Ash Wednesday 2025
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2 Corinthians 5:21
2 Corinthians 5:21
20 …we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Be Reconciled to God
Be Reconciled to God
If there is a message of the cross. A message of Jesus. A message for the season of Lent and Easter - it is simply this: “Be reconciled to God.”
The season of Lent is always preceded by transfiguration Sunday. The day on which - up on the mountain the glory of Jesus shines through so clearly.
Appearing with Moses and Elijah.
Talking about Jesus’ departure.
The departure that Jesus has announced in Luke 9:22
22 saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
It is at this point that Jesus and his disciples begin their pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
In the time of Jesus - and in the Old Testament faithful Jewish people would make the journey to Jerusalem for Passover, Pentecost (First Fruits) and the feast of the Tabernacles.
Many of the Psalms - known as the Psalms of Ascent - were traditionally said and sung along the journey toward the temple.
Psalms like Psalm 121:1-3
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
or Psalm 122:1-2
1 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
2 Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
In the Psalms of Ascent there is a spiritual lesson - a picture of progress - of drawing closer and closer to God.
The imagery is easy to see.
The temple represents the point at which Earth and Heaven meet.
The Holy of Holies.
Jesus is headed in that direction.
And so we also make a decision to head in that direction.
But why?
Landscapes of Lent
Landscapes of Lent
As I was preparing and reading through the scriptures for Lent I picked up a few different landscapes that I thought should help us along our way.
And the first - on this Ash Wednesday - A burnt up field.
The Landscape of Brokenness
A burnt up field.
A picture of destruction.
Of pain.
Life removed.
A day of darkness.
Joel 2:1-2 sounds the warning…
1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—
2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come.
Of course - Joel is sounding a warning. A warning about a day of judgment to come.
But sometimes the day of judgment is already seen clearly enough in our tattered lives.
I wrote:
The journey begins in the scorched earth of our own frailty. Look around—this charred field is where we stand, marked by sin, by mortality, by the weight of our own shortcomings. We may not yet see where we are going, but we know we cannot stay here. The ashes remind us: the journey must begin.
Ashes are a beautiful symbol.
This morning I went out hunting palm branches and from a giant palm tree managed to get someone to help me cut some branches that were falling down.
I took them home, cut them up and set them on fire.
So quickly the fire turned them into a pile of ashes.
Just like the destruction that follows us in life.
Psalm 51 is a powerful Psalm because David who prays it knows that his actions have caused a trail of horrific destruction.
You and I leave a trail of brokenness behind us.
Let us be honest about it.
We bumble around, self obsessed, self important, selfish and we say and do things that hurt those around us - just setting the place on fire.
Burning it down to the ground.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
It is time to own your brokenness.
The journey begins in the scorched earth of our own frailty. Look around—this charred field is where we stand, marked by sin, by mortality, by the weight of our own shortcomings.
What should we do?
What should we do?
You know scripture has some advice on what to do when we have done wrong.
Paul puts it in spiritual terms…
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
But as I thought about Paul’s spiritual illustration I was also drawn to what Jesus said in his teaching. About human relationships.
It is such a simple passage in Matthew’s gospel - in the sermon on the mount:
23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
So simple.
You are on your way to make your offering. You are beginning your fast. You are giving yourself to God.
You are reminded.
Not that you have sinned against your brother.
It is just that you have a brother or sister who has something against you.
Relationships are not right.
First go and be reconciled; then come and offer your gift.
Reconciled
Reconciled
Not the easiest thing to do.
If someone has something against you.
You might think to yourself - well that is there problem not mine.
Or maybe they have a legitimate ‘something’ against you.
I don’t really like it when someone has a problem with me.
I prefer to be reconciled.
But obviously - in my line of work - there are likely to be a lot of people who might have something against me.
Thats OK - you are welcome to mention it.
In fact it would help me.
We’ll probably agree to disagree.
I’m stubborn that way.
But thats OK.
Be Reconciled to God
Be Reconciled to God
Putting it in human terms. Thinking of the way Jesus teaches us to settle things with others.
Gives us insight into the process of making right with God.
Be reconciled.
Get up from where you are - and make the journey - head towards where you may be reconciled.
Open your heart.
Open your eyes.
Acknowledge that things are not the way they should be and face up to them.
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
We are such stubborn people.
God might be saying to us ‘be reconciled’.
But maybe our pride won’t let us.
Maybe we’re so stuck in our ways that we wouldn’t admit that we need to be reconciled.
On behalf of Christ - we beg you - Be reconciled to God.
Start walking in the right direction.
But as much as Paul is asking us to take a step in the right direction.
It might be difficult to make right with people who are angry with you etc. You might reach out to them and they might not be willing to reach back.
That is how humans are.
But Paul reminds us that Jesus is doing most of the heavy lifting in this relationship:
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus isn’t just going to head in your direction. he is going to be the one who rights the wrongs - even if it was you who should be held responsible.
You are being invited.
In fact Paul is begging you to be reconciled.
You can choose to be reconciled.
Or you can choose not to be.
But he goes on to remind us:
1 As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.
The word is that you wouldn’t just hear about the grace of God.
Just accepting it as something new to know.
Oh good - God is gracious - I am forgiven.
It is almost like he is saying:
Do not accept the grace of God in knowledge only.
But accept the grace of God in practice too.
Later on in 2 Corinthians Paul will go on to say:
5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!
Not just reconciled - but changed.
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
So - we’ve looked around this Landscape of Brokenness.
We’ve seen that its a mess.
And we know we need help.
We need God’s help.
And as Paul reminds us… Jesus is not only reaching out to you - he is begging you to return to him. He is ready to take your sin upon his shoulders. He is ready to make you righteous.
All you need do is accept the invitation.
Paul goes on to say:
2 For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!
This is our altar call today.
Come and receive this mark of a cross on your forehead if you are ready to respond to Jesus’ invitation. Jesus’ invitation to be healed, transformed, have your sins dealt with.
Come if you are ready to begin the journey.
The journey begins in the scorched earth of our own frailty. Look around—this charred field is where we stand, marked by sin, by mortality, by the weight of our own shortcomings.
We may not yet see where we are going, but we know we cannot stay here. The ashes remind us: the journey must begin. .
We are beginning our pilgrimage toward the cross.
We will reflect on a few different landscapes along the way.
The Road of Temptation
The Stars that help us to find our Bearings
The Fig Tree that reminds us of our doubt and God’s grace
The Cloak of the Prodigal Son
Water in the Desert
And finally Palm Sunday and Holy Week.
If you choose to begin the journey - come and receive the sign of the cross as a sign of your commitment.
