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Preparations for Good Friday
Matthew 6:1-6; Matthew 6:16-21
February 9, 2005 Ash Wednesday Service
The Rev. Kong Namkung

Today is Ash Wednesday.  Ash Wednesday is not found in the Bible.  After Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven, his disciples began to proclaim Jesus is Christ and the Messiah.  Around 230 AD, a group of Christians started fasting for the 40 hours leading up to Easter to prepare their hearts for Easter. Years later, Christians bumped it up to 7 days of fasting. And they called it Holy Week. And by 325 AD, the church officially made it 40 days, which is the season of Lent.  During 6th or 7th centuries, Christian churches thought about this idea. People, in private, at times, would sprinkle ashes on themselves as a sign of repentance. Eventually, this became a public practice.

Ash Wednesday originated in the A.D. 900s, long after Europe had been Christianized.

We are using ashes tonight. In the Bible ashes were always associated with humility and mortality, fasting and remorse.  1 Samuel 4:12 says, “That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head.”   The Israelites had a war against Philistines and they lost the battle and the ark of God was taken to Philistines.  To lose the ark of God for the Israelites was a terrible thing. That is why a Benjamite torn his clothes and put dust on his head.   Jonah 3:6, “When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.”  Whenever unfortunate things happen, the people in the Bible used ashes with humility and remorse. 

Ashes were supposed to remind you that you were mortal, that you will eventually become ashes after you die. They also symbolize death and so remind us of our mortality. Thus when I use my thumb to sign one of the faithful with the ashes, I will say, "Remember, man, that you are dust and unto dust you shall return," which is modeled after God's address to Adam (Genesis 3:19; ). This also echoes the words at a burial, "Ashes to ashes; dust to dust," which is based on God's words to Adam in Genesis 3 and Abraham's confession, "I am nothing but dust and ashes" (Genesis 18:27). It is thus a reminder of our mortality and our need to repent before this life is over and we face our Judge.  Therefore, we know our identity we’re only ashes, and we need to repent of our sins now while God gives us a time of grace.

Ash Wednesday is the day Lent begins. It occurs forty days before Good Friday except Sundays. Every Sunday does not count since Sunday is the day of resurrection.   Why 40 days? Matthew 4:1-11 explains it to us.  Right after Jesus was baptized, the Bible tells us that Jesus went out into the desert to fast and to be tempted by the Devil for 40 days. For Jesus, those 40 days were a time of introspection, a time when he battled the temptations of the Devil and emerged stronger than he had been before. For us, Lent is a time when we make that journey with Christ. We think about our temptations, our sins, and we repent.

Today we decorated our altar with purple color, a color always associated with repentance in the Christian church. After these 40 days, we emerge stronger than we had been before.  During Lent, though, even on Sundays, we will be talking about the battles that Christ fought for us on our behalf.

Therefore, if you had sinned against God, and you felt remorse about that sin, and you were repenting of that sin.  Isaiah 59: 12, “Our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us” – that’s true, isn’t it? If you were to count all the sins you have committed in just one week – and remember, sins include not only just your deeds, but also in your thoughts. Sins include not just the things you do, but the things you don’t do, but should. If you were to count all these sins, your offenses would be many. Our sins are thousands, millions of sins, testifying against you in God’s court of law.  Our sins are more than the total number of the people who we know and who knows us, and more than the numbers of the hairs on our head.

Ash Wednesday the pastor marks the congregation on their foreheads with ashes in the shape of a cross.  In the Bible a mark on the forehead is a symbol of a person's ownership. By having their foreheads marked with the sign of a cross, this symbolizes that the person belongs to Jesus Christ, who died on a Cross.  Rom. 6:3-18, “This is in imitation of the spiritual mark or seal that is put on a Christian in baptism, when he is delivered from slavery to sin and the devil and made a slave of righteousness and Christ.  It is also in imitation of the way the righteousness are described in the book of Revelation, where we read of the servants of God 144,000.  Revelation 14:1, “Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.”  This is in contrast to the followers of the beast, who have the number 666 on their foreheads or hands.

Mourning and penance are accompanied with fasting, wearing sackcloth, sitting in dust, and putting dust and ashes on one's head. While we no longer normally wear sackcloth or sit in dust and ashes, the customs of fasting and putting ashes on one's forehead as a sign of mourning and penance have survived to this day. Ash Wednesday is a day not only for putting ashes on one's head, but also a day of fasting.  Matthew 6:16 say, “Whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting, truly I tell you, they have received their reward, but when you fast, out oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be see not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

During the Season of Lent, I strongly encourage you to have fast at least three days.  Fasting for three days will help you in your relationship with God.  If you cannot fast, please, fast for one day.  If you cannot fast one day, do one meal a day and put that time for reading the Bible and pray to God.  Then you will find how much it helps you to grow. 

Lent is a time when look you at yourself, and acknowledge that there are some things that need to be fixed up. There are some things about me that are not perfect, things that need to be changed, things that need to be adjusted. Look at my attitudes, my lifestyle, my priority in the mirror of God and the word of God.
Take a close look at yourself, and ask yourself some hard questions – what are my sins? Where am I “not so Christian” in my life? What kind of person am I? Am I really loving? Do I show that in my words and actions? Am I really patient? Do I really love God more than anything else in my life? Do I make sacrifices for him? Am I peaceful? Or, do I like to fight, gossip, to assert my will over other people? What kind of person am I? What are my weaknesses? What are my sins? Where do I need to get better in my life?   What about those who do repent, who take a look at themselves, and acknowledge their sins, and turn to Christ for forgiveness and help to live a new life? What about you?

Lent is that time when you do some “spring cleaning” in your soul. You look deep within yourself, and acknowledge your sins. And then you look to Christ, who won the battle for you, and you receive his forgiveness. The forgiveness of sins, won for you on the cross. Lent is a time when you grow in your appreciation of all that Christ has done for you. Not only do you become more aware of your sins. You become more aware of just how much your Lord Jesus loves you, that he would do all these things for you.

These next 40 days, what I suggest you do is this… If you want to give up something for Lent, give up a half hour a day – and during that half hour, read a half a chapter a day from the book of John every day – a half a chapter – it will take you 40 days to do it. Read those verses slowly, and think about the words you are reading, and then evaluate yourself. Think of your sins, and then rejoice in Christ’s forgiveness. Let God strengthen you through his Word this Lenten season. Let God help you to “quit that certain sin” you want to be rid of in your life. That is Lent. And may this be something you do, not just these 40 days before Easter, but throughout your entire life. Amen.

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Matthew 6:1-6

6:1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
NIV

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Matthew 6:16-21

16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
NIV

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