Ash Wednesday Service
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
1 Corinthians 15:20-23, 47-49, 58.

^15:20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²²For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. . .

⁴⁷The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. ⁴⁸As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. . .

⁵⁸Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain. (NIV).

Your Mark of Destiny!

  And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. Those words are powerful! They are words of destiny. We are destined to bear the image of the heavenly man, to rise from the dead and become like Jesus, glorious and immortal! That destiny is now marked on your forehead in that black cross of ashes.

  Even though you will wash off those ashes later tonight, that black cross stands for something that makes all the difference in the rest of your life. The cross of ashes on your forehead marks you as one destined to both death and resurrection!

  What do we mean by destiny? Destiny, refers to a seemingly inevitable or necessary succession of events, that which will happen to a person. We sometimes call this fate. Yet it seems to me that destiny has a rather positive sense, while fate has a negative connotation. Destiny usually refers to something we want to happen and hope will not somehow be lost. Fate refers to some undesirable condition that we cannot avoid but certainly would if we could. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. That seems pretty positive to me, to be like Jesus, so I think destiny is the word to use.

  To better understand the concept of destiny, consider the Harry Potter book or movie, The Philosopher’s Stone. You have probably seen the commercials on CBC this past week announcing that they are about to show it. Basically the setting for the story is this: Harry’s parents die in a car crash when he is just a baby. He was raised by an aunt and uncle who never tell him about his past and treat him poorly. Like Cinderella, Harry has to do all the work. He even has to sleep under the stairs. On his eleventh birthday, Harry receives a mysterious letter from Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, telling him that he has been chosen as one of the students. There, Harry finally learns the truth about his roots and his destiny. His parents were a good wizard and witch. They died trying to protect Harry from the evil wizard Voldemort. At the same time, Harry got a scar on his forehead. That scar marked Harry as the one who is destined to be the good wizard that defeats the evil wizard. Even though he may not want to be the hero or know how to be the hero, he is and has to be. And so begins Harry’s adventures.

  In a very similar way, there is an evil that would like to kill us. Satan succeeded in killing our parents, Adam and Eve. We were then marked for death, destined to die as they died. But then another man came along and defeated the enemy. Now he has marked us for life. We are now destined to live again. And so, we have a double destiny. Like Adam, we must die; but like Christ, we will live! The cross of ashes on your forehead, like Harry Potter’s scar, is a sign of this double destiny.

  Our first destiny is that of Adam, the first man, the earthly man. Paul says that through the first man came death, that in Adam all die, and that we have borne the likeness of Adam. That is, we are what Adam became. He was created good and perfect, but became sinful and mortal. He became the enemy of God; he feared God, hid from God and was expelled from God’s presence. God punished him with death and said, For dust you are and to dust you shall return, Gn 3:19. Since we are the descendants of Adam, his end is our destiny. Death awaits us. It would perhaps be better to use the word fate here, for death is a great evil which we would avoid if we could.

  I said those same words when I put the ashes on your forehead, For dust you are and to dust you shall return. Those black ashes you can wash off, but what they symbolize, you cannot wash off. As we say in our confession of sin, we have sinned against God in thought, word and deed and we have not loved our neighbour as we love ourselves. We can’t help it for we are only what Adam was: sinful, earthly, mortal. So as Harry Potter’s scar marked him, or as God marked Cain after he killed Able, so the black ashes mark us and reveal who we are. We are made from the dust of the earth and we must return to the dust of the earth. There it is for all to see.

  This fate is not very nice. It makes our life difficult. It is similar to Harry’s life under the stairs. He was not really meant to live life as a Cinderella, sleeping under the stairs, but he had become a sort of prisoner under the power of his aunt and uncle and their son. They mistreated him. We have fallen under the power of sin, death and the devil. We can avoid none of them. We are unable to be sinless; we are no match for the devil; and we die. Not only are we aware of our own sin, guilt and shame, but we live in a world of struggle. From blizzards to war, life is not easy! That’s what the black ash on your forehead means. You’re of Adam’s race; you must die.

  However, that black ash is in the form of a cross, another more powerful symbol. It means that you have another destiny, that of Christ, the second man, the heavenly man. Here Paul has great news! Through a man comes the resurrection of the dead. In Christ, all will be made alive. This second man is heavenly and you will bear his likeness too!

  I’ll be honest, I don’t much like the idea of being connected to Adam and bearing the consequences of his sin. I don’t like that fate. It doesn’t seem fair. But on the other hand, I do like the idea of being joined to Christ and of sharing in his life and resurrection. I like the idea of being forgiven of all sin, even the ones I will do. I like the idea of being marked with Baptism and of being called into God’s family. I like the idea that God has destined me to rise from the dead, enter into his presence and live forever in perfection! But you know what, that’s not fair either! It’s not what I deserve; and I can’t do anything to make it happen. It’s just like being born into the right family. I guess that’s why Jesus spoke of being born again of water and the Spirit. Those black ashes, then, in the form of the cross, are the mark that you have been joined to Christ.

  Again we can compare this to Harry’s life at Hogwart’s School. Once he found out the truth about who he was, his life changed. He found out the meaning of the scar on his forehead. He didn’t have to think of himself as a Cinderella type anymore. Now he knew his purpose and how important he was. He also seemed to come under a higher power that directed his life and watched over him. His life may not have been easy, but it was good. He could look forward to his destiny rather than dreading his fate.

  In the same way we have a new understanding of who we are. You are the God’s children. You are under the watch of a higher power, the Holy Spirit. You have a good destiny: to rise from the dead, be free of Adam’s curse, and live in God’s presence. Although Harry could have died and never fulfilled his destiny, your destiny cannot be stopped by death. In fact, you must die to pass into the new life. That’s what the cross on your forehead means.

  This destiny then changes everything now. Paul says, Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.

  Consider once more Harry Potter. Once he and his friends learned the truth about himself and the scar on his head, everything changed. Now he was visible, known. The evil wizard knew where he was and resumed his efforts to kill him. Harry’s life became a battle against the forces of evil. He had to learn how to use the good powers to defeat evil. He had to overcome his own childish weaknesses and foolishness and that of his friends too.

  In much the same way, we are now visible and known to the devil and the world under his control. He seeks to kill us. We too must learn to use the power of our Father to combat evil. If we look again at the black ashes used to make the cross on our forehead, we will see that the biggest enemy we have is our own flesh that we got from Adam. Our own humanity is our Achilles’ heel. The devil doesn’t need superior magical power to defeat us. He simply needs to get us to give into the weaknesses, foolishness, desires and lusts of our old nature and we will fall by ourselves. Yet, in those black ashes, we see the form of the cross and thus the way to win the fight. So Paul says, Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.

  We are called to battle just as Harry was! We must put to death the deeds of the flesh, beat our flesh into submission, to daily drown the old man by confessing our sins to each other and to God. This is the“good fight” of faith. It is our destiny! We must let the higher power of God direct us, let the Holy Spirit mould our thoughts, words and deeds. We let him speak to us through the Word and Sacraments. We rely on his gifts to live as the Body of Christ. We seek how to build the body of Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. It is our destiny!

  That cross on your forehead, made with black ashes, says all you need to know. It is the mark of your destiny: for just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.