Mardi Gras

 Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  At churches big and small, people will gather for worship today.  Music will be sung and prayers will be prayed.   Though the services may be different and be spoken in different tongues, most all the times of worship will include a time when a pastor will put ashes on the forehead of the people and utter words like “From dust you have come and to dust you will return.  Repent and believe in the gospel.”  

 While worship today might be somber and reflective,  some of those same people were not in such a spirit yesterday.  In cities like New Orleans, a celebration was held yesterday called Mardi Gras.  Mardi Gras is a French phrase that literally means “fat Tuesday”.     It is a time of celebration and self indulgence  in all sorts of ways in anticipation of the season of Lent which is often marked by reflection, fasting, and self-denial. 

It is good that we have a season like Lent.   Remembering that Christ Jesus gave his very life that we might be saved from our sins,  people of different ages and denominations give up foods and the like during Lent  as a spiritual discipline.   However, let us not miss the fact that there are times when people of faith celebrate and have a party similar to Mardi Gras.     I am afraid that too many followers of Christ Jesus act as if celebration and joy is not a part of our modus operandi.   We too often go around with downcast spirits and frowns.    However, the Scriptures has a different message. 

There are times when the people of faith erupt with joy and celebration.   They certainly react with joy when God gives us victory.      In Exodus 15, we read that after the Lord had given the Israelites knew the victory of the parted waters of the Red Sea and freedom from the Egyptians, Miriam (Moses sisters) and others danced before the Lord.   (That’s right,  they danced.)     It was a party like atmosphere because the Lord had given them victory.   A second time we see people of faith in jubilee and celebration is when someone or something  that was lost is found.   There is no better example of that than Luke 15 where a community celebrates a lost sheep that is recovered and found… a family and neighbors celebrate a son that was lost and now found after he returns home… and a woman celebrates with her neighborhood that she found  one lost coin.     The same God that gave the Israelites victory over the Egyptians gives people victory over disease and addiction today.  The same God that saved a man like Zaccheus long ago saves men and women in the 21th century.    On this Ash Wednesday, let us not get so engrossed in the somberness of this time that we forgot that there are also times when the people of faith need to party and celebrate.   Have a joy-filled week and a holy Lent.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:  God of us all,  we give you thanks for the gift of your Son Christ Jesus for our sins and the whole world.  Make us mindful, O God, that there also is a time to celebrate what you have done and are doing.  Amen.