READ: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Of all the Christian holidays, Ash Wednesday is probably the weirdest. Christmas has its carols and presents, Easter has flowers and an empty tomb, and Ash Wednesday has what? Ashes and a Cross. In many churches, congregants make their way to the front of the sanctuary where the pastor dips his finger into a bowl of ashes and makes the sign of the cross on their forehead while reciting the words: “Remember you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” These words are similar to the words spoken at many funerals: “Out of dust you were taken, unto dust you shall return, and out of the dust you will rise again.” It’s a sobering reminder that God created human beings from the dust of the ground (Gen 2:7), that our decaying bodies will one day die and return to dust (Gen 3:19, Eccl 3:20), and that at the resurrection the dead will be raised (1 Cor 15:20-23, Rev 20:12-13).

Ash Wednesday brings us face to face with the stark and undeniable reality of our own mortality. Whether it’s five, thirty, or eighty years, we don’t actually get to be here all that long. As the great theologian Alexander Hamilton so eloquently puts it: “Death doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints; it takes and it takes and it takes.” In other words, death comes for everyone, the rich and the poor, the sick and the healthy, the young and the old. Who in their right mind would choose to set aside a specific holiday each year to commemorate this uncomfortable truth? You guessed it! Us. The Christians. To the outside world, we “Jesus Freaks” are nothing more than fools reveling in our foolishness. Paul speaks about this perceived foolishness here in his letter to the Corinthians. Specifically, he refers to it as the foolishness of the Cross. The Greek word for “foolishness” or “folly” is mora, from which we get the English word “moron.” As strong as that language may sound, it gives us a pretty good idea of how the world views the Cross of Christ: It is not just silly, but asinine, idiotic, and senseless. Who in their right mind would put their faith in a crucified God? It just doesn’t make sense.

In contrast, however, Christians understand the Cross for what it truly is: the “power” of God (v. 18). The Greek word for “power” is dynamis, from which we get the English word “dynamite.” The Cross is the dynamite of God, exploding our preconceptions about who God is and how we think he should operate, and reversing our categories of weakness and strength; “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10). The dynamite of the Cross also blows our sins into oblivion, detonates the skeletons in our closet, and demolishes the head of the serpent once and for all (Gen 3:15). As counterintuitive as it may sound, death becomes the pathway to eternal life, and it is precisely in and through the Cross (not in spite of it) that the power of God resides.

Where do you need the dynamite of the Cross in your life today?

Rev. Luke Kjolhaug is the Pastor of Elim Lutheran Church in Osakis, MN.