Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Today, Ash Wednesday, March 5; well, today is my fortieth birthday. “Hey Jimmy, how was your fortieth birthday?” “Oh, you know – I told four hundred people that they’re miserable sinners. It was great.” 

So, as you can imagine, today I have some personal reflections. And some hard truths. It is Ash Wednesday after all. And while Ash Wednesday is about how we are miserable sinners, it’s also about our mortality. “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Every birthday is also a sober reminder, that we have one less birthday to celebrate.

So I do have this urgency, this drive. Sometimes you ask me why it is I have so much energy; well, there it is. I am trying to cram in as much as I can with the time that is given to me. I feel the Holy Spirit, in me even now, and I want to share that grace with you. And, thanks be to God, that I get to do what I love to do in the time appointed to me. To preach, to pastor, to be part of a church. To watch you grow up and then to be with you as you grow old. This has been, and remains, one of the great blessings of my life. 

But even as I look out at you, I see all sorts of people from all walks of life. And today is the great equalizer. Because I will impose ashes on all sorts of people today. Older than me, younger than me; richer than me, poorer than me. And yet, the words to each of us are the same. “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” It’s so liberating. It levels the playing field. Because it comes for each of us. 

And not only that, everything we own will one day turn to dust. I think that’s why Jesus warns us not to store up for ourselves treasures on earth, where most and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. Because, well, it won’t last. None of your stuff will last. Even the sturdiest styrofoam, even the hardest plastic, yes, it will all outlast us. But still, that is no match for the geologic and cosmic forces that wear down everything over the eons. Ash Wednesday is a sign, a reminder, of where we are all headed. And sure, the cosmos will last for a long time. Maybe even a few trillion more years, but that’s not forever. Eventually, there will be nothing left.

So I don’t have to spend my remaining years chasing anything in this life, because it will turn to dust. I will turn to dust. The only thing that holds, the only thing that doesn’t turn to ash, is the love that the Lord Jesus has for me. Has for each of us. Think of it – the Lord God Almighty, the One who created everything that is loves each of us, though we are just little bits of dust. The Lord Jesus suffered and bled and died upon a cross, though we are simply collections of atoms and molecules that are here for a time, and then no more. This is the good news of Ash Wednesday – that in spite of what we are, we are worthy of God’s grace.

So the only thing worth attaining is treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves cannot break in and steal. Forty years to the eternal God is the blink of an eye. But even in this short time, with the brokenness I live with, I have received grace and mercy from God for a thousand years. A heavenly treasure that, thanks be to God, I have received here on earth among you. And that, that will abide even as the rest of it all turns to dust.

So, with you, just after this, I am going to drop to my knees and beg for mercy. Because the Lord God has given me so much, and still, still I don’t live up to it. Still, I’m beset by the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of my life. Still, I’m confounded by my intemperate love of worldly goods. Still, I cannot shake my self-indulgent appetites and ways. I have received so much, and I have squandered so much. And I pray that these ashes are a witness to me, and an inspiration – to love more fiercely, to care more deeply, and to forgive more readily. For whatever time left God chooses to give me.

And this year, the fifteenth year of my priestly ministry, I can tell you something else. It has happened often, that I have imposed ashes on someone on Ash Wednesday, and I will have buried them before the next Ash Wednesday. This day, this liturgy, this practice – it is all real. Do not take the time that you are given for granted. For none of us knows when our last birthday will be. And no matter how hard we work to earn and save and accumulate in this life, it will not amount to anything. What will matter, is the love you gave, the love you shared, and how your heart was set on the Lord Jesus.

In the time left that is allotted, hear again the words of Jesus: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

References and materials

The Last Question by Isaac Asimov

(Very) Short History of Life on Earth by Henry Gee