Week 8: Ashes - Ash Wednesday 2022
"For you are dust and to dust you will return." Genesis 3:19
"Ash Wednesday initiates a season of acknowledging our sinfulness. In very intentional ways, we invite God to search us and know us and (eventually) to lead us into resurrection life. The ashes marking our foreheads carry the same meaning contained in the Old Testament practice of covering oneself with ashes: they are an outward sign of an inward repentance and mourning as we become aware of our sin. This, too, is good for us because we live in so much denial. Facing our sin in the shadow of Christ’s cross and impending resurrection is the healthiest way to deal with our sin."
Ashes are a sign of repentance and humility. Ashes remind us that we are dust, we are mortal, and we are not God. The journey begins with and is sustained by repentance.
"From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17
Martin Luther said in the first of his 95 Theses, "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, "Repent," He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance."
The journey of Lent also reminds us that the way to life is death.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Galatians 6:14
The movement of the Ash Wednesday service moves from repentance to ashes and, finally, to communion. In this movement the ashes remind us of our own mortality, and communion reminds us to celebrate the grace of God, who through faith in Jesus Christ grants eternal life to sinners.
I haven't done a Lent Words Challenge in a few years as I found this time of year to be too busy for me to keep up with a challenge. But if you are interested in a guide through the Lent season, I have a link to the outline of Lent Words and Scripture passages that we used in 2018. You will also find devotions written by myself and some guest contributors. If you make art during the Lent season please share in the Words Art & Faith Challenge Group on Facebook or on social media with #LentWords2022.
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