Almighty God,
In Christ, lifted high on the cross, you show us the price paid for our own sin.
Our own towering pride, nailed to the tree.
Our arrogant elevation of our own self-sufficiency, nailed to the tree.
Our belief in and pursuit of our own kingdoms, our own way, nailed to the tree.
King Jesus,
Repent us, turn us to you. You who took all of our struggles, all of our idolatry, all of our unbelief, all of our scheming self-justification, all of our sin as your own. Our sin, exchanged for your righteousness. By your mercy we are crucified with you, so that in you we might have forgiveness and your eternal resurrection life.
By the light of your Word we see the dark mark of our sin. Yet by the light of your Word and the sign of the cross on our foreheads and tattooed on our hearts we are also marked with forgiveness and new life in You.
Have us know that the ashes that mark our foreheads tonight are not for show. They are a preached proclamation, not a mark of pride nor of shame, but of humility and hope in you. A sobering reminder of the truth of our mortality, ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Yet also a Spirit breathed confession of hope, because You do beautifulthings with dust, You breathe life into dust.
So we are marked as those who were once children of the darkness, now rescued at the cross and out of the empty tomb as children of the Lord of Light.
In your gracious and mighty name we pray,
AMEN.