Ash Wednesday 2017
I helped out at the Ash Wednesday service at St. Wilfrid’s this morning. It was very noticeable how few of the pupils received Holy Communion – about the same number as those who refused even a blessing. On my way back to the Vicarage I called to see someone in hospital, then at Shadsworth Infants and then Shadsworth Surgery about 2 vulnerable adults. In each of these places someone said to me – you’ve got a dirty mark on your forehead. In each case, when I said, ‘I know, it’s Ash Wednesday’ people were embarrassed that they’d forgotten and put their foot in it. To me, this shows how far we as a society have strayed from this part of our religious tradition. Easter is about the Easter Bunny and Ash Wednesday is slipping from our national consciousness.
So let’s remind ourselves what it’s all about. Why do we wear ash on our foreheads to day? Why ash – what does it mean?
Let’s start with the ash. First of all, ash symbolises our mortality. The story of our creation in Genesis 2 tells of God creating us from the dust of the earth. And, especially in these days of cremation rather than burial, we know that we’ll all return to dust after our death. So we wear ash to help us to remember our mortality.
People who have had a brush with life threatening disease, or who have lost a loved one unexpectedly, often talk about a complete change of perspective. They suddenly see what is of true significance and what is unimportant. We say in jest, ‘you can’t take it with you when you die’ but often we fail to understand what is truly important and what isn’t worth worrying about. This is a second meaning of the Ash we receive today – the ash reminds us of what is lasting, what has true meaning and what can be burned, left behind or given up – Ash reminds us of our priorities. Just as Jesus, in the wilderness, had to decide what he was about – what his priorities were – how he was going to use his power – so today we think of our priorities, what our lives are really about and how we use our money, our possessions, our privileges.
Ash is also associated with penance or repentance. It was the prophet Job who said ‘I repent in dust and ashes’ – he actually sat on an ash pile, dressed in sackcloth and scratched is sores. The idea is of purging ourselves of our sin. If you think of the classic images of hell, you’ll think of fire – hell’s inhabitants are cleansed or purged by fire until their sins have been burned away and they are pure. Behind this image is the idea of purifying metal – the refiner’s fire that burns away impurities leaving pure gold, silver or bronze behind. Of course, we can never be perfect by our own efforts – we have all fallen short of God’s goodness – we can never, by our own efforts earn the right to be in God’s presence. But we can adjust our lives and intentions and accompany Jesus in his wilderness journey – learn what it’s like to be tested and dwell on our priorities. We can seek God’s strength, as Jesus did – and resist evil, also as Jesus did.
For some – and I’ve spent some time today with such a person – Ash is a symbol of their sense of desolation and sorrow. There are many people in this situation today – not least elderly people being jostled through a health and care system which doesn’t meet their needs and leaves them feeling unwanted – bedblockers. How dare we put the label onto the victim when we should be demanding compassion and resources from the government. Many of us will experience times of desolation such as this. In the words of the 23rd psalm, we have to have faith that even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God is still beside us. As Christians, we follow a God who has himself – on the
cross – felt abandoned and desolate. So the ash reminds us that, no matter what, God is with us and cares for us. Sometimes we lose a sense of God’s presence – we need to seek it within – that still, small voice – and in the people we meet – those who love us, help us, try to make things better for us.
Ultimately, all these things – our mortality, our sinfulness, our need for forgiveness and love, our sense of GOd’s absence, are to do with our journey towards our loving creator. In our mortality, we become aware of that which is lasting and importance. In our sinfulness and weakness we seek the glory from whence we came, so that we will be ready to meet God face to face. In our prayers for forgiveness we seek a closer walk with GOd. In our desolation we find our saviour who inhabits the places of despair. As we journey through Lent, may we come to love God more dearly and to follow God more nearly, and see God more clearly, day by day.
Amen
