Ash Wednesday with Fleming
A Time for Confession, Not Performance
In 2017, Rev. Fleming Rutledge was the first guest on Strangely Warmed.
and I talked with Fleming about Ash Wednesday—its significance, the posture churches can assume, and how to preach a sermon or homily for the day. Each year, I return to this episode (perhaps a pre-Lenten practice) to prepare for Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent.Fleming highlights Ash Wednesday as a solemn day when the church withdraws for self-examination and confession. She emphasizes that Ash Wednesday is not about public displays of piety but about acknowledging the church's own sinfulness and standing in solidarity with a broken world. She critiques the practice of "Ashes to Go", arguing that it lacks the depth and context necessary for true repentance. Instead, she underscores that Ash Wednesday should be a time of judgment and confession for the church, recognizing that God's judgment is ultimately paired with grace.
Key Quotes Related to Ash Wednesday:
"Ash Wednesday, perhaps more than any other day of the year, is a day when the church withdraws into itself in order to do what Peter tells us to do... The time has come for judgment to fall first upon the household of God."
Rutledge highlights that Ash Wednesday is a time for self-examination rather than outward proclamation.
"The church comes apart to stand first under the judgment of God and confess its sins as individual people and its complicity as a body with the works of Satan."
She stresses that Ash Wednesday is about corporate confession, recognizing the church’s participation in systemic sin.
"We are confessing the world’s sin on behalf not only of ourselves but on behalf of those who are not here."
Ash Wednesday is not just personal repentance; it’s an act of intercession for all people.
On the meaning of the ashes:
"The church is the representative in the world of God's forgiven and justified sinners. We want to model what it means to be God's sinful, forgiven, and justified people."
Ashes are not about self-righteous mourning but a symbol of God's judgment and mercy.
Critique of "Ashes to Go":
“People need context. There has to be a message. The message of Christianity is not just forgiveness… there has to be rectification of evil."
She argues that reducing Ash Wednesday to a quick ritual without full liturgical context diminishes its significance.
A prayer for the day from The Book of Common Prayer:
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
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