Ash Wednesday Reflections (Part II)

Photo Credit: Matt Detrich, The Indianapolis Star

The Reformation did not establish everything new for Protestants.   To a certain extent Martin Luther valued his liturgical and theological inheritance from Rome.  Obviously there were disagreements.  But Luther did not throw out the baby with the bath water so to speak.  He called for reform not a renewal of the Roman Catholic Church.  As a result, he retained for Lutherans what he considered to be beneficial to their spiritual growth.  The same can be said for Richard Hooker in the Church of England.  Contrary to the extreme reform efforts of the Puritans, Hooker wanted to preserve what was good out of the liturgical and theological inheritance received from Rome.  If the liturgy and worship was not clearly prohibited by the Bible, but deemed beneficial to the spiritual growth of God’s people, then it should be kept.  This is one of the reasons why Lutherans and Anglicans follow the Church Calendar and observe Ash Wednesday.  Again, the goal was reform not renewal.        

My previous post considered how the observance of Ash Wednesday could assist God’s people in their spiritual formation.  I approached the topic from this angle because many conservative evangelical Protestants look at Ash Wednesday with suspicious, anti-Roman Catholic eyes.  I used to be one of them.  But if we look at it the way Luther and Hooker looked at it, as well as many other Reformers, then hopefully we can see how it can help our growth in Christ rather than hinder it.

During the service, before the ashes are applied, the officiating priest will pray, “Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen.”  This prayer helps the church member understand the good purpose behind the odd practice of receiving ashes on the forehead in the shape of a cross.   

First, the ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality.  The priest imposes the ashes quoting Genesis 3:19 “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  In receiving the ashes we are called to remember that life is transient and death is inevitable.  By contemplating on this sobering reality, the worshiper has an opportunity to gain wisdom (cf. Ps 90:10-12).

Secondly, the ashes may be to us a sign of our penitence.  We learn from the Bible that ashes were used to symbolize repentance; true sorrow for sin (Job 2:8; 42:6; Is 58:5; Jer 6:26; 25:34; Dan 9:3; Jon 3:6; Mt 11:21; also cf. 1 Macc 3:46; 4:39).  Individuals who were genuinely grieved by sin expressed their sorrow by fasting and sitting in ashes or placing them on their head.  It must be admitted that substituting justice for ritual has always been a danger for God’s people (Is 1:10-20; 58:1-10; cf. Mt 6:1-18).  But the solution is not justice minus ritual.  God does not condemn ritual for the purpose of eliminating it altogether.  He rejects it only when it is combined with disobedience (cf. Is 1:13).  Ultimately a change of heart concerning sin should be revealed by a change of behavior (Mt 3:8).  But to express our true sorrow for sin by receiving ashes on our forehead is not contrary to the will of God.  And so we pray with the priest, “Almighty God, grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our penitence.” 

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. – Psalm 51:17