"The Tattoo of Sin"

A sermon preached on Ash Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at Edgemont Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp. Sermon based on II Corinthians 5:1-9.

James Lipton, the host of one of my favorite television shows, Inside the Actor’s Studio, has a rather unusual fetish. He in infatuated with tattoos. He loves them, and whenever conducting an interview with an actor or actress, one of the questions he will, undoubtedly, ask is; "Do you have any tattoos?" If the actor or actress answers "yes" and, if permissible he will ask them to show their tattoos to the audience.
Ash Wednesday, and the season of Lent in itself, are reminders that we all have tattoos - yet, in a much different form, we have been tattooed by sin. Interestingly enough, the word "tattoo" literally means; "to stain." And, so it is, we have been stained by sin. And yet, with Ash Wednesday’s reminder of the sin that has stained and tattooed us, we are also reminded that these tattoos are not permanent - they can be washed off, removed, but only by the Christ.
Here is a stark reminder; "Remember you a dust and to dust you will return!" Perhaps it’s a reminder that few of us want to dwell on or think about. However, such a reminder is inevitable - we are "dust and to dust [we] will return!" Perhaps this is why Ash Wednesday isn’t a favorite among many Christians, because we are reminded of the reality of death, the reality of who we are - sinners, mere dust and ashes.
Some of the most poetic words of Scripture are found in the beautiful litany of the creation story. It doesn’t take a Bible scholar to realize the contrast between the creation account of Genesis chapter one and that of chapter two. Some believe that they are the same creation story just told from a different perspective. While others believe that they are simply allegories to define the origin of the world, and of man. But one fact remains, these stories offer an interesting perspective on creation and our Creator.
In Genesis chapter two, we are offered a much more personal perspective of the creation of man, as opposed to the one in Genesis chapter one. In chapter two, the Hebrew name for God is, Yahweh, which is a much more personal name for God; verses Elohim, as we see used in chapter one’s creation story. In fact, in chapter one, we are told that Elohim - God spoke creation into existence; while in chapter two, we are offered a much more personal and intimate approach, Yahweh - God forms man from the dust of the earth and breathes into his nostrils, the breath of life and man becomes a living being. Yahweh - God then forms woman from man.

But the Bible doesn’t stop there with this intimate and personal God - this hands on God! The Bible teaches us that God continues to be intimately involved in the creative process. In Jeremiah chapter one God says "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you..." It is no wonder that in the 14th verse of Psalm 139, we are told that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made," because we are made by the hand of Yahweh - God.
As scientists continue to unlock the secrets of the genetic code, we see more of the wonders of biology. But the Bible teaches us that there is a theology in creating life, too, and that God is the giver, creator and sustain of all life.
The essential point in the creation story is to show the dual nature of man. It shows both the way we belong to the universe or creation – the physical and also our direct relation to God – the spiritual. The Christian faith says that what we learn about the first man is true of every man. That each and every human being has, on the one hand, a biological origin and yet, on the other hand, is more than just a product of the available genes and DNA, but comes directly from God.
We have within us the breath of God - ruach Elohim! We are capable of relating to God; we can pass beyond the material creation. We are unique in that we stand in the sight of God and we are in a special sense directed toward God.
In Shel Silverstein’s children’s poem; "Tattooin’ Ruth," he writes;

"Collars are choking,
Pants are expensive,
Jackets are itchy and hot,
So tattooin’ Ruth tattooed me a suit.
Now folks think I’m dressed -
When I’m not."

One fact remains, as Ash Wednesday reminds us, our bodies are not permanent tattoos; rather, this earthly body, like clothing, is removable. We are mere dust and ashes. "Outwardly we are wasting away..." as the Apostle Paul tells us and one day, we will step out of this body of clothing and, as Paul reminds us, into a far greater outfit - the outfit of eternity, a glorified outfit made not by human hands, but by the hands of God – the Great Designer!
I love the fact that when our Lord was trying to communicate an idea that was not easy to grasp or understand intellectually or even spiritually, he would begin with an illustration, a parable. And we see that Paul does this very same thing here in our Scripture Lesson this evening. We see that Paul depicts a camper, if you will, in a tent. The tent, of course, is small, it’s confined, it’s cramped and it’s inconvenient, although it is a necessary shelter at the time. But, then, one day, tired of such confinement, the camper leaves his tent to discover that he is in a beautiful garden under the canopy of a cloudless sky. What a glorious discovery! It is like being released from prison, or recovering from a debilitating illness. What a sigh of relief! And it is that relief that the Apostle Paul sets before us as the next chapter of life that lies just beyond the experience of death.
Listen to Paul’s confidence! He writes; "If our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed," which is Paul's way of saying, "when we die," everything is okay, because "we have a building from God, a house not made with hands," but this building is "eternal in the heavens." Paul is saying that dying is not "leaving home" but rather it is "going home." I always like to use the word "homecoming" when referring to the death. Paul did not believe that death was the place of extinction, or that in death we are absorbed up into the divine being, or that we become some disembodied spirit floating around in eternity, or that we are sleeping in the ground waiting for some divine alarm clock to wake us. Rather, he believed that in death we go into the immediate presence of God. "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain," "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord," Paul wrote.
But Paul also gives us a picture of that glorified body, that grandeur body that we will one day receive. After using the analogy of the tent and the house Paul introduced a second picture - that of clothing. While the Greeks looked upon the body as a tomb for the soul and death as an escape; the Jews, on the other hand, thought of their bodies as clothing for the person. The body was what made contact and communication with others possible. To them, the death of the body deprived them of everything; to them, death was like being unclothed or naked. And so, Paul reminds them of the greater clothes, the clothes of eternity that God has designed for the believer.
In another children’s poem written by Shel Silverstein, titled; "The Dirtiest Man in the World," he writes;

"I’d brighten my life if I just found a wife,
But I fear that that never will be
Until I can find a girl, gentle and kind,
With a beautiful face and a sensitive mind,
Who sparkles and twinkles and glistens and shines -
And who’s almost as dirty as me."

This sounds a lot like us, doesn’t it? We put conditions on everything, even when it comes to our spiritual lives. We can’t experience renewal or regeneration under our conditions, but only under God’s - the one who through Christ has removed the tattoo of sin.
In a sense, we come this evening to be tattooed by ashes - to remind ourselves that we are "dust and to dust we shall return." But, at the same time, to celebrate the fact that it is Christ’s blood which cleanses us from all sin and has prepared us an eternal home, one not made with human hands, but made by the very hands of God.
I want to close with a poem that one of my favorite authors and poets, Emily Dickinson, wrote. She wrote a lot about life and death. In fact, she shares these words, which I have used from time to time at the graveside of Funerals I officiate. She writes;

"Death is a dialogue between
The Spirit and the Dust.
‘Dissolve,’ says Death – the Spirit, ‘Sir,
I have another Trust’ –
Death doubts it – argues from the ground –
The Spirit simply turns away
Just laying off, for evidence,
An overcoat of clay."

And so, we come this evening to celebrate that sin and death have no real power over us! For these mere stigmas, which one tattooed us have been washed away by the blood of Christ! Amen.