Practicing Piety

Greeting

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

And also with you.

Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.

God’s mercy endures forever.

Words of Introduction

Brothers and sisters, since 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. 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. I invite you, therefore, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word.

Opening Prayer

O God, maker of everything and judge of all that you have made, from the dust of the earth you have formed us and from the dust of death you would raise us up. By the redemptive power of the cross, create in us clean hearts and put within us a new spirit, that we may repent of our sins and lead lives worthy of your calling; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Opening Song - “Reckless Love”

Old Testament Lesson

Joel 2:1–2 ESV

1 Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.

Joel 2:12–17 ESV

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 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. 14 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? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; 16 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. 17 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?’ ”

Psalter - Psalm 51 #785

Epistle Lesson

2 Corinthians 5:20–6:10 ESV

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 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. 3 We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

Song of Praise - “Amazing Love”

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 6:1–6 ESV

1 “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. 2 “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. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 5 “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. 6 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

16 “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. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 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 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.

Practicing Piety

Piety is a word that deeply ingrained into the psyche of many Methodists. John Wesley used the phrase “works of piety” to describe the ways in which we enter into a deeper relationship with God. These were such things as prayer, Bible study, attending to the sacraments, holy conversation, and public and private worship. Wesley was heavily influenced by the German Pietist movement that was part of the Moravians with whom Wesley had a deep relationship. The German Pietist movement was born out of the Reformation as a counter to the public displays of religiosity from the Roman Catholic Church. They wanted to go inward with their faith. They wanted to look deep into the soul of humanity and for God to take them on that journey to weed out sin and seek to live a life of holiness.

So, when we get to Ash Wednesday and the celebrating of Lent, it should the Methodists time to shine. However, we, like so many other denominations who were influenced by the Pietist, have not kept the tradition alive. But perhaps this is the time to rediscover what piety is as we journey together from now until Easter toward transformation and seeking how God will influence us along the way.

Lent is a season that many characterize as a time to give up something that they may consider a vice such as eating chocolate or watching too much television. I believe the Girl Scouts purposely do their selling of cookies around Lent as a way of temptation for so many. However, several years ago I learned that giving up things that seem rather trivial is not what God has in mind. Go back to what David says in Psalm 51:16-17

Psalm 51:16–17 ESV

16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

God does not delight in our “sacrifices” of M&M’s or thin mints. He is not pleased just because we turn the television off a little more. It is not to say these are bad things. Certainly, we could all use less sugar and screen time in our lives. But notice what is important - brokenness. Coming to God with a humble spirit that is moldable and shapeable. As Jeremiah observed when walking to watch a potter make a pot in Jeremiah 18:4-6

Jeremiah 18:4–6 ESV

4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

I have learned over the years - call it wisdom, experience, or even frustration - that God is not searching for us to give up some extravagant thing as a sacrifice to him. The sacrifice comes when we get to Good Friday as the one true sacrifice of God lays down his life for us. Instead, God calls us to a time of humility.

Jesus tells the disciples and others as much in Matthew 6. Don’t be like the Pharisees when they pray or give alms or fast. They want everyone to see it. What we are to do is do it privately so that our Father in heaven is the only one that sees it. We don’t store up for ourselves treasures in this life like praise being heaped on us for being so pious and holy during Lent. Rather, we are to do these things for the purpose of drawing us closer to God as we spend time with him and give of ourselves. We are to be as Paul says in Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

May this Lenten season be a time where we focus on the ways that we can draw closer to God to be a living sacrifice unto him. May we seek to be transformed and reconciled so that we live into the image of God.

Invitation to Observe a Holy Lent

Blessing and Marking with Ashes

Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth. Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, so that we may remember that only by your gracious gift are we given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Confession and Pardon

Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another. Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another

Congregation prays together:

Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God's love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

Congregation:

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

All:

Glory to God. Amen.

Passing the Peace

The Great Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing,

always and everywhere to give thanks to you,

Father Almighty (almighty God), creator of heaven and earth.

You brought all things into being and called them good.

From the dust of the earth you formed us into your image

and breathed into us the breath of life.

When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast.

When rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights,

you bore up the ark on the waters, saved Noah and his family,

and made covenant with every living creature on earth.

When you led your people to Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights,

you gave us your commandments and made us your covenant people.

When your people forsook your covenant,

your prophet Elijah fasted for forty days and forty nights;

and on your holy mountain, he heard your still small voice.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven,

we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ.

When you gave him to save us from our sin,

your Spirit led him into the wilderness,

where he fasted forty days and forty nights to prepare for his ministry.

When he suffered and died on a cross for our sin, you raised him to life,

presented him alive to the apostles during forty days,

and exalted him at your right hand.

By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection

you gave birth to your Church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death,

and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.

Now, when we your people prepare for the yearly feast of Easter,

you lead us to repentance for sin and the cleansing of our hearts,

that during these forty days of Lent we may be gifted and graced

to reaffirm the covenant you made with us through Christ.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread,

gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over he took the cup,

gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,

poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,

we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving,

as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us,

as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,

and on these gifts of bread and wine.

Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,

that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ,

one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world,

until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church,

all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father (God ), now and for ever.

Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil:

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power,

and the glory, forever. Amen.

Breaking the Bread

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. The bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.

The cup over which we give thanks is a sharing in the blood of Christ.

Giving the Bread and the Cup

Closing Song - “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus”

Sending Forth