Lenten Reflections

In Ezekiel 9, we read about a vision the prophet experienced. Six executioners were coming to Jerusalem. Among the six executioners was a man dressed in white linen (like a priest). He had a scribe’s kit with him (ink & pen) and was given the command to go throughout the city of Jerusalem – this was at the time of the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians – and put an X on the foreheads of those who are repentant. Those who abhor the abominations taking place in Jerusalem. People who look on evil from God’s perspective, recognizing the incongruity between common practices and the standards of the covenant Lord.

After this man in white linen marked the people, the executioners were given orders to slaughter everyone who did not bear the mark. Those who were saved weren’t saved simply because they had a mark on their foreheads. The mark was a sign of those who were actively righteous – those who moan and groan over the sins of the city.

Last evening, while I was sitting in our Ash Wednesday service, I got to thinking about the cross that marked our foreheads. Like the mark on the righteous in Ezekiel’s vision distinguished those who were repentant, so we are called to repentance during the season of Lent.

Observing Ash Wednesday – and Lent – is something that is relatively new to me. I did not grow up in a church that recognized these as Protestant holidays. Maybe we misconstrue the repentance of Ash Wednesday with the Roman Catholic sacrament of penance – that the only way to confess is by telling our sins to a priest. Or we have a misconception of holiness – that once we’re entirely sanctified, we cannot sin and therefore have no need of repentance.

So I have to remind myself each year what Lent is about. It became the tradition of the early church to set aside forty days before Easter for spiritual preparation. It was the time when persons who had committed serious sins were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness and restored to participation in the Body of believers. It was also the time when new converts were prepared for baptism. It later expanded for all Christians to prepare for Easter. We begin on Ash Wednesday by confronting our mortality before Almighty God. “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” When we become truly honest with who we are before a holy God, we can see and then receive the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God. Not unlike Ezekiel’s vision, it reminds us that without repentance we are lost.

I invite us to journey together during Lent to remember those in Ezekiel’s day who received the mark on their foreheads. Those who repented. Who stayed in touch with God and his purposes.

Do we, like the righteous in Ezekiel’s vision, truly moan and groan over our sins? Do we see evil from God’s perspective and not rationalize our behavior and the behavior of others? Let us remember this is a time for repentance and introspection, to seek God’s will through prayer, fasting, and self-denial; by reading and meditating on God’s word. Lent is also a time of renewal and re-thinking. During Lent, let us realign our priorities to match God’s. When we truly rend our hearts, we may be surprised at how much of God’s love we find there, ready to share with others.

Let us pray.
Almighty God, our Creator, we confess our need for you. We recognize that when left to our own agendas and objectives, we fall short of your plans for us. If there be any wicked way in us, we repent; we turn away from it now. We pray that during the coming days – as we journey together toward the cross – that you will open our hearts and reveal yourself to us in new ways, so that we may grow into the likeness of your Son Jesus Christ, and that your Spirit may dwell within us. Amen.