Why Lent? Why Ash Wednesday? Why a series of church traditions?

The job of true religion is to unburden. The job of church is to unburden. The job of Ash Wednesday is to unburden.

Are you turned off by the message: "Repent"? Maybe you don't care for the idea of kneeling before God, admitting sin, and asking for forgiveness. Maybe it seems degrading to confess utter helplessness and need. Maybe you've had church experiences that bring you down and leave you there.

Repentance is all about unburdening.

Repentance is just being real. It doesn't matter if I feel like it or not. It's simply facing the truth: I am sinful, whether I like it or not; I am mortal and weak and vulnerable, whether I admit it or not; I have burdens too heavy for me, whether I want to face them or not; I am eternally accountable to God, whether I care for that reality or not.

I can deny my sin and pretend I'm all that I should be. But even if I try to affirm myself, I'm not convinced. It isn't true. I do fall short.

I can pretend that my burdens are bearable and that I have what it takes if I just focus and stay positive. But no matter how much I grit my teeth and go for it, I still stumble under the weight of my own guilt. My conscience gives me no rest.

I can act like I am a good person and that my mistakes are just normal flaws and imperfections that I can learn from and grow out of. But no matter how hard I try, I find that I am not as good a person as I thought and that the mistakes keep coming. Old ones and new ones.

So as long as I deny my sinfulness, I continue to carry a burden. Repentance is about unburdening. The only way to be free of it is to face it, admit it, and bring it to God.

God, the truth is, I am not enough. I am not a good enough person in your book. I do not do enough good for your standards. I do way too much evil, in ways that hurt others and in ways that you alone see. And that burden of guilt is too heavy for me. It's too much for me, too big for me, and too intense for me. 

But I trust you. Lord Jesus, you have invited me to yourself. You have asked me, begged me, opened your arms to me. You welcome me to unburden with you. So take it. Take it all away. Remove my sin. Forgive my guilt. Receive me as your own. 

Lord Jesus, you yourself promised that whoever comes to you will not be turned away. You yourself have promised that when I confess my sin to you, you lift my burden and set me free. You yourself promised that you have already switched places with me, taken my burden of sin and guilt on yourself, and carried it to the cross, and given me peace and favour with God in its place. You yourself promised that your perfect life and perfect record and perfect approval with God is now mine. You yourself promised that I can stand before God in complete confidence and absolute assurance, not based on my own achievement or worth or effort, but only on yours. You yourself have promised that I can live and die with a clear conscience, unburdened from guilt and fear, forgiven by your death for me.

You have promised it, and you never lie. So my burden is now yours. I am done with it.

That's what church is about. That's what true religion is about. That's what Ash Wednesday is about.

Not "do better, try harder, live nobler."

Not "be this, do that, avoid that."

Not "kneel in dust and ashes and stay there feeling worthless."

But "I am sinful and helpless, lost without God. And praise God, his mercy is mine. My burden is now Christ's. My sin is now gone. My conscience is now clear. My heart is now at peace. My eternal life is assured."

Unburden, the only way that truly leaves you unburdened. Trust in Jesus, your Burden-bearer, your Sin-remover, your Guilt-taker-away-er. And in him, be at peace.

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Ash Wednesday and Lent are not commanded by God in the Bible. They are simply church traditions that Christians find useful and willingly use as tools for unburdening. Some Christians have found it helpful to use ashes as a symbol of our sinfulness and mortality. In facing that reality, we are able to find even more comfort, assurance, and peace in the mercy of God and the sacrificial love of Jesus. May God bless you and give you his peace in Christ this Lent! 

Join us for worship at 7pm, Wednesday, March 1. See our full Lenten schedule here.