Ash Wednesday
1 March, Anno Domini 2017
St. Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Pr. Kurt Ulmer
In the Name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the fifth chief part of the Small Catechism the question is asked “What is confession?” We might also ask “What is repentance?” Lent, as we are reminded of through the readings, through the change in the color of the paraments and vestments, and through the hymns, is a season filled with calls to repentance. But what is that? What truly is repentance? What does it look like? If we are going to spend the next six weeks preparing for the death and resurrection of our Savior, we would be wise to understand true preparation.
Lent for many is spent doing without certain comforts that they’ve grown accustomed to – food, spending, TV. Doing those things can be beneficial but that isn’t the true preparation for Good Friday and Easter.
The true preparation goes much deeper and, frankly, is terribly uncomfortable. Food and TV and buying things aren’t sin. They are distractions. True repentance doesn’t come from giving something up. It begins by meditating honestly on God’s Word, listening and examining your life in light of the commandments, pondering the great depth of your sin that could not be paid for with anything less than the death of God. It begins by recognizing that there is nothing you can do – wearing ashes, praying, fasting, giving alms – that could make atonement for your guilt. It comes as you feel God’s perfect vision piercing through flesh and bone to stare right into your soul, leaving you no where to run and no where to hide. He sees past the hypocritical masks you put on. He sees how little you trust Him. He sees how little interest you have in His Word. He sees how you have mocked your co-workers and turned up your nose at those who are suffering because it would be too big a sacrifice to help. True preparation is to stand completely naked before God – no excuses, no lies, no fig leaves to cover up your guilt. It is to acknowledge what God already knows – that your heart, your mind, your mouth are filled with sin and shameful wickedness and that you deserve nothing but the strictest judgment.
Repentance isn’t something you do. It is something that God in His mercy does in you. He does this because He wants you to approach Him in need, begging for mercy. God must first bring you to nothing, down into the dust and ashes of death. True repentance is a fear of the evil you have done and a desire to be cleansed and forgiven and to turn away from what is wicked.
Only by showing you the great depth of your sin can your Father then show you the great depth of His love. And that is what He desires you to know. Remember, confession has two parts. The first, yes, is that we confess our sins, we acknowledge our depravity before God. But the second is what confession is really all about. True Christian, God-pleasing confession isn’t complete when you are sorry for you sin. It’s complete when you are absolved, when the sweet word of forgiveness is proclaimed to you, forgiveness which Christ has purchased by His death. Repentance, the season of Lent aren’t simply about making you feel sad. We ought to be terrified of our sin. But the end of repentance, the end of confession is forgiveness. And the conscience that is plagued by it’s guilt, the timid soul that withers in the fear of eternal judgment, can find no greater peace than in those very simple and familiar words “In the stead and by the command of my Lord, Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
That is why we gather this this day and every Lord’s Day. That is why the next 40 days we devote special time and attention to God’s Word – to gain an even greater appreciation of the great love and mercy of God which has poured out of the veins of His Son. There is no more beautiful sight to the penitent than that of Jesus hanging on the cross, where the sinner belongs. That is what repentance is about. That is what Lent is about. It is about shedding all that clouds our hearts and minds from seeing Good Friday for what it is – the victory of God over our sin. It is about the ashes of death being washed away in the flood of Holy Baptism which swept away sin and robed us in the perfect righteousness of Jesus.
But, dear Christian, this isn’t just something for the next 40 days. This is our joy each and every day. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. Through the Christian Church “He daily and richly forgives all your sins and the sins of all believers.” The whole life of the Christian is one of repentance – confessing and being absolved, mourning and rejoicing. Every week we are blessed with the opportunity to stand again before our Creator and Redeemer and receive the precious Word of healing and forgiveness. Every Saturday and whenever you need to hear it, I sit right here in the stead and by the command of Christ to proclaim forgiveness to all who seek it. Here, we join our brother and sister repenters around the fellowship of Christ’s table where the feast of salvation is spread before us – Body and Blood, given and shed for you.
So do not be afraid. Do not brace yourself against the preaching of repentance. Do not let it run off you like water off a duck’s back. Invite it deep into your soul. Let it root out the darkness. Let it cut out the rot that tries to hide and consume you. Confess. It isn’t a sad thing. It’s a joyous thing, a priceless treasure. Confess. And then let your eyes turn to Jesus who has willingly suffered the Father’s wrath against your sin to spare you. Remember the waters that gave you new life. Remember the Blood of the new testament whereby you have been purified of all unrighteousness. Here are all things that pertain to life and godliness and they are freely given you and to all who seek them. Repent, not so that, but BECAUSE Jesus forgives you.
In the Name of +Jesus. Amen.