Ash Wednesday
Welcome to this special service of Holy Communion with the imposition of ashes. Life provides us with countless experiences that help keep things in perspective. When we see the suffering of the people of Ukraine suddenly our own worries are shown to be less significant. On Ash Wednesday, we acknowledge the ultimate reality of our mortality, that all things will pass, and that we too will pass. None of us is indispensable. Family goes on, the economy goes one, the job goes on life will go on, without us.
"You are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19).
The point of citing this is not to make us morbid, but to prompt us to reflect. Lent begins with ashes, because ashes can put things into perspective. Lent is a time to reflect on matters that we might not reflect on at other times of the year. It is a time for putting things back into perspective, for taking a good look at ourselves, at what we have become, and at what we are doing with our lives.
Ashes remind us that our time is limited and that we should take advantage of the time we have left to continue our spiritual development. Where are you going in life? What are you doing with yourself? What kind of priorities do you live by? We welcome Lent, therefore, with ashes for the opportunities it will afford us to clear our vision and reset our sights. We have much to do before we turn to dust. Think in terms of ashes and see if it doesn't change your perspective.
Opening Verse of Scripture Psalm 99
The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome name-- he is holy.
Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made and 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 receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. CW
Holy God, our lives are laid open before you: rescue us from the chaos of sin and through the death of your Son bring us healing and make us whole in Jesus Christ our Lord.
CW
Ash Wednesday Lectionary Readings are the same for each year
First Bible Reading Joel 2.1–2,12–17
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come. 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, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain-offering and a drink-offering for the Lord, your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, “Where is their God?” ’ NRSV
Second Reading 2 Corinthians 5.20b – 6.10
So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, ‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’ See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honour and dishonour, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. NRSV
Gospel Reading Matthew 6.1–6,16–21
‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘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. NRSV
Post Communion Prayer
Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life: give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive these his inestimable gifts, and also daily endeavour to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary
So today Lent begins, I hope you all enjoyed pancakes yesterday, and perhaps some of you will refrain from eating flour, meat eggs and fat?
Unlikely I guess. We don’t really give up foods these days for Lent, like many of the old customs it has died out. But the meaning of some of these customs is something which should be preserved and certain things need to be understood so that we may enjoy the benefits which Christians over the centuries have received from them.
Ash Wednesday Service is one such custom.
In a Christians culture which yearly becomes more self-indulgent, the ancient Biblical traditions of covering one's head with ashes, wearing sackcloth, and fasting is perhaps more meaningful than ever before. It is fashionable to wear crosses of Gold, ordinary flat crosses, or embellished fancy ones, I saw some suggestions this week in a magazine of large chunky crosses on chains to be worn by fashionable brides across the shoulder on long chains down to the waist. Such adornments are worn by believer and unbeliever alike. But the cross which we wear on this one day of the year is different. It is the real deal. I want to consider this cross under three words which I think summarise what it is about.
Mortality
The sign of the cross on our foreheads is a sign of mortality. The use of ashes, made by burning palm crosses from the previous Palm Sunday, is very symbolic. As the cross is marked on our foreheads, the priest says, you are created from dust, and to dust you will return. Ashes are reminders to us of our mortality. God made the first human being by breathing life into dust, and without God, human beings are nothing more than dust and ashes. This helps us to be mindful and live in the light of our ultimate accountability before God. There is nothing of which we may boast of ourselves, only of God.
Repentance
Ashes are a symbol of suffering and mourning. Not because we have to endure a sparse Lent devoid of chocolate, but rather because we are sorry for that which is wrong in or lives and we want to change or to use the religious word - repent. It is not fashionable to repent any more either. Increasingly we are told that our sin is the responsibility of our parents, our upbringing, our lack of opportunities or whatever.
Ashes are a recognition that we know there are things which we can do to change and be better Christians. The ashes are a symbol of sorrow for that which is wrong in our lives and a willingness to try and change. To wear this cross is not about having a nice piece of jewellery, it is about being prepared to change for the better. This is out of step with the world around us, like so much of our faith, it is counter culture. But I like the bravery of the gesture of taking the palms of the crowds, the shallow adoration of the masses, the triumphalism which Jesus so rejected, and using those same palms which the crowds waved, to make the crosses which mark out the faithful few. This bring me to the last word and I will use the word comfort
Comfort
The church has, quite rightly, been accused of making people feel bad about themselves, and that is true. We should never forget the tremendous privilege of being human, created by God. This is a wonderful thing, and the church has for too long focussed on our vileness and unworthiness.
