You’re bad. And you should feel bad.
If that’s what you and I are hearing in the readings for Ash Wednesday, then we’ve missed the point. Because “you’re bad and you should feel bad” is not what this is about. Beating yourself up isn’t the point of Ash Wednesday, much less Lent.
If that’s not what it’s about, then what’s the point of ashes, fasting, giving things up, and all the other Lent stuff?
It’s like this. My wife has a little glass elephant. Nothing fancy. Just a little gift that her beloved grandmother gave her when she was a little girl.
When our daughter was little, she picked up the glass elephant to look at it. When she went to put it back, she dropped it. And it broke.
She ran to me crying. She knew how much that little glass elephant meant to her mom. And she didn’t know what to do.
So I helped her pick up the pieces. And we glued it together as best we could. It was back in one piece again – mostly – but it was obvious that it had been broken.
When my wife came home, our daughter told her what had happened. With tears in her eyes, she said she was sorry, gave her mom the glued-together glass elephant, and waited for the worst.
It never came. Instead, her mom pulled her into a hug and started crying herself.
Through the tears, she told our daughter that she was crying because she loved her. Because she had been honest about what she did. And because she had done what she could to make it right.
And that glued-together glass elephant? It’s become one of our family treasures.
That, I think, is how God looks at us. When we do Lent right.
When we get honest about the things that we’ve done, about the things that we have let come between us and God. When we say we’re sorry. And try to do what we can to make things right.
Because that’s the point of the ashes, fasting, giving things up, of all the Lent stuff. Doing what we can to make it right.
By messing with our habits, shaking the table, disrupting our normal, to get past the clutter, to make room for God in our lives.
To restore our relationship with the One who loves us best.
Two things to know – First, God wants this so much that the moment you come to Him, the moment you say you’re sorry and get honest about what’s come between you and God?
God will help you pick up the pieces. God will help you fix it. This isn’t something you have to do on your own.
Second, if you do this, be ready to be pulled into a hug by the One who loves you best.
