One of the things I like best about today is all the people you'll run into with an ashen cross finger-painted on their forehead. Its an unusually external statement for many of us Christians, more subtle than a Christian t-shirt, more, umm, classy? than most Christian-themed bumper stickers (I was behind a car with one yesterday that on the surface was nicey-nice, but if you read between the lines was basically saying 'if you aren't on my team then to h*ll' with you).
The ashen cross on the forehead today is a way of symbolizing, for you and me, a 'yes' to Jesus' statement in my scripture reading today (and all doing the LFC SOAP notes):
"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.". Mark 8:34,35
Today is the first day of Lent - the season Christians have long designated as a spiritual practice to prepare ourselves for Easter. It begins with Ash Wednesday, typically observed by a service of confession, communion, and prayer (we will have services today at LFC-Huntersville and Westlake, Davidson's was cancelled by our partner church due to the ice). Schedule is found at www.lakeforest.org/discover/lent
Typical observances are 'giving up' something, 'taking on' a new spiritual practice of prayer or Bible reading during the season, 'putting on' some charitable practice or extra generosity, and specific prayers and fasting the weekend of Easter.
The most positive purpose in celebrating Lent, that can get lost if we are too religious or rote about it, is a way of practicing precisely what Jesus calls us to in today's reading.
We spend 40 days in hyper-awareness of Jesus' journey to his cross.
40 days rejecting our cultural and personal ways of denying that following Jesus is a cross-bearing way.
40 Lenten days confronting our magical thinking that life in general, but especially as a child of God, should be without suffering, pain, and loss, that God somehow owes that to us, even though Jesus' path, and the one he calls us to walk, was not that way.
40 days deliberately 'taking up' our cross thoughtfully, daily, through our chosen act of self-denial. Thereby better training our soul for an entire life of taking up our cross.
Our church provides guidance on the various Lenten practices (at the link above), and we are focusing on the Apostles Creed in our worship services this season, 'putting on' unity with other Christians by learning the most widely used and agreed upon statement of Christian essentials in history. This will be our ancient/future element of our worship services at all-LFC for Lent - to profess the Creed together.
Two more fascinating things (at least to me) I noticed in this morning's Bible reading in Mark 8. The first relates to our sermons on the historical reliability of the Bible in general and the gospels specifically. Mark is widely regarded, by even the most skeptical scholars, as being the first written gospel, relatively soon after Jesus' death. The most skeptical scholars also regard it as the most historically trustworthy gospel, closer to Jesus' teachings than the others. So here in verses 31-32 its stated that Jesus taught them that he would be killed and "after three days rise again, He spoke plainly about this.". The clear evidence of all the earliest sources is that Jesus 'plainly' predicted his death and resurrection, beforehand.
The other thing I notice in this passage is that Jesus' teaching in Mark 8 is not private, nor only to his disciples, and not likely even to just a Jewish audience. Verse 34 says it was to 'the crowd.' And verse 27 says this occurred around Caesarea Philippi. One of the things I learned on my trip to Israel last fall is how often Jesus actually went to and taught in Gentile areas around Galilee. This town is one of them.
In fact, this town was named after the Roman emperor, thus worshipping him, and it was the center of pagan worship in the area, in particular known for a shrine to the god Pan. As part of their devotion followers of Pan would perform acts so lewd I won't mention them. Right next to Pan's temple was a great crevice or crack in the ground, thought to be the place where dead spirits would go to and from Hades. It was called 'The Gates of Hades/Hell" at that time. Here's a picture I took of 'the gates of hell' last fall.
So when Jesus said, during this moment (also recorded in Matthew 16,with these words added) "the gates of Hades will not prevail against my church," Jesus was either standing within sight of, or nearby, this temple of Pan.
Jesus was proclaiming, in the public square for all to hear, that his death and resurrection would result in victory in this life over false gods like Caesar, and victory in the next life over false gods like Pan and real evils like death and the evil one. When Christians daily take up our cross, deny self, live for Him, to follow Jesus, we enact and participate in that victory. Thus taking that victory and extending it to the very gates of hell in our private and public lives.
Today, if you worship in an Ash Wednesday service, be thoughtful about the ashen cross on your forehead the rest of the day and evening. And choose an act of self-denial for the season, that will continue this intentional thoughtfulness until Easter. Allow it to speak Jesus' words back to you today, and for the next 40 days: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must take up your cross and follow me."
