Get Your Ashes in a Flash!

After I had written my post yesterday about Ash Wednesday, I read the following story: Episcopalians are administering Ash Wednesday at train stations, bus stops and subways. “Five years ago,” reports the Rev. Teresa Danieley, “I had an epiphany of sorts. If people can grab breakfast on the go, why shouldn’t they be able to get their ashes in a flash?" Her idea grew into the “Ashes to Go” program—now bicyclists, drivers and bus passengers have a convenient way to be smudged by the sign of the cross. 

While I can't fault the Episcopalians for taking their ministry to the streets (after all, Jesus didn't confine Himself to the Temple), it seems strangely incongruent with Jesus' message to “COME! Pick up your cross.” Is it possible "Ashes to Go" trivializes the meaning of the Cross?  A.W. Tozer's words of 50 years ago are very relevant today.

“The new cross says ‘come and get.’ Whereas the old rugged Cross says, “Come and give.” Whereas the old Cross was meant by God to be the symbol of death and detachment from the old Adam life, this new substitute cross does not intend to slay the sinner but just redirect him. The new cross lets Adam live without interference [or interruption]. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for himself."  Smudging people with the sign of the cross on Main Street may be one more sign of the times.

It's not just any Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, which begins the 40-day discipline of Lent for many Christians (more common to Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans): a time of fasting, prayer, and self-examination before Resurrection Sunday. While the “holiday” is not to be found in the Bible (neither is Christmas or Easter), it seems to me the sentiment it carries is cross-centered: a time for Christians to identify with the sufferings of Christ.

Unfortunately, the day before Ash Wednesday is “Fat Tuesday,” the last day of Mardi Gras—an oddly pagan celebration devoted to overindulgence and revelry before the days of deprivation begin. For those who practice such licentiousness leading up to Lent, it is the greatest of hypocrisies. And perhaps for that reason, many of us who grew up non-Catholic never participated in Lent. But I think we may have “thrown out the baby with the bathwater” [forgive the expression].

The basic idea of Lent is rooted in the Lord's 40 days in the wilderness and temptation by Satan.  So Lent reminds us how Jesus was tempted in all ways like as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). Now who can fault that! And what better time than these days leading up to Easter to examine ourselves to see if we are being faithful to His calling (2 Cor. 13:5; 2 Pe. 1:10).  It seems to me that Lent is not an event as much as it is a state of mind to be cultivated—on any Wednesday.

Fat Tuesday/Ash Wednesday: Sin Today; Repent Tomorrow

The day before yesterday was “Fat Tuesday,” the last day of ‘Mardi Gras’—a ‘holiday’ devoted to overindulgence, revelry, and sinning as much as possible. The debauchery culminates on Tuesday before Ash Wednesday—a day of repentance—followed by Lent, 46 days of self-denial.

Any ‘real’ Christian recognizes the hypocrisy and outright foolishness of a day of deliberate sinning, followed by a day of repenting. But in our amoral culture, immature believers may be easily deceived by the spirit of “Mardi Gras.” In his letter to the Romans, after teaching them about God’s unlimited grace for the forgiveness of sin, Paul asks the rhetorical question: “Well then [since we have so much grace], should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness?" (6:1, NLT) Paul answers his own question with a resounding “Absolutely NOT,” asserting that Christians are dead to sin, and cannot possibly return to it any more than a dead person can come back to life.

Unfortunately, the spirit of “Mardi Gras” manifests itself in the Church! Immature believers take advantage of God’s grace by overindulging in some area of their life, saying ‘tomorrow I am going to deal with this sinful habit?’ Young persons, especially, are tempted to hold on to the “fun” years of their lives, thinking they can wait until they are older to become serious about their Christian walk.

Most of you reading this will not identify yourself as either young or immature. But you may want to rethink how the spirit of “Mardi Gras” may be affecting you. What spirit was in operation when you said to yourself “I know it's wrong to have another piece of chocolate pie; but I’ll make up for it tomorrow”?