A New Emotional and Profound Ash Wednesday Perspective

A few quick, unedited thoughts after our Ash Wednesday service this evening.

Tonight, our church hosted an Ash Wednesday service. In my teaching, I had three goals:

• Help those who grew up in traditions who have received ashes but never understood why to understand why we do this and add some deeper meaning behind the practice.
• Help those who have never participated in something like this before to see it as an opportunity to grow closer to God.
• Invite everyone to participate in confession and the assurance of forgiveness, and help them understand what fasting is if they choose to participate in the season of Lent.

While many told me afterward they found the experience meaningful, impactful, helpful, and more, I also walked away with a brand new emotional and profound perspective on Ash Wednesday that I had not anticipated.

While I have been a part of services like this before, this was probably only the sixth or seventh time I personally have made the sign of the cross on people’s foreheads and said, “From dust you came, and to dust you will return.”

However, tonight was the very first night that my wife approached me personally as her pastor to receive the ashes.

As she walked forward, I immediately recognized this moment and began to tear up. Then I did a very “unprofessional” thing for a pastor to do at that moment. Instead of saying the words from scripture, I said, “You are never allowed to leave me,” and held back my tears.

To share with you why I said that and what was in my head, you first need to know what brought me to this response as briefly as I can:

During Ash Wednesday, we cite those words from Genesis 3:19, “From dust you came, and to dust you will return.” What does that mean? Let’s be blunt. As God is casting humanity out of the Garden of Eden because their sin has caused the separation. He is saying, remember that you were once not living, I created you, and one day, you will die. What a straightforward, morbid reminder. Why do we cite these words?

One explanation is that we need to remember the span of our life goes by in the blink of an eye. We need to live with the end in mind, recognizing that just as Adam and Eve sinned, we too have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We, too, have been separated from God. We, too, will one day die. We, too, will also stand before God at the end of time. So then, what should we do? We should repent and turn to God.

Part of the reason we use ashes on Ash Wednesday is to remind ourselves that we will return to dust, but another perspective to remember is that when God’s people would confess their sins and show their sorrow, they would literally tear their clothes in anguish. They would then put on sackcloth and dump ashes on themselves as a sign of their grief, sin, and repentance. So then, ashes can also be a sign of repentance.

On Ash Wednesday, we could sprinkle people with ashes, dump it on them, or use it in some other way, but why do we make the sign of the cross on someone’s forehead? One perspective on this has so much meaning:

We use the ashes which communicate repentance leading toward the cross. At the cross, we are reminded that the sin of the world is dealt with by Jesus’ death and resurrection. The cross is both a symbol of sin’s consequences of death, and also the forgiveness, hope, freedom, and life found in the ressurection.

In this view, on Ash Wednesday, we recall our mortality, which should change how we live. We confess our sins, repent, and remember that because of the cross, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. (Jn 3:16, Rom 10:9, 1 John 1:9) All of this meaning can be wrapped up in the cross we receive, placed on our heads.

Therefore, as people came forward, our pastors said: “Remember, from dust you came, and to dust you will return. Repent and believe the gospel.” Our people then responded by saying, “I believe in Jesus.” These were beautiful moments of our people having the opportunity to vocally declare their faith.

All of this led to why this moment with my wife was so emotional and profound for me.

As she approached me, I realized what I was about to say to her. I was about to tell her that there was once a time when she had not been alive, and there is a time coming when she will die. That’s the scripture. I was emotional because my greatest fear is losing my wife, and I was about to remind us both that one day, we will be separated by death. This is why I uttered the phrase, “You are never allowed to leave me,” because I am afraid of that happening.

Yet, I knew my role as Pastor, and I continued. I looked into her eyes and said, “Tonight, remember: From dust you came, and to dust you will return. Repent and believe the gospel.” She responded, “I believe in Jesus.” In the following moment, as I made the sign of the cross on her forehead, I felt God reminding me:

“In the midst of your fear, remember, death is temporary. It did not win in Jesus’ day, and it won’t when he comes again. By her confession, repentance, belief, and the cross, ultimately, you will always be together.”

The new perspective that God gave me through Ash Wednesday this year is the reminder that death is a part of our life, and we will all experience it. Yet, there is a potent, profound reminder that drives out fear: the cross and resurrection have the final word of forgiveness and life. Repent, and believe the gospel.

Who could imagine so great a mercy
What heart could fathom such boundless grace
The God of ages stepped down from glory
To wear my sin and bear my shame
The cross has spoken I am forgiven
The King of kings calls me His own
Beautiful Savior I’m Yours forever
Jesus Christ my living hope

Hallelujah praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ my living hope

Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Jesus Yours is the victory
Jesus Christ my living hope

Lyrics from "Living Hope," Phil Wikham