“Other Than That Which Lead to Dust and Ash”
Ash Wednesday February 17, 2021
Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’
Matthew 6:1‑6 When you do good deeds, do not try to show off. If you do, you will not get a reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to the poor, do not blow a loud horn. That is what show‑offs do in the meeting places and on the street corners, because they are always looking for praise. I can assure you that they already have their reward. When you give to the poor, do not let anyone know about it. Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret, and he will reward you.
When you pray, do not be like those show‑offs who love to stand up and pray in the meeting places and on the street corners. They do this just to look good. I can assure you that they already have their reward.
When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private, and he will reward you.
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Some years ago, an uncle who was quite special to me died at the age of 89. He lived in good health nearly to the end of life. However, when it became evident that he would soon die, it was his desire to have no measures taken to prolong his life. While being provided comfort care, his trademark wit remained intact. One Sunday my brother took his three boys to visit him and after a pleasant time my brother said to him, “Well we’re going to leave now because I’ve promised to take my boys out to lunch,” to which my uncle replied with a smile, “I’d offer to pay, but I’m saving up for a funeral this week.”
My uncle was a blessing in my life. He taught me by example, to work hard and showed me how to look at problems from a variety of perspectives. Whenever he developed a plan for anything, he had thoroughly thought through every aspect and to my knowledge always achieved success.
Following the funeral worship at the Lutheran Church in which my uncle had engaged throughout his life, we went to the cemetery on the shores of a lake. The pastor spoke the words which are commonly heard graveside. They are words of Ash Wednesday: “We commit this body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
Standing at the edge of grave on a bitter cold winter day made me think of this day, Ash Wednesday. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. That is what we are in the end, dust and ashes. All the living that we are busy doing right now will someday end up in a box of dusty ashes.
There is not much value in dust or ashes. I don’t like having either of them in my house. It is true that soap can be made from ashes. Dust on the other hand, doesn’t have much value. But you can’t do much to make ashes and dust valuable. You can’t make them smell good by spraying perfume on them; you can’t make them pretty by painting them. Dust is dust and ashes are ashes and both are largely to be avoided.
And that is us, too. When all is said and done, our lives, our good intentions, our well-thought-out plans, our self-importance and achievements, our attempts at being a good person is but a spray of perfume upon actions and words that are buried and forgotten in the end.
So why bother with Ash Wednesday and a little dusting of ashes smeared on our foreheads? Of what benefit is it to be reminded that we are but dust and ashes?
Well, the answer is that while this day recalls our fleeting lives, we also remember who God is and what God has done for us in Jesus.
We keep this day because all factors are not equal. God has given us a way out from ending up as a pile of ashes or a ball of dust at the end of our lives. However, the way out leads us to the cross which is God’s way of placing a sign of priceless value on each of us. On Ash Wednesday, with a black mark on our foreheads, it is for us to know and realize that God has chosen to give us some other life than that which leads to dust and ashes.
The bible reading from Matthew asks us to practice a faith-based life. It implores us to live every moment of this life based on Jesus and his ways, rather than being motivated by achievements, rewards, or praise. Jesus says in this bible reading — “Do not show Off!! Instead, Jesus says, “believe that I love you and will rescue you from the ash pile. Meanwhile, follow me and do as I do. Share compassion with the less fortunate, serve your neighbor and give glory and honor to my Father in heaven.”
As we follow this Jesus, we head to the cross. And that means there will be suffering and ultimately death.
At my uncle’s grave that winter day as the pastor concluded his words, he did not leave it at “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” But he continued on to say: “We commit this child of God to the grave, trusting in God’s great mercy that we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
During this Lenten season we will be remembering what our destiny would be without a Savior. “Ashes to ashes” would be words of despair without Jesus. The keeping of Lent is a period of learning again what it means to follow him to the cross and to death, and to the great hope which is ours because God in Christ has acted decisively in marvelous ways.
