But, we are more than dust…

Sermon-Ash Wednesday February 17, 2010
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Remember that you are dust”. In a few minutes I will bid you to come forward and to receive ashes on your forehead as a physical reminder that you are mortal. “And to dust you shall return.” It’s the church’s way of saying that we began as a piece of earth, and someday our bodies will return to earth. The word human comes from the same word humus-a word for dark brown rich soil. “Remember that you are dust” I will say-don’t forget where you came from-don’t forget where you are going.
Last week Deb and I went to see the movie Avatar. It was a wonderful movie-overpowering. It showed human beings going to another planet. A friend of mind said that the distant planet had to be what Eden was like-lush and rich, fertile alive, and sprit filled. Only the humans in the movie, for the most part, were greedy, angry, and violent (the aliens were the real heroes). It was easy to remember that we are only dust after seeing that movie.
But later that night after we came home, we turned on the Olympics-the opening ceremony. It was wonderful. Back in 1980 I was way too cool for the Olympics. But I was serving at a church with Ruthie Blair. Ruthie was the sexton (janitor) at the church-and she was ALSO head of Christian education. She mopped floors and emptied trash, and she also, nurtured generations of children and taught them how precious they were in God’s sight. She was in her 50s, but she had the heart of a child. One day she organized a parish outing to Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. She managed to get everyone on the trip excited about the guy who would be shot out of the cannon. I am not making this up. We got geeked about the cannon guy! And then she got us excited about the acrobats and the high wire performers, the trapeze artists, the clowns-all the people in the circus. She got us evaluating which performers really inspired us-which ones were ho hum-and which ones made us gasp. She was able to do that!
And later that year she got everyone in the parish excited about watching the Olympics. And I thought, Ruthie Blair cleans floors and designs curriculums. And she can get people electrified about athletes and stories of performers-just by her own pure enthusiasm and enjoyment. Ever since then, I have been excited about the Olympics.
So when we watched Friday night and it was all so wonderful and alive and exciting, I thought, Remember I am but dust-but I am not ONLY dust. I am also joy. And the more I watched the opening ceremony I thought about Ruthie Blair (who I hadn’t thought about in YEARS), and I sent a prayer up to God thanking Him for her. And I thought, “I am ALSO memory.” And thinking about Ruthie made me think of other folks who taught me to appreciate and savor these small extraordinary moments that change me and sometimes convict me and lift me and feed me. So I took just a brief moment (while I was watching tv) and told God how precious these people were to me-what they had done, how they inspired me. And I thought to myself, I’m just dust-but I am also thanksgiving.
And the Opening ceremony kept going on and on. They showed the torch being carried all over Canada-28,000 miles. And I thought, “I am but dust” but I am also on a journey-just like that torch.
They showed each country walking in carrying their national flag. And for each person representing each country they gave the briefest bio of the flagcarrier-we heard very very briefly who that person was, why they had the honor of carrying their national symbol. And for many of the countries they only had that one participant-and they would say that that person had no chance to win a medal-but still they came. And I thought, “I am but dust, but I can also be noble.”
Today remember that you are but dust, a fleeting breath, that once was earth-and will some day be earth again. And remember that you are also joy-pure, unable to stop smiling, you-just-had-a-baby joy.
Remember that you are but dust-but we are also memory, with a rich past of people and events that have shaped us and molded us and made us who we are.
Remember that you are dust-but remember that you are also thanksgiving-with this ability to wonder at the great and even the painful people and things that have happened to you in your life.
Remember that you are dust-but remember that we are also passion and fire and that we are all on a journey that carrying a torch, some days slogging through the tundra, some days surrounded by cheering crowds .
Remember that you are dust-but remember that you are also noble, and decent and full of God’s grace-not all the time, maybe not even most of the time, but every once in a while we get to carry the flag and we are chosen to be gallant.
Remember that you are dust. And you are more than dust. God has given us this moment, this opportunity, to know who we are. So write down on your 3X5 card one prayer that you can pray throughout Lent. Maybe for yourself, maybe for another. Maybe for the world. Write down JUST ONE PRAYER, only one, that you can pray for 40 days.
Because, besides everything else, Remember that you are a child of God. Take this brief moment and remember who you are, what God made you, and what you need to pray this Lent. Remember that you are dust-but remember that you are more than dust-remember this lent, this Ash Wednesday, this morning’s/evening’s service that you are God’s prayer.