2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 | Göttinger Predigten im Internet

Ash Wednesday Sermon | February 14, 2024 | Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17, 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 & Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 | Luther H. Thoresen |

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17, 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 & Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21,

Note 1: All quotes in the sermon are from the English Standard Version.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

“Ring around the rosie,
A pocket full of posies.
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down!”

Anyone ever sung that with children? Maybe a group of children, singing and walking together holding hands in a circle…with one in the middle of the circle?…and after each time it is sung, the “last one” to sit down ends up in the middle? Giggles, down, up, down, up, giggles…I don’t play that game anymore. If I fall down, it takes too long to get back up to make a game of it. Besides, I’m likely to hurt myself. But children? They might still have lots of fun.

But, all fall down, right? A verse many of us may have read multiple times says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… (3:23). You know that all have sinned and fall short is different from “all fall down.” This is about falling short of a goal, or falling short of some expectation; our own or God’s. Yet, Paul does not dwell on guilt, since he built his argument in the previous chapter and a half. Rather he affirms that all are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

I recall about 30 years ago, and it was in February or March in northwest Iowa. I was on my way to visit a homebound member in an apartment. I parked my car, took one step…and I fell on some ice I had not seen. I quickly did three things. In an instant I stood up, looked around, and checked if I was injured. I looked around before I checked for injury. Why? I was checking to see if anyone saw me fall (ha-ha).

But is this not the way we are? We do not want anyone to see if we fall…on our backside; or if we fall short of the glory of God. But, guess what? You know that God “sees” all; whether we fall on our backside or “sin and fall short.” God sees our successes and failures, our kindness and our meanness, our good and our evil.

Ashes, ashes we all fall down. Or shall I say, “Ashes, ashes we all fall short”?

You probably know that Lent is a time for reflection and repentance and more. This is why the reading from Joel is often heard, and that Psalm 51 is shared. Joel calls the people to return. He calls out, “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts (Joel 2:12-13a). Yet, for Joel the inspiration for returning, for repentance is wonderful! Joel’s call is not rooted in judgement, but in something else, something graceful. He continues, Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (v.13 b, c). Reflecting on this dynamic, Chad Bird writes, “Repentance does not lead God to accept us. God’s kind of acceptance of us in Christ leads us to repentance.”¹

You and I are empowered by God’s steadfast love to return day in and day out. We are empowered to repent daily and to live by grace and mercy. Martin Luther describes our living in the Small Catechism, in the portion about Holy Baptism. In answer to the question, “What does baptism mean for daily living?” he writes:

It means that our sinful self, with all its evil deeds and desires, should be drowned through daily repentance; and that a new self should arise to live with God in righteousness and purity forever.²

Ashes, ashes we all fall down.

As Lent begins, we annually hear the words of Jesus in Matthew 6. Here he calls us to “give to the needy” (v. 2). Jesus also calls us to pray (v. 5) and to fast (v. 16)…and each of these three is to be done secretly, not to be seen by others. You know that these are part of our ongoing life in Christ. We pray “in secret” to connect anew to the heavenly One, and not to show others how “connected” we are. We are generous to others “in secret” so that God is the one who knows, and others may give God the glory for help received. We fast “in secret” to experience at a “gut level” our emptiness without food, and by extension we experience our body how empty we are without God. If we pray, give alms and fast so that we are seen by others, then we are only “full of ourselves” and devoid of godliness.

These are not things we practice for the six weeks of Lent, until Easter, and then drop until the next Ash Wednesday. Rather, since these are part of our ongoing life, Lent is a time to remember, to re-connect to Jesus’ words so that Lent can become a “practice time” for the whole of our life as followers of Jesus.

Ashes, ashes we all fall down.

In our worship today, the flow of Christian life is before us…from beginning to end. We have heard the scriptures with their reminders to remember who we are as those called to return, recognizing who we are as God’s creatures…sinners from birth called to return, called to follow the way of Jesus anew…knowing that, For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21). In addition to hearing the scriptures, we have the opportunity to share in an order for Confession to acknowledge our sinfulness and brokenness before God and one another. We will have the opportunity to receive the imposition of ashes. We will also have the opportunity to receive the Communion as a gift that brings to this body the Gospel of God’s grace and forgiveness – in, with and under bread and wine.

You may know that the ashes are to remind us with words, with touch, and with a symbolic marking that we are dust and to dust we will return. The ashes connect us at a gut level to our mortality. You may know that historically ashes were often a sign or symbol of repentance. Sometimes ancient peoples sat “in sackcloth and ashes” as we hear about the people of Nineveh in response to Jonah’s preaching in that scripture story. You may also know that the ashes are smeared in the shape of a cross to connect us at a gut level to the one who became sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Ashes, ashes we all fall down.

As part of the culture around us many of us will also observe today, February 14, as Valentine’s Day. You may have heard in conversation or seen in social media the suggestion that ashes be imposed in the shape of a heart instead of a cross. I understand this as an attempt to bridge the world of the church to people whose focus is on that holiday. I would chose not to change the practice in that way. This is not because I am a “stuck in the mud” kind of person. Rather, I still think that the cross can be a symbol of God’s love for us in ways that a “heart” cannot be. I am reminded of the words of Paul in the fifth chapter of the letter to the Romans, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (v. 8). This verse may remind you also of the “gospel in a nutshell” as some people refer to John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Or for me, I am reminded of my “confirmation verse” from 1969, Galatians 3:20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Scripturally, God’s love for the world, for all people, for “me” is connected to the giving of the Son through the death of Jesus.

Ashes, ashes we all fall down.

Life is NOT a game, but I wonder. I wonder if we can take a clue from the children’s game. In the game, once everyone “falls down,” everyone stands again, everyone “rises again.” This day because the ashes remind us of our mortality and sinfulness, the cross-shape of the ashes may remind us that we also may rise again because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. As those connected to Jesus’ death and resurrection in baptism, daily we fall and daily we rise. You also know that one day we will all return to the dust in death, but also one day we shall rise again. On that day, our connection to Jesus’ death and resurrection will be complete.

Until that day, we “practice” our prayer, giving to the needy and fasting.

Until that day we live the baptized life falling down, returning in repentance and rising again

Until that day…Amen.

Now, may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Pr. Luther H. Thoresen, ELCA, STS, retired thoresenluther54@gmail.com

¹Chad Bird, as quoted by the Clergy Coaching Network in a post on Facebook 02.04.2024.