Some years ago then Vice-President Joe Biden made a speech on Ash Wednesday. He had been to church earlier in the day where his forehead had been marked in ashes with the sign of the cross. Two TV broadcasters covering the Vice-President noted the smudge on his forehead. They speculated on air to one another and to the multitude of people listening about the cause of the smudge. Perhaps, one of them said, it was a bruise from an injury. Neither of them was aware that it was Ash Wednesday. During a commercial break someone explained the sign of the cross and the significance of the day.
In 2017 Ash Wednesday comes on March 1. I grew up in a church that did not observe Ash Wednesday, so, perhaps, I could have made the same mistake in my youth. I don’t want to be hard on the two commentators. Their ignorance, however, does suggest something broader in significance to me. The idea of repentance is not as appreciated as I would hope. People—Protestant and Catholic—are more likely to enjoy Mardi Gras than Ash Wednesday.
Mardi Gras refers to the celebration that occurs before Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. On a superficial level the idea of carnival does sound better than the emphasis on repentance that starts with Ash Wednesday and carries through the 40 day season of Lent (Old English word for spring). Who wouldn’t rather celebrate than fast?
However, the message of repentance, though solemn is a source of profound joy to a believer. In repentance we turn away from our acknowledged sin to ask forgiveness of God. The message of repentance is that we can change. In God’s grace we are invited to move toward him. The gift of repentance is God’s welcome. It is the prodigal son (Luke 15) coming to himself, rising from debauchery and making the return home to a father whose arms are open to embrace him.
Perhaps, to the reader’s surprise, I have stopped observing Ash Wednesday and Lent. Not because I am ignorant of the Church Year and not because I devalue repentance. it’s just the opposite. Repentance in my life is a daily theme, not a seasonal one. In these later years I see the wisdom of early Free Church teachers who recognized the beauty, the promise, the power, the wonder of God’s grace in offering us the gift of repentance. Many times a day I repent. Prompted by the Spirit, I “come to myself” (Luke 15:17), and I turn toward the Lord that I may return to him. This gift of repentance is too precious for one day or for one season.
