Tonight, we begin our Lenten journey tonight with a sign of the cross smudged across our foreheads. The ashen smudge is a sign of our identification with Jesus- it reminds us of our baptismal promises to follow Jesus’ along Christ’s alternative kin-dom route. 

I do not see where Jesus asked us to put on sackcloth or wear ashes. I am not sure if the Bible ever asks us to put on ashes and wear uncomfortable fabrics.  This is not to say we do not need to repent, but repentance is not about feeling itchy, uncomfortable, guilty, or ashamed. The CEB Bible translates “repent” as “change your hearts and lives.” (Matthew 3:2) Repentance signals our intention to take Jesus’ path. 

 Isaiah prophesies about ashes, sackcloth and shame, writing:  “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loosen the chains of injustice to set the oppressed free and break every unjust yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.”(Isaiah‬ 58‬:‭5‬-‭8‬)  Tonight is not a night to feel bad about yourself, to bow your head low in shame. Tonight is a night to align actions with our intentions to check the map, and realign our bearings so we might take Jesus’ route. . 

Receive the ashes as a sign of your deep identification with Jesus.  Wear your ashes not for grief but to remember that God is with us when it seems like everything is falling apart. Hebrews 4 declares “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”   Wear your ashes and feel your belovedness. (Romans 8)

Luke 9 signals a pivotal moment in Jesus’ ministry.  Jesus has been moving about the towns and villages teaching, offering free health care and feeding people.  But in Chapter 9 Jesus goes up on the mountaintop to pray and chatting with Elijah and Moses begins to face Jerusalem. Peter wants to build some shrines and stay on the holy mountain.  Jesus’ alternative route leads us down the road to the mocking crowds, sell-out clergy, unjust kings, chaos and the cross. Jesus sets his face, turns his focus, directs his attention towards Jerusalem- the city that kills the prophets, scatters the disciples, and breaks Christ’s heart. (Luke 13, Matthew 23)  Why go down that unpleasant road? Doctor Cornel West, who teaches at Union Theological Seminary, declares, “justice is what love looks like in public.”  Love cannot ignore systems of evil, injustice and oppression. We all want justice for those we deeply love. God loves everyone.   

The days of Jesus’ Jerusalem departure drew near, the cross looms some 40 days ahead. Jesus hurries along the road. As Jesus passes by, someone shouts  “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus warns, you may be sleeping on the ground tonight, a felony in Tennessee.  Jesus invites another, “Follow me.” But we reply, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father and get the estate in order.”  Another declares  “I will follow you, Lord, but let me just kiss my family goodbye.” All such reasonable responses, but Jesus is moving with what Dr King called “the fierce urgency of the now!” Time is not neutral, we can’t always wait for our best day to follow Jesus. We receive these ashes and step onto the road with Jesus, pledging to help build God’s kin-dom of compassion, justice and welcome here on earth as in Heaven. 

 Dr. Mindy McGarrah Sharp asks us: “As Lent begins, how will you align your intentions with your actions?  Lent calls us to step forward, even when we’re not fully ready. Are you ready to move toward transformation? Are you ready to listen for good news in seemingly impossible spaces, even as a divided people and planet? Ready to set Lenten intentions, even with this year’s challenges? Ready, even with some good reasons to wait a little longer to begin? Getting ready shifts intended journeys to active practices of packing, strength-training, and starting farewells.” 

Tonight as we bare an ashen cross let us consider how we will align our intentions with our actions.  What practices is God calling you to add to your life? What do you need to leave behind in order to get moving along life’s road with Jesus?   Do not bow your head low, lift up your eyes and see the world with compassion and justice and follow Jesus along God’s alternative route to a life more complete, just, and eternal.  Amen.