Tag: Easter

Posted in Different Scriptures, Different Thoughts

Ash Wednesday/Lent 2024

Posted on by Wick

(The following “daily devotional” is part of a collaborative effort between several churches in the Wabash Conference of the Free Methodist Church to create a 40-day “Lent” Devotional that highlights traditional Spiritual Disciplines. Download the entire booklet here!)

I still remember the first time I prepared the ashes for “Ash Wednesday” as a pastor in 2010. I’d been in ministry about 7 years, and finally felt confident enough to invite the people I loved to participate in such a moment. I’d heard of “Ash Wednesday”, but it had always been something “those churches” do. Yet the more I studied, and regarded the benefits of such a practice, the more I recognized this was something all followers of Jesus could be blessed by.

So I saved the palm branches from Palm Sunday, and waited as they dried until the following February. I wanted to document the moment, so I set up my camera to record. I had a small metal coffee can and a handheld lighter. I collapsed the
dried palm branches into the can, and slowly lowered the flame into the can. It didn’t take long for the fire to start, and flames easily climbed over the edge of the can. In the video, you can see me looking up. Not looking into the sky, and not in a moment of inspired prayer. I was panicking, because I’d started this moment indoors, completely forgetting I wasn’t lighting candles on cake – I was starting a small bonfire.
I quickly moved my procedure outside where it was safe (and wouldn’t make the church smell like marijuana). It was a humbling moment, and I was reminded of the fragile nature of all things flammable. I was also reminded of my own short-
sightedness, even when my heart is in the right place.

All of this became a great reminder for Ash Wednesday itself. As a practice, it didn’t officially begin until the 11th century or so. But God’s people throughout scripture have associated repentance with ashes. It brings a tangible expression to our
confession of helplessness. We are unable to save ourselves. We are unable to even earn the salvation available. We come to Jesus, fully depending on His Love, His Lordship over death itself, and His Grace. As Lent is a season of preparation to fully
celebrate His resurrection, it makes sense to begin it all by marking ourselves with a reminder: We are dust, and to dust we shall return. Or as some also declare: Repent, and believe the good news of Jesus.

Our world offers us a never-ending buffet of things to be proud of. We digitally curate our daily experiences for others to observe. We collect followers, titles, bank accounts or accomplishments. Yet as Christians, we hear the response of Paul in Philippians 3:8, “More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I
regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

Today we remember prayerfully – all these things (including us) are passing away. Only what is in Jesus remains.

Questions for Reflection:
1. What title or accomplishment are you most tempted to be proud of in an unhealthy way?
2. If you died tonight, what of you would remain tomorrow?


Lord, I turn away from attempting to be my own source. I confess I am nothing, not even living, without you. Bring me Your Life of the New Creation today. In the resurrected Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Click here to read/listen to a “spoken word” I wrote on Ash Wednesday years ago…

Posted in Spoken Word, Uncategorized

At Lent’s End…

Posted on by Wick

Enjoy a read, or listen here… https://wickwaves.bandcamp.com/track/at-lents-end

As the final days of 40 pass by
So many start to wonder
As thunderheads don’t seem to show signs of clearing
Is celebration really nearing?
We feel like fasting has gone on for far longer than we signed up for
So sure that we had a choice in the matter
That to deny our selves would make Him gladder
Yet the passing of time starts to shatter the expectation
That there would be celebration simply because we marked the dates.
As if all fates were sealed, and it was up to us to have the Kingdom revealed
But we have not been healed as much as we’d perceived
At least, not a healing that is everlasting
For our fasting was not the type for which He’d asked
Tasked with something far greater than we’d known
To reveal His throne here at the footstool
To undo what cruel men had endeavored to establish in stone
Fruit grown from seeds sown in oppression
And in succession, we protected the status quo
But we know, and cannot pretend to be blind any longer
Knowing that His Love is stronger than any power we might obtain
Framed for better understanding – His Freedom comes demanding itself for all
Listen to the call from Isaiah – Is this not the fasting He Desires?
To inflame the fires of justice for those without a voice
To use our power of choice, our ability to go against the grains
And to loosen the chains of those still bound
To see those building on grounds of shifting sand, and give them foundation on which to stand
Tall – As those who saw their own freedom not only as something to celebrate, but something to proclaim, those given a new name, birthed as creation made new
The dew on the blades of resurrection morning as hearts are warming the air of longest nights
The lights are beginning to dawn from East to West, and “hashtag blessed” is no longer
What we seek – rather, the meek capture our heart because it beats with His
The one betrayed with a kiss, yet lovingly submitted – his head fitted with a crown
Meant to mark Him as defeated, now seated as the Lord
Debt we could never afford to wipe clean
And so obscene when we offered such pitiful amounts of grace to those who owe us
God, show us Your mercy.
Do not treat us as we treat our own brother, but may we discover within the arms of your embrace, the face of true compassion – love not just in words, but in action
We find in all these things, Easter brings reason once again for celebration
For every nation made up of humans being, humans seeing their weaknesses on full display
Again this year we say – Hosanna – Savior Save Us
How grave a situation we were in – grim, our only path
Grafted in to a covenant that came before
Tide returning to a shore we thought was gone but on further inspection
We see the coming of resurrection…

Posted in Different Scriptures

An Eastertide Reminder…(you already know this)

Posted on by Wick

Don’t put away your Easter Tree just yet!

Oh, you don’t have an Easter tree? That’s fine. Whatever your Easter décor or traditions, don’t shove them into storage at this point. We’ve only just begun our celebrations of Easter. It’s ok if your candy has run out, as we can now pursue much more celebrative ways to announce “He is Risen!”.

“Eastertide” on the church calendar is traditionally the 50 days between Resurrection Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. There are many traditions and connections to this season, but notice this: 50 days is just about 1/7th of a year. So in a sense, Eastertide is like the “Great Sunday” of the year! During this season, we are invited to contemplate the Resurrection of Jesus, what that means for the ways Resurrection Life unfolds & is available to us here and now, and to anticipate the future Resurrection when God brings all things to completion.

There are so many reasons for us to spend more time than we do, talking about and celebrating resurrection life. It’s literally one of the foundations of who we are as Christians. Early believers thought it was so important, they even moved their weekly gathering of worship to Sunday – believing the resurrection to be a sort of “8th Day of Creation”, or “First Day of New Creation”. It has transformed reality as we know it!

One of the keys (I think) to embracing the resurrection as something to truly celebrate, is to become increasingly aware of the difference between “coming back to life” and “resurrection”. Many people in scripture come “back to life“, meaning they return to the way of existing before they died. But this is not what happened to Jesus. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.“

Paul clarifies it even stronger in Colossians 1:18, “ He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.” The “coming back to life” of anyone else was something to be celebrated for that person. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ changed everything. Here we see in the person of Jesus Christ, the coming together of Heaven (where God exists fully) and earth (where humanity dwells). He was given his “resurrection body” that is able to exist both where God is fully and where humanity dwells – a way of existing never before experienced by mankind. This is a reminder to us as believers that we are not ultimately looking forward to Heaven, even though it will be great to be with God fully. Even scripture reminds us that, “..in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.” (2 Peter 3:13) We all – those of us still here on earth, and our loved ones who currently wait in the presence of God – are waiting on the coming New Creation where Heaven & Earth are united as never before.

The exciting thing is: We are not waiting passively! We join today as we are literally brought to new life from the Life of the Age that is to come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” The good news isn’t that if we accept Jesus into our hearts, we will eventually join him in Heaven. The good news is that for ALL people, when we abide in the Life of Christ (who IS the beginning of the coming New Creation) NOW, we become places and people through whom the coming New Creation is bursting forth TODAY, being proclaimed and revealed in ways that announce what it will be like fully some day!

Whew. Okay. I need to take a breath and calm down. But you can see why it would be a really big shame if we spent all that time building up toward Easter throughout Lent, celebrated with a big breakfast, pretty pictures and some candy, then went about our year as usual the next day, right? We can see why an entire “Eastertide” season is needed, and why every Sunday throughout the year becomes a miniature celebration of the resurrection. We are resurrection people.

The question then: If celebrating the resurrection means revealing/embodying the ways of Jesus and His coming New Creation – how will you celebrate this week?