Ash Wednesday March 9, 2011

Reflection & Meditation

THE AIM OF ASH WEDNESDAY

The aim of Ash Wednesday worship is threefold:

 ~to meditate on our mortality, sinfulness, and need of a savior;

~ to renew our commitment to daily repentance in the Lenten season and in all of life; and

~ to remember with confidence and gratitude that Christ has conquered death and sin.

                                                                                            —The Worship Sourcebook

FREDERICK BUECHNER ON CONFESSION

To confess your sins to God is not to tell Him anything He doesn’t already

know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you.

When you confess them, they become the Golden Gate bridge.

                                                                                                  —Frederick Buechner

ASH WEDNESDAY: A DAY FOR NEW BEGINNINGS

Ash Wednesday is a particular time for new beginnings in the faith, a time

for returning to the Lord. On this day we recall our mortality and wait upon

the Lord for a renewing Spirit. This is a time for putting aside the sins and

failures of the past in light of who we are yet to become by the grace of God.

                                                                                —Handbook of the Christian Year, 106

A PRAYER FOR LENT, BY HENRI NOUWEN

How often have I lived through these weeks without paying much attention

to penance, fasting, and prayer? How often have I missed the spiritual fruits

of the season without even being aware of it? But how can I ever really

celebrate Easter without observing Lent? How can I rejoice fully in Your

Resurrection when I have avoided participating in Your death? Yes, Lord, I

have to die—with You, through You, and in You—and thus become ready to

recognize You when You appear to me in Your Resurrection. There is so

much in me that needs to die: false attachments, greed and anger, impatience

and stinginess.... I see clearly now how little I have died with You, really gone

Your way and been faithful to it. O Lord, make this Lenten season different

from the other ones. Let me find You again. Amen.

                                 —A Cry for Mercy: Prayers from the Genesee; Image Books, 2002Psalm 42:5; 124:8

Leader: Our help is in the name of the LORD,

All: Who made heaven and earth.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; for we shall praise Him, our help and our God.

INVOCATION

Leader: Let us pray.

All: Almighty and everlasting God, You hate nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of You, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

THE READING OF GOD’S WORD

The following readings (historically called Lessons) from God’s Word center around God’s holiness and humanity’s response. Words of doom and gloom are never popular, but here God invites us to be honest with Him about our sin, to confess it, repent of it, and believe the Good News that though our sins be like scarlet we are made white as snow.

The Old Testament Lesson: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17a

The Psalm: Psalm 103:8-14

The Gospel Lesson Matthew: 6:1-6, 16-21

The Epistle Lesson: 1 Peter 1:13-16

Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

LITANY OF PENITENCE

The word “litany” means a number of petitions (usually in a row) and the word “penitence” means repentance or the desire to be forgiven. The following prayer has been used on Ash Wednesday for centuries to help God’s people name their sins and ask for God’s forgiveness.

Leader: O Christ, out of Your fullness we have all received grace upon grace. You are our eternal

hope; You are patient and full of mercy; You are generous to all who call upon You.

All: Save us, Lord.

Leader: O Christ, fountain of life and holiness, You have taken away our sins. On the cross

You were wounded for our transgressions and were bruised for our iniquities.

All: Save us, Lord.

Leader: O Christ, obedient unto death, source of all comfort, our life and our resurrection,

our peace and reconciliation.

All: Save us, Lord.

Leader: O Christ, Savior of all who trust in You, hope of all who die in You, and joy of all

the saints.

All: Save us, Lord.

Leader: Jesus, Lamb of God

All: Have mercy upon us.

Leader: Jesus, bearer of our sins,

All: Have mercy upon us.

Leader: Jesus, redeemer of the world,

All: Grant us peace.

(Silent Confession)

Leader: Surely He has borne our griefs and our sorrows. He was wounded for our

transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that

makes us whole, and with His stripes we are healed. He will feed His flock like a

shepherd and gather the lambs in His arms (based on Isaiah 40:11; 53:4-5).

All: Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

THE IMPOSITION OF ASHES

During this time, you are invited to receive ashes on your forehead or the back of your hand. In Scripture, ashes serve both as a symbol of mortality and as a sign of mourning and repentance. But neither sin nor death are the final word. We leave today in confidence and gratitude: Christ has conquered death, and nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

CELEBRATING THE LORD’S SUPPER

Moments ago we HEARD the good news of the Gospel. Now, in the Lord’s Supper, there is a sense in which we TOUCH, TASTE, FEEL, and even SMELL this Gospel that Christ by His life, death, and resurrection, has secured for us the favor of God our Father.