Ash Wednesday Service – February 10, 2016
The Greeting by the Pastor: Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Brothers and sisters, since the early days, followers of Christ have observed with great devotion the time of our Lord’s passion and resurrection and prepared for this by a season of penitence and fasting. This season is known as Lent. By carefully keeping these days, Christians take to heart the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel, and so grow in faith and in devotion to our Lord. Today, Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Lent season and is a day set aside for reflection, repentance, fasting and mediating on God’s holy word.
Let us pray. 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, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wickedness, 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.
Scripture Reading: Joel 2:12-18
Yet even now,” declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. 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; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?’” Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.
Responsive Reading: Psalm 51:1-4, 10-12, 15
Pastor: Have mercy on me O God in your great kindness: in the fullness of your mercy blot out my offences. Wash away all my guilt: and cleanse me from my sin.
Congregation: Create in me a clean heart, O God.
For I acknowledge my faults: and my sin is always before me. Against you only have I sinned and done evil in your sight.
Congregation: Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Create in me a clean heart O God: and renew a right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence: do not take your holy spirit from me.
Congregation: Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Give me the joy of your help again: and strengthen me with a willing spirit. O Lord open my lips: and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Congregation: Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Pastor: Let us pray in silence thanking God for his infinite mercy.
Pastor: We have not loved you with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven. Lord have mercy.
Congregation: Lord have mercy.
Pastor: We have been deaf to your call to serve. We have been unfaithful, proud, and hypocritical. Christ have mercy.
Congregation: Christ have mercy.
Pastor: We have been self-centered, and have taken advantage of others. Lord have mercy.
Congregation: Lord have mercy.
Pastor: We have been envious of those more fortunate than ourselves. Christ have mercy.
Congregation: Christ have mercy.
Pastor: We have loved worldly goods and comforts too much. We have been dishonest in daily life and work. Lord have mercy.
Congregation: Lord have mercy.
Pastor: We have neglected prayer and worship, and have failed to commend the faith that is in us. Christ have mercy.
Congregation: Christ have mercy.
Pastor: We have been blind to human need and suffering, and indifferent to injustice and cruelty. We have thought uncharitably about others, and we have been prejudiced towards those who differ from us. We have wasted and polluted your creation, and lacked concern for those who come after us. Lord have mercy.
Congregation: Lord have mercy.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 103:8-14
The Lord is merciful and gracious; slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
Imposition of the Ashes: The ashes imposed on the forehead is a reminder of our unworthiness and sinfulness that corrupts and stains us and leads to death. Ashes remind us of our original sin, our need of redemption and our need to be cleansed of sin. As the sign of the cross is imposed on your forehead, the Pastor will say, “Repent and Believe the Gospel.” This is an admonishment to turn from sin, to remember God’s grace and recall how we have been made righteous by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Also, may these ashes remind us of our mortality and frailty and teach us that it is only by God’s gracious gift are we given everlasting life through Jesus Christ, our Savior. As you leave this place remember…
Scripture Reading: excerpts from Matthew 6:1-21
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven….when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
…when 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.
…when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Prayer, Meditation, Imposition of the Ashes
The Blessing: May Christ give you grace to grow in holiness, to deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow him; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen. Go in the peace of Christ. Thanks be to God.