Ash Wednesday Reflection
By the Rev’d. Allison K. Dean
Listen to this reflection here.
The collect for Ash Wednesday reads,
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
In Genesis 6 we are told that when the Lord saw the wickedness of humankind, saw that our thoughts were evil, he was sorry he had made us and was “grieved to his heart”. Because of us the earth was filled with violence and God decided and determined that the best course of action would be to wipe us from the face of the earth. “But Noah found favour in the sight of the Lord” (6:8).
In the midst of his grief and pain, in the midst of his sorrow, in the midst of an understandable wrath, God’s love for humanity remained. And that is the story of the gospel, the new good news of Jesus Christ, isn’t it? A story of unending love and amazing grace. God must have known that even Noah and his family – like all of us – would disappoint him in the end. Yet, as the song says, “he looked beyond our fault and saw our need”. He saw the truth that we would never be able to help ourselves. He saw the truth that the psalmist expressed, that we have indeed been “wicked from birth, sinners from our mothers’ womb” (Ps. 51:5(6)). He saw also our need for love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. And it is that which took Jesus to the cross.
God knows that we are sinners. He knows that we constantly struggle against temptation. He knows that more often than not we lose the battle against the wiles of the devil. Yet as the collect for today reminds us, “…God [hates] nothing [he has] made and forgives the sins of all who are penitent”.
Today, as we begin our Lenten journey, as our foreheads are marked with crosses of ash, we hear the words “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” as a call to repentance. This call to repentance is, and must always be, rooted and grounded in the love and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. Because if there is no forgiveness available there would be no point in repenting. Without the love, mercy, and grace God pours out in Jesus there would be no hope. But the good news, the gospel, is that “he has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our wickedness” (Ps. 103:10). Rather, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
God has already done his work in Jesus Christ. And from generation to generation God’s grace and mercy continue to be available to us. If only we would repent and turn to him.
Repentance – acknowledgement of, and sincere sorrow for sin, and a desire to amend our lives – is the required and mandatory first step towards forgiveness, wholeness, and peace for us and for the world. And today I challenge us to go beyond a general confession of sin. I challenge us to pause and reflect on the specific ways in which we have sinned and not lived according to the will and ways of God. There is no sin small enough to escape God’s notice, and no sin too big for him to forgive. Bring all your sorrow, care, and sin to the feet of Jesus and leave them there, committing to walking in holiness and righteousness of life by God’s grace.
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Repent and believe the Gospel for God hates nothing he has made and forgives the sins of all who are penitent.