Ash Wednesday, Lenten Season 2019
written by Terrance Hawkins
#AsheWednesday & the broader season of Lent is an opportunity for us to reclaim the revolutionary act of repentance.
In the face of imperial Rome's brutal reign, Jesus proclaimed that "the reign of God was at hand". His announcement of God's Kin'dom come was always connected to a call to "repent".
Repentance is an inward revolution of the heart & mind.
It is a supernaturally empowered turning AWAY from idolatry, indifference, & injustice TOWARDS worship, compassion, & justice.
The call to repentance is God's loving refusal to allow "stagnant piety" & "prayerless strivings" to go unchecked & unconfronted.
Abstract "inward feelings" about Jesus must be converted into concrete outward actions with Jesus. Authentic repentance is practically EMBODIED in time & space.
Outward action for Jesus must become the outflow of inward affections for Jesus. Authentic repentance fills the space of our hearts with holy love!
Finally, repentance is not only a call "to get right with God". It is a call to get right with our neighbors, especially the oppressed. For, how can love the God we cannot see while aiding & abetting or being apathetic about the oppression of image-of-God bearing neighbors that we CAN see?
Terrance Hawkins is a husband & father of 4 beautiful children. A native of Winston-Salem, NC, he has served the local church & his city the last 15 years through pastoral ministry, peace & justice activism, intercultural community building, youth development, & the arts. He is the founder/director of Lit City (a youth development initiative), co-founder of a collective of local activists called the Drum Majors Alliance, & currently serves as the Co-Executive Director for the School of Love.