Ash Wednesday 2024

THE SEASON OF LENT “Lent” comes from an old English word for springtime, perhaps connected with the lengthening of days in this time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The season of Lent is a time for growth in faith—through prayer, spiritual discipline, and self-examination in preparation for the commemoration of the dying and rising of the Lord Jesus Christ. In ancient Christian practice, Lent was a time of preparation for the celebration of Baptism at Easter. In many churches, it remains a time to equip and nurture candidates for Baptism or confirmation, and for the whole community of faith to reflect deeply on the theme of baptismal discipleship. Reconciliation is a key theme in the season of Lent—reconciliation with God and with one another through the grace of Jesus Christ. Lent is a period of forty days—like the flood of Genesis, Moses’ sojourn at Sinai, Elijah’s journey to Mount Horeb, Jonah’s call of repentance to Nineveh, and Jesus’ time of testing in the wilderness. The Sundays in Lent are not counted among the forty days, as every Lord’s Day is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and concludes at sunset on Holy Saturday, at the start of the Great Vigil of Easter.

color: purple (until the sanctuary is stripped on Maundy Thursday)

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent with a public act of confession. Acknowledging that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, we repent and return to our loving creator. Acutely aware of our failure and frailty, we express our utter reliance on God’s saving grace.

Ash Wednesday developed in the medieval period as a time when penitent sinners were presented for church discipline during the season of Lent, to be reconciled with the community of faith on Maundy Thursday. Ash Wednesday also came to be the occasion for new believers to enroll in the catechumenate, a period of preparation for baptism at Easter. For those who undertake spiritual disciplines, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten fast.

Ashes are an ancient symbol of repentance, sorrow, and sacrifice. Traditionally, the ashes for this service are made from the palm branches of the previous year; thus the ashes and palms together frame the season of Lent.

color: purple

GATHERING

All silently gather. Any procession should be in silence.

OPENING SENTENCES

God sent Christ into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

God’s love endures forever.

God is our refuge and strength, a present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change,

though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though the waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

God’s love endures forever.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Almighty God,

you despise nothing you have made

and you forgive the sins of all who trust in you.

Create in us new and contrite hearts,

that truly repenting of our sins,

and acknowledging our brokenness,

we may receive from you, the God of all mercy, full pardon and forgiveness;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our redeemer,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

HOLY IS THE LORD!

The one we seek during the season of Lent is the holy, righteous, merciful judge who lavishes grace upon us, who remains faithful even when we don’t, the Sovereign and Holy God. This is a simple echo song. Just follow my lead.

Holy is the Lord (echo) Holy is the Lord (echo) Righteousness (echo) and mercy (echo) Judgement (echo) and grace (echo) Faithfulness (echo) and Sovereignty (echo) Holy is the Lord.

In the season of Lent we seek for God,

we seek after God through prayer, and the meditation upon his Word.

Let us now turn to God’s Word:

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

The following or another prayer for illumination may be said:

Merciful God, your word is our way of truth and life. Create in us hearts that are clean and put your Holy Spirit within us, so that we may receive your grace and declare your praise forever; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

First Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12

Isaiah 58:1–12 ESV

“Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.

[Silence]

Second Reading 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10

2 Corinthians 5:20–6:10 ESV

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

[Silence]

Gospel Reading: Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21

Matthew 6:1–6 ESV

“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. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But 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. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But 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.

Matthew 6:16–21 ESV

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But 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. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

SERMON

INVITATION TO OBSERVE A HOLY LENT

The following or similar words may be spoken:

Beloved people of God:

every year at the time of the Christian Passover we celebrate our redemption

through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lent is a time to prepare for this celebration and to renew our life in the paschal mystery.

We begin this holy season

by acknowledging our need for repentance, and for the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If ashes are used, the following may be said:

We begin our journey to Easter with the sign of ashes. This ancient sign speaks of the frailty and uncertainty of human life,

and marks the penitence of this community.

The presider continues:

I invite you, therefore, in the name of Christ, to observe a holy Lent

by self-examination and penitence, by prayer and fasting,

by works of love,

and by meditating on God’s word.

Now let us bow before God, our creator and redeemer, and confess our sin.

The people may kneel or bow down.

A time of silence is kept for reflection and self-examination.

Psalm 51 (responsive)

Psalm 51:1–17 (ESV)

Have mercy on me, O 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 only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the 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; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

LITANY OF PENITENCE

The following is said. Worshipers may kneel or bow down.

Holy and merciful God, we confess to you and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth,

that we have sinned by our own fault in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven.

Have mercy on us, O God.

We have not listened to your call to serve as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.

Have mercy on us, O God.

We confess to you, O God, all our past unfaithfulness. For the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience in our lives, have mercy on us, O God.

For our self-indulgent appetites and ways and our exploitation of other people, have mercy on us, O God.

For our anger at our own frustration and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,

have mercy on us, O God.

For our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,

have mercy on us, O God.

For our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,

have mercy on us, O God.

Accept our repentance, O God, for the wrongs we have done.

For our neglect of human need and suffering and our indifference to injustice and cruelty, have mercy on us, O God.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,

have mercy on us, O God.

For our waste and pollution of your creation and our lack of concern for those who come after us,

have mercy on us, O God.

Restore us, O God of our salvation, and show us your steadfast love.

Turn to us in your mercy and redeem us.

IMPOSITION OF ASHES

If ashes are to be imposed, the following prayer, or a similar prayer, is said:

Almighty God,

you have created us out of the dust of the earth.

May these ashes be for us

a sign of our mortality and penitence, for it is only by your gracious gift

are we given everlasting life;

through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

People are invited to come forward to receive the imposition of ashes.

During the imposition, suitable hymns or psalms may be sung, or silence may be kept.

A worship leader marks the forehead of each person with the ashes,using the following words:

Remember that you are dust,

and to dust you shall return. Amen.

After all who desire ashes have received them, or if ashes have not been imposed, the confession concludes with the following words, the people kneeling or bowing down:

Accomplish in us, O God, the work of your salvation,

that we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of our Savior,

bring us with all your saints to the joy of Christ’s resurrection.

Lord, Have Mercy

Lord, have mercy (3X) Lord, have mercy (3X) Lord, have mercy (3X) Lord, have me-er-r-cy!

SENDING

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. AMEN!

BLESSING AND CHARGE

The presider gives God’s blessing to the congregation, saying:

May the God of peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being— spirit, soul, and body— free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The presider, a deacon, or an elder dismisses the congregation, using the following charge:

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

Amen. or Thanks be to God.

All quietly depart.