RCL:\u00a0Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 103 or 103:8-14; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something compelling about Ash Wednesday, something that draws us here in both numbers and intensity quite unusual for a weekday. It\u2019s more than just habit or duty \u2013 somehow more than just the beginning of Lent. What we say and what we do on this special Wednesday has power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A large part of that power probably lies in the fact that today the church speaks words of truth, words that cannot be ignored, or disputed, or evaded, or denied. Today we say \u2013 and confirm with a touch \u2013 \u201cRemember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.\u201d There it is. Much else that we say in here we may hope is true, or fear is true, or believe, or doubt. But this we know: We are mortal. We were born. We will die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dust, to dust. As if hearing the words were not enough, they are literally rubbed into our faces. Ashes mark us \u2013 and our fate is strangely visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then Jesus goes one step further. He reminds us that dust is the destination, not just of our bodies, but of most of what we consider to be worth living for, as well. Moth and rust and thieves can \u2013 and will \u2013 reduce to dust virtually every goal, every dream, every value, every treasure we hold dear. And we know that to be true, too. These words of simple, absolute truth give us a perspective the world tries both to hide and to deny \u2013 and that we usually do our best to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dust and ashes. These are what we see if we look ahead far enough and honestly enough. These are the final return on virtually every investment we make. Today we say this, and we know its truth and its power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that looks like bad news \u2013 unmitigated bad news \u2013 even though we have known it all along. These grim, honest words can be devastating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all know the personal crisis that comes with that first mature realization of the absolute certainty of our own death. We know how jarring it is, and on this day we are reminded of this, and brought closer to this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From dust, to dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To find the Good News here, we need to begin with the past, and with a conviction we Christians hold as firmly as we know the certainty of our own death. This Good News is the conviction that we are created by God \u2013 that we did not just happen, that we did not emerge willy-nilly by some cosmic fluke. The dust of our beginnings \u2013 that dust from which we came \u2013 is not just a matter of chance; it is not without meaning. Our lives are gifts from God. Nothing less. Our dust was molded by the very hands of God, and his Spirit breathed life into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, part of the Good News is that we have been made from dust. The grace and power of God are present at the beginning of our existence. Our dust is holy, our ashes are blessed by the power of God. What appears a threat \u2013 \u201cyou are dust\u201d \u2013 becomes, if we pay attention, a promise. The grace and love present at our creation will see us through our physical disintegration and beyond. God is with us from our very beginning, and before. Our dust is holy; it is cherished by God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notice something else. These ashes on our forehead are not just tossed there, or scattered at random. They are placed in the form of a cross \u2013 so today we mortals are connected with both Good Friday and Easter morning. Today we remember the promise that, as we have risen from dust to this mortal life, so, with Christ, we will rise from the dust of death to eternal life. Yes, to dust we shall return, but with Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dust and ashes are Good News: They point us toward the power and love of God \u2013 both at the beginning and at the end. And they remind us that, because of this Good News, we are called \u2013 as we live between dust and dust \u2013 to repent and to return. To return to our risen Lord. That\u2019s what \u201crepent\u201d means: to turn, to change the direction in which we are looking and moving, and to look and to move in a new direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re in Chicago and you\u2019re driving to New York, going west, then you just won\u2019t ever get there \u2013 no matter how many times you pull over to the side of the road, stop the car, get out and apologize. To \u201crepent\u201d is to turn around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And today\u2019s call to us to repent doesn\u2019t center on fear \u2013 on what will happen to us if we don\u2019t; and it doesn\u2019t center on guilt or duty \u2013 on what we think we ought<\/em> to do. Instead, this call centers on divine love \u2013 on the love that is the heart of our creation \u2013 on the love that is seen most fully on the cross. It centers on the love that transforms ashes into a symbol of hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, such turning \u2013 such repentance \u2013 is not something we can think ourselves into; it is not something to which we can pay lip service \u2013 or forehead service \u2013 and have happen. It depends on concrete action. We don\u2019t think ourselves into a new state of being. We live and we act ourselves into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Holy Scripture and the accumulated spiritual insight of our tradition tell us that the classical and ancient disciplines of prayer, fasting and giving are powerful helps as we hear and move toward obeying God\u2019s call to return. They are universally recognized ways of keeping our journey moving in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus commands these three, and he goes the extra step of insisting not only that we practice them, but also that we do so privately \u2013 indeed, secretly. By the way, Jesus is being quite straightforward here, quite literal. God simply ignores the actions of those who deliberately attract attention to their religious deeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why we\u2019re counseled to wash our faces and to go about in quiet obedience. In that way our reward \u2013 our growth into Christ and his growth in us \u2013 will be something quite safe from rust, and moths, and thieves \u2013 and the admiration of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, remember that you are dust \u2013 and rejoice. For God is with us \u2013 in the beginning, at the end, and even now as we live in between. And repent, return to the Lord \u2013 in joyful obedience. For he who created us is calling us to him. To this end, we are given the special gift of Lent \u2013 a time to allow us to hear that call with some real depth, and to respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This sermon was written by the Rev. James Liggett<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" RCL:\u00a0Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 103 or 103:8-14; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 There\u2019s something compelling about Ash Wednesday, something that draws us here in both numbers and intensity quite unusual for a weekday. 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