It’s Ash Wednesday, when Catholics and the Protestants that look Catholic wear palm ashes on their foreheads. Let me tell you why.
Matthew 6:1-6,16-21; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Psalm 51:1-17; Joel 2:1-2,12-17
Throughout the Bible, Ashes have been used as a symbol of mourning. In the book of Esther, the Jews put ashes on their heads and wore sackcloth when they heard of the king’s decree that they all would die. Job wallowed in ash after the destruction of everything he held dear. Daniel links fasting to the wearing of sackcloth and ashes. When Jonah preached of Ninevah’s destruction, the outward sign of the king’s repentance was to wear sackcloth and sit in ashes. Finally, in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus links repentance to the wearing of sackcloth and ashes.
When the prophet Joel, in our first lesson, declares, “‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning,'” part of that process likely involved ashes, something to show the repentance of the people. From 2 Corinthians we heard, “Be reconciled to God,” which is really the same thing that Joel was saying.
Ash Wednesday is all about returning to God. It’s the beginning of the season of Lent, yes, but the ashes we wear symbolize the deep sadness we have over all the ways we have fallen short of the standard God sets for us. Even though we know we are forgiven, even though we know that God will have mercy on us, we still don’t follow Him as we should; we turn away from him and go our own way, which is really what sin is. The ashes we received tonight are a reminder to us, and to those around us, that we are turning away from ourselves — we are dying to ourselves — and seeking after God.
If you remember back to the beginning of the service tonight, you might note that we never heard the words of forgiveness in the confession that we’re used to hearing on Sunday. Instead, we “sit in ashes” with our sin, imploring God to have mercy on us. Even when we wash the ashes off of our foreheads, which I’m sure most of us will do rather soon after we leave, remember what they mean during this season. Remember your own sinfulness — all the ways that you have turned away from God — and use this season to return to Him. For, as we sang before the gospel, and as the prophet Joel wrote, the message of Lent is simple: “Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.”