Opening Prayer:
(adapted from the prayer
“Ash Wednesday” by Laurence Hull Stookey, © The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989)
O God, maker of every
thing and judge of all that you have made,
We come today remembering
our creation.
From the dust of the
earth we were made and
We came with the purpose
of love and of belonging.
We come today remembering
that we were all too soon
Banished from the dust of
Eden,
For disobedience and sin
had dulled the shine of our created purpose.
Our life now marred by
death.
From dust we came and to
dust we would return
We come today remembering
the altars of sacrifice,
The fires that consumed
the sacrificial lambs and cattle,
All in an attempt to make
us one with you again.
From the depth of sin,
We long for the ash of
those fires to cleanse us and make us new.
We come remembering the
dusty stable from which your son emerged,
The ultimate sacrifice to
bring us back to you.
He walked the dusty roads
bearing witness to your love
And on the mountain of
Calvary he was nailed to a cross and died.
We come today remembering
that our Christ,
locked within a tomb of
dust for 3 days,
Rose and once again
walked this earth
Giving witness to your love
as he declared
Grace and mercy to all
who sin
That we too may rise from
the dust of death
And into the glory of
eternal life.
From the dust of the
earth you have formed us and from the dust of death you would raise us up.
By the redemptive power
of the cross, create in us clean hearts and put within us a new spirit, that we
may repent of our sins and lead lives worthy of your calling; through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Ash Wednesday Reflection:
Ash Wednesday begins our season of Lent: a time of
reflection and repentance; a time to cleanse away all that stands between us
and our God. It is a time to sacrifice and be washed clean.
For many of us we probably consider ashes as nothing
more than a by-product of fire – a waste to be thrown out or scattered. In the
bible, however, ashes have an important role in the redemption of God’s people.
The sacrificial system that Israel used to cleanse their sins required the burning
of animals upon the altar. Naturally this produced ashes which were set aside and used to cleanse
those who were unclean. In the stories of the prophets we hear of
ashes being used as a symbol of lament, grief, regret, sorrow
and pain. Of course, we do not need a sacrificial system any
longer because of what Christ did for us on the cross, but that does not take
away our need for ashes.
I did a Google search for the use of ashes and came
across an interesting article listing 10 common uses for ashes. Four uses stood out
to me: De-skunk pets; Control Algae, Make Soap, and Shine Silver
Everyone knows there is nothing worse than the smell
of a skunk – it repels us and keeps us from getting close to the offending odor.
I can’t help but imagine, as I contemplate the ashes, that our sin has that
same stench to God. Our sin repels holiness, the stink of our disobedience
cannot be pleasing to God but the ashes of repentance de-skunk our lives and
bring us close to God once more.
We live in the south and we know all too well the
result of water that is stagnant and un-moving. In the heat of the summer the
stagnant water grows algae. Algae can be very damaging and dangerous. It can be
poisonous to livestock and humans, deadly to fish, and it can prevent
photosynthesis and thus kill native plants and animals. Ash can be used to
cleanse the water of Algae. When our souls become stagnant, when the living
water of Christ gets dammed up behind self-constructed walls and isn’t allowed to move and flow in our lives, the green algae of sin invades. We can no longer breath in the Holy Spirit.
The SON can no longer get through and produce spiritual growth. God is chocked
out of our lives. But the ashes of repentance clear away the destructive sin so
that the life spring of Christ can flow in our lives again.
Ashes mixed with water creates lye which is used to
make soap. Soap cleanses and washes clean. None of us would think of going to a
special event or meeting a special person without first taking a bath and
washing away the dirt. We want to look our best. Likewise, we cannot dream of coming
close to our God still wearing the dirt of our sin. Ashes cleanse us and
wash away all that was in order to free us for all that can be.
There are few things more beautiful than the shine of
pure silver, and yet, given time and exposure to the elements silver will
tarnish. The vibrant glow dulls and what once was beautiful becomes ugly and
unusable. Ashes are used to remove tarnish and make silver shine again. We are
created to belong to God, to be shining reflections of God in the world, yet
given time and exposure to sin our shine is dulled. Our created beauty fades
under a sheen of self-damage. But the ashes of repentance can renew that shine,
it can take away the damage of the past and restore a shine for the future.
The season of Lent invites you to be cleansed of the smelly,
stagnant, dirty, tarnished places of your soul. Receive the ashes of true
repentance and begin the 40 day journey of becoming a perfumed, cascading,
refreshing, shining, child of the living Christ.
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