Ash
Wednesday
18
February 2015
St.
John's, Chicago, IL
In
the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In
October of 1913 a crowd of thousands gathered together on 40 acres in River
Forest to dedicate Concordia Teachers College.
Almsgiving, you might say, gifts above and beyond tithes and offerings,
had been gathered and helped construct the campus. The Word of the Lord was preached. The faithful responded in prayer. It was a great day.
Just
five months later, tragedy struck, as President William Kohn was making his
night rounds and discovered a fire. The
frustrating things was the fire hoses were discovered to be too short to reach
from the hydrants to the administration building. The building was gutted.
Yet
from the midst of ashes, the Lord raised up the school. Immediately they decided to rebuild,
undeterred by the fire and ashes. The
destruction of the college -- the "death" of the building, if you
will, would not crush them. Life and
hope came from Christ.
We
often see ashes simply as the remains of death and destruction. But they are also reminders of a fresh
start. A new birth and rising, such as
that of the mythical Phoenix. Ashes can
be signs of cleansing too, as throughout history they have often been an
ingredient in the making of soaps and cleansers.
You
are like the ashes; sad, charred, used up remains of what you were created to
be. Death has laid its grip on you. Yes, no matter how young or healthy you are,
you are dying.
So
he we are, a bunch of defiant dead people.
Here we are; ones who like our stuff, and would rather not give too much
away. Here we are, people who are happy
to spend hours each night in front of a TV or on the Internet, but are simply
too busy for prayer. Here we are, ready
to gorge ourselves on Fat Tuesday, to make up for anything we might resentfully
"give up" for the next 40 days.
Here we are, warm, dry, and comfortable, trying not to even think on the
unpleasantness and sheer evil of this fallen world -- like the struggle of
Christians who are persecuted elsewhere. In repentance and grief, we remember
21 Egyptian Christian martyrs this week, calling on Jesus as the unbelieving
agents of the devil did their wicked work.
How
do you think you stand before God, with all of this baggage? You were right; each one of you is a "poor, miserable
sinner." The value of your wretched, rebellious, commandment-breaking,
human self is less than that smudge of ash on your forehead.
But
our dear Lord does not want you to
be "ashes to ashes and dust to dust." He is heartbroken that He ever
had to tell our Father Adam, "Dust you are, and to dust you shall
return." He knows it is a
dreadful reminder of mortality for anyone to see the 90-year-old grandma, the
40-something cancer survivor, or even the toddler with ashes on their
foreheads, reminding them all of their mortality. His heart goes out to you, as the Law crushes
you into realizing you damning sin, and the death you face.
But
our sweet Savior also gives forgiveness.
He climbed the hill of Calvary and laid down His life for you. He gave to you in your need as He allowed His
body to be broken and His blood shed to remove your sin. Jesus prayed for His persecutors,
executioners, indeed for you and me as He hung there, dying. And He fasted from the wealth and splendor of
His heavenly, divine power, permitting Himself to be sacrificed for you.
And
now, He gives cleansing. He did it at
the font. And He renews that cleansing
with Holy Absolution. Ashes are a common
ingredient in simple and ancient soap recipes.
The charred cross on your forehead is a reminder not only of your
mortality, deserved at that, but also a reminder that our Lord Jesus cleanses
you! He washes away the guilt of
breaking His Ten Commandments. He
purifies you from all unrighteousness.
He
thoroughly cleanses you as His own, so that with boldness and confidence, you
also may have precious words like, "My Lord, Jesus," "Jesus,
help me!" on your lips when you face your mortality on this earth and
breathe your last. He will take and keep
your dust and ashes until the day that He gathers you together in perfection
and glory, to be resurrected and live with Him forever. In the mean time, Jesus Christ lifts you up,
cleanses you, and makes you His holy and righteous disciple. And He bids you to come and feast on the Body
broken and Blood shed, which are the very gifts that cleanse you from
within. Amen.
