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You are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Gen 3:19
It is difficult to
think of oneself as dust. Dust is not very nice
stuff. Some types of dust blow around outside
making things dirty, making it difficult to
breath, and obscuring vision. Other forms of dust
collect anyplace that we do not keep clean in the
house. Many people are allergic to the mites that
thrive in house dust. There is not much that you
can do with dust. It is ugly stuff. It has little
value. Yet, as God’s creation of the world is
recounted in the book of Genesis, we read, “then
the Lord God formed man from the dust of the
ground.” Gen 2:7 Going further, the Hebrew
word Adam, a male noun meaning man or humankind,
derives from the Hebrew word Adamah, a female noun
meaning ground. Our genealogy starts with someone
named after dirt or dust.
We are nearing the
beginning of Lent. On Ash Wednesday we will
clearly be reminded of our origin when the priest
recites the words, “Remember that you are dust,
and to dust you shall return,” as he or she
imposes the ashes on each congregant. Lent is a
time to be mindful of our humble beginning and
end. Within the Ash Wednesday liturgy, the
celebrant offers, “I invite you, therefore, in the
name of the Church, to the observance of a holy
Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by
prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading
and meditating on God’s holy Word.”
Lent is a fruitful
time for considering our stewardship of the
wondrous creation with which God has entrusted us.
We come from lowly dust, to which we will return.
Yet, God directed mankind on the sixth day of
creation to, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill
the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over
the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and
over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Gen 1:28
Would you turn your
household over to the dust within it to manage?
The creator of all mankind mixes dust with his
immeasurable love to bring forth creatures made in
his image. Creation is God’s household and he has
turned it over to mere dust; humankind. And then,
in the freedom with which God graces us so,
allowing our love to be freely given to him by
choice, we stumble again and again. Yet throughout
history, God continues his relationship with
humankind, the unreliable stewards of his
household, again and again acting to encourage us
to repentance, to amend our ways, to return to
faithfulness to him. Finally, Jesus comes, God
incarnate, and then the cross. I am moved by the
realization that Jesus stumbled through dust on
the way to his death, and that dust was mixed with
his sweat and blood as he hung on the cross. There
it was, mere dust, intimately present as the Son
of God suffered for our weakness; we who came from
dust.
Dust, even dust
chosen and empowered by God, needs to be humble.
Lent is a time for working on our humility as well
as rededicating ourselves. Psalm 51 informs us,
“The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; a
broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not
despise.” Psalm 51:18 As wondrous as all
that the Lord God provides us is, the greater
wonder is that all that he seeks from us is
acknowledgement of our dependence on him and
dedication, in love, to use our lives to his
glory. This is hard work. It goes against both our
natures and the urgings of our American culture.
Part of our cultural makeup, originating from the
creation of our country, is a rugged
individualism. That has served us well. But, it
doesn’t work in our relationship with God. We are
dependent on him. We are so dependent that it was
necessary for Jesus to die that we might live. We
are but dust, though dust loved by God. Lent is
forty days during which we can by
“self-examination and repentance; by prayer,
fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and
meditating on God’s holy Word,” put our rugged
individualism back into balance with our
dependence on and provision by God. May you be
blessed with the observance of a holy Lent. |
