The ashes are ready (almost)

I managed to track down some palm ash and I've even found instructions for using it (after all my searching, it turns out that the ELCA worship FAQs had about the best explanation--who knew?). I have my little pottery container that was given to me at the end of my internship (I was told at the time that it was meant for ashes, so I am going to use it for ashes). I have a washcloth which will be hidden behind the pulpit so I can wipe my fingers off afterward (I am sure I will not be able to keep the ashes restricted to my thumb). I even practiced last night, mixing a small amount of olive oil with a small amount of ashes and wearing it for three hours to make sure there were no adverse effects. All that remains is to pour the ashes into the bowl, add a little bit of olive oil, stir it up a bit, and wash my hands (I am sure I will need to wash my hands).

If you aren't familiar with it, what happens is that worshippers are invited to come forward, kneel or stand, and have the sign of the cross marked on their foreheads with ashes. It's a wonderfully dramatic ritual gesture, involving more of the senses in worship, especially touch. The shape of the cross recalls the cross marked on our foreheads when we are baptized. Ashes, like water, have more than one use--they can be a sign of repentance and of death, but they can also be a sign of cleansing.

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

Not exactly the most uplifting thing to hear, is it? A little depressing, you would think. When you wear the ashes on your forehead, you are saying, "yes, I will die". You are admitting to being mortal, and fallen.

But because the ashes form the shape of the cross, you are also claiming that sin and death do not have the last word. Even death is defeated! So we are even bold enough to look death right in the face, and wear it on our brows, as if to say, "Yes, we will die. So what?" Or, as the apostle Paul once put it:

Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
(Romans 6:4)

~Pastor Sarah