There was no one. Many news sources make a living telling us how hopeless things are out there. The problem is they don’t have it quite right. When our God says that there was no one, he means that no one on the face of the planet could help anyone. That is why this day is called Ash Wednesday. Before the our Holy God, all that’s left is a pile of ashes. You can’t help yourself. You can’t help anyone else either. No one will come and rescue you either. No one that is, unless God acted on our behalf.
The Prophet Isaiah goes into great detail about the size and scope of our sin. He talks about our sin as if it was a jewel, looking at it from every horrible angle. After getting a good picture of our sin he laments of the hopeless state of mankind. This is where the shift is dramatic and powerful. His tone shifts from despair to victory. Our God intervenes maybe not in the way we would have imagined, but it was the only way. One of the fundamental shifts is that we love hearing about a rescue, but do we realize that our God also acts in perfect justice? When our God acts there will be nothing to stand in his way.
Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, a time some have called the Christian’s forty day journey to the cross. During the Sundays in Lent we will see the length and depth of our God’s love in the passion accounts. These culminate on Good Friday when we will witness once again our God giving his life for the world. It is this time in the wilderness of Lent that makes Easter such a powerful celebration. Begin this journey by watching our Ash Wednesday sermon.
Topic(s): LentBook(s): Isaiah
Tag(s): Ash Wednesday, Lent
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg