Dust, Ashes Mean More Than We Think

There is no man so poor as he who only has money.

Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Where is your heart? During this season of Lent, many of you may have come with penitent hearts to the altar to have ashes placed on your foreheads as a sign of sorrow and sacrifice. The pastor may have said, “From dust you came and to dust you shall return” as the sign of the cross was made on your forehead.

That’s the funny thing about dust and ash. They’re not worth anything. In fact, we spend a good bit of our lives cleaning out the ashes of the fireplace or dusting the window sills. We often forget that dust and ash has played a role in who we are today.

Do you remember standing in line at the water fountain, shaking the dust of the playground off your clothes? Smiling as you talked to your friends about the touchdown you made or the monkey bars you climbed? That dust reminds us of a carefree time in our lives when everything was simple and the biggest worry was how much your mom would fret over the grass stains.

Or what about the dust from the window sills you drew smiley faces on as you looked out on those rainy days? They remind of a time of longing when we wish we could go and be a part of something. Anything, just not stuck looking out the window at the falling rain.

Or the dust you blew off that old trunk you had forgotten about in the attic. The one filled with all kinds of memories.

Or the journal you kept when you were a child?

Remember how proud you were to be chosen to shake the dust off the erasers from the chalkboards that taught you how to read and write and sometimes even ‘rithmatic?

Or the dust from the erasers of your No. 2 pencils as you furiously try to get right that long division answer?

What about the ashes left from the campfires of your time in the woods with your Cub Scout pack? Remember how you learned not to be so scared of the dark?

What about spreading ashes from the fireplace on a plot of ground you hope to one day turn into a garden? Remember the hope you had of the Spring to come?

Placing ashes on our heads means so much more than just a smudge we wipe off when we get home. We’re starting a new journey. For the next 40 days we repent. We fast. We pray and we give of ourselves with a renewed sense of worship. We are formed from the dust and ashes of our past and shaped into something new.

Dust and ashes do mean something. Let us pray. Dear God. Guide us now, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light. Send out your light, and your truth, and let them lead us, through Jesus Christ your Son. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.