Reflections on the Meaning of Ash Wednesday: by Garner Nottingham

Ash Wednesday is only days away, and that means Lent will be upon those of us who observe it soon.  It also does not escape me that we are returning to the liturgical season when the Coronavirus Pandemic and its associated restrictions first impacted us last year. I know for many, it felt like Easter never came and we have been in a season of austerity and fasting for nearly a year. However, I want to challenge the notion that Lent is something to be dreaded, instead, it is an incredibly useful opportunity to better understand ourselves, come closer to God, and to provide a contrast to Easter which, lasts a full fifty days compared to Lent’s forty. 

Recognizing that many in the Fellows community did not grow up with the liturgical calendar, and many who did do not know very much about it, Lent is a period of observance of forty days not including Sundays—which are always feast days—beginning with Ash Wednesday and concluding with Triduum—Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and the Great Vigil of Easter. Lent is commonly seen as a season of fasting and repentance, and the forty days are modeled after Christ’s forty days in the wilderness where he resisted temptation. Lent is also an opportunity for additive practices, such as, reading a Lenten devotional and participating in the sacrament of confession. 

Now, the meat of this blog is a discussion of the Episcopal Liturgy for Ash Wednesday, and the Revised Common Lectionary for that day. Before I get into that I want to point out that Ash Wednesday is not the original beginning of Lent, and before it was established in the Sixth Century because the non-fasting Sundays should not count in the forty days, the first day of the fast was actual the Sunday after Quadragesima—the first Sunday of Lent. This might seem super unimportant, but it inadvertently shifted the lectionary for the first day of Lenten fasting. The original Gospel reading is as follows:

10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (NSRV, Luke 18: 10-14)

Jesus teaches us that the repentantly aware sinner is justified, while the proudly pious man is not. I believe that living a life with maximum virtue is not the path to salvation, but instead, we are called to maximizing our humility before God and confess our unavoidable imperfection and sin. We are only saved by God’s grace and pretending that we are worthy of salvation by our own merit and not God’s is heresy. Now, this might seem like just a nice catechism reminder, but it also has vital application for the frankly bizarre and paradoxical ritual that is the version of observing Ash Wednesday that I am about to describe. 

For those who are unfamiliar with Anglicanism, what one might consider a standard Eucharistic service consists of two parts that are in theory separate: the Liturgy of the Word which, consists of the collect (prayer) of the day, reading scripture, the sermon, prayers of the people (a sort of comprehensive prayer list), confession of sin (except during the Christmas and Easter Seasons), and the peace. We then have The Holy Communion, which consists of The Great Thanksgiving including the Lord’s Prayer, and finally the Breaking of the Bread. All of this is intermittently punctuated with Hymns. 

To begin our journey through the service Pray with me the Collect for Ash Wednesday:

“Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (BCP)

The most famous thing about Ash Wednesday is the imposition of Ashes which, usually consist of a member of the Clergy smearing some palm ashes on everyone’s foreheads and saying, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19-20). Some translations include the word “but” before “dust” leading to certain mischievous youths to giggle that they are “butt dust”. Earlier versions of the Book of Common Prayer started the service with this, but the 1979 version moved it to the end of the Liturgy of the Word for what I am told was a response to Vatican II. Now, this tidbit is important because it made that whole diversion into the Luke reading worthwhile. This is because the readings are as follows:

First an Old Testament reading about fasting, either from Joel or Isaiah, I have chosen to use the Isaiah reading for this example: 

58 “Shout out, do not hold back!
    Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet day after day they seek me
    and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
    and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
    they delight to draw near to God.
3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
    Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day,
    and oppress all your workers.
4 Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
    will not make your voice heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
    a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
    and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
    and satisfy your needs in parched places,
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters never fail.
12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to live in.” (NSRV, Isaiah 58: 1-12).

This includes the fasting stuff one would expect to kick Lent off with, it also prophesies part of Christ’s experience in the wilderness with the Lord answering calls for help. It also instructs on the important Lenten practice of charity, which is one of the less famous Lenten practices we are called to engage in. But for the plot of this blog, the important part is it reminds us to be humble. Humility is a core theme of the Ash Wednesday lectionary.

Then the Epistle (I am a two readings before the Gospel kind of guy) is from Paul:

20 “So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

6 As we work together with him,[a] we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,

“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
    and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” (NSRV, 2 Corinthians, 5:20-6:10).

Now, this brings us back to the original purpose of Ash Wednesday, to serve as an office to begin the process of reconciling those who have drifted away from the Church with God, through strict observance of the Lenten disciplines of, prayer, fasting, confession, and charity. It is the time to reorient ourselves back to God and through his grace to salvation.  What a better way to do this than to be reminded of our mortality; to physically put ash on our heads while saying we are but dust? It is only by the grace of God that anything else is possible. 

Now for the Gospel, and get ready for things to get weird:

“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.

2 “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 5 “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

16 “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21).

Now here are Jesus’s instructions for how to do Lent well. He comments on charity, prayer, and fasting. Unfortunately, we must wait until the first Monday in Lent to get Jesus’s take on the confession of sin, although this certainly echoes our Luke reading.  At face value, this is exactly what one expects to hear on Ash Wednesday. However, here is the catch: either you are old school and already have ashes on your head, in which case this is an educational “got you” moment, or you are following the current missal and are expecting to receive them soon. Is this not a contradiction to walk about all day with a black cross-smudge on my face? What is happening? What has happened is you have received a gift. The gift is that the ashes remind us that we are mortal and that we cannot perfectly follow the word of God, and to pretend otherwise would be heretical as we have already established. Because we are not proud of the ashes but instead are aware of the moral hazard of being so, we are invited to be like the justified tax collector and not the Pharisee.  Ash Wednesday is a reminder of our deprivation, and an invitation to either start the process of justification or to reaffirm our commitment to it. 

If this is a lot to take in, that is okay because now its time for Psalm 51:

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise. 

18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
    to build up the walls of Jerusalem. (NSRV) 

David recognizes original sin and asks for God’s help to cleanse himself of it. Again, another reminder of the essentialness of God’s grace.  Now that we have heard David repent, it is time for us to do so.

Litany of Penitence

The Celebrant and People together, all kneeling

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

The Celebrant continues

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and
strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We
have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us.
We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved
your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the
pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation
of other people,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those
more fortunate than ourselves,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and
our dishonesty in daily life and work,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to
commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done:
for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our
indifference to injustice and cruelty,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our
neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those
who differ from us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of
concern for those who come after us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,
That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,
Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

The Bishop, if present, or the Priest, stands and, facing the people, says

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
desires not the death of sinners, but rather that they may turn
from their wickedness and live, has given power and
commandment to his ministers to declare and pronounce to
his people, being penitent, the absolution and remission of
their sins. He pardons and absolves all those who truly
repent, and with sincere hearts believe his holy Gospel.

Therefore we beseech him to grant us true repentance and his
Holy Spirit, that those things may please him which we do on
this day, and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure
and holy, so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, p.267-269) 

 Here is the most awesome thing I believe; anyone who sincerely believes this has their train ticket to heaven, and I don’t mean the literal yellow paper thing one of my beloved great-uncles gave me once. The best part about this ticket is it is written on my heart and issued by God’s unlimited grace. That is the Gospel and my testimony. 

Finally, we end this exciting liturgical journey with the comfort of receiving the Eucharist, and with it are joined together in the body of Christ. 

Being a Fellow is a little like being part of an Ash Wednesday service. We get a lot of information, have a lot of ups and downs, restart or renew our journeys to justification, acknowledge our brokenness, and join together in the body of Christ. I love the challenges like I love Lent, both bring closer intimacy with God, and with that Salvation. The good news is like the Church Calendar prescribes, we get more feasting than fasting, more Hallelujahs than not. And one last note: Sunday feast days start sundown on Saturday, so here’s a friendly reminder that I believe we have a religious obligation to celebrate our feasts well.