Some of you know, others may not know that our Illinois Classis held a spring meeting on Tuesday and one of the major topics of discussion was the disbanding of Trinity Reformed Church in Fulton, IL. I cannot imagine what it is like for the former pastors, parishioners, and those who held a strong connection to the church over the years, and now the church is closed with nothing left but memories of things that once were. My prayers and thoughts are with them as they transition into a new phase of their lives and ministries. The closing of the church prompted me to think about ashes, death, and new life.
Ashes are a powerful symbol in the Bible. As we celebrate Ash Wednesday in many traditions, we place the mark of the cross on our heads in ashes and the minister tells us something like “From dust you came, and to dust you will return.” It is a very sobering experience, remembering that we are frail, and that we at some time will take our final breath, but the question that I have for us is then, what are we going to do with the time between, and can God sometimes work in the “ashes.”
Too many times in our lives we think that when everything is reduced to ashes, it is time to give up or to move on. And yes, that is true. SOMETIMES. But other times, we have to consider what God is doing. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, there were disciples who thought that everything was done. They had feelings of grief, of shock, and bewilderment. But this was not the final plan, out of the death of Christ, there came new life.
Perhaps then we should look to Christ and see that there might be areas of our life where we need to “die” that we might have new life, new possibilities, and let God work. It may be painful, there may be sorrow, but the joy also can come with the morning.
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