ASHES TO ASHES

Today is Ash Wednesday which begins the Lenten journey to the cross these next forty days. Here in Leoti the Ministerial Alliance hosts a Lenten Luncheon at the various churches which brings the community of faith together to help us focus on our need for God as well as our preparation for the celebration of the resurrection. It is a wonderful opportunity for the various traditions of the Christian faith to gather together in fellowship, as well as to be challenged by meditations given by the local ministers of the community. We also receive a free-will offering which goes to help needs of the less fortunate, both local and those traveling through.

Tonight our church will hold an Ash Wednesday service where ashes once again will be placed on the foreheads of those in attendence to remind us of our own mortality and our need to "repent" or turn back to God. The mood is much more somber and reflective (as it should be) for we cannot celebrate the joy of the resurrection without first coming to grips with the suffering on the cross. Without the cross there is no resurrection.

Now I do want us to be careful that we don't lose sight of the empty tomb while on the Lenten journey. Sometimes folks get so focused on what they "give up" for Lent that they act as if they are on a pity pot or want every one to feel sorry for them. That's why Sundays are not a part of the forty days. They are "little Easters" along the way to remind us that we are a people of hope.

So as we begin this journey together, it is my prayer that we take seriously what Christ did for us that we might be forgiven, cleansed, and restored to the Father. And may we seriously reflect upon where we are on the journey and what Christ is asking of us that we might share in both the struggles, as well as the victories that lie ahead.

"Repent, and believe the gospel".