Ash Wednesday

Victory Life Church, Durant — Wednesday, March 5, 2025

The Reading of the Word:

Psalm 103:8–14 (ESV)⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. ⁹ He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. ¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. ¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. ¹⁴ For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

Introduction

Observing Ash Wednesday as the beginning of the season of Lent— a time of fasting to keep company with Jesus on the journey to the cross and the empty tomb— is a Christian tradition that goes back about 1200 years. It is practiced by all streams of the Church— Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox. But it’s unfamiliar to most Evangelicals, especially those like us who have spent most of their years in non-denominational settings.

In no way do I want to establish legalists in another generation, but many traditions had a real and beautiful intent behind them, even if that intent got lost along the way of people’s spiritual commitment and discipleship becoming a stale religious routine. All practices and all spiritual disciplines are about our relationship with Jesus and drawing us nearer to him.

Ash Wednesday is no different.

Ash Wednesday

Here are three ways that we can understand today’s significance and enter into a deeper walk with Jesus with humility and gratitude.

1. Ash Wednesday is an invitation to humble ourselves.

Psalm 103:13–14 (ESV) ¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. ¹⁴ For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

The remembrance that we are dust comes in the context of God’s compassion for us. We are never scolded for being frail.

It is God’s tenderness toward us that frees us to confess our need of him. Because our heavenly Father is gentle and patient, long-suffering and understanding, abounding in compassion, we humble ourselves, like little children. And it is here we realize that as little children, we are the ones to whom Jesus said the Kingdom belongs.

Psalm 103:8 (ESV)⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

1. Ash Wednesday is an invitation to confess our sins.

Ashes were a sign of sorrow and mourning. (2 Samuel 13:19, Isaiah 61:3, Jeremiah 6:26, Ezekiel 27:30)

Ashes were an act of repentance and turning toward God’s face. (Daniel 9:3)

Daniel 9:3 (ESV)³ Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Ashes was a way Jesus spoke symbolically of repentance (Matthew 11:21).

On Ash Wednesday, we remember not only our frailty but also our failure. We come before the God who is not only the Creator, but who is also the Redeemer.

Psalm 103:8–14 (ESV)⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. ⁹ He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. ¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

1. Ash Wednesday is an invitation to remember God’s mercy and faithful love.

Even before we knew how to call on His name, God was calling us.

Romans 5:8 (NLT)⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

It is not our repentance that persuades God to be merciful to us;

it is God’s mercy that leads us to repentance.

What we find when we humble ourselves before the Lord, is that Jesus is already bending low, on the ground with us. And as He rises, He raises us up with Him.

Psalm 103:15–19 (ESV)¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; ¹⁶ for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. ¹⁷ But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, ¹⁸ to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. ¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

The reason Christians began marking ashes in the shape of a cross was to hold these things together: the ashes remind us of our frailty and our failure; and the cross reminds us of the God who loves us and came to save us.