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Ash Wednesday
Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Ash Wednesday
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A Sermon by
Fr. Daniels
✛
The Joy of Ash Wednesday
People who do not have very much experience with the Church can find it a little bit strange that Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular days of the year at the parish. Here at Saint Thomas and elsewhere, people show up one after another after another, throughout the day, to receive the imposition of ashes and mark the beginning of Lent.
But there is something cleansing, something honest, about the season of Lent that we embark on today. It is, somehow, refreshing to observe this time of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer. This time of repentance. It is a time to remind ourselves about death. A time of reminding ourselves of what is truly important in our lives.
Many of us will attempt (at least) to mark these 40 days with some kind of discipline or self-denial. That is a good and holy thing that the Church has done for many centuries. I encourage you to do so, as you are able. Practices like Lenten disciplines shape believers and help form us into the disciples that Jesus calls us to be. Give something up, or take something up, as you discern to be best. I will pray for you, that you can do it, and I ask that you pray for me, too.
I hope that we also keep in mind the joy of Lent, even the joy of Ash Wednesday. The joy of this season is that it operates against a background of freedom from slavery—the slavery of sin—and remission from its consequence, which is the death that we remind ourselves of today. There is a reason that God refers to himself in the Old Testament as the one who brought Israel out of the “house of bondage.” If you are like me, you are all too aware that we ourselves live each day in that house of bondage. We participate in the economy of sin but we do not control it. It controls us. The joy of Lent is that it reminds us of how God in Christ saves us from that wretched state and brings us to life eternally with him.
To repent is to turn, in this case to turn away from the sin that enslaves us and toward the God who sets people free. To repent is to turn our backs on the oppressor, on death, on bondage, and open ourselves up to freedom and life. This is the joy of Lent: that, in Christ, God is setting us free. Because he does, we can face our mortal nature without flinching. We may even find it refreshing.
You are dust, and unto dust you shall return. This is the declaration of God to Adam and Eve: that we will suffer and strive until the very day that we are laid to the rest in the cold ground from which we came: dust thou art, he says, and unto dust shalt thou return.
But even as that dreadful punishment is announced—and Adam and Eve are driven from the Garden of Eden, and the angel with the flaming sword makes impossible any attempt at re-entry—even then our first parents did not find themselves alone. They suffer the consequences of sin as they must, but, even in their expulsion, God goes with them. He goes out into the world with them. Because they have gone from Eden, he goes, too, following them out of the Garden to be with them. Today, as we remind ourselves of the death and judgment that await us, we also remind ourselves of that: that all throughout this forty days, and everything this season stands for, God remains with us. God is with us as we begin our Lenten disciplines and repent of our sins.
Unto dust shall we return, one day, but because of the offering of Christ, we do not go unto the dust alone. We make that clear by the fact that the mark of mortality that will be imposed on our faces today is in the shape of the cross: a symbol of death that, ironically, effects the destruction of death. Many of you will have had a cross made on your forehead once before but in a different context. At baptism, a sign of the cross is made on the new Christian’s forehead. It is the indication that God has put his mark on you and joined you to him forever. It is a reminder of death and a promise of life.
Remember your mortality on Ash Wednesday. Remember your sins. Remember your Lenten disciplines. Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return. And remember that Jesus died for you; remember that he has set you free. Remember God’s love for you, that he is always with you. Remember, repent … and rejoice.
