See—We Are Alive! (2 Cor 5:20a; 6:4-10)

(Meditation for Gayton Road Christian Church's Worship on March 1, 2017, Ash Wednesday)

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We All Fall Down

“Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.”

If nothing else, the ashes smudged into our skin remind us that, one day, we will fall down. No matter our achievements, no matter our money, no matter our reputation—no matter what we do, death is smudged into our skin.

Nothing can erase this smudge. Not even Jesus. The shape of the cross that lingers on our forehead reminds us that Jesus, too, fell down.

Learning How to Fall

The world does not teach us how to fall down. The world teaches us how to stand up tall, how to climb ladders, how to win and compete and survive.

But the truth of Ash Wednesday, the truth of the cross that we wear on our heads, is that we are not always in control, that even Jesus “in whom the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” was not always in control. Jesus proclaims, “It is fulfilled,” not after he has done something in his control, but after something out of his control has been done to him.[1]

The world does not teach us how to fall down. But Jesus does. And thank God for that, because the truth is we are always falling down. Not only at our death, but every day of our lives. Because we are limited and wounded creatures: we make honest mistakes sometimes; we willfully do wrong sometimes; sometimes we lose control, and sometimes—most of the time—we never had it to begin with.

The Lesson of Lent: 

Letting Go and Loving

If the body of Jesus brings us any consolation, it is in this: only by falling down does God’s life-giving love fully take on flesh in our world. That is the mysterious lesson of Lent that Christ teaches us: falling down is not the end of life. If we let go and love as Jesus did, then falling down becomes the opposite. It becomes a way of welcoming new life.

That’s the good news that Paul insists on in tonight’s scripture. Falling down—which is to say, letting go and loving—this is how Christ is saving the world. When Paul considers all the sleepless nights, all the hunger, all the hardships that he and his fellow Christ-followers have endured, he does not despair (cf. 6:4-8). He celebrates. He says, “To the world we may look like a sorry mess, but we rejoice! We may look poor, but see the richness of life we are giving to others! It may look like we’re dying—but see, we’re alive!” (cf. 6:8-10).

We all fall down. Each in our own way. But according to the words of Paul and to the body of Christ, falling down is not the end of life. If we let go and love, then our every fall—even our death—becomes in fact a blessing of new life.

Prayer

Christ of the cross,
We all fall down,
Each in our own way.
Teach us how to fall
Like you,
How to let go
And to love,
So that our every fall
Might be a blessing
Of new life.
Amen.

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[1] Henri J. M. Nouwen, Adam: God’s Beloved (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1997), 84.