too. The women’s soccer team lost a heart-wrenching game to Japan. Men and women dedicate their lives to running a race in 30 seconds, swim 50 meters or vault for 3 seconds in the air. What’s wrong with them? Don’t they like ice cream? How can you not want to eat pizza? Don’t they want to have a normal life? How do they do it? More importantly, why do they do it? What makes a 16 year old girl get up 4 AM every morning to go to the pool or the weight room or to run alone down a cold dark road when they could be in a nice warm bed like the rest of us? The answer is ‘desire’. They love what they do. They have a goal in mind that captures their hearts.
Notice the sports analogy the writer of Hebrews uses. We run with perseverance. This is not some sprint and it’s over; this is a marathon. You run until you take your last breath in this world and your first breath in the next. We run the race because he ran it first and showed us the way.
The apostle Paul talks about it this way.
“23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Cor 9: 23-26).
Notice his strong language: ‘strict training’, ‘striking a blow to my body’, ‘make it [his body] my slave’. What is Paul talking about here? Why can’t he just relax and let whatever happens happen? Why does he always have to rain on the parade? Because of the joy set before him. Paul’s goal is to get the prize. He wants Jesus. He’s not just looking for some pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die Jesus. Paul tasted something that goes beyond just pure will power. You can decide to be good and that will last about a day—maybe even a month if you have a really strong will. Paul tasted joy and desire. He knows there is something more. But he also knows that he can hamstring himself in the race. He knows that if we just kind of let life happen without being intentional, it can kill our faith. It can disqualify us. Can you imagine the apostle Paul thinking about the possibility of not making it?
We talk a lot about discernment at this school—distinguishing between the destructive, the allowable, and the brilliant. In terms of food, it’s about telling the difference between the poison, the celery, and the sirloin steak. Why do we discern? We discern in order to run the race better. For the joy set before Christ he endured the cross. We choose the good because of the joy available to us. We are his delight. Our hearts are his garden. We discern because when the Lord’s love captures our hearts, we willingly give up everything to get him.
Okay, let’s bring this back to the beginning. Traditionally, the journey to Easter is symbolized by ashes, a biblical symbol of grief and repentance and of prayer and fasting; hence Ash Wednesday. As a community, we use this symbol to remind ourselves that often our desires are broken. We often desire the empty promises of the world to the rich life offered in Christ. Wearing ashes on our foreheads marks turning away from sin in our lives and intentionally moving our hearts towards Jesus. We repent of our hard hearts. We repent of not caring. We repent of our wrong desires. We acknowledge our brokenness and our need of a savior.
And that's where fasting comes in. The reason we fast is because we want to awaken hunger inside of ourselves for the steak instead of the poison. We want Jesus instead of the lie. We want to want life instead of that which destroys us. We fast to kill the power of sin in our lives. We fast in order to beat our bodies into submission. We fast to awaken our hearts to the delight of the Holy Spirit. We do not fast in order to gain God’s favor or to try and manipulate him into doing what we want. We fast to make room for more of Him in our lives. We fast to change our spiritual taste buds. We fast out of a desire to encounter our Bridegroom God.
This Lent, I challenge you to think of what you might lay down before the cross in order to get more of him. Usually, Lent involves the fasting of food, but there are plenty of other ways to be inventive in fasting. What sucks up your time? What grabs at your heart more than God? What feeds your apathy and spiritual complacency? We all have those areas. Is it TV? How about Facebook? Music? What about media altogether? What about your cell phone? If the fear pang hits you, that might be the area God is putting his finger on. Remember, fasting is not about refraining from sin; you should be doing that anyway. Fasting is about laying down your rights; it’s about giving up the good for a time to get the best. What is the Lord asking you to set aside for the next month and a half? Once you know tell someone else so they can hold you accountable.
Now hear me in this, if you decide you’re going to give up TV, don’t fill that hour and a half with some other menial task like checking your email 50 times. At least take a part of that time to read your Bible and pray.
[Invite the 4 Seniors up]
In a moment I'm going to pray and then invite you to come forward to have ashes put on your forehead as a symbol of your desire to seek after Christ during this season.
Prayer:
Father, we give to you our lives. We give to you our desires. We want you to be the treasure in the field we willingly and joyfully sell everything to get. We want to want you more than anything else. We want to walk free from the shackles of sin. But God, right now, many of us don’t see that reality in our lives. Our hearts are pulled every which way. We sin and say we will never do it again but we end up doing it over and over and over. We repent. We are your broken children and we ask you to come and fix our hearts. Change our desires. Come be the Joy set before us. Amen.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, this morning I invite you to the cross. I invite you into Lent--into a time of repentance, fasting and learning to delight in Jesus.
Students putting ashes on foreheads say:
"Die to yourself. Rise with Christ."
- Or-
“Repent and believe the good news”
[after students have come forward and the music stops]
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
