Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day have probably coincided before, and it’s not that big of a deal for most people unless someone planned on giving up chocolate for Lent, then it’s a VERY BIG DEAL! It is quite the juxtaposition, though. Valentine’s Day is a celebration of romantic love when sweethearts exchange cards and gifts, which may include chocolate and jewelry, perhaps dine out at an expensive restaurant, and do whatever else Hallmark and convention demand. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, which for many Christians is an observation of six weeks of repentance leading up to Easter. Ashes are placed on believers’ forehead in the form of a cross recalling Genesis 3:19 – Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. These words were spoken by God to Adam and Eve to remind them of their sinfulness and mortality and, indirectly, of the need for repentance. The forty-day period of Lent is meant to correspond to the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting and praying, as well as the forty days Moses spent repenting and fasting after destroying the false idol the Hebrews had constructed. Usually, a believer will give up something for Lent in an act of self-denial to constantly remind him or her of the need to repent.
Both days are about the celebration of love, but they come at it from entirely different angles. Valentine’s Day is about romance and lavishing gifts upon one person. Ash Wednesday is about the ultimate and lonely sacrifice love demanded of one person. In English we use one word, “love,” with many shades of meanings. New Testament Greek gives us several words for love, including eros, typically expressed as the love between a man and a woman from which we derive the word “erotic,” and agape, a sacrificial love, an unconditional love that is typically used to describe a parent’s love for a child and, of course, God’s love for us. Valentine’s Day is about eros; Ash Wednesday is about agape.
The symbols for each day stand in contrast, too. Valentine’s Day is represented by a stylized heart (a picture of a real heart is just not very romantic), while Ash Wednesday is represented by the rough outline of a cross drawn with ashes. Both represent love, but again, different kinds of love. We speak of the heart in various ways including following the heart, heartache, full hearts, weary hearts, and lonely hearts, among others. We place a lot of importance on the heart in determining relationships and making decisions. In all of this, think of the heart as our mind and emotions. But Jeremiah tells us something interesting about the heart: “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick’ who can understand it?” It is important to note that these are the words of the Lord quoted by Jeremiah. God Himself says our hearts are sick, yet we rely on our hearts to guide us. In Psalm 10:3 we read: “For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, and the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord.” In Psalm 14:10, David writes, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” How can we function with such a sinful, self-centered heart?
Fortunately, God gives us the answer for that a bit further into the Psalms:
I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely. Psalm 16:7-9
It is not explicitly stated in this passage, but God gives us a new heart. If we listen to His counsel, if we keep the Lord continually before us, our hearts will be glad. But we must allow God to change our hearts. David cries for God to create a clean heart in him in his great prayer of repentance in Psalm 51. In Ezekiel 36:26, God states it explicitly: “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” In context, this is a promise to the people of Israel in their covenant relationship with God. However, it holds just as true for God’s people – believers – under the new covenant relationship established at the cross. In fact, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that we are completely new creations. The old has been done away with and we are new beings in God.
The cross placed on foreheads on Ash Wednesday lasts for the day, but the commitment made leads to the cross and to the empty tomb. Both are symbolic of the amazing, overwhelming love God has for those who accept His grace. It is the cross that gives us new hearts and the tomb that assures us of eternity.
Happy Valentine’s Day! I’m not sure “Happy Ash Wednesday” is a thing, but if it works for you … Whatever the day means for you, don’t forget the One who expressed true love for you by giving His life.