Ask the Pastor

Q: What is the good news in the words on Ash Wednesday?

A: Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.

"Remember you are dust..."

A. First, it has to do with remembering we are creatures and not the Creator. This is GREAT news because left to our devices, in the largest arenas, we start and carry on wars, ignore genocides, let the hungry stay hungry... At the most intimate level, we do not always relate honestly with those around us and often end up hurting those we love the most.

B. Secondly, in remembering we are dust and to dust we shall return, we are at a level and perspective in life to ask for forgiveness. Being on one's knees is a penitential and vulnerable position; in the old days servants had to do that at the feet of their masters because when one is on one’s knees, one cannot attack by surprise.

C. Also, one has the opportunity to ask and receive forgiveness. If you have ever been forgiven by one you love or if you have ever forgiven one you love, I don’t need to tell you how incredible that news is!

"...and to dust you shall return."

A. While this sounds pretty hopeless, as Christians, we know this is not the end. The body will go back into the ground, true ... but we also say every Sunday ... we believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting!

B. Hear Martin Luther in his Torgau Sermon: (Christ) did not have to die and to descend into hell. But because he stuck himself into our flesh and blood and took all our sins, punishment, and misfortune upon himself, he had to help us escape. ... he grabbed hold of life again ... he broke the trail for us and went ahead of us into eternal life so that through his resurrection we might come through and experience a glorious victory over death and hell. For we whom death and hell had held captive are not only redeemed; we also have become victors ... athrough faith. Through this faith we are clothed in his resurrection, and we shall all someday rise physically and visibly and shall soar above; all things shall lie eternally under our feet.

For such a faith would teach us properly that Christ not only is risen for himself but that his resurrection is inseparably connected with ours. It is also valid for us, and we ... are enwrapped in it. Through it and because of it we must also rise and live…eternally. Our rising and living has begun in Christ. Even though it is still hidden and not revealed, it is as certain as if it had already happened. When you see a Christian dying and being buried, lying there like nothing else than a piece of word, dead to both your eyes and your ears, ... through faith you see another image instead of that image of death. You see not a grave, not a dead piece of wood. You see nothing but life and a beautiful lovely garden…and in it nothing but new, living , happy human creatures.

Next Article - The Augustanan Home

The Augustanan
Newsletter
February 2005

This Issue:

Pastor's Message
Ask the Pastor
Faith in Action
Accessibility Update
Lenten Services
From the Intern's Desk
Adult Education
Committee Schedule
Calendar

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The Augustanan Home

Augustana Lutheran Church

Augustana Lutheran Church
2100 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20009-6507

Church Office Hours:
Monday-Friday, 9:00am-4:00pm