Why Does Ash Wednesday Matter?

The parties of Mardi Gras are over. The beads have come out of the air, and all of the King Cake is eaten. Most people could not tell you why there was a party in the first place, but the celebration Fat Tuesday leads into what I believe is the most meaningful time period of the Christian calendar.

Following the bravado and somewhat brashness of Mardi Gras is the more somber, yet powerful, Ash Wednesday, which is the start of Lent for Western Christian calendar. The Eastern Orthodox tradition begins Lent on "Clean Monday" (because doesn't every good diet start on Monday?). The Ash Wednesday service is a ceremony in which Christians begin the process of waiting, purification for the return of the Lord by preparing their hearts for the 46 days until Easter.

Traditionally, this service is one of the four most solemn moments of the church year (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday being the other three), as the magnitude of what we as humans did to God's son, and preparation for Maundy Thursday sets in.

Mardi Gras is popular for obvious reasons, but its lesser-known cousin Ash Wednesday kicks of
 Lent. These 40 days of fasting are more renowned outside of church because it leads to "he or she gave up (insert vice) for Lent." Jokes are made about giving up exercise, eating healthy, or being on time. If you're clever enough like devout Catholic Stephen Colbert you come up with things like this:

It's Ash Wednesday-- and we all know what the pope gave up for Lent!
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) February 14, 2013

We must remain wary to view Lent as simply the time, or even more of a reason, to forfeit your Facebook or candy addiction. Your carbonated drink or french fry obsession should not be given up for Lent because that is what you do; nor is a vice simply given up "for Lent"'s sake. A sacrifice is made as a reminder of what was given up for us on Good Friday. It is not given up on behalf of the season.

I am not calling for a change in the common vernacular, just its understanding. The fact that a season in the church calendar has become somewhat "common" is remarkable. On the other hand, the term "giving (it) up for Lent"'s common implication? That the world and Christians alike see it as someone giving up something because it is a simply a church thing or it is that time of year again does need attention.

It is time to refine the colloquial so that Christians--and eventually those outside of the church--see "giving (it) up for Lent" as an act of sacrifice, a worshipful action toward God, instead of a popular action among church friends or action because it is a certain time of year.

"You are dust and to dust you shall return." -Genesis 3:19

Here is a more historical view of Lent and its origins from last year's "No More Radio" post.
Two years ago, I gave up Facebook

No More Radio (for at least 40 days...)

The Christian church is now five days into my favorite season on the church calendar, Lent. I have expressed my love for the Lenten season before on this blog and what I gave up last year. Here is a quick history...

Though it has its roots in the Catholic Church, it is not strictly a "Catholic" thing, as so many protestants might believe, nor is it the stuff that sticks to your clothes when they come out of the dryer, as so many of the sixth graders in my Sunday School class guessed. Lent, or some form of preparation for Easter Sunday, dates back to the second century. After the legalization of the Christian church in 313 A.D., the Council of Nicea wrote in 325 A.D. that Lent should be observed during the 40 days before Easter. The number "40" has great significance to Christians (The  number of days Noah spent on the ark and the number of years the Israelites wandered in the dessert). Three characters from the Bible also went through a period of testing during 40 day fasts: Moses, Elijah, and Jesus before starting his ministry. 

All of this to say we as Christians use these 40 days to prepare our hearts for the resurrection of God's son. During Jesus' stay in the dessert, the Bible says he was tempted by Satan three times. The church encourages its members to give up or add something to their everyday life for 40 days to, like Jesus was, be challenged. In doing so, Lent becomes a time of introspection in which we take a closer look at how we can be more like the man who came to save the world from sin. Similar to how the season of Advent prepares us for the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day, Lent prepares our hearts for Jesus' resurrection from the dead.

That brings me to the title of this post. I have decided to give up listening to the radio in my truck for Lent. For those of you who know me, you know I like to listen to sports talk radio just a little bit. When I am not filling my ears with arguments and commentary, the country music is usually turned up. Without the soundwaves flowing, I have a couple of quiet minutes in every day to myself to be in silence with God (minus the MagnaFlows rumbling under the truck). So if you see me on the roads and it appears that I may be talking to myself, more than likely I am trying to pray more like my mother or singing hymns--the only songs I know all the words to thanks to my old man, who is a music minister. Side note: I have great examples in my life.

Since the ban of AM-FM transmission in my truck, I have been belting out my own acapella version of Fernando Ortega's Give Me Jesus. The lyrics are my theme through the Lenten season.

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus, 
You can have all this world, 
But give me Jesus.

Passport 2011: Ask. Seek. Knock.

Demaya finally talked to me at the
end of the week (after I made her
America glasses).

This time last week I had the pleasure of being back in Wingate, North Carolina. I was a chaperoning for a group of youth from FBC Gainesville. I have been able to become much more involved with the youth group here. Over the last few weeks I have gotten to know many of them and have begun to truly find a church family other than that of my home church, FBC Rome. With last week under my belt I also completed the trifecta of Passport Camps: camper, staffer, and chaperone.

There is nothing like living in a room with ten seventh and eighth grade boys to welcome you to the group, trying to control sugar/caffeine intake and waking them up in the morning. The one redeeming part? I was bigger and stronger than all of them, thus resulting in me being the wrestling champion every night. 

Creft Park-where I played Kobe and
everyone else was LeBron

I got lucky and was placed as a chaperone at one of the kids mission sites during the day. At these sites we went to local parks and YWCAs and play with the children, sing silly songs, and tell Bible stories. I was on a kids mission site during my summer staffing Passport and it was good to be back. Another adult at the site with me was one of my best friends from Rome who came with FBC Savannah. He worked camp the year before I did and we walked around striking fear into the bible study leaders as the dreaded former staffers. Ok, so not that much fear... the camp was run fantastically for Week 1.

