The Scar and the Tattoo

Sermon as preached 2/13/13 at Evington UMC


Scripture- Psalm 51

Tonight is an exciting night for me. It is of course Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. And while it may sound strange to say but I actually enjoy Lent. It is not that I am masochistic and enjoy practices of discipline, self- control, and self-deprivation, but I truly treasure a season that forces me to stop and think about how I can walk closer to God. I must admit though that tonight is an exciting night for me for another reason as well. Tonight is the Duke-UNC, and for anyone who knows college basketball, that’s a big deal. But as I was reading through some of the articles leading up to the game, I came across one that caught my eye, and as I read it, I realized that it had a lot to teach us about Ash Wednesday.

            The article has nothing to do with Ash Wednesday, in fact it is not even religious other than a few references here and there, but yet still it seemed to me to be really help understand the importance of the mark of the ashes on our foreheads. The article is from the New York Times about Jay Williams, he was a former Duke basketball player in the early 2000s. He was an amazing player, an incredible athlete with so much potential. He helped Duke to one of their National Championships and then was drafted by Chicago Bulls, with so much expectation, some even thought he would be the one to fill Michael Jordan’s shoes. Life was going well for Jay, fame, money, living his dream, nothing seemed as if it could go wrong. At this time he probably felt invincible, so much so that he bought a motorcycle to fill his need for speed. But one fateful night as he was speeding down the streets of Chicago, he lost control of his bike and crashed. He was rushed to the hospital and was nursed back to health, but his left leg was severely injured, and Jay would never be able to play basketball again.

            What struck me in this article is how different symbols on his body affected him in his recovery. First there was the scar. The scar was a constant reminder of his foolishness, his immaturity, it was a constant reminder of everything that he had thrown away all on that fateful night. He wouldn’t wear shorts in public because he was embarrassed and ashamed of what that scar represented. But there is another symbol, that helped him as he recovered from the crash, from the depression, even from the thoughts of suicide, and that is a tattoo that he had gotten before the crash that had praying hands with the famous quote, “to err is human, to forgive is divine.” These two symbols, the scar and the tattoo played a large role in his recovery from the accident and the following depression, and helped him pick up his life, and now become a successful ESPN commentator.

            If those two symbols could be put into one symbol, I believe it would look a lot like a cross of ashes on one’s forehead. First the ashes work in much of the same way as the scar. It is a reminder that we are not invincible, that we are in fact mortal. That our death is not just a possibility, but that it is actually inevitable; that our time on this Earth will eventually come to an end.  “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” It is also a reminder of our sin. It reminds us to stop, makes us look deep within ourselves, and see the things that are separating from Christ. It makes us see that all of us truly are broken and sinful people. The ashes force us to acknowledge our faults, to see the ways in which we have distanced ourselves from God, the ways in which we have hurt or ignored others, and the ways in which we have hurt ourselves. As our psalm for this evening says, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.⁴ Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
⁵ Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.” The ashes on our heads remind us that this grace thing that we hear talked about all the time, the reason that it is so amazing, is because none of us deserve it. It reminds us as we begin Lent, a time of preparation for Easter, that the good news of Easter, resurrection and eternal life wouldn’t be that exciting if we didn’t desperately need it like we do; that we cannot truly appreciate resurrection until we wrestle with death.

            And that is why the ashes are also like the tattoo. They remind us that to err is human, but to forgive is divine. It reminds us that yes we are a broken, yes we all have faults, yes we all sin, and that it is something that we must acknowledge, but that the good news is that Jesus Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, and that proves God’s love for us. It reminds us that while we are in the wilderness these forty days of Lent, that there is still hope in the cross. That even ashes, in all of its grittiness, dirtiness, unpleasantness, in its representation of our own mortality, that in its representation of our faults and our sins, that this dark mark on our foreheads, is a reminder that the cross is greater than all of our sins.

            And so the ashes the we will receive this evening is a reminder of our sin and mortality, and yet also a reminder of the hope that we have through Jesus Christ. It is also however a call to action. That we do not just acknowledge our sin and move on, but that we truly strive to walk closer to God. Our scripture says, “You desire truth in the inward being;^[
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. ¹¹ Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. ¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. ⁶ For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.  The sacrifice acceptable God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.¹⁸ Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,¹⁹ then you will delight in right sacrifices.”

            During this time of Lent we are called to Acts of piety, those disciplines that help turn our focus back to God, that allow God to teach us wisdom, that create within us a new heart. They can be scripture readings or devotionals, prayer and meditation, or fasting. We are also called to acts of mercy, acts that allow us to show the love of Christ to others. Working at a food bank, visiting those in nursing homes or Heart Havens, donating food or goods, writing letters to our troops. In doing these things we can truly prepare for the good news of Easter. And as we go forth with that sign of the cross in ashes on our forehead, we do not go forth wearing it as a sign of pride, we do not wear it with arrogance or judgment, but we wear it to show each other and the world that we are fallen and broken people just like everyone else, but that we all have hope through the cross.