02-17-26

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
February 17, 2026
Toward the end of the Book of Job, we read:

“Hear, and I will speak;
   I will question you, and you declare to me.'
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
   but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself
   and repent in dust and ashes” (42:4-6).

Job was frustrated with how his friends were interpreting his suffering, and I don’t blame him. I too would have been frustrated because they were folks who believed that bad happening had a specific reason. Or to say it another way, the friends believed that bad things happening to people was a sign of divine punishment. Toward the end of the book, when Job was about ready to toss in the towel, God intervenes and offered Job a different perspective. I can’t say that I fully understand or even feel good about how the Book of Job portrays God, but nonetheless, Job feels so convicted by his encounter with God that he chose a form of humble repentance. The above translation says that Job despised himself. That’s harsh! And maybe he was so embarrassed that he was left with some self-loathing. But the Hebrew word can also mean “disappear,” and I sort of wonder if Job, in his humbling encounter with God, chose to disappear a little so that God could more clearly appear. Ashes were a reminder that we have come from ash (dust of the earth) and we shall return to ash (dust of the earth). It is a reminder of how we are finite and God is infinite. 

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and you will have opportunities to come by the chapel between 7-9am or 11am-1pm for ashes, or share in the Ash Wednesday Service at 6:45pm. I won’t pretend to tell you how you are to understand the ashes, but Job does offer us an interesting perspective as he reached for dust and ashes in a moment of both humility and awe before the God of All Creation.

As we prepare for the Season of Lent, Holy One of Grace, I seek to know you and to once again find my place as someone wanting to be guided by your Spirit. With an attitude of humility, I am hoping to be someone who does not think of myself as controlling you or that you are defined by my limited insight of what the Eternal One of the Universe is like. Bring me some ashes. Amen.