WHAT ABOUT THE ASHES?

Given God’s dislike for idolatry and false beliefs among His people, I would imagine that you would agree that before Yeshua comes, the Holy Spirit is working to prepare His bride according to Revelation 19, where she is still bearing some “wrinkles” of distorted concepts of holiness that need to be ‘ironed out’, or where there may be “spots” of worldly ungodliness – maybe a better word would be ungod-like-ness – that we must be cleansed of. A good many of these are not our fault.  We have inherited a system of beliefs that are centuries old, not all of which are what God intended.  In fact, some of them get in the way of living in the fullness of what Yeshua provided for us.  

As an example, I happened upon a group of Christians this past week who were discussing the upcoming event of Ash Wednesday which they apparently were inclined to participate in.  It is evidently the kick-off event for Lent, neither of which I am familiar with. After listening for a while I ventured to ask, “Could you please tell me the origin and meaning of Ash Wednesday.” This was a group of maybe 15 or so who had been Christians I would think all their lives and some of them were a bit up in years. I expected they would know. They didn’t. One of the younger women, say in her 40’s, said, “I think it had something to do with Passover and the Jewish people putting ashes on their foreheads.”  I respectfully assured them, that as a Jewish believer myself, there is nothing in the Passover that would include ashes and it certainly isn’t in the Old Testament. 

Another person said, “I think it goes all the way back to the early church, with the Catholics and the Episcopalians that are like the Catholics. I just love when things go back close to when Jesus and his disciples made up the church.”  I did manage to hold my tongue and said nothing but I sure wanted to.  Neither  Yeshua nor His disciples ever had any knowledge at all, let alone had anything to do with, many of the practices of the early Catholic Church which had more to do with Rome than Israel. They wouldn’t have even understood the word “church.’ Another said, “I believe it has to do with the Jews burning the palm leaves they waved when Jesus came into Jerusalem, and they saved them and burned them the next year to put the ashes on their heads.”  Stunning, I thought, how earnestly we can hold to some religious rite and have no real idea what it’s supposed to represent or where it came from. 

This is not to belittle the genuine repentance that such an occasion might bring to sincere believers in earnest of being right with God. None of us can relate to God beyond what we know of Him. So if my comments seem a bit, well, unkind, it is certainly not toward the Jesus-seeking people, but rather comes not only from a longing for all who love the Lord to have all that He died to give us, but for Him to have all of us in the way He made available to us.   

I really hadn’t planned to go back to this group I had just met but the leader, a man wearing a wonderful colorful broad tie that said WWJD on it in various ways, asked if I would find out and come back the following week and teach them what the ashes represent and where it began. They knew nothing about me. Why did they even think I could do that?  Well, I could hardly resist an opportunity to do some ironing and spot leaning, could I?  So I began to check it out.

The brief story is that it is connected with Lent (that’s another story) and with repentance and being aware of one’s sins and feeling badly about them and presumably turning from them.  It is based on the Scripture verses in which certain Old Testament persons in deep grief or remorse for their sin threw dust and ashes upon their heads, often tearing their clothes at the same time. The ashes then represent sorrow for one’s sins. Ash Wednesday is supposed to accomplish that same effect, from what I read.  But when this took place among the Bible people, it is more that these spontaneous ash dousing actions were in the throes of great angst and emotional pain, likely with grasping a handful of 'dust' from the ground and dumping it on their heads, having nothing to do with a religious rite in which they went to some designated priest or bishop who drew a cross on their foreheads with ashes to make them feel better.  Or for that matter, as the ashes are supposedly to bring one in touch with their own sin, to make them feel even worse than they already did.

And one thing you can be sure about. If it would have happened, it sure wouldn’t have been a cross as a symbol of righteousness.  The cross was a symbol of great shame to the Hebrews. It wasn’t until several hundred years later under Constantine's influence that the cross became a symbol of adoration (another blog for another time perhaps).  The only thought that came to my mind was of the high priest burning incense on the altar (as in the picture above) but certainly there was no veneration of the ashes though they disposed of them in a specific manner.  

I did a fair amount of reading on Ash Wednesday and I found it significant that not once was the name of Jesus mentioned.  It was all about rules and rites and traditions and who is approved to do what to whom.  A good bit of it was about “blessing the ashes” which, as it turns out, were about keeping the palm leaves from one year's ceremony and then burned and those ashes used for the next year's ceremony. Those ashes were sort of sprinkled on the penitent’s head but later, especially in America, the practice of putting a cross on one’s forehead is preferred. It is neater, I’ll give you that. 

I do have a question about “blessing” the ashes, though. What does that mean? What does that do? How does that affect the persons’ life who receives the ashes? I thought we bless people, not things. Often the Jews bless God as a way of gratefully honoring Him. In the Old Testament objects were purified with blood or water, but not (and I could be wrong), blessed.  I’m not even sure what it means to bless ashes.  It’s a dead element, it has no life. It can’t do anything for anyone.  What’s to bless?

