Ash Wednesday Homily: Psalm 51:1-17

Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day and told her that I was planning to have an Ash Wednesday service at my church. She said “I didn’t know Methodists did that kind of thing.” Well we do do that kind of thing. Although Ash Wednesday and Lent are not celebrated by some Protestant denominations, I guess we Methodists are just Catholic enough to participate.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent which is a time of reflection and repentance. It is a time to put away all distractions and focus on God. With this in mind Lent has traditionally been a time of fasting, for Catholics and some Protestants this means giving up meat at least on Fridays. For most of us it means giving up that one thing that we love or that we have become addicted to. For me this year I decided to give up carbonated beverages and drink more water (something I need to do anyway), Angie has committed to give up Taco Bell, we’ll see how long that goes. The meaning behind this is to give up something that distracts and so you can focus more clearly upon God.

Ash Wednesday begins this season and this process and it is a day of repentance and mourning for our sins. Ashes have been used for centuries in the Jewish and Christian traditions as a sign of mourning. You hear many times in the Bible of people putting ashes on their heads and wearing sackcloth which are signs of mourning. Ashes are also a sign of mortality, ashes to ashes and dust to dust reminds us that our time is limited and from once we came so shall we return. So the use of ashes are important here both as a sign of repentance and mourning and as a sign of mortality.

We also read certain passages from Scripture, the Psalm we read Psalm 51 is known as a penitential Psalm, one written by David as a penance for sin. This particular Psalm was written as penance for the sin David committed with Bathsheba, we all remember that story. David became smitten with Bathsheba had his way with her and even had her husband killed so that she could solely his. David had become distracted, not with soda pop or Taco Bell, but a woman bathing on a rooftop, but however it happened, David got away from God and God’s plan. Nathan had to come and tell David of his sins. He had become so distracted from God that he didn’t even realized what he had done was wrong. Sometimes we need someone to hold us accountable for our actions. David realized the horrible thing he did and knew that he had to ask forgiveness. David realized that his sin would not just cause him to be punished by God, but to be separated from God. Look at verse 11 “Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.” David knew the true cost of sin, not that God will somehow smite us with a lightning bolt, but that as we sin we push ourselves further away from God. That is the true punishment for sin being taken away from the presence, the love, the grace, the light of God. David had to do something, but what.

David implores God to purge away his sin. He asks God to purge away sin with a hyssop branch. The hyssop branch was traditionally dipped in water and used in cleansing ceremonies. David knows that if God does this, his sins will be blotted out, he will be whiter than snow. Does this sound familiar to us? Our faith is built on the notion that Christy died for our sins, that his blood shed on Calvary’s cross cleanses our souls, whiter than snow. Notice David’s language, he does not say “I may be cleansed, I may be whiter than snow” instead the language is “shall” I shall be cleansed. We have that same promise, we shall be forgiven through Christ, and we do have grace through the old, rugged cross. This is our promise, our hope, our faith.

How do we attain it? In the days of old forgiveness from God was thought to be done through sacrifice. The people would bring lambs, goats, pigeons or doves if they were poor to be sacrificed in order to receive forgiveness. God was pleased by the scent of the burnt offering. David knew that this was only part of the deal. He says that God will not accept a sacrifice without a broken and contrite heart. That is a heart that is repentant, remorseful, and sorrowful for sin committed. We must come to the altar, come to the cross knowing that we do not deserve forgiveness, but punishment. We have been given every advantage and have thrown it away. However, this is not where the story ends.

We have forgiveness; we have grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have love and we have strength in the midst of our weakness. We must be able to receive it with a heart of change. Reception is not the end, look at verse 13 “Then I will teach transgressors your ways” We must have action, we must have a heart that is willing to walk out that door and change its ways, to preach the good news to the poor, to act for God’s justice, to be willing to show others the way of God. That is true repentance and that is how we gain true forgiveness.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.