Feb. 21, 2009
Ash Wednesday
Genesis 3:19 "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."
Invocation
Opening Scripture:
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16-17).
Pray responsively:
Leader: O God the Father, creator of heaven and earth,
Congregation: Have mercy on us.
Leader: O God the Son, redeemer of the world
Congregation: Have mercy on us.
Leader: O God the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide,
Congregation: Have mercy on us.
Leader: Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons and one God,
Congregation: Have mercy on us.
All: Loving God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to us. Amen.
Song: Whiter than Snow
Pastoral prayer
Offering
Special song: Sound the Alarm, the Lord Is Near
See http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_id=45943&loc_id=17,823
Scripture: Isaiah 58:3-12
3 `Why have we fasted,' they say, `and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Sermon: Ash Wednesday, Isaiah 58:3-12
I. Shrove Tuesday
“Then I confessed my sins to you, . . . and you forgave all my sins” (Psalm 32:5).
Have you ever heard of or celebrated “Shrove Tuesday”? It is the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. It was intended to be a time of relaxation in preparation for a long period of self-discipline, self-denial, and self-sacrifice.
The name comes from the word “shriving,” which means confession. Sometimes it is called “Confession Tuesday.” Originally it was a happy, relaxed festival with good food, games, and fun. Lent used to require strict fasting, which meant those “indulgent” foods such as eggs, butter, and milk were not allowed, so they were used up in pancakes before the fast began, so it is a night for a pancake supper. Meat was not normally on the commoner’s menu, but if they had meat, it needed to be used up, also. It was a carnival. The roots of “carnival” are “carne” for meat and “vale for end. It was the end of the consumption of meat. By the fourth century the celebrations of “Shrovetide” turned into riots, revelry, drinking, wild dancing, and general disorder better known as “Mardi Gras.”
Not many people confess their sins while they are drunk and dancing. What was originally intended to help people focus on repentance is now a wild carnival which encourages immorality.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).
II. Ash Wednesday
So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes (Daniel 9:3).
I used to wonder what Ash Wednesday was all about. It always fell on a Wednesday close to my birthday. During my high school years, we had a woodburning stove in the basement. Carrying out the ashes was not something I particularly enjoyed, but it was a job that needed to be done. The ashes were dirty. No matter how careful I tried to be, I always got smudges on myself. The ashes were worthless. We dumped them outside. Abraham said, “I am nothing but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27). Dust and ashes. Dirty and worthless. For churches which observe the Lenten season, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent.
The symbolism of ashes is ancient. In the Old Testament, priests have sprinkled ashes from burned sacrifices over the people. So what do ashes symbolize in scripture? Abraham said, “I am nothing but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27). Job repeats the idea. “I am reduced to dust and ashes” (Job 30:19). Ashes are a symbol of humility.
Ashes were also used as a sign of sorrow and genuine regret. When the people of Nineveh repented as a result of Jonah’s preaching, the king “covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes” (Jonah 3:6) as a sign of repentance. In Matt. 11, Jesus denounced the cities where many of His miracles had been performed because they did not repent “in sackcloth and ashes,” (v. 21).
Historically, the ashes used in the Ash Wednesday ceremony symbolize the need for repentance and a change of heart. The focus is on preparing for the celebration of the Resurrection. “Remember O man, that you are dust. . . Repent and believe the good news.”
III. Prayer and Fasting
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? (Isaiah 58:6-7)
A. Cf. O.T. Holidays
1. These verses from Isaiah refer to the Day of Atonement, that single day of the year in which the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies. For the entire nation, it was the “Fast Day.” Everyone who was physically able would fast, abstaining from all food and drink for 24 hours.
Isaiah is preaching about following ritual outwardly, and not from the heart. The Jews were not made righteous by following the letter of the law, just as we are not made righteous by refraining from all outward forms of sin, or from following any list of rules. We are made righteous through faith in Christ, by trusting Him.
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:17).
However, faith without works is dead. Our faith will change our outward behavior.
a. Speak out against injustice, oppression (v. 6)
b. Help the poor (v. 7)
c. Help your own flesh and blood (v. 7)
8* If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (I Timothy 5:8).
10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat" (II Thess. 3:10).
Conclusion
“I am nothing but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27).
Ashes. Dirty and worthless. Chemistry can be a fun subject. Ashes react with water to make lye. The lye water reacts with fat to make soap. Soap that cleanses. God does the same for us spiritually. He takes us, dirty with sin and worthless, and changes us. Pray that He will use us to bring cleansing to others.
Continue to pray for revival in our community. As we continue the service, singing and praying responsively, examine your own life. For those of us who have been saved and sanctified for years, temptation to sin may be different compared to a new believer. Check your attitudes, your thought life, those areas in your life which are not readily seen by others.
Special song: Create in Me a Clean Heart (from Ps. 51)
Psalm 51 Responsive Reading:
Leader: Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Have mercy on me O God in your great kindness:
in the fullness of your mercy blot out my offenses.
Wash away all my guilt:
and cleanse me from my sin.
Congregation: Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Leader: 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.
Leader: 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.
Leader: 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.
Ten Commandments Responsive Reading:
All: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not worship any graven image.
Thou shalt not take God’s name in vain.
Remember the sabbath to keep it holy.
Honor thy father and thy mother.
Leader: We have not loved you with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.
Lord have mercy.
Congregation: Lord have mercy.
All: Thou shalt not kill.
Leader: Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in Him (I John 3:15).
Christ have mercy.
Congregation: Christ have mercy.
All: Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Leader: But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt. 5:28).
Lord have mercy.
Congregation: Lord have mercy.
All: Thou shalt not steal.
