Mortality

 Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Each year on Ash Wednesday, we come to church and hear that we’re going to die. It’s real life, and the older I get, the more real that becomes.

Mike and I have recently completed some end-of-life paperwork. We filled out forms that tell our loved ones and hospital emergency people what to do if we are close to death. My instructions include the statement that I don’t want my body to outlive my mind. We also talked about what to do with our remains and decided that the surviving spouse will keep the ashes, so we can be buried together.

John B and I commented the other day about families that have to make all the final arrangements after the loved one dies, and how hard and sad it is to make such decisions in a hurry. How much better it is for families to have the conversation about these final matters before the last breath is taken.

… Ash Wednesday and the weeks of Lent, are reminders of how mortal we are. We are made from dust – Genesis 2:7 says “then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground”. And today, people everywhere hear the words: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Those words accompany a cross of ashes placed on the foreheads of people from infancy to old age, on the foreheads of soldiers serving overseas, on the foreheads of school children, and on the foreheads of people wondering why they haven’t died yet like all their friends.  

The ashes are often mixed with oil, so they stick better, and don’t just fly away into the air, or land on eyeballs, making for a few very uncomfortable moments. But the oil isn’t just something we take from the kitchen cupboard on Fat Tuesday as we make pancakes. It’s also the oil we use for baptisms, declaring the person is a beloved child of God.

… Do we hear that on Ash Wednesday? Are we aware that this oil and ash mixture reminds us that we are God’s beloved ones, while we live, and that God has prepared a place for us after our death?

How, then, do we spend the next hours, weeks, years until we become dust? At least in Lent, we can focus on being baptized and called children, beloved children, of a loving God. We have the traditional Lenten practices as our guide.

It is typical to focus on prayer, fasting, and alms-giving in Lent, along with time studying God’s word. But, when Jesus told the disciples to not be like the hypocrites, who boast of their prayer-life and alms-giving, he didn’t mean it just for Lent. He meant it as a lifetime practice, to be intentional about prayer, fasting, generosity, and study.

So, perhaps, if you regularly fast from something in Lent, and look with fondness at Easter so you can enjoy whatever it is, you could consider a need to fast from it longer than Lent. Remember that God is the Provider of all we need.

So, perhaps, if you begin the day or week with good intentions to pray daily, but you need to begin again often, then it is not just a Lenten practice you need, but a year-long one. Remember God’s spirit prompts us to pray, to spend time in God’s presence, not just talking to God, but also listening for God’s messages.

And if those envelopes in the box remind us to give on Wednesdays in Lent, and we don’t miss the extra we give, then perhaps we could increase our regular giving all year. Remember how good it feels to give something to someone you love. That’s how God feels about us. 

The Lenten call to study God’s word should certainly not be just a Lenten practice, but something we do daily, especially with a study guide to help us understand what is written, just as the Ethiopian Eunuch asked for help from Philip. God speaks to us through God’s words, which we call the Bible, and through others who help us hear God’s truth.

… May this Lent be a time of fruitful engagement with our own mortality and God’s constant presence in it. Remember, we all are dust, and to dust we shall return. Amen