I suggest to you that it is left over from pagan practices that were to appease the gods of the Romans as one of those things that “the church” took on through Constantine’s edicts to unite the Christians with the others in the empire so peace would reign and the persecution would stop.  I know, I know, there’s much more to the story.  But the thing about those gods was that if you made them happy, the people would be happy and “blessed.” If they displeased the gods, well, you just didn’t want to do that because all bad things happened because you didn’t give them enough…. attention, worship, money, flowers, or whatever.  Worship of those pagan gods was about what you did to earn their favor so all would go well with you.

Not so with the God of the Hebrews. He was a Father and like every father, there were rules in the house but your obedience didn’t determine whether or not you remained the child of the Father.  No, this loving father was obeyed by his children because they loved him. It’s what children do. So also was the relationship between Israel and their God. He was as a Father to them and they obeyed Him because they were His children, not to get Him to accept them. He chose them!  He made them His own.  They knew that.  There is nowhere in the Old Testament that indicates that keeping the rules is what ‘buys’ you acceptance from God.  Rather, they were already fully accepted. They didn’t and still don’t keep the commandments in order to become or stay Jews, they already were and always would be. Witness the fact that there remains Jews of all flavors and types in the world today –but they all remain Jews, because it’s not about earning their way to God through some designated behaviors. They’re already His. 

The same thing applies to every true believer in Israel’s Messiah when they accept that He has already made the way for them to come into the family of Israel’s God. He becomes their Father just as He is Israel’s Father. And the same assurance of sonship can belong to anyone who truly turns away from their sin and accepts the forgiveness offered through Yeshua’s death on the cross on their behalf. The reason we stay caught up on repenting of anything we know God doesn't approve of is because we're already forgiven. Kind of like once you're clean, you want to stay that way. 

So where would ashes come into this?  King Solomon told us that “The reproofs for discipline are the way of life.”  In other words, repentance is an ongoing all-the-time thing when one is in relationship with Father God.  Anyone who is the Lord’s knows that part of our lives in God is being aware of when our thoughts or our deeds are not in keeping with the holiness of God and so we quickly, even immediately, turn to the Lord and thank Him for forgiving us and we are immediately cleansed of that transgression. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).  That’s a verse we should all memorize. It comes in handy on a regular basis.

So if repentance is a way of life, like taking a bath or brushing your teeth in order to remain clean is a way of life, then what purpose would there be for a specific time once a year on a Wednesday to remember your sins by having someone put ashes on your forehead. If you need the ashes to get in contact with your sinful nature, then I suggest you need to turn your life over to God and be born again. You need to have His indwelling Spirit with you on a continual all-the-time basis.  He will welcome you in to the family so that you are no longer a rule keeping bystander, but a beloved child of God, if you simply begin to speak with God asking Him for His forgiveness for your life of sin and independence from Him.  

I will go back and meet with these dear folks again this weekend. I will attempt to gently tell them of this. Who knows what God will do with a little truth?  It does set us free.  Maybe it will “bless” someone enough to exchange the once a year ashes for the everyday sweetness of the Lord's purifying presence and love.  

Dropping Pebbles of Kindness in Troubled Waters

Two friends and I were enjoying a mini-pot-luck dinner together this weekend. One of us was telling of a car mechanic who was rude, and had a bad attitude, not to mention not repairing her car as he should have. How as Believers should we respond to such situations? Yes, he needs to make good his work, but should she have written him off as a loser, just a bad guy to avoid? We began to pray for him, to bless him, for God to heal whatever in his heart happened to him to cause him such bitterness. Who knows, we pondered, if his wife didn’t leave him that morning, or if he has a sick child and is pre-occupied with worry? Or whatever.

We decided he needs some TLC from the Lord. She would go back, and while requiring he fix what wasn’t fixed properly, she would attempt to reach out with some word of kindness. Maybe even present that potentially life-changing question: “Has anyone ever told you that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?” It’s amazing what responses you get from folks when you ask them that question -- everything from tears, to smiles, to “No, no one ever has,” to “Yes, praise the Lord” (then you’ve found a sister or a brother in the Lord), to “Not me. I’ve done too much,” which certainly opens up the conversation to tell them about Jesus dying for just that reason, to make unacceptable people acceptable in God’s sight. And yes, sometimes you get rejection. On occasion someone just walks away, but rarely.

We continued to talk about how many people there are ‘out there’ who could be encouraged just by someone putting a little love in their smile or their voice as they address them. Someone who returns nastiness with niceness. There are a lot of lonely people in the world today, especially with so many family break-ups. Rejection permeates the self-image of so many. The saying, “Reach out and touch someone” may not be a bad idea. Just a touch on the arm or shoulder may go a long way to making someone feel worthy of being touched. They may not have been touched for a long time. Maybe that’s why Jesus reached out and touched the leperous man when He healed him. He could have just spoken the word to heal him. But maybe He was healing something in his soul as well as his body, letting him know he’s no longer “untouchable.”

Perhaps when we spread God's love around to someone they will then respond by sharing it with others. You know, like "Passing it forward." Only God really knows how far the ripples in the wake of a pebble of kindness goes out when we drop it into someone else’s life.

