Ash Wednesday - Jeremiah's Vow

Lent 2023 | Day 1: Ash Wednesday and The Gospel’s Premise

One of the essential images of the Ash Wednesday commemoration is the imposition of ashes on the forehead or hands of believers. It is a tradition that goes back centuries. One that many have never experienced.

If an Ash Wednesday is not a part of your tradition of faith, I would encourage you to attend one. This is more an encouragement for my friends who are in non-liturgical churches. But even if your tradition does celebrate Ash Wednesday, visiting with believers in other traditions and experiencing how they celebrate the day may be well worth the time and effort.

But, it is a helpful question to ask: why impose ashes? Why do this at all?

The ashes represent our mortality. That we have a finite time here on this earth. And that we should not take for granted what we have.

Life is a gift. One we can never repay. Nor should we even try. The best we can do is enjoy what we have been given. In the best way, we can.

Life is not always easy or smooth. There are many who have suffered a great deal in life. And for those in circumstances like these, it can be difficult to enjoy the gift of life.

I can appreciate that. What I offer is a reminder. Not that all of life will be perfect. Without trouble or conflict. I just want to call our attention to the fact all of life is a gift. Even when it is not turning out like we wanted it to. Even when it is hard.

When we receive the ashes, we are acknowledging and accept that we are not in control of our own destiny. What does that mean? It means we feel deeply the reality we are not in control of whether or not we wake up each morning or even controlling something as mundane as our next breath.

In all of this, we are the beneficiaries of God’s grace.

We want to believe that we are the authors of our own stories. That we are not beholden to anyone or anything. But this misses an essential aspect of the human experience—that we are restrained by time and space.

Our finitude is not a curse. But it is a restriction we have to embrace.

The ashes are made by burning the dried palm branches of the previous year’s Palm Sunday Celebration. The link between Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem a week before his crucifixion is significant.

We are called to remember our mortality as Jesus was called to surrender his on the cross.

Remember that you are dust, to dust you shall return. This is the central motif of Lent.

May we embrace this message with fervor. We have no reason to fear.

Lent 2023 Series

Lent 2022 | Day 1: Faith

The sacrifice of Christ on the cross is the fulfillment of promises and prophecies that God gave to his people from the moment they fell and were removed from the garden of Eden.

On this Ash Wednesday, as we prepare to enter into a season of reflection it is important to not lose sight of what we’re marching towards. Within the liturgical calendar, the season of Lent is a time of preparation. In this season we look back over the last few months to the journey that began during the season of Advent.

In Advent, we celebrate the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But in Lent, we prepare ourselves to acknowledge and celebrate the reality of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross.

The sacrifice of Christ on the cross is the fulfillment of promises and prophecies that God gave to his people from the moment they fell and were removed from the garden of Eden. On virtually every page of Scripture, we see the hand of God and we hear the voice of God through his messengers declaring the fulfillment of his ultimate redemption. A redemption that would bring to an end the sorrow and suffering that was brought into the world by sin.

The first day of the season of Lent is a time of reflecting upon the impact of sin in our lives. In particular, in those churches that have a service on Ash Wednesday, a particular practice has been used to mark both day and the believer. The use of ashes (which are made by burning the palm branches of the previous year) to signify that this life we lead on earth is transient and will eventually come to an end are imposed upon the foreheads of every believer.

The ashes are applied in the shape of a cross and the words “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” With these words, we are reminded we are mortal and that this life will eventually come to an end. However, the ending is merely a transition from life on this earth to life before God.

We rehearse and remember the reality of the Lenten season because we as a people have a propensity to forget. And it is in this forgetting that we should force ourselves to remember.
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The season of Lent, which leads to the celebration of Easter morning, begins with a solemn service where we are called to remember that the weightiness of the season requires a seriousness of thought and reflection upon our lives. The celebration of Easter 40 days after Ash Wednesday should be a time of great rejoicing. After 40 days of reflection and meditation, we should be properly prepared to receive the glorious news that salvation has been purchased for us.

We might wonder why we believers who have already received the message of the gospel and the promises to which it signals should rehearse and repeat the season from year-to-year. I find that the reason is much simpler than we would care to admit. We rehearse and remember the reality of the Lenten season because we as a people have a propensity to forget. And it is in this forgetting that we should force ourselves to remember.

As we begin this season of the line I would encourage you to take some time to consider those areas of your lives where we all must surrender again our trust in our own abilities for a genuine confidence in Christ’s.

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Lent 2018 | Ash Wednesday

With each passing day, the reality that every person who walks this earth needs Jesus grows.

It has been a while since I have posted anything. Life has been chugging along and work has been busy. However, as we begin another time of preparation heading toward Easter Sunday, I felt compelled to write.

With each passing day, the reality that every person who walks this earth needs Jesus grows. The reason I feel this weight is because of how much I know that I need him. The struggles of this life are too many to be able to handle them on our own. Even when we do not travel life’s road alone, we instinctively know that our fellow travelers are in the same situation we are. Just because we are not going through the same thing at the same time does not mean that we are not all subject to it.

Time, this unrelenting hound that chases after each of us, never gets tired. We can hear its charge every day, with some days being louder and more persistent than others. But, it is there keep a steady pace.

This in the end is what makes Ash Wednesday such an important day. It is a reminder that no matter what we do we all must face our eventual demise. The question we must ask ourselves will we die alone, or will we die with Christ. The latter is to be preferred.

I remember my time serving with United Methodist Church where I learned to appreciate this simple truth. Various words were used as the ashes were imposed upon my forehead by my pastor. They would say: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” and “Repent, and believe the Gospel.”

This is a powerful reminder. I hope that you remember that we will not live in this world forever, therefore, repent, and believe the Gospel. That is not merely a message for the lost, it is also the message of the redeemed. The former hear it and are put on the path of the life. The latter are given a chance to remember that life could have been different, but God who is rich in mercy has provided a sacrifice, Jesus the Christ, a propitiation for our sins. Amen!