Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent. For churches that may not be liturgical, you may be unfamiliar with this day and season. This is the beginning of the forty days leading to Easter. It is a time of repentance, of fasting, of prayer. It is a time where we give the Holy Spirit space to convict, to point out our brokenness and heal us from our sin. Today’s reflection will give us some words on why we need this time of conviction and healing.

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Good morning. Yesterday, we talked about how much I love the fruit of the Spirit, and I had planned for us to really dig into that today. But as I was getting ready this morning, I realized—oh, it’s Ash Wednesday! So we’ll take a deeper look at the fruit of the Spirit on Thursday and Friday.

Today, I want to spend time reflecting on Ash Wednesday—why it matters, why this season is important, and why we begin this journey of Lent together. Some of you may come from non-liturgical traditions and may not even realize today is Ash Wednesday. You might see people walking around with ashes on their foreheads and wonder why they didn’t wash their faces properly. But for many churches—Methodist, Episcopalian, Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and others—today marks the beginning of a forty-day season of repentance, reflection, and preparation for Easter.

On this day, many of us will have ashes placed on our foreheads as a sign of our sinfulness and frailty, reminding us of our need for God’s grace. Lent is a season of fasting and prayer, a time to reflect on our brokenness and our deep need for Christ’s sacrifice. That’s where the tradition of Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, comes from—eating all the rich foods before beginning the season of fasting and repentance.

I want to share with you the passage I’ll be preaching from tonight at our Ash Wednesday service. It comes from Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21.

Jesus doesn’t say if you fast, pray, or give—He says when you do these things. This passage reminds us that Lent is not about performance or public recognition. It’s about humbling ourselves before God, acknowledging our brokenness, and seeking His grace.

One of my favorite prayers from The Book of Common Prayer says, “You are the God of those who repent.” I love that phrase. It reminds us that we are not as strong as we think we are. In our modern, fast-paced world, we stay so busy that we rarely stop to reflect on our own brokenness. Instead, we seek approval from others, medicate our pain with distractions, and define ourselves by fleeting things like money, popularity, and success. But deep down, we are all longing for something real—something that can only be found in Christ.

Lent is a time to stop running. It’s a time to acknowledge the weight of our sin, not to be crushed by it, but to bring it before the One whose grace is greater. Only when we sit still long enough to recognize our need for healing can we experience the full power of God’s grace in our lives.

My prayer for you—and for myself—is that this would be a holy Lent. That we wouldn’t just go through the motions but would truly allow God to work in us.

If you’re in the Madison area, we’ll have ashes available throughout the day, starting at 9 AM and leading up to our Ash Wednesday service at 6 PM. You’re welcome to join us.

May this be a season of grace, healing, and renewal for us all.

See you tomorrow as we pick back up with the fruit of the Spirit. Have a blessed Ash Wednesday.