To read the rest of this article go to: www.sidroth.org and click on Articles. Scroll down to "Pebbles."

You Can't Taste the Chicken Soup Online

How long has your family been celebrating Passover, I was asked by a new Christian friend who had just learned that my family observes Passover. To her the Exodus was only a Bible story. "Oh, about 3500 years," I responded.

If there's one thing Jewish people do, no matter how religious or non-religious we are, mostly everyone participates in a Seder. I'm pretty sure that's a work of the Holy Spirit. After all, that's a long time, 3500 years, to be telling the same story every year. God has to be in on that. We're just not all that faithful on our own.

The first year my Dad became a believer in Yeshua he conducted the Passover Seder almost entirely in Yiddish (which only some of us actually understood). He did so because Yiddish was his first language as he grew up in his Rabbi grandfather's shull (synagogue) and his heart was so tender toward Yeshua, he wanted to tie his Jewish background together with his Jewish Messiah. We were all so familiar with the story, having each heard it all our lives, that despite the language, we knew what was being said, and were touched by Dad's love for the Lord and his gratefulness to God for rescuing our people time and time again.

This year there were 14 of us at our Seder table in Jacksonville, 12 family members and two guests, one from Germany. But my son was in New York and unable to be with us. That is, not "in person." However, my daughter Jenny had a brainstorm. We "Skyped" him in and there he was on her laptop computer, big as life. Well, almost. She carried the laptop around so we could each greet him. The family kibbitzing went on between the kids and their uncle as usual, only online this time. Then we set him near the candles as my other daughter Ellen lit them and said the blessing. When it was time for the first cup of wine, he said the B'rachah (blessing) in Hebrew and English. We proceeded through the Seder with him at the head of the table -- literally because we could only see his head on the screen.

So not even distance kept us from celebrating our Passover Seder together this year. I wonder if we're the first to hold a family cyber-Seder. The only thing missing, for me was that I couldn't hug him and for him, that no matter how interactive we were able to be, he couldn't taste the chicken soup online.

Passover Isn't Just For Jews

It seems appropriate to begin this blog with Passover. God told Moses to make Passover the beginning of the year. It's also Spring and Spring does seem the time for the beginning of things, doesn't it? So does a deliverance from bondage to a tryrannical slave-lord like Pharaoh. Talk about a new beginning! Being released from Egypt was THE new beginning for Israel and as it turns out because of their release, a new beginnning that would affect the world.

The celebration of Passover isn't just for Jewish people. God told Israel to observe Passover yearly, including all who joined them who wished to follow their God . This extends to the non-Jewish believers in Jesus [Yeshua - His real Hebrew name] today. We are all to celebrate the Passover at this time of year every year forever! Forever would include now, wouldn't it?

As we celebrate Passover we are participating in what God is doing in our day to restore His ancient paths in preparation for Yeshua's return. It's that significant! God's deliverance from the terrible slavery of the Jewish peole in Egypt was the single most powerful manifestation of His power and love in the earth, second only to the Resurrection of their Messiah, Yeshua. Passover teaches us much of how we are also set free through faith in Yeshua, the (Passover) Lamb of God (See John 1:29).

During the seven days of Passover the Israelis were commanded to eat no leavened bread. Leaven in the Bible is a sign of pride (as in puffed up) and of sin. Not eating bread is a sign to God of our desire to be free of sin in our lives as we live before Him. God told them "for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread...and nothing unleavened" (Exodus 13:6,7). Why not obey God joyfully observing this commandment? There is a sense of blessings in it, a feeling of being separated unto God, and of His pleasure in us. We keep it not out of some obligation or law, but out of a heart that wants to bless God.

When Israel left Egypt there was no one sick or feeble among them. That would mean physically and emotionally. No depression that day! Would you consider keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread by offering up your normal bread and cake for a week (you can eat anything but what has yeast or leavening in it), and while doing so pray for those you know who are in bondage to sin or are in need of healing. Replace your bread with a box of matzoh (available at any supermarket usually with other Passover goodies). Pray also for the peace of Jerusalem and for our nation.

God had ordained this time to be the beginning of the year (but a Roman emperor changed it in the 400's or so as worship to the god Janus; therefore we have January.) We are starting a new spiritual year in this month of April. Fasts are often God's way of preparing His people for what is coming the rest of the year. It may be to strengthen your faith or to enlarge your capacity for His blessings. He will bless those who seek Him through fasting and prayer. God honors those who honor Him! A "matzoh fast" is a wondeful way to honor God and put yourself in a place for Him to honor you for your obedience.

In these days in which we live, those who acknowledge God's ancient ways and observe them through faith in His Son Yeshua by grace enter into a place close to God's heart. May He draw you closer to know Him than ever before during this Passover season. Hag Sameach! (hahg s'may akh). Joyous Holiday!

For more on the Jewish roots of Christianity and related articles by Lonnie Lane and others go to: http://www.sidroth.org/.