ASH WEDNESDAY: Cultural Resources

The  use of ashes in the church left only a few records in the first  millennium of  Church history. The first Ash Wednesday that provides for  sprinkling ashes in  community rather than the individual  acknowledgment of repentance occurred  somewhere around 960.

Near the  end of the 11th century, Pope Urban II of the  Roman Catholic Church  called for the general use of ashes on what we now know  as Ash  Wednesday. It was not until the 12th century that the practice of ashes  being  created by burning palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday  was implemented.

The Lenten Season

The  season of Lent serves as our reminder of the redemptive and  salvific acts of  Jesus Christ. The Lenten season commences each year 40  days before Easter  (excluding Sundays) with Ash Wednesday (also known  as the Day of Ashes). The  day serves as a reminder for Christians of  our sinful nature and the reality of  death while simultaneously asking  us to recall the gracious nature of God.

On  Ash Wednesday we participate in a worship service in which we  include the  ritual practice of the imposition of ashes. In some cases  the ashes are a  result of the burning of the palms from the previous  year’s Palm Sunday. The  ritual practice of the imposition of ashes is  paired with a reading of a  portion of Genesis 3:14-19 in some churches.  This reading again draws our  attention to the weakness and failings of  humanity as demonstrated by God’s  assertion, “from [the ground] you  were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you  shall return” (Genesis  3:19b).

Why  ashes? The ashes are symbolic of our mortality and are placed  upon the  foreheads of those in worship in the sign of the Cross to  remind us of the  power of Jesus’ sacrifice. In the Bible we are pointed  to moments in which  members of the community in ancient Israel  expressed mourning and sorrow with ashes.  In Job (2:8) he sits on ashes  to express his mourning the death of his  children. In Jeremiah 6:26  the prophet proclaims, “O my poor people, put on  sackcloth, and roll in  ashes; make mournings as for an only child, most bitter  lamentations.”  Ashes in ancient Israel were an outward sign of mourning and   repentance. In this day of penitence we begin again a journey of  repentance  before we acknowledge the glory of the Resurrection. As a  result, before we  celebrate Christ’s glory we mourn the frailty of  human existence.

II. Songs That Speak to the Moment

A. Hymns

“Walk Together Children” is a Negro spiritual arranged by Evelyn   Simpson-Curenton. This song could be used during the invocation, the  altar call,  or before the pastoral prayer. During the Lenten season it  is a call for unity  and endurance; both of these qualities are lifted  in today’s texts.

Walk Together Children
Walk together children
Don’t you get weary
Walk together children
Don’t you get weary
Oh, talk together children
Don’t you get weary
There’s a great camp meeting in the promised land

Sing  together children
Don’t you get weary
Sing together children
Don’t you get weary
Oh, shout together children
Don’t you get weary
There’s a great camp meeting in the promised land.¹

“Am I a Soldier Of the Cross” by Isaac Watts is a metered hymn also  arranged by Evelyn  Simpson-Curenton. It is a song about continuing the  cause for Christ as a  result of the grace that we have been given  because of the sacrifices of Christ.  This song could be played softly  during the imposition of ashes.

Am I a Soldier of the  Cross
Am I a  soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?

Must I  be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?

Are  there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?

Sure I  must fight if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.

Thy  saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they die;
They see the triumph from afar,
By faith’s discerning eye.

When  that illustrious day shall rise,
And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through the skies,
The glory shall be Thine.²

B. Contemporary Gospel Songs

“Can’t Give Up Now” by Mary Mary can be used anywhere in the worship  service  on Ash Wednesday. It addresses the need to persevere in life  based on our  relationship with Christ. It too reinforces today’s text.

Can’t Give Up Now
There will be mountains that I will have to climb
And there will be battles that I will have to fight
But victory or defeat, it's up to me to decide
But how can I expect to win If I never try.

I just can't give up now
I've come too far from where I started from
Nobody told me the road would be easy
and I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me

Never said there wouldn't be trials
Never said I wouldn't fall
Never said that everything would go the way I want it to go
But when my back is against the wall
And i feel all hope is gone,
I'll just lift my head up to the sky
And say help me to be strong

I just can't give up now
I've come too far from where I started from
Nobody told me the road would be easy
and I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me

[Hook:]
No you didn't bring me out here to leave me lonely
Even when I can't see clearly
I know that you are with me (so I can't)

I just can't give up now
I've come too far from where I started from
Nobody told me the road would be easy
and I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me.³

“I’ve Been Changed” by Karen Clark-Sheard can be used as either the   sermonic selection or the invitational song. It deals with how we react  to  situations differently based on the change that occurs in us based  upon salvation.

I’ve Been Changed
Yeah...well  (I wonder is there anybody out there who’s been changed).

(1st  Verse)
Any other day I wouldn't have dealt with this situation this way. There  were a  lot of things I wanted to say but I thought about what would  have happened if I  let you get the best of me. No way. (No way) And now  I can truly say.

Chorus:

I was  a bird on the ground using my legs to get around. I was a  piano out of tune but  I've been turned around. Tell you how I know.  Places I used to go I don't even  go no more. 'Cause I can fly now. And  the song I play lets me know I've been  changed.

(2nd  Verse)
Never  mind what you've heard. I'm not the same. Somewhere, somehow,  someway I  reversed the way I do things. No it ain't worth all the tug  of war with you to  prove I'm stronger. I no longer stay to play and  lose. Now I am proud to say  it's true.

(Chorus)

Make  no mistake about it. Anyone could change. But it takes a strong  mind to say  that doing the right thing is okay. And now that I've  decided to give up these  ways there's no turning back now. Now that  I've found out I can overcome these  things. Oh...

(Chorus)

III. A Prayer of Confession

Everlasting God we come before you humbly acknowledging our sinful nature;

We confess that we fall short of the calling of Jesus Christ each day.

We fail to love you in the failure to love and care for your people.

We ask for the strength and boldness to continue the mission of Jesus in the world.

We pray for the fortitude to set aside our own agendas and comfort in an effort to participate in the kingdom of heaven.

Gracious God, humble us, have mercy on us, and allow the Holy Spirit to abide with us, embolden us, instruct us, and ever bring to our remembrance the life and death of your Son.

Allow us to follow Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior in all that we do.

Amen.

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Original Source: The African American Lectionary