Ash Wednesday is upon us and we know what expect –ashes to remind us of our sinfulness and mortality, a lean season of self-denial, and weeks of Lenten readings and sermons filled with lessons of repentance and judgment.  These are the trappings of Lent. 

But wait a minute…  Some of you may remember a recent sermon about the God of surprises who turns everything upside down. Well, consider this:  as we focus on a time of personal  repentance this Lenten season, it just might turn out that we end up  experiencing a sense of joy in our lives that we never anticipated!   Grace always comes in surprising ways.  Tears that are shed wash away some of the grief.  Sins that are confessed open the door to cleansing.  Pain that is owned and admitted brings the possibility of healing.  Hearts that are willingly broken on God’s altar may yet become whole by the grace of God.  The Lenten Season points to Jesus resisting temptation in the wilderness.  Later we find Jesus struggling in prayer in a garden.  The next day we find Jesus tragically suffering and dying on the cross on Good Friday. This tragic scene is miraculously reversed on Easter morning with Jesus’ Resurrection.  

Ashes usually remind us of defeat and destruction, but it is helpful to know that ashes make lye and lye becomes soap.  That information is helpful as we approach Ash Wednesday and the Lenten Season.  God calls us to pass through the ashes in order to cleanse us.  God leads us through fasting in order to fill us.  In this Season we are invited to repent so we may find God’s holy joy in our lives.  Think of it this way:  God has surprises in store for us as we journey through the Lenten Season. Blessings for your Lenten journey.
Rev. Judy