Wednesday, February 22, 2023

 

Wednesday, February 22, 2023


Psalm 38:1-4; 18-21

Daniel 9:3-6 (7-14) 15-19

Matthew 6:7-15


Observance: Ash Wednesday


We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of your great mercies.


I must begin this season of Lent with a public confession: I am not a fan of icing on cake. Only very rarely is icing as good as it seems. Too many times to count has a big slice of delicious, moist cake been ruined with an inch-thick layer of artificially-coloured sugar crystals, ruining the entire experience.


This is one of the ways I think of sin’s role in the world. It seems nice; like a good idea at the time. Sweetness is a taste universally accepted across all cultures. Everyone likes the idea of a bit of a sweet treat. But icing is nothing but nutritional emptiness and a disappointment on the tongue. The more you have, the worse you feel. And there is a very great risk of developing a sweet-tooth; a crippling addiction to that sweet taste, forever chasing that first high, never achieving anything except rotting teeth and bug eyes.


Sin is nothing; it is a void, a spiritual emptiness. It leads to nothing but death. And even worse is that, with our help, it can breed: sin begets sin.


Only one thing can cut through the overwhelming, oppressive darkness of sin and its evil effects, and that is the pure love of God. There is a good experiment you can run yourself to prove this. Jesus gives it to us in today’s Gospel reading: if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Try this out: if there is any relational breakdown in your life, anyone who has let you down, or if you have hurt anyone around you, do not respond with the gut, and lash out, either in self-defence or retaliation. Instead, try responding with the heart; the same heart of love which Jesus has for us, which led Him to the cross to die in our place.


We approach God in prayer on the basis that His love can overcome any sin. He asks us to take that love and in turn give it to others. This is the awesome power of God which He has given us to wield in His stead. We have received His love and it has destroyed our sin: we now have been given that love to destroy sin in the world.

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