Ash Wednesday 17th February
On Wednesday 17th February our new Minister, Rev Soba, held an Ash Wednesday service. This service is not one that is usually held by the Methodist Church although during Keith’s time with us I did attend an Ash Wednesday service led by him and Sharon Wright at High Cross. Afterwards several of us marched into Wetherspoons for drinks afterwards with ash crosses on our forehead!
Ash Wednesday comes after Shrove Tuesday and is the first day of Lent. There is no mention of this in the Bible but the wearing of sackcloth and ashes predates Jesus and is found in the Old Testament books of Esther, Samuel, Isaiah and Jeremiah as a sign of penitence. There are also references to covering oneself in sackcloth and ashes in the New Testament again as signs of penitence or mourning.
By the 10th century, the monk Aelfric tied the practice, which dates to the eighth century, to the period before Easter, writing:-
“Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast.”
By the 11th century, the practice was widespread throughout the church — until Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, threw the practice out in the 16th century because it was not biblically based.
Although there is no mention of this practice in the Bible, Christians attend Ash Wednesday services to mark the start of the 40 day period of Lent. This is associated with the 40 days that Jesus was in the wilderness, fasting and praying and undergoing temptation from the Devil.
Normally the ashes are made from the palm crosses from the previous year and then the minister draws a cross in the ash onto the forehead.
However this year things were different……..
Our new Minister, Soba, led our Ash Wednesday service to which the whole circuit was invited and which had several participants from several members of the churches. We could not meet together but it was fantastic that 56 people from our circuit tuned into the service which was held by Zoom.
Soba encouraged us all to think about what it cost Jesus to follow the path he did in order to redeem us from sin and to restore us all in relationship with our Heavenly Father, and with this in mind, to re-examine ourselves and to prepare ourselves with to walk with Jesus over the next six weeks, feel what he felt, walk where he walked and observe the end of his journey, on the cross.
It was an enlightening and encouraging service at this time of Lent which is traditionally a time for sombre reflection.
Let us all pray that we may find Jesus a reality in our lives this Lent and Easter period and that we have the courage to be witnesses to his suffering, death and subsequent glorious resurrection.
God bless each and every one of us this Lenten period. Keg