Between Light and the Heart

On Sunday, Jesus told us something both simple and staggering: “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.” Not try to be, not work toward becoming... You are.

Week Seven reminded us that following Jesus isn’t private; our lives are visible. They affect people. They reveal something about the Kingdom. But here’s the tension: before light shines outward, something has to be true inward.

Before salt preserves, something has to be formed at the center. That’s where we’re heading this Sunday. In Week Eight, Jesus goes beneath behavior and into the heart. He addresses anger before violence. Desire before action. Integrity before image. He is not tightening the rules, He is healing the source!

This is what makes this week uniquely important. We now stand between two realities: We have been named salt and light, and we are being invited into heart-level transformation.

Ash Wednesday: The Honesty in the Middle

That’s why Ash Wednesday matters. Ash Wednesday sits in this exact space, between identity and transformation. It reminds us of something we often resist: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

This isn't a threat, its clarity. We are finite. We are fragile. We are dependent. If Week Seven asked, “What does your life reveal?” Ash Wednesday asks, “What is shaping your heart?”

The truth is this: light can only shine clearly if the lens is clean, and the human heart, left unattended, collects dust. Ash Wednesday is not about shame. It is about honesty.

It is a way of saying: “I cannot form myself.” “I cannot heal my own heart.” “I need grace.”

And that confession is not weakness, its the beginning of freedom.

We are always being formed; by our schedules, by our screens, by our wounds, by our habits. The question then is not whether you are being formed, the question is by what.

Jesus is forming a people whose lives are visible, salt and light, but He refuses to leave that formation at the surface. He goes beneath. And that’s why we stay churchy.

Not because church attendance earns points, but because shared rhythms like worship, confession, Scripture, prayer, community keep us rooted in something deeper than ourselves.

Ash Wednesday is one of those rhythms. It slows us down. It grounds us. It tells the truth about who we are and who God is. Dust… and deeply loved.

An Invitation to the Middle

This Wednesday at 6:00 pm, we will gather for our Ash Wednesday service. It will be simple, Reflective, Honest. There will be Scripture,  Prayer, Silence, and The imposition of ashes. 

If Sunday stirred something in you, a sense of calling, or a quiet conviction, this is a space to bring it.

Before we talk about anger and desire this coming Sunday, we begin with humility. Before we talk about heart-level righteousness, we begin with surrender.

We don’t need to have anything figured out. We don’t need to feel particularly spiritual.
We just need to engage.

We are dust.

And we are deeply loved dust.

6:00 pm on Wednesday.
Let’s begin this next movement together.

Adam Greenwell
Lead Pastor
Vineyard Church
www.billingsvineyard.org