“Is not this the fast that I chose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help and he will say ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday”
(Isaiah 58:6-10)
A number of years, and several churches, ago (thus the life of a transitional minister) I began my appreciation for ‘sparkle ash’ to begin the Lenten season. Yep, that’s right, sparkle ash. Too often I had heard and experienced churches weaponize the beauty of this season to harshly call for account the lives that have been lived with their failures and fragility. With an all too heavy hand we can beat ourselves and each other up for falling short of what we have perceived as the ideal and perfect lives of faith. Many a times I have had members of congregations share with me how they feel so inadequate in who they are. While I don’t believe this was necessarily the original intent of this liturgical season, I have witnessed too often how people take the words “I am not worthy” to heart.
But my friends, what if we realize we are very much worthy because we are created in the divine image. And in that creation, everything was declared ‘good’. Not perfect, but good. And what if we came to truly believe that even in our shortcomings and failures in life, we are still good because we never lose being in the image of the divine? And what if we use this season of approach to Easter as a way of reminding ourselves and others that we are wonderfully made?
And here is where sparkle ash comes into the mix. As I conspired with one of my ministry staff members at a church that does not necessarily need to be named, a purple and shimmering eye liner was simply added to one of the containers of the black ash that had been prepared for our Ash Wednesday service. At the beginning of the service it was explained that those attending could receive either the traditional black ash or choose to shine for the beginning of that Lenten season. We anticipated that a few of our congregation would choose this interruption into what they had typically experienced during previous years of their faith journeys. We had prepared to distribute much more traditional black ash. As those who had gathered for the service came forward to receive the mark for the beginning of Lent something unexpected occurred, the vast majority of the gathered asked if they could shine that year.
My friends, regardless of the color ash you may receive to begin this Lenten journey, or if you choose not to receive any ash markings at all, I invite you to sparkle and shine. For you are beloved simply for who you are and from the divine image which you have been formed.
Rev. David Zerby
Interim Minister
David’s UCC, Canal Winchester