Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday Notes
With the weather predicted for this week, we may be prevented from meeting for our Ash Wednesday service. If that is the case, I still want you to be able to meditate on the Word of God which calls us to remember that we are dust and that to dust we shall return, but even more to look to Jesus who has conquered death and the grave and opened to us the way to life-everlasting.
From our Ash Wednesday Liturgy: This day begins the penitential season of Lent. During the forty days of Lent, God’s baptized people cleanse their hearts through the discipline of Lent: repentance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In biblical times, some people would demonstrate their repentance by donning ashes as a symbol of their guilt and mortality. But Lent is not only a time to see our sin; it is also a season for beholding our Savior. It is a time to hear his Word. It is a time in which God’s people prepare with joy for the Paschal Feast (Easter).
On this day the Church begins a holy season of prayerful and penitential reflection. Our attention is especially directed to the holy sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
From ancient times the season of Lent has been kept as a time of special devotion, self-denial, and humble repentance born of a faithful heart that dwells confidently on His Word and draws from it life and hope.
Let us pray that our dear Father in heaven, for the sake of His beloved Son and in the power of His Holy Spirit, might richly bless this Lententide for us so that we may come to Easter with glad hearts and keep the feast in sincerity and truth.
Ash Wednesday Bible Readings
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Thus says the Lord God: “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.
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Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
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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.
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O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
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I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
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Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.
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According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.
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Answer me speedily, O LORD; My spirit fails! Do not hide Your face from me, Lest I be like those who go down into the pit. Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.
Hymns
- Lord, to You I Make Confession
- From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee A Song by J.S. Bach based on this hymn (Video | Translation)
- Jesus, Grant That Balm and Healing
- Jesus, Refuge of the Weary
- A Playlist of Many of Our Lenten Season Hymns
Litany for Ash Wednesday
O Lord, have mercy.
O Christ, have mercy.
O Lord, have mercy.
O Christ, hear us.
God the Father in heaven, have mercy.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy.
Be gracious to us. Spare us, good Lord.
Be gracious to us. Help us, good Lord.
By the mystery of Your holy incarnation; by Your holy nativity; by Your baptism, fasting, and temptation; by Your agony and bloody sweat; by Your cross and passion; by Your precious death and burial; by Your glorious resurrection and ascension; and by the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter: Help us, good Lord.
In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of death; and in the day of judgment: Help us, good Lord.
We poor sinners implore You to hear us, O Lord.
To prosper the teaching of Your Word; to bless our prayer and meditation; to strengthen and preserve us in the true faith; and to give heart to our sorrow and strength to our repentance: We implore You to hear us, good Lord.
To draw all to Yourself; to bless those who are instructed in the faith; to watch over and console the poor, the sick, the distressed, the lonely, the forsaken, the abandoned, and all who stand in need of our prayer; to give abundant blessing to all works of mercy; and to have mercy on us all: We implore You to hear us, good Lord.
To turn our hearts to You; to turn the hearts of our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers; and graciously to hear our prayers: We implore You to hear us, good Lord.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, we implore You to hear us.
Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy.
Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy.
Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us Your peace.
O Christ, hear us.
O Lord, have mercy.
O Christ, have mercy.
O Lord, have mercy.
Amen.
Devotional Resources
- What Sins Should We Confess?
- Questions for those preparing to receive Jesus’ Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar
- “Ash Wednesday” from The Christian Year by John Keble
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A Poem for Lent by George Herbert
It ‘s true, we cannot reach Christ’s fortieth day;
Yet to go part of that religious way,
Is better than to rest:We cannot reach our Savior’s purity;
Yet are bid, Be holy ev’n as he.
In both let ‘s do our best.Who goeth in the way which Christ hath gone,
Is much more sure to meet with him, than one
That travelleth by-ways:Perhaps my God, though he be far before,
May turn, and take me by the hand, and more
May strengthen my decays.Yet Lord instruct us to improve our fast
By starving sin and taking such repast
As may our faults control. -
Artwork Showing What Our Sins Deserve, and What Our Lord Paid in Love
Remember that You Are Dust, and to Dust You Shall Return
Ash Wednesday invites us to remember that unless Jesus returns first, we will all die. Why? Romans 5:12 tells us that “through one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned.” We are reminded of this at the beginning of Lent, because this is the whole point. Lent ends with us remembering that Jesus died to pay for our sins, to conquer death by dying, and rising from the grave opening for us the way to everlasting life. Romans 5:21 says that “so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
During Lent Jesus calls us to pick up our cross and follow Him. He calls us to bring the sin that dwells in us to Him so that He can kill it before it kills us. To kill the sin in us, so that we might live and walk with Him on the way that leads to life.
