Dust to Dust

"Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return."

There was a paragraph in the church bulletin this afternoon, explaining why we have the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday. The pastor referred to the curse of the fall in Genesis 3. God said, "Cursed is the ground for your sake." In our way of speaking, "for your sake" could mean "because of you" or "for your benefit." Those two things could be pretty different! It seems obvious that part of "for your sake" is because Adam sinned, and God is responding "because of" what he did. But the curse is also for our benefit. In Day By Day We Magnify Thee today, we read an excerpt of Luther's sermon on suffering and the cross:

"It is highly necessary that we should suffer ... because the great and precious treasure which we have (if it were given to us without such suffering and affliction) would make us snore in our security.... The only way God can check such evil is through the cross. He must so discipline us that our faith increases and grows stronger, and we thus draw the Saviour all the deeper into our soul. For we can no more grow strong without suffering and temptation than we can without eating and drinking."

The sermon this afternoon mentioned that God will keep sending affliction to us until we are finally crushed enough to know -- to really know -- that "there dwells in me no good thing." And then, once we've learned that (as if we could this side of the grave!) we won't care about affliction because our eyes will be fixed so firmly on Jesus and our hearts will be so captivated by Him that we won't worry about the troubles.

This helps explain something from class Monday night. We were on the story of David and Bathsheba and Nathan (2 Samuel 11-12). Pastor was talking about the chastisement (not "punishment") given to David. It seemed to me that he was almost verging on saying that it was good that David sinned, so that the cross of suffering would result, so that the cross would keep David's eyes fixed on God's word of promise. When I asked, Pastor said, "No, no, no!" (But I was told after class that somebody else was wondering the same thing, so I'm glad I stuck my foot in my mouth and asked.) Pastor explained that talking about what "would've happened" if David hadn't sinned is kinda sorta pointless. Yes, it's true that not sinning is good. But after all, the verse of the week is "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) there dwells no good thing. To will is present with me, but how to perform what is good, that I do not do." So we will sin, he said. And when we do, our gracious Father works even that for our good and for our salvation, drawing us ever closer to Himself. After puzzling over that on the way home Monday night, today's Day By Day portion and this afternoon's sermon all fit together in a very helpful way.

As a father never turneth
Wholly from a wayward child,
For the prodigal still yearneth,
Longing to be reconciled,
So my many sins and errors
Find a tender, pardoning God,
Chastening frailty with His rod,
Not, in vengeance, with His terrors.
All things else have but their day;
God's great love abides for aye. (TLH 25:5)