Emmanuel Lutheran Church

February 2012

Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. These are the words spoken by the pastor as ashes are placed on the forehead during the Ash Wednesday service. These words are in direct conflict with words of encouragement and joy. In a world that is so bent on extending life and youth and vitality, these words serve as a reminder to us that we forget death could come today.

Jesus told a parable about a rich man who had so much to store; he would tear down his barns and build larger ones. “And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you.’”

I am troubled, yet humbled, when I see in the obituaries people dying in their 40’s and 50’s. Perhaps it is because I am nearing 50 myself. Even at this age, I notice the body starting to slow down a bit. There is a little ache here or the eyesight requires trifocal lenses now. The hair is graying faster and the bald spot is getting larger. The wrinkles on the hands are getting more noticeable. I know this is but the beginning as the aging process takes hold. Yet these are all things that our society proclaims are not normal. You don’t need to feel pain. You can have your hair back. You can erase those wrinkles. You can restore your eyesight. None of these things guarantees I will live to see tomorrow, however.

Ash Wednesday should be a service as well attended as Christmas or Easter, but it is not. It doesn’t carry with it the “Joy to the World” feeling of Christmas or the memories of candlelight services gone by. It doesn’t carry with it the “He is risen!” jubilation of Easter or the sanctuary filled with the color of the flowers of spring. It doesn’t carry with it the feeling of new life. It just brings with it a reminder of my sinfulness and that I will die.

But this is just what we need to experience life. In baptism, our old, sinful self dies and a new self arises from the water. In confession, we admit our burdensome faults to the Lord and the words of forgiveness are heard allowing a new life to emerge. In order for us to truly live as God intended, we must realize that indeed we are dust, and to dust we shall return. We are not God. We will not live forever. How different we would live our lives with this understanding. How much more time would we be willing to devote to our relationships as husbands and wives, parents, children, friends if we lived knowing that there might not be tomorrow to say “I love you” and extend a hug or to take the time to build a snowman with your child?

We need Ash Wednesday to keep our lives in perspective and not get caught up in the “abnormal” treatment of life in our culture today. Ash Wednesday reminds us of who we are and whose we are. It is not a macabre worship, but one of hope and joy and resurrection. From the ashes springs new life. Come and see!

Pastor Alan