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I’m from a church tradition, that has no church tradition. We are as non-traditional as they come.  Our slogans include: “No creed but the Bible,” “We’re not the only Christians but we’re Christians only (not a denomination),” and “We want to be a church like the first church.” I’m afraid that if Christianity had a flavor, we would be vanilla. Most of the time I like vanilla. I know it’s pure, I know what it is, but I sometimes wonder if a little flavor wouldn’t hurt.

Because Ash Wednesday is nowhere to be found in scripture, many in my non-tradition remain skeptical about it (along with the entire practice of Lent).  I must admit that I approach this season with a bit of hesitancy.  I have a few questions about it. Why do we need ashes on our forehead?  Why do we need to give things up?  Isn’t the cross of Christ I carry in my soul enough?  Isn’t a life of repentance sufficient?

These questions sound good, but I wonder if they’re the real questions I’m asking.  Maybe what I’m really asking is, “Would a day displaying a cross on my forehead match my life?  Am I really as repentant as I think I am?” Is it that I don’t want a cross or I don’t want the world to see it?  Is it that I don’t want an artificial season or is it that I don’t want a season of sacrifice?

In this age of overindulgence would one season dedicated to simplicity and sacrifice be a bad thing?  Some from my non-tradition would argue that all seasons should be seasons of simplicity.  I know that is truly not scriptural, after all consider the words of Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 (NRSV) which state:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Furthermore consider the words of Christ in Matthew 9:14-15 (NRSV):

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Have we forgotten what season this is?  This is the season fasting.  The problem for most of us is that we fail to observe this season at all!  We run so fast to get nowhere, we work so hard to get so little, we go until we can’t go any longer.  The seasons of the church might be made by man, but these seasons were made for man.  They remind us that regardless of injections or liposuctions we are still mortal and that we must tend to our mortality.  If we fail to tend to it now the season of mortality will become an eternity.  The seasons of repentance are what lead us to immortality.  So, whether you observe Ash Wednesday or not, let us mark seasons of simplicity and repentance for the bridegroom is gone and it is the season.

Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the
earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our
mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is
only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

(from the Book of Common Prayer)

Update 2/17/10: Click here for more Ash Wednesday posts from the CCBlogs Network.

John Lennon speaks to an issue we all encounter.  “Help!” was mostly written by Lennon, but attributed to “Lennon/McCartney” as most their songs usually were. Paul McCartney says he was called in to help finish the song and that the title was “out of desperation”.  In the few interviews Lennon gave later he said this song was one of his favorites as it came from the heart.  This song was written as he was trying to sort out the rising popularity of his formerly obscure band.  He said that he was “fat and depressed” and crying out for help.

We all need some help. This has been an issue from the beginning of time.  The Athenians in scripture testify to this truth.  In Acts 17 we see that they built an altar to the “Unknown God.” This came about during a plague before Paul’s time.  In desperation the Athenian’s offered many sacrifices to their gods, to no avail. In a cry of desperation to stop the plague they built an altar to an unknown god and the plague was lifted.  That’s the legend, how true is it? I don’t know. Perhaps God, the God of the universe, allowed that to happen for this specific time of evangelistic outreach.
Since the beginning of time we have had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to the world than met the eye. It was the point after all!  So, John Lennon is not telling us anything new, rather something very, very old – we need some help!

We need someone, but not just anyone. We ask for help in the wrong places.  We have superstitions that we observe.  We have rituals that we obey, because that’s the way we’ve always done it.  So often the things we look to for help only hurt us.  Look in 1 Samuel 13:1-14, Saul turned to ritual and sacrifice and forgot it was God who saved him.  This cost him his kingdom.

God is our help. In the midst of all this God speaks to us, from ancient times. He says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  If John Lennon was fat and depressed during the height of his popularity then there is no hope for the rest of us!  Even the biblical greats required help: Gideon – to fulfill his purpose, Paul – to change his life, and  Noah – to save him and his family.  The biggest problem that we all need help with is our sin and separation from God.  Romans 3:21-26 records this problem and we see that we can’t get any help from God outside of Jesus Christ.  We definitely need help and not just from anybody – only Jesus.

Today I introduced the new sermon series, “Help! I Need Somebody!”  This is a series about life’s great questions as asked by the Beatles and answered in Jesus Christ.

Paul’s sermon in Athens as found in Acts 17 is really the inspiration behind the Beatles series.  We see in this passage Paul quotes from the popular poets of the Greek culture.  These are the cultural movers and shakers of their day and Paul engages them at the intersection of their culture and faith.  Paul here is examining the Athenian culture and is finding points of contact between their world and the truth of God.  He finds several points, primarily  their spirituality as expressed in their idols and poetry.  He compliments them for seeking spiritual truth and starts a spiritual conversation at this place.

It is our desire to explore these points of contact of culture and faith as found in the Beatles.  We won’t be able to get to them all.  There are some questions expressed by the Beatles that are answered in Jesus Christ and a few of these we want to examine.  I’ve had several questions about this series from some of our church goers.  One question that some had about a series like this was, “Can we do a Metallica series next?” I’ll think about it.  Second question is, “Is this okay?” The answer is, “Yes.”  Paul (the Apostle, not McCartney) quotes these secular poets of their day in a very secular society.  These poets were no more “Christian” than the Beatles.  They viewed Christians and Jews as atheists, because they didn’t believe in their  many gods.  During this time atheism was a capital crime.

Finally this series is definitively Christian because we’re not looking to these outside sources for answers, we look to them to voice our questions. In a very real sense we see that these voices of the poets, singers and artists of the world almost act as a prophetic voice about society.  Jesus has something to say to them and we want to hear it.  Join us as we explore God’s answers to life’s questions on Sundays.

A friend forwarded this article by Michael Spencer at the Christian Science Monitor wrote an article titled, “The Coming Evangelical Collapse.” This is article is a great critique of the modern western evangelical movement and a pretty well thought out prediction about the future of this movement – only time will tell if he’s right.

He believes that the foundation of this evangelical failing will consist of the following:

1. That the evangelicals have lost their credibility by tying their message to political poles.
2. Our youth have not been introduced to their faith (although they have a great Christian subculture).
3. Evangelical education has failed to counter secularism.
4. Evangelical social agenda will compete with their faith and be valued above the faith.
5. Money will disappear

He lists others but these are the primary reasons and reasons that I think are valid.  He then goes on to list what will be left of the evangelical movement which is accurate if his foundation is solid.  What he considers next is if this is a bad thing?  Is the collapse of evangelicalism a bad thing at all?  He and I part ways with this because I believe that evangelicalism is worth saving.  Evangelicalism has at its core a belief that the most important part of Christianity is its spread.  It has failed in the methods but its intent is right.  Perhaps what we need is not a new movement, just a new expression.