Lent Devotional: Ash Wednesday, March 9

We arrive today at another season of Lent and the Palms Journey to Discipleship. This year our theme is "Living in Christ-like Love". We will journey together through a sermon series on love using I John 4:7-21, through Sunday school classes themed on discipleship and love, and through a lenten daily devotional. This year our devotional will look a little different.

The Palms staff has become intrigued at the power of short story and few words to evoke deep thought. So this year our devotional will not be lengthy reflections but provocative thoughts for you to wrestle with... we will provide you a spark in hopes that you will write your own devotional.

Each Monday will begin with a short thought and question from the sermon the day before, and then each day a different pastor will add another short provocative thought into the mix. We invite you to play with these and think on them through your day. You can even make it a conversation by making a comment or responding to comments on our blog, you will find the link to it below.

Today marks the beginning of Lent, a day we call Ash Wednesday. Many of us associate Ash Wednesday as something Catholics do, and aren't sure what the service is about - except maybe we know that you get ashes put on your forehead.

Ash Wednesday is really about beginning a journey with Christ to the cross. The ashes remind us that "from ashes we came and to ashes we will return". Ashes then become symbolic for death and life in the same way that Christ will forever link his risen life with death upon the cross. The Resurrected life in Christ only comes to us in a journey through death and brokenness. The ashes then are our own confessional awareness, our own experience of death and brokenness that leads us to life in Christ.

This year the scripture that captured our attention for Ash Wednesday comes from Paul's second letter to the Corinthians.

But we have this treasure in clay jars,
so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power
belongs to God and does not come from us.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.

For while we live,
we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake,
so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.
(2Co 4:7-11)

I hope that you take some time today to reflect on this passage, and join us this evening for the Ash Wednesday service at 7 pm in the Sanctuary. It is the begining of our community journey this lent in discipleship, a journey following Christ to the cross and to resurrected life.