Thought for Ash Wednesday

Even though I missed Ash Wednesday services, it is good to mark the beginning of Lent. It is even better to keep Lent, and remember in our bodies the life and suffering of our Lord Jesus.

“Perversity and pride can lead us to insist on our suffering for selected sins. This one, my special sin, I am going to make atonement for. This is a denial of Christ and Calvary. There is nothing of you that He left out of His atonement for you, left out of His forgiveness. Christ died for you, the whole person, for He would make you whole. There is fact here and there is process. You are forgiven; you are righteous with Christ’s bestowed righteousness. He counts for you; you are justified.

Now you are to become what you are.”

Norman Nagel - From Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel