Date : Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Text : Matthew 11:20-30

Title : Lent: Christ & you

[Jesus said,] "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Why are we here, today? What is the purpose of Ash Wednesday? Why do we hold special Wednesday services during the season of Lent? Why do we even have a season of Lent? What should we accomplish, during Lent? Where should we place our focus?

The season of Lent is symbolic of the foundation Christian faith. That begs the question: what is the foundation of the Christian faith?

Christianity begins with the One for whom it is named: Jesus Christ. Christianity is founded upon Jesus Christ, who is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary. It’s founded on what Jesus experienced: suffering under Pontius Pilate, being crucified, dying, and buried in a grave. It’s founded on what Jesus accomplished in what He experienced: satisfying His Father’s wrath over the sins of the world, defeating the devil, putting death to death and bringing life and immortality to light.

It’s founded on what we heard in the epistle: "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. ... God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

There are no more beautiful words than those, in all of the Bible. Look who is doing all of the work. God is doing all of the work. God the Father so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.

He gave His Son to accomplish what you could not. You could not atone for your sins. You could not defeat the devil. You could not conquer the grave.

On your own, you can’t do a thing. Just as you couldn’t give life to yourself, you couldn’t save yourself. Only God in the flesh could pull it off—Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Your Savior.

That means that Lent is not only about Jesus; it’s about you, too. If there is a Savior, there must be someone to save. That’s you and that’s me. That’s every person on earth, for every person faces the grave.

So, why are we here, today? What’s Lent all about? It’s about Jesus Christ, and it’s about you. It’s about the forgiveness, life, and salvation which Jesus purchased for you with His holy, precious blood and innocent suffering and death. It’s about your faith that is founded in Jesus Christ, the love that fills your heart with that faith, the joy that keeps you coming back to Him in public worship, in personal worship, in prayer and praise and thanksgiving.

But, why are we especially here, on this day, Ash Wednesday? Why these special Wednesday services? What might you accomplish, this Lent? Where should you place your focus?

Since all of Christianity is founded on Jesus, and it’s all about what he has done for you, and what He has done for you leads you to repentance and forgiveness, then Lent should especially focus on those things. Thus, these Wednesdays, we will put into the background some of the other topics of the faith. Not that all of the faith isn’t important, but there are, indeed, some that are not vital to your salvation.

Jesus calls you take the vital things, most seriously—that you are going to the grave, and that you are a sinner, and that true repentance is the only way to approach Him for His forgiveness, life, and salvation.

In the Gospel, Jesus denounced the very cities, where He had done most of His miracles. He criticized them. He condemned them. "Woe to you!" He said, over and over.

Why the woe? Why did Jesus anguish over these cities? Because, they just didn’t get it. Because, their faith was all wrong. Because, Jesus was to them only a miracle-worker.

If Jesus would only keep doing nice things for them, their lives would be dandy. But, that would cause them to forget their sins. That would take their focus off the one fact that is true for every human: you are going to a grave. You will be ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

Living a good life is dandy, but it’s only a bandage, not the cure.

That’s why, after rebuking those people, who didn’t understand what Jesus was preaching to them, your Lord speaks as clearly as possible: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." And, that’s what Lent is all about.

Admit that your sins have you weary and burdened—that’s what repentance is. Repent that you don’t keep the commandments, that you don’t love your neighbor as you love yourself, that you can be as selfish as a spoiled brat. Then, go to the source of all forgiveness—the Savior, Jesus Christ. Receive from Him the purpose for which He wore your flesh, and bore your sins, and tore open death’s grave, and soared to His throne in heaven.

To keep you focused, the next five Wednesdays, we will do what we always do during Lent; we will hear the entire story of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Each Wednesday, I will take portions of the story and expound on them, for further and more fruitful understanding.

The goal is twofold, and both folds have to do with the basics of the faith: Jesus Christ and you, with a repentant heart.

The goal is for you to know Jesus, all the better. To know God’s love in Jesus. To understand just what it was you needed from Jesus, and just what it is that He accomplished for you.

The goal is for you to get to know yourself, all the better. To know the depravity of your sin, and the joy of Christ’s salvation.

The goal is to get you to Good Friday and Easter, so that your rejoicing at the commemoration of Christ’s death and resurrection is a marvelous rejoicing—a rejoicing which fills you with His peace and hope to get you through the pilgrimage of your life in your sinful flesh, in a sinned-filled world, with an evil devil always looking to pounce upon you.

You are here, today, because you know and admit that you are a sinner, and you are going to die. The good news is, Jesus has brought you to Himself, baptized you into His death and resurrection, feeds you upon His living body and blood, and pronounces you forgiven, saved, and eternally alive.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Amen.