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After the Ashes
Ash Wednesday is a powerful day for Christians around the world. It is a day when we confront the daunting certainty of our death and also the transformative hope that we receive through the love of Christ. Ash Wednesday is a day when we mark ourselves publicly not just as followers of Christ, but as sinners who are in desperate need of God's redemptive love.
Growing up, I attended Catholic schools from the 4th to the 12th grade. so I had ashes on my forehead from Mass before I even reached evening service. It is powerful to think “from ash and dust God forms us,” and but for God, “to ash and dust we will return.” But it is also powerful to see believers mark themselves with ashen crosses to publicly show that they are both sinners and redeemed.
I went to a very big high school and so I would see hundreds of people over the course of my day who wore the mark of our Christian faith. It was humbling and inspiring. I attended a public university and saw thousands of students and faculty wearing ashes on Ash Wednesday, there as well. Seeing so many people acknowledge their Christian journey - including the hard parts of it - helped me to know that even though at times we are lonely, in Christ we are never alone.
Sometimes I wonder if young people today have that same feeling. In a world that is in many ways more connected, we hear and see evidence that we are further apart. If you were to watch the news, you couldn't help but believe we are further apart from our fellow citizens, our neighbors, even from the people in our own families.
In fact, the news is filled with stories of death and the wages of sinlacking in stories of hope and redemption.
But there is Good News! Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever! God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son that whoever should believe in Him should not perish but have life everlasting! The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy but Christ comes that we might have life and have it more abundantly!
If, like me, you believe in a Resurrection God, then you know that the story doesn't end with ashes. We have to acknowledge the things in this world that cause hurt, harm, death, and destruction. We have to acknowledge our sinfulness. We need to wear our ashes. But what happens after the ashes?
After the ashes, there is so much more. After the ashes we are received into Holy Communion with a God who loves us, forgives us, and never forsakes us. After the ashes we receive Grace, God's unmerited favor. After the ashes we witness the horrific spectacle of a God willing to die for our imperfections AND the boundless miracle of that same God's Resurrection. After the ashes, we get to walk every day with God's Holy Spirit resting, ruling, and abiding in us if only we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord.
When I think about what happens after the ashes, I realize that I don't need to wonder if young people are humbled and awed by God and God's love for us the way I was when I was their age. When I think about what happens after the asses, I am compelled to show them what God has done for me; and to let them know the same God that did it for me will do it for them! There is Good News after the ashes - go and tell somebody.
JT Crockett
Director of Youth, Young Adult & Family Ministries
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