Being a little older, not a camper and not worrying about logistics as a staffer, gave me a new perspective of camp. I was able to take a step back and watch the youth work through the week. The theme was "Treasure," with an emphasis on Luke 11's "for everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." We are God's treasure, unique and special to him, and he is our treasure, a gift that we must share.

Forgot how much I love four square... and big ball.

Maundy Thursday

On Thursday, I rode home with Ellen and was back just in time to see the Braves come from behind to take the lead in the ninth inning. Then, they blew the lead and we had to leave and head to the church for one of my favorite services of the year. I never feel quite ready without a Maundy Thursday service, and for the first time in a while I was able to be in Rome for the Thursday before Easter.

This year the Sanctuary Choir sang Dubois's Seven Last Words of Christ. Dubois's work uses scripture as lyrics to tell the story from the time Jesus is put to trial until he utters his final words. If you have never heard the work I suggest looking up a performance online.

Beginning with a powerful and frightening piece, the choir painted a picture during The First Word of what it must have been like to be Jesus on Good Friday. Singing from Matthew 27:22,25, "He is death guilty! He is death guilty! Take him! Let us crucify Him!" The Second through the Sixth words give insight to Jesus's thoughts as he prays in the garden and realizes the task he has before himself. The Seventh Word is the ending of His life. At the end of the work, a prayer is given in the form of a beautiful chorale.

"Christ, we do all adore the, and we do praise thee forever. For on the holy cross hast thou the world from sin redeemed. Christ we do all adore thee and we do praise thee forever."

As the chorale was being sung, three members of the audience came up to extinguish the Christ candle (explained in an earlier post) and covered the serving plates on Lord's Supper table. Once the table was covered, the crown of thorns, which had been around the Christ Candle, was placed at the head of the table and the candle was taken out of the Sanctuary. The picture below was taken after the service so you all could kind of get the idea of the end product, the image of a buried Christ.

My words can not do justice the meaningfulness of this service. I know I would have been in the middle of the masses on Palm Sunday praising our new king. And it pains me to know I would have been in the masses on Good Friday, too. To know Jesus still loves us after he was turned on so quickly during Holy week, and still  loves us today makes me ready for Easter Sunday.

Disciple Now

Last weekend I had the opportunity to help lead the 7th and 8th grade boys for the Disciples Now at my home-away-from-home church, First Baptist Gainesville. For those of you that may not know exactly what a "Disciple Now" is, which was me before last weekend, here is a quick rundown.

Friday- The kids gathered at church for worship and games. Travel to a home of someone in the church (where you will spend the next two nights). Bible study and a game of Try and Tackle Graham.

Saturday- Wake up. Bible study. Head to the church for games and worship. Go into the community for mission projects in the afternoon. Back to the host homes for another three hours of video games and Try and Tackle Graham. Head back to the church for dinner, games and worship. Back to the host home for bible study and a game of Try and Stay Up All Night.

Sunday- Go to church for breakfast and a final devotion. Leave a little early and warm up the pipes for choir. Back to my apartment, try and stay awake to watch the Duke game. Fail miserably and sleep away the afternoon.

Tiring? Yes, but it would be hard for me to find a better weekend I have had since moving to Gainesville. It was like a glimpse of being a bible study leader back at PASSPORT for a weekend (one of my best summers ever). Speaking of... the pastor for the weekend was the pastor the summer I did camp. It was great to get together and catch up on life with him. It was like the two year hiatus never happened. 

I had a great weekend, and I was able to share with some boys about how good our God is. All the while they were teaching me patience (obviously) and how God takes care of us through our most difficult trials, such a comforting feeling and one I hope I am able to pass to others who do not know the love of God.

Ash Wednesday

Today at our table during the break between Neuroscience and Pedatrics Process we did not talk about wedding plans. Instead we discussed the troubles going on at The Ohio State University and Head Football Coach's current two game suspension, $250,000 fine, and whether or not knowing his star players were receiving benefits and lying about it to the NCAA is or is not a fireable offense. Maybe the sarcasm was laid on a little too thickly.

On a little different note, today was an important day in the life of the Christian church, Ash Wednesday. There was some discussion during some of our breaks about Ash Wednesday and Lent means. I was talking with a Catholic girl about the upcoming season, and a couple of other people overheard and did not understand why I, a Baptist, would have anything to do with Lent. For me, Lent is to Easter what Advent is to Christmas. You can not really appreciate one without the other. I explained to the small crowd beginning to gather around Ash Wednesday and Lent are not "Catholic holidays," but instead means by which we all can prepare our hearts for what comes after the forty days, the greatest of all Christian holidays, Easter.

For Lent I have decided to give up Facebook. It is not that I have become compulsive, as some of my friends have, about checking it, but that I know there are better ways to spend my time. Instead of concentrating my efforts to my communication with God. First Baptist Church of Gainesville is putting an emphasis on prayer,. I think by giving up Facebook it will give me a few extra minutes a day to work on my communication skills with God. I want to be more adamant in doing so. I want to be more of someone who is comfortable with praying with and for someone.

The above picture was taken from my home church First Baptist Church Rome. My Dad explained it to me like this, "One candle will be extinguished each week leading up to Holy Week. The Christ Candle will be  extinguished at the close of the Maundy Thursday service. It is sort of like a reverse Advent but is supposed to portray the darkness that is gathering around us as Lent progresses."