The Church tradition I grew up in did not observe many "traditional" seasons or occasions on the Church Calendar such as Advent or Lent. In fact, I don't recall ever really knowing much about these events, other than obviously recognizing the culmination of them in the celebrations of Christmas and Easter. As I grow older, I am finding that there is value in some of the disciplines of the liturgical Church. I agree with many "objectors" who say "we should take seriously our walk with Christ all year long", but I also know that some reminders on how to do that throughout the year are also appropriate. So what is the significance of Ash Wednesday and what can we learn from it?
Ash Wednesday begins the 40 day season of Lent, leading up to Easter. In a traditional Ash Wednesday service, a priest would impose ashes in the shape of a cross on your forehead as a symbol of repentance, and he would say something like, "Remember (O man) that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The frailty of mankind is wrapped up in that statement. We are fragile, sinful creatures, and the only hope we have to overcome sin is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. For the believer, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of a journey that culminates in celebrating the resurrection of our Savior.
Do you need to have ashes drawn across your forehead today to understand this? Probably not. Would it hurt you during this time of year to be reminded of the significance of Christ's journey to the cross on your behalf? Nope. Today would be a great day to begin a journey of reflection toward the cross, and be reminded of what the Gospel of Mark says in chapter 8:34-35, "He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it."
In Song of Songs 8:7 we read, “Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.”
I want to start off by saying that “God created all humanity in His image; all are equal in His sight.” We could learn a lot from the kids Sunday school song that said, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” I think we’ve convinced ourselves over the years, “Jesus loves the little children, but I don’t have to lift a finger for anyone...because Jesus loves them – isn’t that great – good job Jesus.” Unfortunately, “in our worldly perspective, we see the rich and the poor, the black and the white, the good looking and the not-so-good looking, the educated and the illiterate.” In this second chapter, James sees favoritism as a critical problem in the Christian community of his day – I don’t see it being any less of a problem in ours. James struggled with the preferential treatment of the rich at the expense of the poor. Ultimately what James sees is that favoritism among God’s people is a violation of God’s command to love our neighbor.
James brought up the concept of being “doers of the Word” at the end of chapter one, and now he is putting that instruction to the test by sending two visitors to church. A rich man and a poor man. Being a doer of the Word will be seen in how these two men are treated. Warren Wiersbe says, “The way we behave toward people indicates what we really believe about God!” We could easily extend James’ illustration beyond rich and poor:
Basically – take whatever group of people or person offends you, whatever types of people you don’t like, whatever kinds of people who have views that you completely disagree with, and send them to church on Sunday morning. James is basically saying, "What are you going to about it? How are you going to treat them?
Much like the culture of our day, the Jewish people valued position and esteem, and competed against each other for praise. Jesus over and over again – especially in His parables and the beattitudes addressed this problem directly. It is engrained in our culture that you need to work your way up the ladder – whether it be the corporate ladder, the academic ladder, the popularity ladder – which ever ladder you are climbing – you do whatever it takes to get to the top, even if that means knocking people down in the process. James is pointing out that this type of behavior has no place among the community of faith.
Jesus through His ministry life and example proves over and over again that He is not impressed with social status. The widow who gave all she had was greater in the eyes of Jesus than the Pharisee who made a large donation. Since Jesus looked at the heart of a man – He saw and sees the potential in even the “vilest offender.” Just look at His disciples – In Simon Peter, Jesus saw a Rock. In Matthew – the tax collector, He saw a faithful disciple. Jesus spoke to the woman at the well – He saw in her a potential instrument for reaping a great harvest.
You and I tend to judge people based solely on their past rather than looking at the potential of their future. Even worse, we judge and make assumptions based solely on appearance. Jesus was accused of being a “friend of sinners” – an accusation that He never refuted.
Jesus was despised and rejected – essentially He was the poor man – rejected by self-righteous individuals. I wonder if we had seen Jesus while He was ministering on earth, if there would have been anything physically or materially attractive about Him? Yet "He is the very Glory of God revealed to us in human skin." How can you and I practice the Deity of Christ in our human relationships? By seeing everyone through the eyes of Jesus. “It is Christ who is the link between us and others – He is the link of love.”
Much of what James is teaching us to do in the first part of this chapter parallels what Jesus teaches in Matthew 7 in the Sermon on the Mount. Do not judge...work on removing your own faults before you spend time pointing out the faults in everyone else...don’t despise what is sacred in order to obtain position with the world...and then Jesus in Matthew 7, and now James in this section summarize the law by saying that it basically boils down to how you treat your fellow man.
James' teaching in these 13 verses can summarized in verse 8 – “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right.” He goes so far as to say in verse 10 that if we stumble on this single point, we are guilty of breaking the law in its entirety. Wow. Is it really that important to love?
The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 is spurred by a single question from an “expert in the law.” The question that spurs this parable is when the expert in the law asks, “And who is my neighbor?” The “expert” in the law asked the wrong question. When we know who our neighbor is...then conversely, we know who our neighbor ISN’T – when we know who our neighbor ISN’T – we can point out those we really don’t need to love. We can pick favorites. James says, “If you really keep the royal law found in scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right.” You see, we don’t go around asking – who is my neighbor – who can I choose to show love to – who deserves it – we are to be a neighbor to everyone.
In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote,
“Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”
I want you to know that I don’t believe this is easy. Many of us have been taught really well how to hate – we wouldn’t necessarily use that word – but that’s really what it boils down to. We have been taught: embrace this kind of person, stay away from this kind of person – love these kinds of people, and don’t bother with these types of people. Help these kinds of people, and well...these people, well they don’t really need your help. We have been taught to be “discerning.” We like to use that word in place of being “judgemental.” James says, “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” The Message Bible for this passage says, “Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.” Does that describe how you live? Or do you struggle with playing favorites? This morning, I want to encourage you to contemplate God’s love for you – selfless, unconditional, complete. He loves people whether they respond to Him or not. Jesus did not go to the cross, looking over His shoulder walking up the hill of Calvary saying, “Okay people...I’m only gonna do this if you reciprocate. I’m only willing to go through this if...I’m not going to do this, unless...He just went. Completely selfless, hung between two real criminals taking on the punishment that you and I deserved – willing to go there whether we responded or not.
I have to close with another quote from C. S. Lewis. He said, “On the whole, God’s love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him.” Why? Because our love for our Lord is seen – it is directly fleshed out in how we love others. “The way we behave toward people indicates what we really believe about God.”
Today if you need to set aside some bitterness, some hatred, a judgmental attitude - or if you need to take another step toward extending forgiveness to someone who has wronged you in some way, can I just invite you to allow yourself to be swallowed up in the love of Christ? Bitterness, hatred, jeers and accusations from judgmental people were all things that He experienced as He walked the road to Calvary’s cross for you. I’m certainly glad this morning that He didn’t play favorites.
