{"id":23242,"date":"2016-02-11T06:01:58","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T11:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=23242"},"modified":"2016-02-11T08:50:10","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T13:50:10","slug":"the-imposition-of-ashes-and-gods-gift-of-repentance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/02\/the-imposition-of-ashes-and-gods-gift-of-repentance\/","title":{"rendered":"The imposition of ashes and God’s gift of repentance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

What an Ash Wednesday service we had: \u00a0the Litany AND the imposition of ashes AND the sacrament of Holy Communion. \u00a0The grandkids thought it was cool to have ashes put on their heads, but it was hard to see them with the mark of death upon them, but that\u2019s the way it is. \u00a0I think Pastor Cwirla\u2019s objection to the imposition of ashes<\/a> that I blogged about yesterday\u2013that a pastor is to convey forgiveness, not another reminder of sin and death\u2013is answered when the service includes the sacrament, so that the pastor is giving both the law followed by\u00a0the gospel.<\/p>\n

But I want to share with you another take on the imposition of ashes. \u00a0Sandra Ostapowich, in a movingly honest and well-written post, writes about her struggles to apply Lenten disciplines, to conquer her sins, and even to repent of them. \u00a0But then the imposition of ashes reminds her of how God does everything for her salvation, including giving her the gift of repentance.<\/p>\n

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From\u00a0Sandra Ostapowich,<\/strong>\u00a0The Imposition of Repentance | Baptizatus Sum<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a pretty terrible Christian. As people are posting on social media about what they\u2019re giving up (sometimes social media!), what they\u2019re adding, what they\u2019re doing to try and practice some penitent self-control through the season of Lent, this fact becomes all the more clear.<\/p>\n

I am really bad with self-discipline. Like, seriously bad. I rebel against any and all constraints put on my freedom\u00a0\u2014 even just to follow through with the basic necessities of life and have things scheduled on my calendar. Oh, I can do reasonably\u00a0well for a few days, but then it\u2019s almost always back to what suits my mood and desires at the time.<\/p>\n

So Lent is a difficult time for me. I know we\u2019re supposed to be repentant, feeling sorrow for our sins and contemplating Christ\u2019s sufferings. But most of the time, I\u2019m just feeling guilty for being so weak as to not be able to participate in the season as I think I should, and like everyone else does. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s really the kind of sorrow I\u2019m supposed to be feeling.\u00a0More like self-pity. . . .<\/p>\n

\u00a0I<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0went to church on Ash Wednesday.\u00a0I<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0got ashes on my forehead.\u00a0I<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0am being good and Lent-y. At least for a few moments.<\/p>\n

But then it hit me, as I was sitting in church with ashes fresh on my forehead and crumbling into my eyelashes, listening to the Gospel lesson that tells us not to look gloomy and disfigure our faces (some translations add, \u201cwith ashes\u201d) so that our fasting may be seen by others.<\/p>\n

Um\u2026<\/p>\n

Wait. Even while I was trying to be piously gloomy and penitent,\u00a0I<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0didn\u2019t disfigure my face.\u00a0I<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0didn\u2019t put ashes on my own forehead.\u00a0I<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0didn\u2019t come up with my own repentance. That\u00a0was imposed on me by my pastor with ashes in the smudgy shape of a cross\u00a0\u2014like the sign of the cross that marked my forehead (and my heart) long ago at my baptism. That wasn\u2019t just my pastor\u2019s hand waving over\u00a0me, that was God marking me as one who had been redeemed by Christ the crucified. Those weren\u2019t\u00a0just my pastor\u2019s words spoken over me, it was God\u2019s Word that baptized me into His name, the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,\u00a0adopting me as His own dear child.<\/p>\n

The gifts of God come to us from outside of us (the fancy Latin term there is\u00a0\u201cextra nos,\u201d<\/i>). We listen to God\u2019s Word read in our worship services so that it can come into our ears\u00a0from outside of us. (Incidentally, that\u2019s also why we use the liturgy \u2014 because it\u2019s more of God\u2019s Word and who can improve on that?!) Baptism, the Lord\u2019s Supper\u2026more gifts from God through His Word tied to means, all come to us from outside of us. We even believe that the faith itself to receive these gifts isn\u2019t of ourselves, but also a gift from God.\u00a0\u201cI believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Today, God\u2019s Word came to me from outside myself through the voice of his servant, along with the ashen reminder that, \u201cDust you are, and to dust you shall return.\u201d On Ash Wednesday ashes are imposed on our foreheads precisely\u00a0because<\/i>\u00a0we cannot repent on our own\u00a0either. And then, repentant, our sins are absolved with the Gospel and faith receives the Word with the bread and body and wine and blood \u2014 even more forgiveness in our mouths, in the Lord\u2019s Supper!<\/p>\n

In our\u00a0new, absolved, baptized life in Christ, then, we can wipe off\u00a0that reminder of the dusty\u00a0and dead Old Adam\u00a0so that our fasting and repentance is not seen by our neighbors but only our new lives of love and service for them. We have been given life not for ourselves, but for them, after all\u00a0\u2014 to serve them and put their needs before our sinful need to be seen as good, Lent-y Christians. God knows what\u2019s in our hearts. He\u2019s the One who has given us our new, clean ones.<\/p>\n

[Read it all. . .]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Stay in touch! Like Cranach on Facebook:<\/em><\/p>\n

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Cranach<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What an Ash Wednesday service we had: \u00a0the Litany AND the imposition of ashes AND the sacrament of Holy Communion. \u00a0The grandkids thought it was cool to have ashes put on their heads, but it was hard to see them with the mark of death upon them, but that\u2019s the way it is. \u00a0I think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,21],"tags":[52,4283],"class_list":["post-23242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-holidays","tag-ash-wednesday","tag-meaning-of-ashes"],"yoast_head":"\nThe imposition of ashes and God's gift of repentance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What an Ash Wednesday service we had: \u00a0the Litany AND the imposition of ashes AND the sacrament of Holy Communion. \u00a0The grandkids thought it was cool to\" \/>\n<meta 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