I’ve heard some people say that folks in their twenties don’t tend to take death very seriously, that there’s still some sense of invincibility left in the hearts of college students and young professionals. While that might be true for some people in their twenties, that is the farthest thing from true for me. As a person with anxiety that has persisted through most of my life, I have felt fear about the concept of death for about as long as I can remember. It has made me a cautious person to a fault. Tomorrow is unpromised and life is unpredictable, so I should do everything in my power to safeguard and protect my life, right?
On Ash Wednesday I’m reminded that regardless of how much control I think I have in the matter of myself living, I will one day return to dust. We all will. As humans, we were created from dust and we will one day return to the matter that created us. Why are we reminded of such a harsh reality to start our Lenten journey? What does remembering the reality of death do to create renewal in us? I think it’s helpful to look at where we’re headed on this journey to make sense of our starting point. At the end of these forty days, we will remember the betrayal, arrest, torture, crucifixion, and death of Jesus on Good Friday. Then, we will rejoice and praise Christ for the Resurrection on Easter Sunday, remembering that Christ has defeated death. Death no longer has the last word. We begin our journey with the reality of death because at the end we remember that it no longer has a hold on us. We do not have to fear it anymore. In Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians, death has lost its sting. In a podcast episode on why Lent matters, pastor and professor Tripp Fuller says that “For death to lose its sting actually enables you to live more freely before you die.”
Death serves as bookends of the Lenten journey—we will all die, and death no longer has the last word. The middle part, the journey of Lent, serves as a time for self-evaluation, repentance (turning around), and renewal in our commitment to discipleship. Death has lost its sting, and the fear of death no longer needs to have its grip on us. We are freed to live the life Christ has called us to, a life of abundance here and now. Tripp Fuller goes on to say…
"The Gospel is not just a promise of new beginnings after our ending, it's also a promise of newness of life in the present. But the means to getting there isn’t by seizing our own security, it’s in joining the movement of God and working for the salvation of the world, for the thriving and flourishing of life."
On Ash Wednesday, and throughout the season of Lent, we are invited into a journey of renewal, of renewed commitment to living as disciples of Christ in the world. We remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. And that doesn’t have to scare us into looking for security, because death no longer stings. We can let go of our fear, and join God’s movement in the world. Glory to God, glory to God in the highest.
