Ash Wednessday
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
These words will be uttered shortly as a cross of ashes is imposed on our heads.
These words tell us you will die. I will die.
These may be haunting and hard words to hear.
These are words which demand us to focus on our mortality.
These are words which command us to name our fragility.
These are words which invite us to consider the totality of our lives.
These are words which force us to take stock of what matters most.
You are dust.
And to dust you shall return.
We begin the observance of a Holy Lent today. This is a time for “self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.”
Lent is 40 days long - omitting Sundays, which are Feasts of the Lord . They recall when Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights and was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11).
Lent is a time when we draw near to our God, echoing in our actions Christ’s fasting, as we prepare for Easter.
But why do we fast? Why do we deny ourselves? Why do we intentionally spend more time in prayer, and quiet, and reading the Scriptures?
The Prophet Joel tells us something about just that, as he writes:
“Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful.” (Joel 2:12-13a)
We perform these acts of penitence - fasting and weeping and mourning over our sins - as an action demonstrating our return to our loving, gracious, and merciful God.
We perform these acts of penitence to wake us up from the crust of apathy which accumulates over a frenetic year.
We performed these acts of penitence to practice, in some small way, surrendering to the goodness of God, trusting that God will help us through our desire for what we have given up.
Lent is a time of deep return to God.
Lent is a time of recognizing our utter and profound reliance on God, which is so often forgotten in the rush of day-to-day activity.
Lent is about return and remembering and rightly orienting ourselves to God.
After all, to return to God involves repentance - which, from a sermon a few months ago, the Greek and Hebrew for repentance both mean to “turn” away from something and orient ourselves towards something or someone else - that is, God.
Lent is a time to reflect on where our life-focus is, what we live for, what our life ethic is.
Is it oriented towards God, first and foremost? Or something else?
This is what Jesus is getting at in today’s Gospel. He issues a series of statements which invite us to reflect on how we practice our faith in life: How do we practice our piety, how do we give alms, who do we pray, how do we fast?
His words crescendo, culminating in His saying, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
Jesus tells us that what we do, how we act, and where our focus lingers is “where our heart” is.
While we pray, give, fast, gain or lose wealth; while we consume and give back; while we, effectively, go about our day-to-day lives, where is our heart in this?
Are we oriented towards the self, towards God, neighbor, towards nothing? What are we doing? Where are we going?
These are the questions which Ash Wednesday invites us to begin pondering.
These are the questions which are framed in the context of our mortality, the totality of our lives.
These are the questions which we will ponder throughout Lent.
In just a few moments we will hear the exhortation to participate in a Holy Lent.
We will be invited to examine our whole selves, to partake in repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word.
And we do this to draw near to our God.
We do this to experience, with our whole selves, a great truth: That all we are, and all we do, and our whole lives, are dependent on God - not on our own selves.
We recall our mortality in light of the Immortal One.
We recall our finitude while glancing at the Infinite One.
We recall our fragility while awestruck at the All-Powerful One.
We recall our imperfection while staring at the Perfect One.
We recall that we are dust, kneeling before the one who made all things and called them good.
We recall our gratitude, while we receive grace from the Loving & Merciful One.
Who is the Holy and Undivided Trinity, One God.
Amen.