Ash Wednesday, 2005

It was bound to happen.  In a culture that has to display a sign in public restrooms giving instructions on how to wash your hands, now has a website called eHOW.  This particular piece of technological genius tells the inquirer how to do almost anything.  It has a page on “How to Observe Ash Wednesday.”

Under the category called “Steps” it suggests that one should consider attending a church for an Ash Wednesday service, reflect on ones personal relationship to God and set aside some time to grow in holiness, contemplate the meaning of Ash Wednesday as the beginning of a time of repentance, reflection, and prayer, perhaps fast on this day, and perhaps renew a commitment to more faithful church attendance.

I suppose that is as good a set of recommendations as can be found on an Internet site called eHOW.  I would add that Ash Wednesday is a time to take stock of truths about ourselves that don’t sit too well on our stomachs.  The central truth that leaves us uneasy in today’s world is that the universe does not revolve around us.  Psalm 51 says that we’ve become deluded, heading in the wrong direction, looking in the wrong places for satisfaction, and treating people like things and some things like they were people.

The God who sees all isn’t fooled for a second.  What does God say?  ‘You’ve got your reward now; the attention, the 15 minutes of fame.  But that’s all, that’s the reward.  Those who seek to be treated highly will be brought down.  Those who get real about their humble place before God and others will be treated highly.’  A simple, helpful suggestion for each of us this Lent: if we love the Jesus of the cross and the empty tomb, then don’t draw attention to ourselves or boast about how good we are.  Draw attention to Jesus.  We need to ask God to help us remember who we are.  We need to remember that we will die and that Jesus already has and that’s not the end of things.

Early Christian folk relied heavily on wood fires for heating and cooking.  That meant that keeping ashes under control was a major housekeeping task.  Then, as now, if a person was preoccupied with something they considered serious, they didn’t always tend to the housekeeping.  It was put on the back burner.  Imagine a death in the family back then.  A friend or neighbor stopped by to pay their respects and might gently say, “Did you know you have ashes on your face?”

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent.  It is a somber day of reflection on what needs to change in our lives if we are to grow in our Christian lives.  It was not always the way we practice the observance today.  Ashes marked on the foreheads of worshippers were not given to everyone, but only to the public penitents who were brought before the church.  Much like Hester Prynne bearing her scarlet letter, these open and notorious sinners were marked publicly with the sign of their disgrace.  As time went on, others began to see that they could not conveniently separate themselves from those who sin was more public and they wanted to demonstrate their affection for the penitents, so they, too, asked to be marked as sinners.  Finally, the number grew so large that the invitation was extended to the whole congregation.  We who will bear the ashes upon our foreheads stand with those whose sins may be more public, but not, according to scripture, more grievous to the heart of God.  And so we make our confessions.  “If only you knew the secrets of my heart, if you only knew the sins that I am contemplating, if you only knew some of the schemes I have considered.”  Of course God does know and knows our sin.  Our ability to name them simple opens us to understanding the depths of God’s love that will be clearly demonstrated to us at the end of this journey.

So ashes became a sign of remorse, repentance, and mourning.  Today someone might wear a black dress or armband to signify that they are in mourning.  Back in earlier times people put ashes on their foreheads.  What we do today ties us back to those earlier Christians.

Some people are tempted to only celebrate the happy times in Jesus’ life.  Attendance is usually up on Palm Sunday, Easter, and Christmas.  But I think if those times are to reach their fullest meaning we should also watch and pray with him on Maundy Thursday, in the Garden of Gethsemane, stand at the foot of the cross on Good Friday, and retreat with him into the wilderness during Lent.  That discipline leads to a fuller expression of the faith he pioneered and perfected.

Lent is a season of hope and with ashes on our foreheads and hope in our hearts, we go forth to love and serve.  For by God’s grace as shown in Jesus the Christ, we do not have to stay the way we were.  Amen.