Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Psalm 51:1-4 Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight.
THE COLOR PURPLE
Lutherans attending church this Ash Wednesday evening will no doubt note a change in color. The pulpit and altar hangings go from green or white to purple. Purple is the color of repentance, and that is also the theme of Ash Wednesday.
It is helpful to remember that the "ash" of Ash Wednesday goes back to the ancient custom of using ashes to denote grief and sorrow and to remember how the expression "ashes to ashes" is a stark reminder of our own mortality. Repentance has a real sense of urgency when we remember we will exit this life through the door of death to stand accountable for our actions before the Almighty.
But true godly repentance is not simply regret and remorse for wrongs committed and good left undone. It is above all sincere sorrow directed toward the One above all. As David sees and confesses, sin strikes out at God Himself, for to Him we are ultimately accountable. But if repentance is only such sorrow over sin, then the result will only be evasive action by the guilty sinner-- or abject despair.
But since true repentance is always the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, such repentance turns to the One to Whom the Spirit ever bears witness: Jesus Christ. Spirit-worked repentance not only turns away from sin, it turns with empty-handed reliance to the sinner's only Hope, the King who went crushed to the cross in our place to secure our forgiveness-- to wash away our guilt before God.
In the ancient world the color purple was reserved for kings. It bespoke the wealth of royalty, since the dye was so expensive few others could afford it. It came a drop at a time from the crushing of thousands of particular shells brought up by divers from the depths of the Mediterranean. True repentance comes from hearts crushed by the reality of guilt before God, hearts which God Himself restores by the substitutionary death of the King who was "crushed for our iniquities" and "by whose wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5-6).
