Ash Wednesday, Year B | Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
February 14, 2024
the Rev. Jonathan Hanneman
No audio or video of the sermon is available.
I spent about two hours over on the NMSU campus this morning offering Ashes to Go. This was my first time ever participating in it—from either side of the bowl—so I had no idea what to expect. Traffic was light early on, but after I moved to a different location that John Tober from St. James’ had recommended, we began to receive a slow stream of visitors. Many thanked us for coming, saying that their class or work schedule wouldn’t allow them to make a service today.
Shortly after I arrived at the new location, some students from an evangelical campus group set up a booth across the way and began handing out water, lollipops, and flyers. After I’d given a few people ashes, three from the group walked over. “We’re Protestant,” they said. “What’s this ash thing about?” “I’m Protestant, too,” I responded. I explained the concept of Lent as a time some Christians set aside in preparation for Jesus’ death and how Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of that season. I talked through the known history of the day, how we have records of this observance taking place for at least 1700 years—and how those records were describing an already established custom among Christians. I explained that initially we sprinkled ashes on people’s heads, but that somewhere along the line the tradition moved to the forehead smears we know today.
“But why ashes?” they asked.
Why ashes indeed.
Many ancient cultures expressed sorrow or repentance through the use of ashes. You’ll read about people throughout the Hebrew Bible who cover themselves with them—Job; Jeremiah; according to the book of Jonah, the entire city of Ninevah showed their collective repentance in that manner. I don’t know of a solid reason why or how this association with ashes began, but I suspect it had something to do not only with making oneself miserable and uncomfortable but also with a desire for God to burn away the sin and failings in our lives.
But the bigger question than the history of ashes and Ash Wednesday comes from our Gospel reading. Our passage opens with Jesus telling us, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.”[1] Most would agree that ashes on the forehead is a pretty public display, so why would we get to the place of making a show like this when Jesus explicitly tells us not to?
Personally, I think this scripture passage emphasizes the weight of what it is that we’re doing today. If Jesus tells us to do good and serve God privately, how much more serious should we be about following him when we announce it publicly? Receiving ashes is not something to take lightly. It isn’t simply a cultural practice or a glib statement of belief. These ashes are a public witness to our commitment to follow Christ. We are, in essence, making a vow before not only each other but to the entirety of the world around us: a vow to serve God and express God’s Kingdom wherever we might go; a vow to love our neighbors as ourselves; a vow to imitate our Savior as he journeys to the cross, to commit ourselves to life by traveling the path that leads to our own death.
When Jesus has warned us against public piety, we need to make sure we’re ready to live up to the commitment we make today. Receiving these ashes is a solemn act. Before coming forward, please take a few moments to be sure you’re prepared to follow through with the promise you’re choosing to make.
[1] Matthew 6:1 | All Bible quotations are from the NRSV unless otherwise noted.