Pastor Scott's Message
The season of lent begins next week. Lent is a time of preparation. It is forty days and nights of repentance so we can embrace the cross and the grave at the end of it. By focusing on our sin, we see our need for a savior. By dying to ourselves, we prepare to celebrate living in Christ.
Ash Wednesday is for honestly addressing our state without Jesus. We are dead. In January, I got to speak at the Teens Encountering Christ Weekend. I spoke on Saturday, which is Die Day. All of the talks have Lenten themes. My talk was on the reality of death. I shared my experience with death, that from an early age I learned that death comes for us all. We will all die physically one day, even though our parents, teachers and churches try to shield us from that reality. Ashes to ashes dust to dust is accurate. The sooner we accept that the sooner we can look to the Lord to save us.
When we receive ashes on our forehead we are reminding ourselves and all of those who come in contact with us that death is real and unavoidable. This is a huge service to us and our neighbors. We admit our limitations and our frailties. We need someone or something that is death-defying to breathe life into us. We need a savior who overcomes death. When Jesus raised from the dead, he became the hope of a decaying world. In the cross of ashes on our forehead, there is a reminder of death but also life. That is how God works, he brings life out of death. From the cross came the resurrection. In baptism, our sins are killed so that we can receive life. During lent we ask God to continue to drown our sins so that healthy things can emerge from our lives.
The day after Die Day at T.E.C. was Rise Day. The more intense Die Day the more glorious is Rise Day. Easter will be glorious but first we need to lament our sins and ask God for mercy. Come Wednesday to service and prepare.