As part of this, here are some devotions from an old Lutheran prayer book, Starck’s Prayer Book, that help us remember that we are dust, and pray to our Lord to make us ready for life everlasting.
The Dying Person Places Himself before the Judgment-Seat of God.
EXHORTATION.
We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 2 Cor. 5,10.
“If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged,” that is St. Paul’s admonition in 1 Cor. 11, 31. Indeed, if a person of his own accord examines his life, charges himself with his wrong doings, and prays for mercy for Christ’s sake, God will not judge and condemn him, but be gracious to him. For whoever confesses his iniquities and quits them shall obtain mercy.
Now, a dying person, too, should do this: he should reflect, (l)that he will have to appear before Christ’s judgment-seat; for it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment. Now, this takes place immediately after death, when the soul must at once appear before God. If a person, while he was in the world, has been a believer and led a godly life, he does not enter into judgment, but since his sins were forgiven him on earth for the sake of the blood of Jesus Christ, they are no longer remembered in heaven, but remain forgiven. A wicked person, however, must appear before the divine judgment-seat because he died without being reconciled to God. A dying person, therefore, (2) does well if he seeks reconciliation betimes, asks God’s forgiveness for the sake of the blood of Jesus, and in this way obtains mercy. Thus he is assured that, no matter when and where he dies, by a sudden or by a slow death, God will graciously receive his soul, and he will on the Last Day enter into joy everlasting, having been justified by the blood of Jesus.
PRAYER.
I know, O my God, that it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment; there fore I place myself now before Thy judgment-seat while I am living, and wish to be reconciled with Thee before I die. O righteous God, since I do not know how long it will be till I depart from this world, behold, I come before Thy judgment and accuse myself. Oh, I acknowledge that I am a great sinner. I have transgressed all Thy holy commandments, and that, frequently and knowingly. I have not loved Thee with all my heart, with all my soul, and all my strength. I have not always followed in the footsteps of my Jesus, nor have I always let the Holy Spirit lead me, as I should have done. I remember that I was made Thy child in Holy Baptism, but that I have not always lived as a child of God; that I have often made many promises to Thee at confession and communion, but have kept few and have again become conformed to the world. O Lord, I have not done right; yea, the load of my sins is weighing me down; I have not walked the way which Thou hadst appointed me. Mine iniquities are gone over my head; as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
O gracious God, Thou hast promised that Thou hast no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Behold, I come now, desiring to make my peace with Thee, while I am still in my sound mind and can recall my past life. Oh, I repent of my sins; I prostrate myself before Thy tribunal, and say: Lord God, Father in heaven, have mercy upon me; Lord God Son, the Savior of the world, have mercy upon me; Lord God Holy Ghost, have mercy upon me. O Father, I take refuge in Thy mercy and say: I have sinned in Thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called Thy child, yet, I pray Thee, be merciful to Thy child, and do not cast me away on account of my transgressions. I flee to Thee, O Jesus, my Advocate: oh, intercede now for me, poor sinner, in the hour of my death. For if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Oh, pardon my iniquities for the sake of Thy blood, and let me find mercy at the bar of strict justice because of Thy holy wounds. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy loving-kindness; according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. O blessed Holy Spirit, I flee to Thee: oh, create in me a clean heart; bear witness to me that I am a child of God, have been received into favor with God. Yea, work in me a sincere repentance, a living faith, and a holy resolve to live only to Thy glory and to die in child-like obedience to Thee.
Oh, work in me holy thoughts, devout supplications, sweet meditations on death. Grant me a refreshing contemplation of heaven and the future glory. Let my heart hear the comforting words: My son, be of good cheer: thy sins are forgiven thee. Then I shall not be afraid to die, because I know that the sins which have been forgiven here are forgiven also in heaven. 0 Holy Trinity, have mercy upon me; let me find grace with Thee at my departure from this world, and do not charge against me anything that I have ever done amiss, but have compassion on me according to Thy love.
That day of wrath, that dreadful day, When heav’n and earth shall pass away! What power shall be the sinner’s stay? How shall he meet that dreadful day? When, shriveling like a parched scroll, The flaming heavens together roll; When louder yet, and yet more dread, Swells the high trump that wakes the dead: Lord, on that day, that wrathful day, When man to Judgment wakes from clay, Be Thou the trembling sinner’s stay, Though heaven and earth shall pass away. Amen.
Hope this is a help to your Lenten devotions! If we aren’t able to meet Wednesday, Lord-willing we’ll see you Sunday!
In Christ, Pastor Sherman