Episcopal Church of the Messiah

Worship Service Sermons

February 17, 2010

"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

We hear these words today as we receive the ashes, a visible reminder of our mortality as we step through the doorway into Lent.

"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

That we are mortal is a sure and certain fact of life.

Our bodies grow old, become infirm, and we die.

No amount of money or plastic surgery, or wishful thinking can reverse the process.

And yet, I read recently that there are churches who have changed these words, instead using this day: "Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel" as they impose the ashes. The explanation given is that they want to give the day "more of a positive spin, to encourage people, rather than frighten them."

I have to say I was surprised.

More than surprised – shocked!

Doesn’t Scripture teach us about the perishability of our bodies?

Isn’t the Gospel all about the hope of the resurrection?

The change in language, they assert, is – and I quote – "an example of how churches adapt their practices over time."

Adapt to what? I ask.

The pervasive "youth culture" of our society?

People’s fear of death?

At the very heart of our faith is the acknowledgment that yes, these bodies do die – we are but dust, and to dust we shall return! – but also that, yes! There is more! There is life beyond this mortal body…

Today is the day we claim our mortality. We recognize that we are not immortal; that who we are, the world we live in, those things we hang on to so fiercely, be they opinions or possessions – all these things shall pass.

It is a day we see ourselves in relationship to the whole: the smallness of who we are in relationship to the infinity of the Divine.

It is also a day, I believe, in which, as we step through the door into Lent, we recognize that all that we do involves choice.

I choose to observe this Holy Lent: it is not being forced upon me.

I choose to do – or not do – certain things: indeed, the abstinence from a particular thing or behavior, or the embracing of a particular discipline, throughout these forty days presents us with regular opportunities to be aware of our choices..

These choices are critical, I believe, to our formation as Christians.

We are choosing to be in relationship with the God who has already chosen us.

We are choosing to humble ourselves before God, to acknowledge our dependence on this God, choosing to take the steps to deepen this relationship, choosing a closer walk with the one who loves us.

Yes, we are dust, and to dust we shall return: all of us. That is not something we choose. Neither is it something over which we despair, for we know that God has chosen us, and that in that choice for us, our lives do not end in the dust, but continue, transformed. It is only in this awareness that we can know the true joy of Easter Day.

Amen.