March 1, 2017 : Ash Wednesday Service (Year A)
Prelude Music
Gathering Song – Holy, Holy, Holy, #105 (last verse a capella)
Words of Welcome
I want to welcome you to our Ash Wednesday Service and welcome you to the Season of Lent, a season Christians have observed for centuries, a season that calls us to focus on Jesus’ journey to the cross and culminates with the celebration of his resurrection on Easter Sunday morning.
Ash Wednesday gets its name from the ancient Christian practice known as the imposition of the ashes. It’s where a pastor or priest takes ashes and makes a small mark on the foreheads of believers, usually in the shape of a cross. Ashes are used because they are a biblical symbol for mourning and death. This mark is intended to serve as reminder of our mortality, which of course is a consequence of our sin.
More than draw our attention to our sin, this service, and really this entire season of Lent, is also meant to remind us that Jesus took our sin upon himself, and the punishment we deserve, so that we could receive forgiveness, transformation, and ultimately the gift of eternal life.
By reminding ourselves of these truths, we not only come to a greater understanding and appreciation for the gift of salvation, but we are spurred on in our attempts to become more like the one who has died for us, as we are motivated by the love that God has for us.
In addition to the imposition of the ashes, we will read Scriptures and sing hymns together that direct our attention to the amazing gift of God’s grace we receive through Jesus’ death.
So tonight we begin a forty-day journey with Jesus as he travels to the cross of Calvary. In becoming like him in his death, we prepare ourselves to join in celebration of his resurrection, knowing that we too will be raised from the dead to walk in newness of life.
Prayer of Invocation
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who repent. You are the source of all grace and mercy. Create in us new and contrite hearts, that as we come to you in penitence, lamenting our sins, we may receive from you forgiveness, reconciliation, and ultimately, transformation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hymn – Near the Cross (WSH #394, V. 1,3)
Jesus, keep me near the cross,
There a previous fountain
Free to all a healing stream
Flows from Calvary’s mountain
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the River
Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day,
With its shadows o’er me
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the River
Scripture Readings
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near- a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come. Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD, your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep. Let them say, "Spare your people, O LORD, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
"Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. "So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever 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. "And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Word of God for the people of God…Thanks be to God
Homily – Rend Your Hearts
So what have you decided to give up for the season of Lent? Before you answer out loud, remember Jesus’ words of warning that we just heard, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
I didn’t hear about this whole Lent thing until I was in college. It was not observed in the denomination I grew up in. The university I attended was affiliated with that same denomination, so most of my classmates were also not familiar with it. But a few of the professors and our chaplain wanted to expose us to all different kinds of faith traditions and practices, and this included the Season of Lent, and the idea of giving up things for Lent.
Since this was all new to us we struggled to do it right. It was kind of awkward at first. Our church history professor told us that the traditional thing Christians would give up during the Season of Lent was eating from sun up to sun down. A friend of mine who was one of these over-achiever types, decided that was what he would do, which I suppose was admirable, only he still came to the cafeteria at lunch. And he would sit there, while everyone else ate, complaining about how hungry he was. Clearly for him, at least at that time in his life, giving up something for Lent was an opportunity to show everyone else how deeply spiritual he was. This is why some people give up something for Lent. To score points within their faith community.
In a similar fashion, some people give up something for Lent to score points with God. They think that God will reward them for their efforts. Or that their efforts will earn them a certain amount of favor with God, or that God will be obligated to do certain things for them because of the things they have done for him.
Some people give something up for Lent to ease their guilt. We live in a society of excess. I’m sure you are familiar with the phrase, “You can’t have too much of a good thing.” Some of us explore the truth of that statement on a daily basis. We eat way more than we need. We buy more clothes than we could ever wear. We own more cars than we have drivers in our households. We binge watch shows on Netflix. We spend ours on social media. Some people give up these things for Lent so they feel a little less guilty the rest of the year.
None of these are really the right reasons to give something up for Lent. If these are the wrong reasons, what are the right ones? Well there may be several, but one reason I believe God would approve of is an overwhelming desire for transformation, the realization that we need to change.
Throughout the Scriptures we are encouraged to engage in the practice of self-examination. To take a long hard honest look at ourselves in an effort to identify those areas of our lives where there is still need for improvement. Areas that still need to be subjected to the transformative grace of God. And we invite God to do the same. In the words of the Psalmist, we say to God, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24)
As we approach the Season of Lent we do a little bit more of this self-examination. And we become aware of these places in our lives where we need transformation to occur. So we choose to give something up during this Season of Lent, or take something on, or both, with the hopes that through this act, God will change us. And we want this transformation to be more than skin deep. We want it to be real, substantive, sincere, don’t we?
Earlier in the service we heard a passage from the book of Joel. Joel was a prophet, sent by God, to call his people to transformation, for the day of the Lord was coming. That phrase, “the day of the Lord,” referred to the time God would come down to earth to rescue the righteous and punish the wicked. There were two main ways God’s people spoke of the day of the Lord. Some thought of it as a day of celebration, when God would come to destroy everybody but them. Others thought of it as a day of dread, worried that they might be among those whom God came to punish. It’s obvious Joel fell into this second category.
Joel referred to the day of the Lord as “a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and this darkness!” He envisioned the arrival of a great and powerful army, sent from God, to punish the wicked. And from his point of view, God’s people were among the wicked. They had turned from God. They had made terrible choices. They had followed after other gods. But it wasn’t too late. There was still time for them to return to God. He believed this because of what he believed about God, that “God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.”
But their desire to change needed to be sincere. It needed to come from the heart. You see the Israelites were people, just like anyone else, just like you and me. They could get all worked up about something, get on board with what Joel was saying, agree that they needed to change, engage in some outward behaviors, like fasting, and weeping, and mourning, but no real change could occur on the outside, unless a real change occurred on the inside.
Joel uses a powerful image to call the people to real transformation. One thing people would do in those days to show they were mourning was to tear their clothing. Joel tells the people to leave their clothing intact, and tear their hearts instead. We refer to our hearts when we are referring to our feelings. Joel’s audience thought of the hearts the way we think of our brains, as the seat of all human will and action, the place where the ultimate decisions were made about the things that really mattered.
He wasn’t telling the people not to do these outward things, the fasting, the weeping, and the mourning. He was telling them to do them for the right reason. To do them because deep in their heart they knew they needed to change. And from deep in their heart they needed to make a decision that God would be their God, and they would live as his people. Otherwise, all the outward stuff was just stuff, it was meaningless.
My prayer for you, and for me, is that this Season of Lent would be a time of real, sincere, genuine transformation. The longer we observe the Season of Lent, the easier it is for it to just become something we do, without thinking about why we do it. I hope that if you would give up something up this year, or take something on, it’s because you want to change, you want to be more like Jesus. God will see this heartfelt desire, and by his grace, change, and transformation can happen.
When you walked in this evening you received a white piece of paper shaped like a heart. Did anyone not receive one? I want you to take just a minute and write down one area of your life where you desire transformation. Just one. I know if I were to write down every area of my life where I need to change I would need a really big heart. Just choose one. Maybe you want to be more kind, more loving, more patient, more giving. After you have done so, hold on to it. You will need it in a just a moment.
Prayer of Confession: Psalm 51:1-17 (Responsive Reading)
Have Mercy on me, of God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
You desire truth in the inward being;
Therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness;