For this reason [Jesus] had to be made like [us], fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17 NIV)
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
(Colossians 3:14 NLT)
Today is Ash Wednesday AND St. Valentine’s Day, only the third time since World War II that both have fallen on the same day. The origins of Valentine’s Day are somewhat mysterious. Stories begin with a 4th century priest who was tortured and put to death because, after the Roman emperor had declared marriage illegal, this priest secretly married couples. Evidently, the emperor needed more soldiers for his army and didn’t want them distracted by marriage or children. However, the evidence for that story is pretty thin.
In the late 1300’s English poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem called “Parliament of Fowls” that contains this line: “For this was on Saint Valentine’s Day, when every bird comes there to choose his mate.” After that, according to History.com, “Nobles inspired by Chaucer had begun writing poems known as “valentines” to their love interests. It was only at this point that stories began to appear linking Saint Valentine to romance.“* The evidence for this is a bit stronger, but we can easily see that our culture today has certainly focused on the mass commercialization of “love” for Valentine’s Day. You can buy a 6 feet tall, stuffed bear for Valentine’s Day for $50 at Walmart this year. That’s a little different perspective on love, compared to the couples who risked their lives to be married.
Ash Wednesday, however, has very different roots. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of a season of penitence (fasting, prayer, repentance) before Easter. Tracing its history to Old Testament scriptures about dust and repentance, we are reminded that we were created from dust (Genesis 2:7), because of the Fall, to dust we will return (Genesis 3:19), and that Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness before he began his public ministry (Matthew 4:2). We are reminded that even heroes of the faith like David can sin greatly and need to repent (Psalm 51). Starting on Ash Wednesday, the 40 days before Easter (not counting the Sundays), when we spend the time sincerely examining our hearts/minds/lives in prayer and fasting, we come to Easter much more spiritually prepared for celebration. After all, if you know in the depths of your being how much Jesus did for you on that cross, how much more joyous is your celebration on Easter!!??!!
What is the tie that binds these two holidays together? Love. God’s love for us, his children. The Love that knew we would need the Grace that Jesus’s atoning death offers us. The Love that made a way for us to come close to the Father. The Love that is so strong that martyrs will die without renouncing the gifts that God has offered us – like marriage and children. The Love that, through Holy Spirit, binds hearts and minds together.
Today, let us pray into and for that Love:
God of Love,
We will praise you, Lord, among the nations and sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. Thank you for using Jesus’s death and resurrection to make atonement for our sins. Have mercy on us, God, according to your unfailing love and your great compassion. Wash away our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness so that we can be in close communion with you. Give us more of Holy Spirit so that we may operate strongly in the gift of Love. Give us more courage so we can stand in faith, believing and trusting in you, even to the point of persecution, if needed. Strengthen us with power through your Spirit in our inner beings, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. Help us grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. May that fullness overflow as love onto those around us, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me. (Psalm 51:1-3 NIV)
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth. (Psalm 57:9-11 NIV)
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19 NIV)
*https://www.history.com/news/real-st-valentine-medieval