“No. We do not do Ashes-to-Go, here at St. Anselm.” There has been a movement for several years now called “Ashes-to-go.” In this movement, the ministers of liturgical churches invite people to come by the Church to receive the imposition of ashes without a service. Some have even gone so far as to offer “drive thru” imposition of ashes!
The fact that this idea is not rejected at first-glance shows the deep unhealthiness of the Church here in the United States (and perhaps elsewhere). What is the point of Ash Wednesday? If the point is to merely give a passing thought to repentance and penitence and go about your usual life you are doing exactly what the Lord Jesus forbids in the appointed Gospel for the day!
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.” (Matthew 6:5-6,16)
As the rest of the readings of the day indicate, ashes are a sign of mourning and lamenting sin. They are meant to sacramentally involve the penitent (the person repenting) physically with a deep act of spiritual Contrition (feeling sorry for your sin), Repentance/Confession (acknowledging or turning away from your sin), and Satisfaction (thanksgiving for forgiveness and seeking to make restitution).
The Book of Common Prayer Service gives a clear theology with Scriptures, Prayers, and Ritual built around the theology of Psalm 22:
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, in your great goodness; *
according to the multitude of your mercies wipe away my offences.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness *
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my faults, *
and my sin is ever before me…
7 You shall purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; *
you shall wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51 - Psalter)
The service is about an hour without Holy Communion because sin is taken seriously and God’s costly grace and the joy we have for Jesus standing in the gap is taken seriously. The beginning of Lent is a sacrosanct time when God meets us in ashes and takes us to resurrection through the merits of the Jesus’ sacrifice. It is pretty difficult to make the argument that “Ashes to go” is not a manifestation of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer famous called “cheap grace” in his Book The Cost of Discipleship.
Cheap grace means grace as doctrine, a principle, a system”…Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate” (Bonhoeffer, 1937)
Our world is rife with people offering “cheap grace.” Do we really need “drive-through repentance?” The problem is that such practices reinforce the idea that sin is cheap, repentance is cheap, transformation is cheap when, in reality, the Lord Jesus went through hell on earth out of His love for hours of His Passion to make forgiveness and grace possible for us. He does not ask us to hang from a cross for three hours for our salvation, but - through His Body, the Church - He does ask us to observe a reflective Ash Wednesday and a Holy Lent. And the truth is, he does this too out of love.
As humans, our attention span is short. For Christians who take God’s grace seriously, it takes a lifetime to be transformed into icons (reflections) of Jesus. The Lord’s act upon the cross avails a great deal to the Christian. Being united to Christ immediately saves us but Jesus also gives Christians a lifetime (whatever that may be) to be purified and made holy. It takes many Ash Wednesdays and Lents of the “refiner’s fire” to make us what God intends for us to be.
So, no. We do not do “Ashes to Go.” I am sure ministers who offer this would say that they are trying to get people to engage with their Faith and the Church. But we must ask, “engage in what?” We dare not merely sooth souls with fake medicine. Promoting cheap grace only hinders the Lost and hobbles the Faithful. Instead, let’s urge others to seek the Lord. Let’s lament our sin embrace forgiveness and see the richness of God’s grace for what it is. Doing so takes a lifetime, but gains eternity.