PSA: Read below for more information about a Lenten Bible reading plan and the imposition of ashes. We will continue our practice of the imposition of ashes tomorrow evening.
CONSCIOUS OF CONSCIENCE
Psalm 51:2-3 –Wash away my guilt, and cleanse me of my sin. For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me.
It is amazing to me the different tactics that we use to appease and quiet our consciences. Adam and Eve showed us how to pass the buck. Adam turned it back on God because it was God who gave him that woman who gave him that fruit. Eve blamed the snake. It wasn’t their fault (can you hear the sarcasm dripping from my fingers?). And over the years, we’ve only gotten better at appeasing our consciences. We go into denial about what we’ve done or that it was actually sinful. We are the master of a thousand excuses. We’re often dishonest with ourselves and God about what we actually feel and think; about what we’ve actually done. We actually convince ourselves that what we’ve done or what we’re doing is okay. We are the master at justifying our actions. We make ourselves feel better about our sins by comparing ourselves with other people. There is always someone who is worse than me.
For approximately a year, David was in all of those places. He must have tried every trick in the book to quiet his conscience. I can hardly imagine the mental gymnastics David had to perform to excuse his adultery with Bathsheba and the gangster-like murder of Uriah, her husband. But the time came when David couldn’t dance around his sin anymore. And it hit him like a load of bricks. I am completely aware of what I’ve done, and it sits on my conscience like a load of bricks. Wash me clean!
Parenting has helped me with this, personally. I see my own children struggling to own up to and confess their sins to me. I confront them, and they roll their eyes at me. I discipline them, and they point the finger of blame. What I’m trying to teach them is that there is only one answer when we get caught and called out our sin, “I’m sorry.” It’s a bitter pill to swallow. It hit me one night as I came home in a bad mood. And then some of my neighbors cross a line and it upset me. So I confronted them about it, and I was not nice. It almost got heated. So I started to walk back to my house, but then it hit me. I was wrong. I couldn’t make excuses for the way I had talked or acted. I had to go and confess it.
There is only one response for us when we sin. Our initial response is to try to make excuses, to justify it, to blame someone else. But when we do that, we leave our sin sitting on our conscience. It might be glossed over or hidden for a while. But it will come to roost one day and we will bear it. Confess it now. Cry out to God from a broken heart. Confess with the confidence that it is already forgiven. God promises us this grace and forgiveness. He even says, “Before they call, I will answer” (Isaiah 65:24). That is how certain and sure God’s forgiveness is.
God is a better Father than I am. No doubt about that. But this is what I want my children to know. If you’ve sinned, confess it, and I will always forgive it. There may be consequences, but there is always forgiveness. So, own it and confess it. I will forgive it, and then we will move on in the peace of forgiveness. God grant that to you today.
PRAYER::
Lord God, help me see you as a safe place to confess my sins. When I hold on to them and fail to confess them, they become like a sickness to my soul. They sit on my conscience and weigh me down; sometimes I don’t even know it. But you aren’t here to get me. You sent your Son to save me. You want me to confess my sins to you and then, every single time, you want to forgive me for what I’ve done against you. Keep me from being afraid of you. Instead, teach me to run to you in confession whenever I sin against you. Amen.
Ash Wednesday is the Wednesday that comes seven weeks before Easter, marking the beginning of the season of Lent. During Lent, we focus with Christians worldwide on our need for repentance and forgiveness and on Jesus’ suffering and death, which provides that forgiveness.
At Mount Lebanon, we practice the Imposition of Ashes. Near the beginning of the service, worshippers can have their forehead or hand marked with ashes. This is an optional worship activity. Worshipers of all ages may receive the ashes, and parents who wish to participate are encouraged to spend time discussing the meaning of the action with their children.
Ashes can still hold rich symbolism for Christians today. The Bible says: “Sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all men” (Romans 5:12). Though we are forgiven, our sin guarantees that we will die, and ashes remind us of this fact. Recall what God said to Adam after the first sin, “You[will] return to the ground since from it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
Ashes also symbolize our need to repent of the sins that contaminate our lives. As our soul is dirty with sin, our bodies are marked with dirty ashes, which makes plain to everyone who sees us our heartfelt confession of sin to God.
The Imposition of Ashes is an age-old practice that may help add new meaning to your repentance and contrition during Lent.
May God bless our Lenten journey and the traditions that accompany it.