A Devotion for Ash Wednesday

Scripture — Psalm 103:11-18 (NRSV)

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.
As for mortals, their days are like grass;
they flourish like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.

Devotion

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day in the season of Lent. For many Christians throughout the world, this is a special day, a time for worship, reflection, and a unique ritual. It’s the first day of a holy season when we recognize our need for a Savior and prepare for a deeper experience of our salvation when we remember the death of Christ on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. For many other Christians, however, Ash Wednesday is relatively unfamiliar, as is the season of Lent. I grew up in a church that paid little attention to these traditions, other than offering a special Good Friday service before Easter. I also thought Lent was for my Catholic friends (whom I did not envy if I’m being honest).

In this devotion, I won’t go into depth explaining Ash Wednesday, its meaning and practices. If you would be interested in such an explanation, let me refer you to an article I wrote several years ago: “What is Ash Wednesday? How Do We Observe It? Why Should We?” In that article, I wrote, “There is no biblical commandment that requires us to observe Ash Wednesday. Thus, I believe this is one of those practices that Christians are free to observe or not to observe. The theological core of Ash Wednesday is, however, shaped by a biblical theology of creation, sin, mortality, death, grace, and salvation.” That last sentence explains why, when I began to participate in Ash Wednesday services, I found them to be most helpful to my relationship with God. Yet, they are not a requirement for all Christians.

The core ritual in an Ash Wednesday worship service is the imposition of ashes. Ordinarily, imposing on people is rude and something to be avoided. In the Ash Wednesday context, however, the imposition of ashes is received willingly by those who come forward to have ashes placed upon their foreheads. The person who imposes the ashes repeats a paraphrase of Genesis 3:19, something like “You are dust, and to dust shall return.” The ashes represent the dustiness of mortal and sinful human life. They are a visual reminder of the fact that we will die someday.

This is not good news, to be sure. Usually in church we celebrate the good news of God’s love in Christ. On Ash Wednesday, however, we remember the bad news that is a precursor to the good news. Because we have sinned, we will indeed die. We will experience the “dustiness” of mortal life. But this bad news prepares us to receive the good news of salvation. God has not abandoned or rejected us. In Christ, God has drawn near to save us. But if we’re going to appreciate the wonder of this salvation, we need to remember that “we are dust.”

Psalm 103 expresses wonderfully the profound truth of Ash Wednesday. Verse 11 affirms the greatness of God’s “steadfast love toward those who fear him.” Verse 12 adds that the Lord “removes our transgressions from us,” as far as the east is from the west. Verse 13 reveals that “As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.” All of this is good news, for sure, the good news that is fully revealed in Christ.

Then, verse 14 adds, “For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.” How are we dust? In the first place, we are dust because God formed us “from the dust of the ground,” into which God breathed “the breath of life” (Gen 2:7). Human beings were “dusty” before they sinned. But after the first humans sinned, they brought death upon themselves and all who would descend from them, including us. As God says in Genesis 3:19, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out if it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Now our dustiness signifies, not only our createdness, but also our fallenness and ultimate mortality.

When Psalm 103 says that God has compassion on us because “he remembers that we are dust,” both senses of dust are in play here. God knows how we were once created by God’s own hand. This is the good part of being dust. And God also knows how our sin has corrupted us and, in a sense, killed us. This is the bad part of being dust. Yet it’s a part we mustn’t overlook or deny.

God knows that, because of our sin-induced mortality, our “days are like grass” (v. 15). We will wither and die, just like the flower of the field. How different is the love of God! As verse 17 affirms, “But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting.” God’s love remains even after we sin. God’s love prevails over sin and its consequences. As it says in the New Testament letter to the Romans, nothing in all creation “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39).

On Ash Wednesday, we focus on our dustiness, our mortality, and our sinfulness. But we do so not to grovel or sulk. Rather, by remembering that we are dust, we begin to prepare for the good news of the bodily resurrection of Jesus and, indeed, our own bodily resurrection. God, through the Spirit, will one day “give life to [our] mortal bodies” (Rom 8:11).

On that day, when our perishable body puts on imperishability and our mortal body puts on immortality, we will rejoice in the victory of God over sin and death (1 Cor 15:53-57). But on Ash Wednesday, even knowing the good news that is coming, we pay attention to the bad news. We confess our sinfulness. We remember our mortality. We realize once again just how much we need God and God’s grace. Yes, we know that this grace is coming. But today we focus more on our need than on the glory of God’s coming grace in Jesus Christ. This we will celebrate more fully in the future.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Lord Remembers We Are Only Dust.