Ash Wednesday - February 10

A Clean Slate
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

A smudge of ash on the forehead. This day is about a dirty smudge on the forehead.

On Ash Wednesday we are reminded that we are ashes, dust. Without form or substance. Left over. No use. Lifeless. This is what you are. Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. It is the power (and, I think, paradoxically also the appeal) of this service to get us to that place of ashes and dust.

Once a year we starkly face our mortality. Our nothingness. You are dust!

It’s a powerful experience, but thank God it’s just for this one day.

Except. You’ve heard me talk about the church calendar. I love the calendar, it’s cycle of seasons and holy days, and the richness it brings to our worship life. And, as I’ve said before, all of the seasons of the calendar are actually true all of the time. The seasonal cycle helps us focus in turn and experience particular aspects of our identities and mission as Christians. But, in fact, all of the seasons are part of who we are all of the time. Just as surely as we are Easter people every day, all of us saints every day… Just as we are people of Advent anticipation and Christmas joy every day… so we are also Ash Wednesday people every day!

We are not ashes just on Ash Wednesday. Remember that you are dust. Every day.

But remember also that being Ash Wednesday people is about more than just being ashes. We forget that. We think that this day, Ash Wednesday, and thank God it is just this one day, is all about that smudge and nothing more.

But Ash Wednesday definitely is not just about ashes. It does remind us, as we surely need to be reminded (every day), that without God we are no more than dust. Without God’s forgiveness and renewal, we are just spent ashes. Without God’s grace we are lifeless. Everyday. Not just today.

Which is why it’s so important to remember that this service and this day are not just about us being dust and ashes.

Ultimately, Ash Wednesday is about a fresh start, a clean slate. Being Ash Wednesday people is about being given a clean slate. Not a smudge of ashes, a clean slate.

The imposition of ashes is just one of the features of today’s liturgy that is unique to Ash Wednesday. Shortly after the imposition of ashes we will recite the Litany of Penitence. Another thing that is unique to the Ash Wednesday service. It serves as a Confession of Sin. But it is not just a confession. It’s a Litany of penitence, a confession litany. Litanies are lists. Often long lists. Meant to be thorough, comprehensive. Maybe we should say it more often. We confess a lot in this service. It is meant to be a full confession for everything…

In the Litany we confess all the ways we have failed in our faith, the shallowness of our faith, the ways we ignore and turn away from God, our sins that estrange us from God, our negligence in worship, our indifference to sharing the Good News of God’s love with others.

We confess all of the ways we mar our relationships with one another. The pride, envy and selfishness that distort our relationships with those who are close to us and those in our broader communities.

We confess our waste and abuse of God’s creation, the blessings and beauty that God pours into our lives.

We confess everything!

And then there is absolution. We are absolved. Of everything. By God’s mercy given a fresh start, a clean slate.

Ash Wednesday shows us what is true every day. (1) Our profound need for God’s forgiveness. And (2) God’s even more profound love and mercy towards us. Don’t forget the second part. We do a good job, today, with the first—and we surely need that dose of humble mortality. I don’t think we always do as good a job focusing on the second part. And it’s really even more important. On this day, Ash Wednesday, God picks us up, dusts us off, renews a right spirit within us and gives us a new start.

Take that fresh start, that clean slate and use the disciplines of Lent to renew and restore your relationship with God.

Speaking of that smudge of ash, you may know there is some puzzlement among Christians about whether they should leave it on or wipe it off after the service. The Gospel reading appointed for Ash Wednesday highlights the issue. Jesus is very critical of people who publicly display their piety in order to be seen by others! When people ask me whether or not they should leave the ashes on I typically reply: Do whichever is harder for you. Are you boasting to others just a bit that you’ve been to church today? Then take them off. If you feel uncomfortable or self-conscious wearing your ashes, maybe you should leave them on.

But within the context of today’s sermon I have what I think is a much better idea for all of us. I wish that our liturgy for this day had within it a rite where all of us would wipe clean our ashes at the time of absolution. At that moment when the cross of absolution is made over the congregation, the cross of ashes on our foreheads would be wiped clean.

We receive ashes today, but ultimately being Ash Wednesday people is not about being left with a smudge of ash, but being given a clean slate, a renewed spirit.  Every day.