Remember that You are His as You Remeber that You are Dust
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We’ve been walking through the blessings of Epiphany, just as Israel crossed over the Jordan to the land of promise and experienced the Lord’s blessings there. And tonight on Ash Wednesday, we ask the Lord for help to keep us in the land, and far from the path to exile. And where our souls have gone into exile already, we ask the Lord to return us. In Lent, we pay special attention to the need of guarding our hearts, living into the gift of faith we’ve been given, acknowledging that we haven’t fully finished our race as Christians , that in some ways we’ve failed completely, and that we are in continual need of Christ and his mercy. And specifically, we’re reminded of the limits on our existence, that our physical life and our life of faith are both gifts. We remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return.
To have a moment where we remember our limitations as created beings, where we confess our sins, where we receive ashes on our foreheads in repentance and commitment to an amended life in Christ, to commit to holiness and good works is not the same as carrying out empty works, stepping outside of the life of faith, but instead it strengthens our life of faith in perseverance to reflect on our need of Christ.
If God is truly at work in us, there will be some indication. And if there isn’t any indication, something’s wrong. We see this in marriage. Sometimes, in marriage, to keep our life together vibrant and engaged, we need a date night. But we get so busy that date night will never happen unless we schedule it, set time aside for it. Busy-ness is also an enemy to our spiritual growth. If we don’t set time aside to pray, to meet with the Lord, to fall to our knees in repentance, to offer a cup of cold water to the poor in the name of Christ, it just might not happen.
So Lent is kind of like date night for our Christian life. In it we set aside time to be conscious about the care of our soul, to think about what’s important, and then, more akin to counseling, we also reflect on what’s holding us back, about where we’ve gone wrong, where we’re sabotaging ourselves. In Lent, for the sake of our faith, we make time to be intentional about how we should have been living out our faith all along. Ash Wednesday is the moment where we commit to set aside 40 days to do just that. Part of what’s lovely about this intentionality is that each one of us can choose a way to care for our souls in this way.
The scriptures have some suggestions. They aren’t all giving up that very specific brand of single malt scotch on Thursdays, after 9 PM or our second-favorite streaming service. Rather, fasting helps us find clarity. If medically possible, literal fasting should be encouraged. If you’ve never done it before, take one meal per week and set aside that time to pray. For some of us, a meal or even more per day is the thing that our souls need. Some Christians tend toward ignoring the hard things of the faith, the sacrifices of being faithful.
Others beat themselves up, they tend to be too hard on themselves. They forget to honor Christ’s grace towards them. Fasting and praying can give clarity here as well, but it might be more fitting in this case to be intentional about a spiritual practice. Prayerfully reading through a book or section of the Bible you’ve never really read before, or another spiritual book in the faith. But Scripture in both the Old and New Testaments assume that fasting is happening. Jesus begins with “When you fast,” not “if you fast.” It’s the normative way of seeking God in momentarily caring for soul over body. It’s what Jesus did, led by the Holy Spirit, to prepare for his earthly ministry. It’s the spiritual exercise that brings strength, that builds spiritual muscle and endurance, to stand in the face of challenges and trials.
So let us commit to care for our life of faith this Holy Lent. Let us be intentional about being faithful to the one who suffered and died and lives and advocates for us. And know that as we strive to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, Jesus greets the victorious, but also the sinner who repents, who has eyes to see he is not perfect. May God grant you eyes to see yourself as you truly are, and God as He truly is: holy, righteous, gracious, and compassionate, good; and full of love for you and his church.
You might feel tempted to separate yourself from the grace of God to properly get into the place of repentance. But I want to encourage you that as you repent, you are drawing closer to God, not further. Don’t separate yourself from God to walk in repentance this Lenten season. Remember you are His as you remember you are dust, and give thanks for the grace that Christ has offered you on the cross, and accept it as the sacrificial gift it is.