Last year in January I had a bad fall off the loading dock behind our Dining Hall. If you hadn't heard about it, here is the link to my 2011 6 month summary. (There is not much there except a picture of me with my stitches. I chose not post the worst pictures) Thankfully, I was not out for very long. I, dazed and confused, called my wife who immediately took me to the hospital, where it was confirmed that I had suffered a mild concussion. They gave me several stitches and I went home. It could have been much worse. I'm thankful to God for preserving my life and for the lessons that I consequently have learned. For me, falling off the loading dock was a near death experience.
For Christians, Ash Wednesday is designed to be a similar reminder to the near death experience. For most evangelical denominations this tradition is not often practiced. Yet, the things of which Ash Wednesday is supposed to remind us are central to our active embracing of the gospel.
First, it is supposed to remind us our inevitable mortality. Genesis 3:19 says "By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (ESV). We are from the ground, and will return to it. Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust. When people step up to receive the ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday, they are remembering that they are mortal and death inevitably comes to all of us until the return of Christ.
Second, Ash Wednesday should consequently call us to repentance. Because death is inevitable, there is an ending point in which our actions will be called into question before God. Each of us are doubly guilty before God because (a) we were born into a family of people at war with God, the family of Adam, and (b) we have persisted in actions contrary to God's will for humanity. This puts all of humanity in a place of opposition to God. Stepping up to receive those ashes reminds us that we must repent of our sin and turn to God. We must surrender to the King-over-all-Kings. His destroying army has not arrived yet, and we have been given the opportunity to turn and defect. We have been given advance warning. Now is the time to repent, because death is coming.
Third, Ash Wednesday should push us towards Good Friday. Our repentance is not simply a call to do more good works, but it is a push to embrace the one way of salvation which is gained through the cross of Christ. Jesus died to rescue us, his enemy, and make us part of his people. Death is coming, and the only way of salvation is Jesus.
Fourth, Ash Wednesday should push us toward Easter. While death is coming inevitably, it is not the end for those who have been united to Christ, to those who have pledged their allegiance to Jesus. Being linked to Jesus means that we are not just buried with him in his death, but we are also raised with him to life in the resurrection. The resurrection is the key to our being born into a different family and becoming citizens of a new kingdom. When Jesus rose from the dead, he inaugurated a kingdom whose inevitability is life, not death. Ash Wednesday pushes us to long for Easter, where life is granted to all those who trust in Jesus.
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