Beautiful Things
Dear Bethany Lutheran and Friends,
We have traveled through Advent and Christmas together. On Epiphany we heard how the news of Christ’s birth spread . We looked with awe as we saw a dove descend upon Jesus at his baptism. Every Sunday we marvel as we hear stories of Jesus’ ministry on earth.
In February we will begin a new kind of journey together in our worship life. On Wednesday, February 22nd, our foreheads will be marked with ashes. We will hear the words, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” and we remember that God shows up in the most unlikely of places.
“By the sweat of your face you shall eat
bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:19
This verse comes from a moment of broken trust. As the story goes, Adam and Eve had taken a bite of the fruit from the forbidden tree. They had made a promise in their relationship with God, and they had broken that promise. By the logic of the world, God should have abandoned Adam and Eve there and then. Instead, God promises to protect them. Their life won’t look the same now, but God will not abandon them. They will have food. They will have shelter. They will have their God.
These ashes remind us that just like Adam and Eve we take bites out of that apple. Broken trust in a broken world turns us from God time and time again. But the mark of the cross, a reminder of our baptism, hold the echo of God’s faithful promise, “I am with you.”
In the midst of our sin and the pain of our world, God sent Jesus to walk among us and to show us the love and faithfulness of God. On the cross, Jesus looked at our dustiness and found it worthy of love beyond measure. From the tomb, we see the wonderful things God can do with dust.
I am dust. You are dust. We all are dust. And someday, we will return to that dust.
Beloved this is good news. God makes beautiful things out of that dust.
God is at work bringing new life into the dust of our world.
Peace,
Pastor Lily
All are welcome to worship with us!
Worship with us on Sunday mornings at 10:45 a.m. in-person, or worship remotely via Facebook Live, AM600, or FM93.5.