Beyond Empty Rituals

What God Really Wants This Lent: Ash Wednesday

Exodus 24:12–18 • Psalm 99 • Philippians 3:7–14 • Matthew 17:1–9

Are you merely observing religious customs, or are you truly turning to the Lord with all your heart? As we step into the sacred season of Lent, this question cuts to the very core of what it means to follow Christ authentically.

Today we step into the sacred season of Lent, a journey of repentance, renewal, and restoration. But here's what I want you to understand: Lent is not merely about giving something up; it is about returning—returning to the Lord with all our heart, as the prophet Joel exhorts us.

The Heart of True Repentance

The central theme connecting our readings today is this: True repentance is a matter of the heart, calling us to sincere humility, justice, and dependence on God's mercy.

In Joel 2:1-2, 12-17, we hear the prophet's urgent cry: "Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain!" But in the midst of this ominous vision, we hear a tender invitation from the Lord: "Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. Rend your hearts and not your garments." In ancient Israel, tearing one's garments was a visible sign of grief and repentance, but God desires something deeper. He is not looking for external gestures alone—He desires a broken and contrite heart.

God's Kind of Fasting

Our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 58:1-12 confronts a problem that echoes across generations: empty religious practice. The people fast, pray, and seek God, but their lives are not transformed. Isaiah asks: "Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free…?"

True fasting is not just abstaining from food—it is a way of life marked by justice, mercy, and love. Isaiah teaches that repentance must bear fruit in our actions. This is the fast that changes the world.

This Lent, instead of merely fasting from food or indulgences, consider:

• Fasting from indifference by actively helping those in need

• Fasting from bitterness by seeking reconciliation in relationships

• Fasting from self-absorption by serving others

What would it look like for our Lent to be more than just personal discipline but a time of seeking justice and mercy?

The Compassion That Changes Everything

Psalm 103:8-14 reminds us why we can return to God with confidence, because "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." This psalm celebrates the steadfast love of God, who knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. Think of a father who watches his young child stumble while learning to walk. The child may fall, but the father does not abandon him—he lifts him up. Likewise, God lifts us up in His mercy when we return to Him.

Secret Places, Not Show Places

In Matthew 6, Jesus warns against hypocrisy: do not practice righteousness for show. Faith is not a performance. Whether giving, praying, or fasting, it should be done “in secret,” known only to God. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Imagine a tree that looks beautiful on the outside but has rotting roots. No matter how lush the leaves seem, it cannot truly thrive. Eventually, when a strong wind comes, it will fall over flat. Likewise, if our spiritual life is only external, it will eventually collapse. True faith is rooted in deep communion with God.

Preparation, Not Punishment

Here's what I want you to remember: Lent is not about punishment; it is about preparation. It is a time for realigning our hearts, renewing our faith, and restoring our relationship with God and others. Lent is a solemn commemoration of Christ's sacrifice for us, which means Lent is actually a celebration of the deepest, truest Love we could ever imagine. As John 3:16-17 tells us, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

Putting It Into Practice

As we journey through this Lenten season, I encourage you to:

• Make Space for Spiritual Disciplines: In our fasting, remember, it is not all about what we are giving up, but about what good, Godly, spiritual practice are we going to take on to help us grow in our relationship with Jesus. Pray the daily offices. Join the Lenten Study on Sabbath.

• Live in Humility: Live in a posture of humility. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Repent quickly. Recognize our humanity. Depend on God fully.

• Examine Your Heart: Look at social media a bit less. Turn off TV a bit more. Back off on rich foods and alcohol. Why? So, we can recognize our idols and false gods, repent, pray, and make ourselves more available to feast on him.

• Remember the Goal: May we remember that the win for Lent is not giving up chocolate or a glass of wine, as an example. The win is a strengthened relationship with Jesus, our hearts being captured with deeper love for Him, especially through prayer and extravagant giving and compassion for others in need.

• Make Space in Your Calendar Now for Holy Week: not because the Church is “adding services,” but because the Lord is giving us a way to walk with Him through the center of our salvation. These are not religious extras; they are the days when the Church slows down so we can stop skimming the surface and keep watch with Jesus. Yes, there are several services, and yes, life is full—but this is where Lent is heading: the upper room where love kneels and feeds us, the cross where mercy is accomplished, the silence of the tomb where our false control is laid down, and the night when light breaks in and death is undone. Make room, especially, for the Great Triduum—Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday—and then for the joy of Easter Vigil and Easter Day. Don’t just attend; come ready to be gathered, humbled, healed, and re-made. Invite someone to come with you. If you give these days your time, God will give you back your life.

Dear friends, as we receive the Mark of ashes upon our foreheads, let us remember our mortality, that we came from dust and to dust we shall return. May we remember that our dust was made for Light and Life. Let us journey through this season with hearts open to God's transforming love and grace.