Just in case anyone’s laboring under a
false assumption:
getting ashes doesn't mean you’re holy.
As a matter of fact -- getting ashes means you’re not holy...
Ashes are for sinners,
for people like you and me who often do
the wrong thing:
sometimes in small ways and sometimes in big ways,
but still, we’re people who want to do
things the right way…
Ashes are for people like you and me who screw up,
who forget what's really important,
who let things slide - even a lot -
even big things;
but we’re also people who want to do a
much better job…
Ashes are for folks like you and me who sometimes hurt other people,
who sometimes hurt even the people we love
- and we’re people who want to heal the
harm we’ve done…
Ashes are for imperfect, broken people - like you and me;
people who want, who pray to be mended
and made whole…
Ashes are for people like you and me
who take too many short cuts,
who stretch the truth, who don’t always play fair;
and yet who want to be honest and just…
Ashes are for people like you and me
who don’t pray as often as we could, as
sincerely as we should,
with the trust we ought to have;
and yet we truly want to grow closer to
the Lord…
Ashes are for people like you and me
who sometimes speak when we should keep
quiet
and sometimes say nothing when we ought
to speak up;
even though we desire the courage to
speak with integrity…
Ashes are for people like you and me
who sometimes prefer the fake or the
pretense
to what’s genuine and authentic
whie we search for what’s real and of
God…
Ashes are for people like you and me
who try to love some folks too much
and who fail to love folks at all:
we’re people who want to love and be
loved…
Ashes are for people like you and me
whose desires are sometimes selfish,
proud, lusty…
but we’re also people who desire to be
generous, humble, pure…
Ashes are for people like your and me
who too often and too easily
let things get the best of them,
things like bias, prejudice, envy and
pride,
anger, fear, selfishness and jealousy:
and yet we’re people who want to be forgiven
and washed clean…
Ashes are sinners, people like you and
me.
And no, getting ashes doesn't mean
we’re holy.
As a matter of fact -- getting
ashes means we’re not holy.
Getting ashes on my forehead is
labeling myself: SINNER!
Coming to church and getting ashes
probably won't turn our lives around overnight
but being here and getting ashes could be a step,
just one step, even a small
step,
in a new direction, in the right
direction,
in a direction better than the one
we’ve been walking…
Getting ashes today might put me on the
path
I know I want to follow
but sometimes have a hard time finding,
and often stray from it, once I find it…
Getting ashes today just might be the beginning
of mending my relationship with God,
my relationships with some people in my life,
or my relationship with myself...
Getting ashes this Wednesday might help me
take an honest look at things in my life:
things that need attention,
things that need letting go,
things that need changing,
things that need healing, mending and reconciling…
Ashes are for people who want to do the
right thing
and walk the right path
but who just can’t seem to do that on
their own:
ashes are for people like you and me
who always need God’s help and strength
and grace…
Ashes are for people
who want to give God and themselves
another chance at a
new beginning...
So even if it's been a long time
since the last time you got ashes - or
if you come every year -
we’re all here today to pray,
to get our foreheads smudged,
to label ourselves as sinners
and to take a first step on a path
we’ve been wanting to walk
and walk more faithfully…
And since I know that come tomorrow
we’ll find a dozen of reasons
for each of us to forget what we did
herw today,
let’s pray that the Lord will give us a
nudge, a shove,
a kick in the butt or whatever we might need
to take yet another step and another
and another,
every day, all through Lent…
Ashes are for people like us,
who want to walk through Lent to the
joy of Easter
with minds and hearts renewed
in the love and grace that come only
from God.
May the ashes we receive today mark us
as sinners,
sinners in need of mercy,
the mercy Jesus offers us every day
- and especially in this holy season of
Lent.
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