"Hopes and Fears

“Hopes and Fears”

“When you plant a seed in the ground, it does not sprout to life unless it dies.”

1 Corinthians 15:36

The ancient tradition of Ash Wednesday carries with it an interesting twist of symbolism. The ashes, representing the penance and contrition – the bankruptcy of human attempts for salvation, are derived from an interesting source.

In Roman and Orthodox churches, some of the palms from the prior year’s Palm Sunday celebration are saved and burned to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday. It is a symbolic way of saying that even the highest and best aspirations that we have are ultimately “fit for fire.” Palm Sunday, after all, is our attempt at celebration and exultations. It is our highest aspiration for welcoming the reign of God in human life.

During Holy Week, It took only five days to see that our aspirations do not make the stuff of salvation. The crowd’s cries of “Hosanna” needed less than a week to turn into cries of “Crucify Him.” We, with our best intent, cannot accept God.

Ash Wednesday reminds us of all that. It reminds us that we, of our own power, fail each time. Yet in God’s plan for salvation there is a pattern; in the words of the creed, “life, suffering, death, burial and Resurrection.” That is the path for Jesus and for us.

Several years ago as I prepared to participate in his funeral, I was trying to remember the gift a friend had given me. In the end, what I thought he did for me, was that he stood by my side while dreams died. I thought and do think that to be the holiest of tasks for a human – to see another through the path laid out by Jesus in Holy Week.

Ash Wednesday calls us not just to give up excess, not just sin or evil It calls us to give up completely – even our dreams and aspirations. It is through this pattern, along the path and not around it, that God accomplishes Resurrection. Surely God’s promise of new life exceeds any hope or goal we might generate on our own. We reach that goal by staying on the path He set out for us.

Printed from St. Mark Presbyterian's 1998 Lenten Devotional with Larry Jackman's permission

Read the Gospels in 40 Days:  Luke 1-2  (Click on the scripture for the link)