But Ash Wednesday and what I have said about mortality and repentance, is not about making people feel bad about themselves.
The mortality and repentance of Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are all equal before God. Not one of us is better than anybody else. We all fall short and have no claim upon God’s attention because we are more wonderful human being. That is strangely a message of comfort!
The human tendency to think ourselves better than others is not a nice one. Pride is a sin. However the abandonment of pride can lead to the discovery of great personal spiritual development. Released from the need to be beautiful, clever, successful we can discover more of what God wants us to be.
May Ash Wednesday and all of Lent mean these things to us this year. Charles Royden
Meditation
Today we begin a spiritual time of reflection. In many churches there will be the occasion tonight to begin Lent with the imposition of ashes. This is the lighting of the Palm crosses from last year and the placing of a cross in ash on the forehead. Repentance and ashes are biblical, spoken of in scripture and this is a good thing to do. It is a sign of the life of the cross, the acceptance of all that owning that cross can bring. Through this commitment we have access to spiritual growth and healing.
Lent is a time to be penitent and to seek God's will for our life as surely as Jesus sought God's direction in the wilderness. We live our lives under the shadow of the cross and this is a good time to consider what the implications of that are. It is a time to say to God 'teach me afresh, where am I going wrong, how do you want me to change?'
In the Old Testament ashes were a sign of sorrow at having let God down they were a demonstration of looking for the new direction and being sorry for what was in the past. They were a sign of repentance and looking forward. The Christian response is of course to see the new direction for us all in the cross and we make the ashes into the sign of the cross. That is where we come to find God's forgiveness and direction for our lives.
One of life's special gifts is that it provides us with countless experiences that help keep things in perspective. We visit a hospital and see people enduring great physical suffering and suddenly the fact that we have the flu doesn't seem so monumental. We view documentaries about famine striking people all over the world and consequently the burnt toast is not catastrophic. We read news of whole societies suffering under repressive dictatorships, and the need to obey a 30mph speed limit round bollards down Wentworth Drive does not so much fray our nerves.
People with wealth and influence die and are cremated. Power, ambition, worries, hassles, manipulations, and posturing are all reduced to a carton of ashes. The point of citing this is not to make us morbid, but to prompt us to reflect. Lent begins with ashes, because ashes can put things into perspective. On Ash Wednesday, we acknowledge our mortality, that all things will pass, and that we too will pass. None of us is indispensable. Family goes on, the economy goes one, the job goes on-life will go on, without us.
"You are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19).
Lent is a time to reflect on matters that we might not reflect on at other times of the year. It is a time for putting things back into perspective, for taking a good look at ourselves, at what we have become, and at what we are doing with our lives. Ashes provide us with a perspective about what counts and what doesn't. Ashes also inform us that our time is limited and that we should take advantage of the time we have left to continue our spiritual development.
We welcome Lent, therefore, with ashes for the opportunities it will afford us to clear our vision and reset our sights. We have much to do before we turn to dust. Lent is a time for tough questions. Where are you going in life? What are you doing with yourself? What kind of priorities do you live by? What changes should you need to make to ensure a more worthwhile life for yourself? What should you become more serious about? Less serious about? Are you preoccupied and overly concerned with trivia? Do you get angry over petty things? Do you lose sleep over matters that have little lasting import? Do you need to push yourself more on worthwhile projects? Do you need to slow down? Think in terms of ashes and see if it doesn't change your perspective.
A Poem: 'The thread'
Something is very gently
invisibly, silently, pulling at me—
a thread or net of threads
finer than cobwebs and as elastic.
I haven't tried the strength of it.
No barbed hook pierced and tore me.
Was it not long ago this thread
began to draw me?
Or way back?
Was I born with its knot about my neck,
a bridle?
Not fear
but a stirring of wonder
makes me catch my breath
when I feel the tug of it
when I thought it had loosened itself and gone.
Hymns
- Blest are the pure in heart
- Guide me O
- Just as I am
- O breath of life
- O for a heart to praise my God
- Rock of ages
- The Church of Christ in every age
