God formed us out of the dirt (Genesis 3:19). God got dirty when He took on flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). He was born into the dirt of this world (Luke 2:7). For 30 years, Jesus did a dirty job, working as a carpenter. (Mark 6:3), Jesus wrote in the dirt (John 8:6), and he used dirt to heal (John 9:6).
But so often, we try to create distance from our dirt. We create distance from others’ dirt. We avoid naming our own dirt. We definitely avoid the dirt of other people.
Jesus isn’t afraid of your dirt. He takes our literal dirt upon Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21) and He takes our spiritual dirt (sin, Luke 10:11) on Himself on the Cross. Jesus got dirty so that we, made of dirt, filthy as we are, can be clean dirt.
When we give him our dirt, he touches it, sanctifies it, and grows something beautiful from it.
On Ash Wednesday, the people of Eastbrook Church gathered together to create something beautiful out of our dirt, which so easily entangles us. We used cups to scoop up either dirt, gravel, or sand and poured them out before taking communion. The final result is something beautiful that reflects not only our own sin and dirt in community, but what God can do with our repentance: create something beautiful.