Ash Wednesday
Fr. Oliver Robinson
Fr. Oliver Robinson
Today marks the beginning of Lent, a period of 40 days where we imitate Christ’s time in the wilderness. Fr Alan introduced us to the Lenten season so well last Sunday.
The practice of marking ourselves with Ashes goes back thousands of years and is mentioned throughout the Old Testament.
Today as we practice this ancient tradition and as you receive the ashes, I will say the words:
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.
The Ashes are a symbol of mourning and our mortality.
Ashes confront our mortality. We are dust, as the rite reminds us and our bodies will one day decay back into dust. Our lives are fleeting, like a breath or a fading shadow. Sin and death are linked—our wrongdoing accelerates spiritual decay, mirroring our physical end. Yet, hear the comfort in Psalm 103: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" (v.8). He does not deal with us according to our sins, for "as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust" (v.13-14).
The Ashes are also a symbol of mourning, and our own mortality. As we take them on our head we remember:
That we mourn, as you know, primarily for our own sins.
The king of Nineveh removes his royal robes and sits in ashes at Jonah’s warning (Jonah 3:6).
We mourn also for the sins of others.
Daniel fasts and prays in sackcloth and ashes during the exile (Daniel 9:3).
We mourn too, over the sins that have been committed against us
Job sits among the ashes after losing his children, his wealth, and his health (Job 2:8).
And we mourn over the sins of the world.
Joshua puts dust on his head in lament after Israel’s defeat at Ai (Joshua 7:6).
This ancient symbol of ashes on our heads, which we are about to receive, is a powerful sign.
It is a sign of our grief and mourning over our sin, the sins of those we love, the sins committed against us, and the sins of the world we live in.
What a great deal there is to mourn. How could our tears ever stop?
In the words of the prophet Joel, a trumpet blasts across Zion (Joel 2:1-2), calling us to awaken. "The day of the Lord is coming," he warns—a day of darkness, yet not without hope. For God invites us: "Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster." (Joel 2:12-13).
The Ashes we wear as Christians are somewhat different from in ancient times.
As Paul says in our 2 Corinthians reading v19 "In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them."
Christ has triumphed over sin and death, and as we mourn, we look with longing for His return.
For that day when Revelation tells us:
“God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:3-4)
As you receive the ashes today, we do so in penitence and grief. As the ancients did.
But now as people of the New Covenant, we sign those ashes in a cross. To remember that Christ has set us free from the wages of Sin and Death.
Draw near to Him in your hearts as you receive the Ashes today.
Amen
The practice of marking ourselves with Ashes goes back thousands of years and is mentioned throughout the Old Testament.
Today as we practice this ancient tradition and as you receive the ashes, I will say the words:
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.
The Ashes are a symbol of mourning and our mortality.
Ashes confront our mortality. We are dust, as the rite reminds us and our bodies will one day decay back into dust. Our lives are fleeting, like a breath or a fading shadow. Sin and death are linked—our wrongdoing accelerates spiritual decay, mirroring our physical end. Yet, hear the comfort in Psalm 103: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" (v.8). He does not deal with us according to our sins, for "as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust" (v.13-14).
The Ashes are also a symbol of mourning, and our own mortality. As we take them on our head we remember:
That we mourn, as you know, primarily for our own sins.
- We grieve over our failings — where we have fallen short, where we have not loved others as ourselves, where our actions have grieved God, and where we have betrayed Him.
- Our sins made it necessary for Jesus Christ to be tortured, beaten, mocked, spat upon, and crucified. We are responsible for His death, without our sin He wouldn’t have needed to die.
- He is our King, our Lord, our Savior, and our beloved friend — and we have betrayed Him.
- For selfish gain. For earthly pleasure. For foolish pride.
- What a poor trade we have made in those moments of our failure.
The king of Nineveh removes his royal robes and sits in ashes at Jonah’s warning (Jonah 3:6).
We mourn also for the sins of others.
- Parents who look on the foolish choices of their children and despair.
- Children who look up at their parents, bewildered by their lack of interest in them
- Brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, grandchildren, friends — loved ones caught in addiction, lust, sin, and faithlessness.
- We mourn for those we love who do not walk with Christ.
Daniel fasts and prays in sackcloth and ashes during the exile (Daniel 9:3).
We mourn too, over the sins that have been committed against us
- Where we have been mocked and ridiculed.
- Where people have spoken ill of us.
- Where we have been betrayed.
- Where the sins against us are so terrible that they require great effort and grace to forgive.
- Where, sometimes, we have to work on that forgiveness every single day.
Job sits among the ashes after losing his children, his wealth, and his health (Job 2:8).
And we mourn over the sins of the world.
- We look around us — at our country, at the West, at the world — and we grieve over the state of it all.
- We mourn the horrifying suffering we hear about in the news.
- We mourn the wickedness and injustice that seems to prevail all around us.
- We join with God in His cry of mourning for a broken and fallen world.
Joshua puts dust on his head in lament after Israel’s defeat at Ai (Joshua 7:6).
This ancient symbol of ashes on our heads, which we are about to receive, is a powerful sign.
It is a sign of our grief and mourning over our sin, the sins of those we love, the sins committed against us, and the sins of the world we live in.
What a great deal there is to mourn. How could our tears ever stop?
In the words of the prophet Joel, a trumpet blasts across Zion (Joel 2:1-2), calling us to awaken. "The day of the Lord is coming," he warns—a day of darkness, yet not without hope. For God invites us: "Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster." (Joel 2:12-13).
The Ashes we wear as Christians are somewhat different from in ancient times.
- We do not “grieve as those who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
- We wear our Ashes in a sign. The Sign of the Cross.
- We know that, because of what Christ has done, we have hope in the midst of our mourning.
As Paul says in our 2 Corinthians reading v19 "In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them."
Christ has triumphed over sin and death, and as we mourn, we look with longing for His return.
For that day when Revelation tells us:
“God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:3-4)
As you receive the ashes today, we do so in penitence and grief. As the ancients did.
But now as people of the New Covenant, we sign those ashes in a cross. To remember that Christ has set us free from the wages of Sin and Death.
Draw near to Him in your hearts as you receive the Ashes today.
Amen
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