From Dust We Came and to Dust We Shall Return

For most of us, ashes are not signs of beauty and ashes in the shape of a cross on a human forehead are certainly not an obvious symbol of faith.  After all, ashes are the product of something that was, something that is no longer.  Ashes are what remains when a flame has gone out.  Ashes are all that is left when the light and the heat are gone.  And our ashes, these ashes that you will receive tonight are from the prayers that we have shared together over the past months.  These ashes are remnants of the prayers we have offered to God, knowing that they are held by God and all that remains are these ashes.  But why ashes and why on this night?  Why do Christians around the world begin the season of Lent with ashes?We live in a world that tells us that we are in charge, that we are the center of the universe that all good things come from our efforts, our plans, our hands.  But as Christians we know that what the world tells us is often in conflict with what we know about our God.  As Christians, we know that the source of our lives and all life is God.  As followers of Jesus, this night marks the time in our year, the time in our life, when we pause and remember who we are and whose we are.In the book of Genesis we read that we came from dust and to dust we shall return.  The scripture tells the story of the first human, being formed out of the dust of the earth by God and then God breathed life into that dust.  It was God who turned the ashes into life, God who offered life-giving breath, God who turned remnants of life into life itself.  Without God, these ashes are just finely ground leftovers and merely evidence of a light that has already gone out.But that is just the point:  without God, we are just dust and to dust we shall return, without God these ashes and all ashes are simply what is left when the light goes out.  But tonight, these ashes are a reminder that God is in the business of creating life even when it looks like nothing will grow.  God is in the business of creating new hope, new possibilities, new dreams, when all that the world sees are ashes.  God is eternal and neither moth nor rust can consume, the light can never go out.These ashes are for us a sign that God will turn our sin, our darkness or whatever is keeping us from abundant life into living hope.  These ashes are for us a reminder that we need God to get beyond our failings and now is the time to repair the brokenness in our relationship with God. So why ashes and why on this night?  Why do Christians around the world begin the season of Lent with ashes?  Without God we are left with ashes.  But with God, as we journey with Jesus into the wilderness we remember that the ashes are not the end.  The ashes are an outward sign of what is happening in our hearts.  God is turning our pain or missteps or sin into new life.  So as you come forward tonight to have the sign of the cross placed on your foreheads in ash, remember that you are forgiven, remember that if you want it, God will turn your ashes into new life.  Amen.