Posts tagged “Ashes”

Our cruel master

Posted on February 16th, 2013

Mordecai and all the Jews put ashes on in response to the cruelty of the Persians. We also have a cruel master. We have enslaved ourselves to sin, given in to passions and to good desires corrupted. They control us like animals, rutting in heat, without shame or knowledge. Sin ruins the good things of God. It causes us to be dissatisfied with what He has given. David Petersen, sermon for Ash Wednesday Morning, in Thy Kingdom Come, p13

Categories: Theology

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Sermo Dei: Ash Wednesday Divine Service

Posted on February 13th, 2013

“Who knows?” said the king of Nineveh. Jonah had come preaching. He came against his will. There is a certain madness to preaching, at least the kind of preaching God demands. Jonah knew they wouldn’t like it, so he set out in the opposite direction. Chapters 1 and 2 of Jonah tell quite a tale, but it’s chapter 3 set before us tonight. Jonah announces, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” What must he have expected? “Some will laugh at me, and others will kill me.” For his instructions at the beginning were, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” This is no generic message of a far-off judgment…

Categories: Sermons

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Sermo Dei: Ash Wednesday Matins

Posted on February 13th, 2013

The ashes are not a Sacrament, nor are they a game.   A Sacrament is an earthly thing that God attaches to His Word of promise to give us His gifts. Baptism is a Sacrament, because there is an earthly thing—water—and there is His Word joined to it: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the FAther and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The promises are all over the place. Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved.” St. Peter says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; for the promise is for you and your…

Categories: Sermons

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“Look! My sins are gone!”

Posted on February 23rd, 2012

I certainly don’t practice the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday because I enjoy it. The whole thing is awkward, for everyone. Except for the bald guys and the women who’ve pulled their hair back, you’ve got to move the bangs out of the way. Some nervously stand too far away from me, leaving me to gesture, “Move closer,” or I have to close the gap. Other people come up with a big smile – we are socially conditioned that the correct response is to smile back, but I refuse. This is not the time. I am marking these people for death. I hate that, because I love them. But the worst thing about Ash Wednesday is marking the children. The adults—at least the non-smilers—get what’s happening.…

Categories: Liturgy, Theology

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