March 5th 2025: Today marks the start of our preparation for Good Friday and Easter. The word, preparation, brings a lot of different imagery. Preparation is a time of anticipation, and one of the images is athletes in sports. When athletes get ready for a game, the hours leading up to the start are usually filled with rituals and activities that pump them up.
It is a time of powering up: Mentally building up their confidence and self-esteem, and imagining how they will overcome their opponents.
They would be priming their body with workouts. They might have their headphone on with their pregame music cranked up– rhythms to get their hearts going.
Their preparation is focused on getting their mind and body up to speed, powering up and into victory!
But the preparation we are talking about today—Ash Wednesday and Lent—is quite the opposite. Because to prepare for Good Friday and Easter, the focus is not on powering up ourselves, but rather, it is about powering down.
The focus is not "We can do it!" but "We can't do it." It's not about having the mindset of "I am invincible!" but "I am limited, frail, unreliable, decaying… dying."
In Psalm 103:14-16, David writes,
For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.
The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
David is keenly aware that he, along with the rest of the human race, we are but dust.
Doesn't matter if you are a king, a newborn baby, an athlete, a new parent, a retiree or someone with a good job or no job. When everything is stripped away, we are all just a brief existence in this world.
And yet, many of us don't live in such a reality.
We prefer to distract ourselves into oblivion.
Every day, we preoccupy ourselves with things and activities that make us feel we can live forever. Whether it is with the next thing we are scheming to buy, the next trip to plan for, or the next social media post to doom scroll to, we believe there is a next day for us.
But it's not just things; we are people who like to break the speed limit of life. What I mean by that is that we like to push our speed and rhythm of life to the limit as though our cruise control can be on forever!
That is until we get that phone call from the doctor about our last blood work. Or the unexpected call to our boss's office on a Monday morning. Or a car that didn't see us braking at an intersection. And then, suddenly, reality stops us in our tracks.
Friends, we are people, especially Christians, who need constant reminders that we are fading with every second, and Ash Wednesday and Lent are this period of time when we need to stop and ask what is truly important in our lives.
There are two things that can help us in making the most of the next 40 days.
First, Slowing Down to See Clearly.
The drive to Banff from Calgary is one of the most beautiful experiences for Albertans. Driving through the Rockies, even as a driver, we can't help but turn our heads and stare for as long as we can before we have to turn our eyes back to the road.
But as we are driving through at 110 km/hr, the truth is, those majestic views just pass by way too fast. If only we could slow down and stop whenever we wanted.
Lent is a time when we practice slowing down so we can see clearly and take stock of our lives.
It is a time when we look in the mirror and ask ourselves:
Do I see my fragility, brokenness, and sin?
Oftentimes, we use our busyness to distract us from dealing with our brokenness and sins. And so we live at a pace that doesn't allow for time to deal with the ugliness of our sins and failures.
But the Prophet Isaiah reminds us, (Isaiah 64:6)
For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
We desperately need time and space to meditate and remember our own sinfulness and brokenness, and the period of Lent can help us to slow down and ask ourselves to reflect on our hearts, minds, motives, and what we truly love and trust.
We need to slow down so we can see ourselves more clearly. And maybe that's what you need to do this season. For you to not just give up some things but give up your time, your packed schedule, and your busyness so God can bring you closer to the cross.
Second, Giving up to Receive Abundantly
One of the practices of Lent is giving up something; things, or activities that we rely on. Things we consider essentials to our daily lives.
We do this because, at the end of it all, nothing lasts, everything turns to dust, and nothing can sustain us forever except one thing.
The Prophet Isaiah tells us,
"All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever."
What is the thing that is sustaining your life today? What do you think you can't live without today?
Is it your bank account, relationships, social media, your work, or a video game that helps you escape your work?
Do you truly believe that God's word is all you need? Could you put yourselves to the test?
Friends, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, where we step into the wilderness to intentionally break away from the things we lean on. Things and activities that we think we need to get us through our messy lives. But instead of those things and activities, what we really need is to commit ourselves with this prayer, "Lord Jesus, you are the LORD of my life and Father, your word is the only sustenance I need in my short, fragile existence. "
As we begin our journey to Good Friday and Easter, my prayer is that all of us will be able to see clearly and receive abundantly this Lent season. And as we slow down and offer up all those things and activities we see as essentials to our lives, we may experience the richness of God's presence and the renewal of our hearts, minds, and souls.
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Calvin Sun
English Pastor