I am not unaware of the power of touch in relationships between people. A reassuring hug can go a long way to remind a person that she or he is loved. A firm handshake can communicate a lot. Unfortunately, however, there is a sad history of inappropriate touch in the church. Church leaders have caused pain and tragic results have marred the story of the church. I have no doubt that there has been more abuse outside of the church than inside of it, but any abuse in a community that is based on trust threatens to undermine and color all that we do. It is a tragedy that is undeniable with repercussions that are not yet fully revealed.

As a result, I am very careful about establishing reliable and safe boundaries for everyone within the church. It is not that I am cold or unwilling to provide a reassuring touch. It is that I believe that we need to establish and maintain safety for everyone who participates in the church.

To be fair, I’m not a super touchy-feely person to begin with. I come from generations of men who were a bit standoffish and slow to touch anyone. We have a long heritage of not being the best at expressing our emotions, but we have been working at it.

But today is a day that I will touch a lot of people. The touch is simple and straight forward. I dip my thumb in ashes that have been moistened with oil and smudge the sign of the cross on the forehead of believers who come to me for the ancient ritual of Ash Wednesday.

The words are simple. “Remember that from dust you have come and to dust you return.” But there is more to it. As is often the case the symbol carries far more than the words.

As I reach out ant touch the people who come, I am thinking, “(Name), you are a child of God. Like every child of god your body is made form the elements of this earth and will one day return to the earth. The ash on your forehead is a sign of the simple reality of your mortality. But you are more than the elements of your body. The cross on your forehead is a reminder that you belong, body and soul, to Jesus, who is Lord of the living and of the dead. If you would be united with Christ in a death like Christ’s, you will be united with Christ in a resurrection like Christ’s. For there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

That is too wordy to repeat over and over and the line would progress too slowly for the patience of the worshipers. And, as I have said before, there are moments when actions speak louder than words and in the balance of silence and speaking, silence is often the better part.

Last year a small group of mainline clergy with whom I share weekly bible study spent a couple of hours on a prominent street corner in our downtown on Ash Wednesday and offered ashes to those who wanted them. I was there for an hour and I will invest an hour of my day today in that venture again. It is something that I don’t fully understand, to be honest.

The offering has almost nothing to do with evangelism - at least evangelism for our particular congregation. I doubt if Ash Wednesday will be the entrance point for a person to join our communion and if so, it would more likely come from that person visiting our church than from a chance encounter on a street corner. Most of the people who choose to receive ashes on the street come from church backgrounds and have some previous experience with Ash Wednesday. Many of them have drifted away from their church homes and though they like a few rituals and an occasional sign of faith, they have no particular interest in becoming active in church life right now. Regular church members will go to their own congregations for Ash Wednesday services. And those who receive ashes on the street miss out ot on the whole of the liturgy. One small and visible symbol is hardly the entire story of God’s grace.

Still, there is something about the church stripped from its institutional structures - no offering plates, no budget, no building, just people sharing faith with other people - that is very appealing to me. I know that we spend too much energy on institutional maintenance. I know that we often get too caught up in the trappings of faith without simply allowing our faith to shine.

And I know that simple exchanges between Jesus and strangers he met could be life changing events. Who am I to say that God’s grace cannot be communicated through a simple touch of ashes on the forehead of a stranger?

There have been hours of my life that have been invested less productively. It isn’t like I never waste time in the first place. And perhaps, just perhaps, what we are doing has almost nothing to do with ashes or the people who come to receive those ashes. One thing we have to offer the community that the community doesn’t often witness is the simple fact of showing in public that though we are pastors of different congregations of different denominations we are close friends who enjoy spending time together and who are absolutely convinced that we are engaged in the the same faith and serving the same God. Whatever tensions have existed in the history of the church, whatever excuses we have made to divide from one another, I am absolutely certain that these colleagues and friends with whom I join are about the ministry of Jesus Christ and are called to serve the people of God. We may have different liturgies. We may have different structures of governing our churches. But we belong to the same Christ.

As we walk away from Main Street Square, no one will know who is sporting Methodist ashes and who is wearing Episcopalian or UCC or Lutheran ashes.

Maybe the reminder of our mortality is a reminder that we are all in this together.

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