Message: From Ash and Dust, to Life in Him!
“Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust”, is the old refrain of a person who is created out of ash and dust by our God, lives and then returns to the ash and dust bin of history and the earth. To often in the past, people of God relied only the beginning from Genesis 2:7-8;
7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.
Then man willfully sinned, and fell and to dust he returns. But there is so much more than simple life, fall, and death… Yes, we are fallen people in a fallen world and today Ash Wednesday reminds us of that very fact…
But we my friends are so much more! We are able be: truly alive, vibrant, robust and true! Our lives are created to reflect a God who so cares for us that repentance is not only available, it is directed by a God who loves us, and outright desirable for all of God’s family and beyond! Ash Wednesday is not only a reminder of our fallen nature, it’s a reminder of our God who waits for humanity’s return to Him.
As a side note, since Ash Wednesday is not a Baptist Hallmark, I pulled some of my thoughts and examples out from Methodist and Catholic pages for clarity and accuracy. In order to see what other Christian Churches were reading today, I sourced much of the scripture reading ideas from the Revised Common Lectionary from the Vanderbilt Divinity School.
So why ashes? Why not words and recital of music, and affirmations to our deity? My thought is that actions help imbed into our very being important concepts in our lives. Using ashes on our foreheads has traditionally marked the beginning of another observance not required by our Church, Lent. This practice is traced back a thousand years to the 900sAD. Marking the forehead with ashes in the sign of the cross falls under a later variation of repentance and observance.
In the Middle Ages, ashes were used to mark those who had been separated from the church because of serious sin. People who were hoping to be re-admitted into the church, and were redoing the process for church membership along with those joining for the first time. They were sprinkled with ashes and given rough garments to wear (Sackcloth and ash) as a sign of sorrow for sinning. This was to show the world their commitment to seek God’s forgiveness and renewal in Church life through this season of reflection.
When we get right down to it, there is a point in time when many if not most all of us face a idea that we have let God down. We have not only missed the mark for living in and with Him, we have outright destroyed the embarkation point of living in God’s family. We even begin to identify with Job’s confession to God in a new and improved understanding. Reading again today’s Call to Worship, Job 42:1-6;
1 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
One gets the sense of Job’s angst and sadness in his sin. We therefore can begin to understand Job’s concluding words of; 6 “Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
No wonder people began to wear sackcloth and ashes in the midst of their sorrow for sin! In time all of the church in the middle ages could identify the sin in their own nature as humanity began to understand that this sin problem of our was a humanity wide issue, stemming back to the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Reading from Genesis 3:17b-19;
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
Yes, from ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. But I can’t place the blame of own my sin on Adam and Eve. Or like most of our sick society right now, find someone to blame and claim victim status, when most of us come from challenges to begin with. At some point, we are called to own our life with God, by accounting for our sin with God, in order to live a real life, the good life in and with our Lord!
So no more passing the buck, claiming the victim excuse, or the latest wokeism, concocted to only diffuse and disguise. When we do that, only the devil wins because we are just differing blame and not working on our sin problems.
When we are thinking about sin in general, and how the Church has battled and addressed our challenges with being populated with fallen people, I am lead to Paul time and again. Reading from 2 Corinthians 5:13-6:2;
13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
*Interrupting Paul to say; Paul’s comments on sin and being out of our minds, hits the whole concept of sin head on. Our struggle to get a hold of our sin is really a search for spiritual sanity with our Lord. Ash Wednesday, helps us dedicate some time to addressing our own sin, and in our Church’s case, to walk with other brothers and sisters in their affliction. On to verse 16;
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Interrupting Paul again to say; The mark of the ash that those who take on themselves is a unique way of saying, I have skin in the game (or battle) for souls. Beginning with our own, and then sharing the Good News with the people God places in our lives. For as Paul says, the time for God is now! Verse 6:1;
6 :1 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
Now is the day of salvation, for we live each day as is it were the last in this reality, knowing much better awaits you and I, and all of the willing. That’s yet another reason for Ash Wednesday!
As with anything man made, and this is, since we are not commanded in scripture to perform this act of penance, at this time. Through history, and over time the act of forcing people through such trials, in many cases was abused, and people were being mistreated. This is when Christians who were not required to wear the marks of repentance and penitence, started to choose to.. As a way of walking with those who were in the midst of their trials and efforts to rejoin the church on good standing.
Since the tenth century, the observance of Ash Wednesday has become a general observance in the Western Christian Church. With this idea in mind; We all fall short of the grace of God, and so all deserve to death. But we are offered life eternal when we come to Him repent of our sin, and try again with Him to be more like Him.
Today, we either will or will not place a mark of the ash (totally your call not mine or anyone else’s) on our forehead or wrist, not because we have to, but because we choose to walk with others who feel need to express their regret of sin openly.
I made these ashes by burning the palms from last year’s Palm Sunday, branches and adding olive oil to make them more pliable. This on my part is a work in progress on how to make the perfect ash for church.
As the ashes are placed on the forehead, in many churches across the land, words such as these are spoken: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return,” recalling God’s words to Adam in Genesis 3:19, or “Repent, and believe the gospel” recalling the message of both John the Baptist and Jesus (Mark 1:15).
In addition to reciting: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return,” reminding us of the initial challenge we all face, being fallen people in a fallen world, followed by God’s answer in quoting John the Baptist: “Repent, and believe the gospel”. Yes, that is Ash Wednesday encapsulated in what we are doing here and now. Additionally, I would also like to recite to as we apply ash and serve Communion, your commission as Christians, Disciples of our Lord and Savior,based on Isaiah 61:1-3;
1 May the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord be upon you,
because the Lord has anointed you
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent you to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
May you be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor. Amen!
And so;
- First the reminder of our sin by being dust, then;
- Second, repenting and believing the Good News, then,
- Third, our Anointing for the work at hand, for the display of God’s splendor!
Communion and Ash Application.
Final instructions by our Lord from today’s Message Reading.
And now my beloved family in God, as you enter into this time of reflection, 40 days until our most Holy Day of the Christian year, Easter, let me read once again our Lord’s instruction on how to be in deep relationship with your God. Reading from Matthew 6:16-25;
16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
If we follow these basic ideals of humbleness, piety, and faith from our Lord, this time of reflection leading up to Easter our Christian Passover, will be a much deeper, more profound journey with and in your Lord, and your family in God.
God bless you my beloved, and please always remember, that you are loved deeply by a God excited about where you are heading, not where you have been.
In Jesus Christ Heavenly name,
Amen!