Download Jesus is here with us in the ashes

+
Ash Wednesday
March 1, 2017
“Come, O Christ, Among the Ashes”
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
This is a difficult day for many who come to Worship. For some that’s
because this day brings us face-to-face with death. There are ashes here and
in few moments the words will be spoken, “Remember that you are dust and
to dust you shall return.” Whether you are cremated or your body is put in the
ground after you die, eventually you and I will be dust, ashes.
Death as a Lenten theme would not be very attractive. Yet, death, is coming
to us all. Better to face death supported by the faith that has been given to us
rather than on our own. Better to face death armed with the Bible passages
that have been proclaimed to us year after year. Better to face death
accompanied by the hymns of the Church that serve to bolster our faith and
lift our sagging spirits. Better to face the last enemy with the faith-full
fortitude that Baptism and Holy Communion have instilled within us so that
the only surprise we discover on the road of Lent is that we are so endlessly
and unconditionally… loved.
Here’s how that works.
We are born “children of a fallen humanity…” Adam and Eve screwed things
up royally by their disobedience… by their desire to “be like God.” God’s
disappointment was huge. But God’s protection for his creatures continued.
From our forefathers and foremothers in the faith, from Abraham and Sarah,
to Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Miriam, Joshua, and the prophets, God tried to
make His people pay attention. God reprimanded, caressed and cajoled
striving to make His people attentive to His Word, His Laws, and His love.
There were huge problems along the way. Disobedience, lawlessness,
selfishness, hypocrisy, and apostasy were constant. What’s God to do?
Sometimes a prophet would get the attention of a few people… look at Joel
today… pleading with the people to return to God… God who is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. For a while some
people reacted positively, some people were touched by the magnitude of
God’s protection, power and care.
Ultimately nothing worked. It’s put well by the author of the hymn we’ll sing
in a moment… Susan Briehl. She summarizes it this way, “Once we sang and
danced with gladness, once delight filled every breath; now we sit among the
ashes, all our dreams destroyed by death.” That’s it. We may live delightfully
for a while… but… ashes will take us all.
But Susan Briehl, following the example of her God, won’t leave us in that
deathly place of ashes. What Susan does next, and what we can do as well if
we follow her brilliant example, is plead, PLEAD, with God saying, “God, do not
leave us alone.”
And then we learn something about God. It’s something the second reading
today tells us but we may have missed it because death looms so ominously
as ashes are about to be received. In the second reading Saint Paul is sharing
with us a most incredible observation… no, more than that… Paul is sharing
an undeniable truth about what God has done for us! Paul says, “In Christ
God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be
put right with God.”
Susan Briehl puts that “truth” this way, “God, who came to dwell among us,
God, who suffered our disgrace, from your own heart, grieved and wounded,
come the riches of your grace.”
Can you get your head around that?! It’s what Lent is all about… to take a
careful look at ourselves, see where we can improve our faithfulness, our
generosity, our concern for others, and our devotion to God… all because of
what God, in Christ, has done for us… taking “our disgrace” on Himself…
when it should have been us who died… Jesus took our place!
Hear clearly this last stanza from Susan, “Come, O Christ, among the ashes,
come to wipe our tears away, death destroy and sorrow banish; now and
always, come and stay.”
Jesus is here with us in the ashes. Jesus knows how much we are afraid of
death, or of suffering, or of leaving our family alone, or of facing the
unknown… Jesus is with us in all of that. Jesus faced a death He didn’t
deserve so that we can face death unafraid with Him beside us.
Amid the piety that Matthew’s Gospel calls us to today there is the part about
not showing off and not being hypocritical. That’s challenging, what with a
forehead soon to be smeared with ashes. But God is calling us beyond a
reminder of our humanity and mortality to see the true treasure… Jesus… and
to imitate Him in our living and in our dying.
It’s Jesus who will be our companion on this road of Lent, and our whole
journey of life. Jesus will wipe away our tears; Jesus will quell our fears;
Jesus will not leave us alone; Jesus will illuminate the riches of His grace;
Jesus will banish sorrow; and Jesus will destroy death which we will discover
anew as we journey toward the cross and empty tomb.
“Come, O Christ, among the ashes, come to wipe our tears away,
death destroy and sorrow banish; now and always, come and stay.”