NOW is the Day of Salvation

This sermon was preached by Pastor Ted Carnahan for Ash Wednesday on March 5, 2025.

Grace, mercy, and peace be with all of you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

When I was a kid, the pastor who taught my confirmation class was not big on the idea of the fear of God. He didn't like that idea because he thought it was too mean, too stern, too judgmental. He wanted to tell us that fear just means respect. Respectfully to him, and I don't even know if he's still alive, he was an old guy when I was a kid in confirmation, but one way or another, he's mistaken. Fear doesn't just mean respect.

The Nature of God and Humanity

Think about it for a moment. God is great and powerful and we are small and weak. God is infinite. He has no beginning. He has no ending. And we know that we are finite. We have a beginning. And as we remarked upon tonight, as we received the imposition of ashes on our foreheads, we will have an end. We are dust. And to dust we shall return. God is holy and wise and we are corrupted by sin. This is serious. And so we should fear God.

It isn't bad to fear God because the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

The Day of the Lord

Our reading from Joel chapter 2 tonight started with this. "The day of the Lord is near." Well, that sounds good, except "it's a day of deep darkness and gloom. Like blackness spread upon the mountains, a great and powerful army comes." What the prophet Joel is saying is that judgment is coming. And that judgment is not just for the Israelites who would have originally heard the prophet's words, but that's also true for me and for you. A time of judgment is coming and so we ought to be aware of that. We ought to take that seriously. Sinners ought to fear God.

This army in Joel is identified with God's judgment and wrath. His righteous indignation poured out against the people of Israel who have turned away from him and given themselves into the hands of sin. God does judge. God does have wrath against sin. And by the way, thank God that he does. Because if there was no judgment from God, there would be no justice in the world at all. The source of all justice and the ultimate standard of what is good is God. Without God's judgment, there is no justice. And without justice, God is not good. We need the judgment of God.

The Call to Self-Examination

But should we fear God? Yes, we should. We should every time that we think to come to church and we examine ourselves in light of the Ten Commandments. That's something that we should be doing every time we come to church, especially in the beginning of our worship as we typically begin with confession and absolution. Where we say things like,

"We confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We've sinned against you, God, in thought, word, and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves."

For us, this cannot just be a formula found in a dusty old book. This must be heartfelt and earnest. It cannot just be going through the motions. In fact, we admonish our catechism students, which means most of you all would have heard this at some point, that before you come to Holy Communion, you should examine yourselves in light of the Ten Commandments. And you should ask yourself questions in light of what you learned there in the Ten Commandments, in light of Luther's Small Catechism.

• Do you have other things that you trust? Other gods that you put your ultimate trust in? Perhaps not gods of wood and stone, but God's idols that are money and power and fame and success and the approval of others?
• Do you misuse the name of the Lord your God? Do you swear rash oaths? Do you use the name of God to justify that which you should not?
• Do you deprioritize the day of rest? Or do you keep it holy? Do you worship God and set aside one day a week to learn from God's word and to be refreshed by his sacraments? Or do you blow it off and sleep in?
• Do you honor those in authority? Or do you dishonor them? Do you honor your parents if they're still alive? Do you treat them with respect and kindness and care for them? And if they're not, at least know that the catechism points us beyond just our parents to honor your father and mother and honor anybody who is in authority. Or do you still count yourself as one of those people who buck authority because that's the right thing to do?
• Do you really support your neighbors in all of life's needs? Or do you keep back some for yourself? Is your life pure in word and deed? Or does your eye wander and your heart wander from your spouse?
• Do you have a thief? I mean, most of you probably aren't like shoplifters, but many of you are thieves because you steal your employer's wages by failing to work diligently. Or maybe you look for unfair advantages in crooked deals.
• Are you a liar? Do you spread rumors or gossip? Do you fail to defend your neighbor when he has spoken ill of? Or do you join in?
• Do you covet that which is not yours?

These are not merely little mistakes. These are serious sin. They separate you from a holy God. And everyone in this room, every single one of us, and myself chief among you, should fear God. God will be your judge. And God is not fooled or mocked.

The Day of Salvation

Our reading today says this: "Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation." God is giving you this moment in which you can turn your life from following yourself and your sin to following God once again in Jesus Christ. To repent. To turn 180 degrees from the path that you were on away from God and turning back to Him for Him. He admonishes you. "Today is the day of salvation."

If Jesus Christ was returning to earth this night, you would not put off your repentance, but you would make ready for Him. And you would spend time in prayer and preparation trying to get right with God because Jesus is coming back. If you knew you were going to die tonight, (God forbid, on the way home in the slippery roads, be careful, please) would you do something different?

People of God, I'm here to tell you, now is the day that is acceptable to our Lord. Now is the day of salvation. Rend your hearts, not your clothing. Because no one in this room, myself most of all, cares that you look like you're repentant. What you look like and this cross on your forehead doesn't do anything to change your heart. But if it is a symbol for you that you're turning your life in a different direction, then it's good. If not, I recommend you stop in the restroom and wash it off so that you don't accidentally start thinking that what you look like matters to God.

Because this is what Jesus is telling us: Repent and turn back to God, for God is calling you. Turn back to God in humility. Turn back to God in penitence. Repent of your sin and pledge, not later, not some other time, but right now to do otherwise.

I'm reminded of a famous quote which is attributed to Saint Augustine, 4th century. He said, "Lord, make me chaste. But not yet." It's telling. Because we know what we ought to do. But will we do it?

Discipline and Renewal

Discipline yourself as a disciple of Jesus in this season of preparation. For God has given you a gift. He has given you enough time on earth that you now can turn from your sin and your faithlessness into a new creation.

You don't know how much time you have. And so take advantage of this, the day of salvation. He calls you to repent, to once again trust Jesus Christ, to leave your sin behind and be a new creation.

This is the treasure that we seek, not things that we can store in barns, not the approval of men, but the approval of God. And you can have that approval, not by living perfectly, but by earnestly, diligently, consistently seeking to follow your Lord Jesus Christ. Simply trusting in his teaching and his promise and living for him.

Tools for Spiritual Growth

Be strengthened, therefore, with the tools that God has given you. You can receive the cleansing that David is talking about in our opening psalm, Psalm 51. He says, "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean." Hyssop was known for, well, inducing vomiting. It's saying, "Purge me with hyssop. Make me vomit out my sin. Let me start over, renewed and cleansed."

Receive the holy absolution that is regularly available for you in worship here in this room. Receive holy communion tonight and frequently so that you might be forgiven your sins and filled up in faith and have the strength to overcome the devil in the world. Read the scriptures. And learn them so that you can withstand the distortions of this world. Read the catechism and commit your heart, commit to your heart the basic teachings of the Christian faith.

For now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation. And what you are being called to is not something less than full existence as a human being, but you are being called to be truly human in the following of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Turn from your sin, trust Jesus Christ, and live.

And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds strong in Christ Jesus our Lord, to life everlasting. Amen.