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“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
For nearly a thousand years, these words from Scripture reminding us of our mortality, have been spoken to young and old alike as the Sign of the Cross is traced on their foreheads with ashes—the Imposition of Ashes, as it has come to be known. And while some Americans are apt to think of this as a Roman Catholic tradition, in reality it is also a practice in Lutheran and Anglican communities - and often in other Protestant churches, too.
Ashes in the Bible
The Bible contains a number of references to ashes and dust (cf. Joshua 7:6; 1 Samuel 4:12; 2 Samuel 1:2, 15:32; Job 2:12, 16:15; Jeremiah 25:34; Lamentations 2:10; Ezekiel 27:30; Jonah 3:6). In fact, the Lord's curse on Adam, “dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19) is echoed in the Imposition of Ashes formula. In the New Testament, Jesus declares: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Matthew 11:21). Thus, in the Bible, ashes carry a two-fold meaning: as a sign of human mortality (Genesis 3:19) and as a sign of public repentance (Matthew 11:21).
Ashes in Church History
This understanding carried over into the early and medieval church. Tertullian (ca. 160-225) describes the use of sackcloth and ashes in the penance of an adulterer before his pastor. Originally, ashes were reserved only for public penitents—i.e., murderers, adulterers and others who had fallen away from the church because of grave public sin but desired reconciliation. Such reconciliation could occur at a variety of times during the year, but by the medieval period, the beginning of Lent became a primary season of the church year for that reconciliation to take place.
By the 12th century, ashes became specifically associated with the beginning of Lent, thus providing the first day of Lent with its name, Ash Wednesday. However, by this time, everybody—pastors and people alike—had ashes (mixed with a tiny bit of olive oil) traced on their foreheads in the Sign of the Cross. By the time of the Reformation, the imposition of ashes was a long and universal practice, that was continued by Lutheran and Anglican Protestants.
Ashes Today?
A contemporary Christian appropriation of the Imposition of Ashes should begin with the two-fold biblical understanding of ashes: as a sign of our mortality and as a sign of our repentance. Likewise, the traditional formula, “Remember, you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” is most appropriate, since it paraphrases the words of God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:19). By receiving the ashes, the worshiper acknowledges that God's judgment against our sin is right and just. But the ashes are also made in the Sign of the Cross—the very instrument by which our Lord took upon himself the punishment for our sin, in our place. Thus, the Cross of ashes serves to remind us that we are sinners. Furthermore, it reminds us of our Baptism, where we also received the Sign of the Cross on our foreheads, reminding us that we are not only sinners but are redeemed.
In the form of a Cross!
And the ashes are placed in the form of the Cross - reminding us that because of Christ, because of the Cross - we have forgiveness and life! The symbol on foreheads proclaims the deepest, most important Truth: We are sinners, we are mortal because of that. BUT Christ is our SAVIOR and because of His work, we have forgiveness and everlasting life
.
What I Like About Lutheranism
.
For nearly a thousand years, these words from Scripture reminding us of our mortality, have been spoken to young and old alike as the Sign of the Cross is traced on their foreheads with ashes—the Imposition of Ashes, as it has come to be known. And while some Americans are apt to think of this as a Roman Catholic tradition, in reality it is also a practice in Lutheran and Anglican communities - and often in other Protestant churches, too.
Ashes in the Bible
The Bible contains a number of references to ashes and dust (cf. Joshua 7:6; 1 Samuel 4:12; 2 Samuel 1:2, 15:32; Job 2:12, 16:15; Jeremiah 25:34; Lamentations 2:10; Ezekiel 27:30; Jonah 3:6). In fact, the Lord's curse on Adam, “dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19) is echoed in the Imposition of Ashes formula. In the New Testament, Jesus declares: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Matthew 11:21). Thus, in the Bible, ashes carry a two-fold meaning: as a sign of human mortality (Genesis 3:19) and as a sign of public repentance (Matthew 11:21).
Ashes in Church History
This understanding carried over into the early and medieval church. Tertullian (ca. 160-225) describes the use of sackcloth and ashes in the penance of an adulterer before his pastor. Originally, ashes were reserved only for public penitents—i.e., murderers, adulterers and others who had fallen away from the church because of grave public sin but desired reconciliation. Such reconciliation could occur at a variety of times during the year, but by the medieval period, the beginning of Lent became a primary season of the church year for that reconciliation to take place.
By the 12th century, ashes became specifically associated with the beginning of Lent, thus providing the first day of Lent with its name, Ash Wednesday. However, by this time, everybody—pastors and people alike—had ashes (mixed with a tiny bit of olive oil) traced on their foreheads in the Sign of the Cross. By the time of the Reformation, the imposition of ashes was a long and universal practice, that was continued by Lutheran and Anglican Protestants.
Ashes Today?
A contemporary Christian appropriation of the Imposition of Ashes should begin with the two-fold biblical understanding of ashes: as a sign of our mortality and as a sign of our repentance. Likewise, the traditional formula, “Remember, you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” is most appropriate, since it paraphrases the words of God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:19). By receiving the ashes, the worshiper acknowledges that God's judgment against our sin is right and just. But the ashes are also made in the Sign of the Cross—the very instrument by which our Lord took upon himself the punishment for our sin, in our place. Thus, the Cross of ashes serves to remind us that we are sinners. Furthermore, it reminds us of our Baptism, where we also received the Sign of the Cross on our foreheads, reminding us that we are not only sinners but are redeemed.
In the form of a Cross!
And the ashes are placed in the form of the Cross - reminding us that because of Christ, because of the Cross - we have forgiveness and life! The symbol on foreheads proclaims the deepest, most important Truth: We are sinners, we are mortal because of that. BUT Christ is our SAVIOR and because of His work, we have forgiveness and everlasting life
.
What I Like About Lutheranism
.
Dark night of the soul....