From Ashes to Alleluia

Ash Wednesday
February 18, 2026
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

“From Ashes to Alleluia”

“Remember, you are dust and to dust you shall return.” These sobering words that are part of the liturgy for Ash Wednesday remind us of our own mortality as that cross of ashes is imposed on our forehead. The words themselves are taken from Scripture (Genesis 3:19), after our first parents’ fall into sin in the Garden of Eden. Having eaten of the tree which God commanded them not to eat, the consequences of that first sin changed everything, not only for them, but for all of us. Their relationship with God, with one another, with the whole of creation, was shattered in their desire to be like God. We feel the effects of this shattering to this very day. And so today is about ashes, an ancient symbol of sorrow and repentance, as in “sitting in dust and ashes.” But ashes are also a sign of rebirth, as in “rising up from the ashes.” As we begin these forty days of Lent, we do so with a cross of ashes upon our forehead. This is a reminder to us not only of the sin we have inherited from Adam and Eve and the call to repentance, but also of the new life, the rebirth, that comes through the cross of Christ. The ashes of this first day of the Lenten season will lead to the joy of Easter alleluias. The message for this Ash Wednesday, based on the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel lesson, is entitled “From Ashes to Alleluia.” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

The Gospel lesson appointed for today, a portion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), may seem like it’s in conflict with that cross of ashes on our forehead. Jesus says: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 6:1). So, is wearing that cross of ashes “practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them”? What kind of message does this send to others? Recently, I read an opinion article from The New York Times, entitled “Ash Wednesday and the Burden of Living Your Beliefs,” written by Christopher Beha. In this thought-provoking piece, he wrote the following:

To push ahead of someone on the train, to refuse a dollar to the woman selling candy with a baby on her back, to make a snarky remark at the register about my misunderstood coffee order, all while I have ashes on my head, would announce to anyone who cared to notice the disjunction between my supposed beliefs and my life in the world. What I try instead to do on this day is simply meet each choice I face with my fallible and limited beliefs, and respond to that choice in the way those beliefs actually commend. Then I try, on the next day and the next, to imagine I still have that mark on me, that I am constantly being called to live up to the beliefs I claim to hold, to imagine that this is the best case I can ever make for them. (Opinion | Ash Wednesday and the Burden of Living Your Beliefs - The New York Times).

From ashes to alleluia, our faith in Jesus is meant to be seen by others and shared with others. Our faith in Jesus is always personal, of course, but it is never private, hidden away and hermetically sealed; just “Jesus and me.” If our motivation in faith is wanting to be seen by others, needless to say, that is shallow and superficial. Jesus would have so much more for us and for our lives. Imagining that the cross of ashes remains on our forehead tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that might just change how we see and interact with one another. That cross, so visible to others but not to ourselves, points us to the One who suffered and died on the cross, all for us and for our salvation. Jesus willingly took upon himself the original sin of Adam and Eve, together with all of our own actual sin. That gigantic weight of our sin and disobedience, the evil we have done and the good we have failed to do, Jesus accepted and bore for us, paying the price with his own lifeblood. As we hear in today’s Epistle lesson: “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

In the Gospel lesson (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21), Jesus speaks of faith practices that, over many centuries, have become the three-fold disciplines of Lent: almsgiving, or works of love that help those in need (Matthew 6:2-4), prayer (Matthew 6:5-6), and fasting (Matthew 6:16-18). Under the grace of God in Jesus Christ, each believer is free to use these or discover new Lenten disciplines that bolster faith. Almsgiving, works of love, helping those who are in need is always a concern, but especially in this season. We see need all around us, and Jesus himself said that we will always have the poor with us (Matthew 26:11). The hungry and homeless; the downcast and discouraged. Seeing Christ in our neighbor in need, and being Christ to our neighbor in need, is at the heart of the Lenten discipline of almsgiving. Prayer, both individually and collectively, is a joy for the child of God at all times, but this Lenten season calls us to more frequent and fervent prayer by individuals, families, and the whole Body of Christ. This would be a wonderful time to discover anew the blessing of daily prayer, both morning and evening, as found in the hymnal (see Matins, Vespers, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline in Lutheran Service Book, pp. 219ff.). Fasting takes many forms; it is not just about food. At its core, fasting is about emptying ourselves of things that can get in the way of the kingdom of God. In our world of 24/7 news feeds and social media, now more than ever, we may want to exercise fasting here. The point is not to run away from the world, but to exercise control over what we are taking in and so not be overcome or led astray by these things. If our Lenten fast means removing things from our lives that cost money, can that money be reappropriated to help those in need? It can indeed. These three Christian disciplines, rooted in the Word of God and especially appropriate to the Lenten season, are always in season in the life of the believer. Whatever our Lenten disciplines may look like, the goal is to honor Christ and serve our neighbor.

The repentance of Ash Wednesday will lead to the joy of Easter Sunday, but only through the cross of Christ. We cannot get to Easter morning by going around the Lenten season, but only by going through it. From ashes to alleluia, we begin this Lenten journey following Jesus to the cross and to resurrection. Amen.