Leader: He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need (Eph. 4:28).
Christ have mercy.
Congregation: Christ have mercy.
All: Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Leader: Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow is the man who gives false testimony against his neighbor (Prov. 25:18).
Lord have mercy.
Congregation: Lord have mercy.
All: Thou shalt not covet.
Leader: They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance (Micah 2:2).
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven.
Christ have mercy.
Congregation: Christ have mercy.
All: Merciful God,
we have sinned
in what we have thought and said,
in the wrong we have done
and in the good we have not done.
We have sinned in ignorance:
we have sinned in weakness:
we have sinned through our own deliberate fault.
We are truly sorry.
We repent and turn to you.
Forgive us, for our Savior Christ's sake,
and renew our lives to the glory of your name. Amen.
Closing song: Bless the Lord (from Ps. 103)
Invocation
Opening Scripture:
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16-17).
Pray responsively:
Leader: O God the Father, creator of heaven and earth,
Congregation: Have mercy on us.
Leader: O God the Son, redeemer of the world
Congregation: Have mercy on us.
Leader: O God the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide,
Congregation: Have mercy on us.
Leader: Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons and one God,
Congregation: Have mercy on us.
All: Loving God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to us. Amen.
Song: Whiter than Snow
Pastoral prayer
Offering
Special song: Sound the Alarm, the Lord Is Near
See http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_id=45943&loc_id=17,823
Scripture: Isaiah 58:3-12
3 `Why have we fasted,' they say, `and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Sermon: Ash Wednesday, Isaiah 58:3-12
I. Shrove Tuesday
“Then I confessed my sins to you, . . . and you forgave all my sins” (Psalm 32:5).
Have you ever heard of or celebrated “Shrove Tuesday”? It is the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. It was intended to be a time of relaxation in preparation for a long period of self-discipline, self-denial, and self-sacrifice.
The name comes from the word “shriving,” which means confession. Sometimes it is called “Confession Tuesday.” Originally it was a happy, relaxed festival with good food, games, and fun. Lent used to require strict fasting, which meant those “indulgent” foods such as eggs, butter, and milk were not allowed, so they were used up in pancakes before the fast began, so it is a night for a pancake supper. Meat was not normally on the commoner’s menu, but if they had meat, it needed to be used up, also. It was a carnival. The roots of “carnival” are “carne” for meat and “vale for end. It was the end of the consumption of meat. By the fourth century the celebrations of “Shrovetide” turned into riots, revelry, drinking, wild dancing, and general disorder better known as “Mardi Gras.”
Not many people confess their sins while they are drunk and dancing. What was originally intended to help people focus on repentance is now a wild carnival which encourages immorality.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).
II. Ash Wednesday
So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes (Daniel 9:3).
I used to wonder what Ash Wednesday was all about. It always fell on a Wednesday close to my birthday. During my high school years, we had a woodburning stove in the basement. Carrying out the ashes was not something I particularly enjoyed, but it was a job that needed to be done. The ashes were dirty. No matter how careful I tried to be, I always got smudges on myself. The ashes were worthless. We dumped them outside. Abraham said, “I am nothing but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27). Dust and ashes. Dirty and worthless. For churches which observe the Lenten season, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent.
The symbolism of ashes is ancient. In the Old Testament, priests have sprinkled ashes from burned sacrifices over the people. So what do ashes symbolize in scripture? Abraham said, “I am nothing but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27). Job repeats the idea. “I am reduced to dust and ashes” (Job 30:19). Ashes are a symbol of humility.
Ashes were also used as a sign of sorrow and genuine regret. When the people of Nineveh repented as a result of Jonah’s preaching, the king “covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes” (Jonah 3:6) as a sign of repentance. In Matt. 11, Jesus denounced the cities where many of His miracles had been performed because they did not repent “in sackcloth and ashes,” (v. 21).
Historically, the ashes used in the Ash Wednesday ceremony symbolize the need for repentance and a change of heart. The focus is on preparing for the celebration of the Resurrection. “Remember O man, that you are dust. . . Repent and believe the good news.”
III. Prayer and Fasting
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? (Isaiah 58:6-7)
A. Cf. O.T. Holidays
1. These verses from Isaiah refer to the Day of Atonement, that single day of the year in which the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies. For the entire nation, it was the “Fast Day.” Everyone who was physically able would fast, abstaining from all food and drink for 24 hours.
Isaiah is preaching about following ritual outwardly, and not from the heart. The Jews were not made righteous by following the letter of the law, just as we are not made righteous by refraining from all outward forms of sin, or from following any list of rules. We are made righteous through faith in Christ, by trusting Him.
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:17).
However, faith without works is dead. Our faith will change our outward behavior.
a. Speak out against injustice, oppression (v. 6)
b. Help the poor (v. 7)
c. Help your own flesh and blood (v. 7)
8* If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (I Timothy 5:8).
10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat" (II Thess. 3:10).
Conclusion
“I am nothing but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27).
Ashes. Dirty and worthless. Chemistry can be a fun subject. Ashes react with water to make lye. The lye water reacts with fat to make soap. Soap that cleanses. God does the same for us spiritually. He takes us, dirty with sin and worthless, and changes us. Pray that He will use us to bring cleansing to others.
Continue to pray for revival in our community. As we continue the service, singing and praying responsively, examine your own life. For those of us who have been saved and sanctified for years, temptation to sin may be different compared to a new believer. Check your attitudes, your thought life, those areas in your life which are not readily seen by others.
Special song: Create in Me a Clean Heart (from Ps. 51)
Psalm 51 Responsive Reading:
Leader: Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Have mercy on me O God in your great kindness:
in the fullness of your mercy blot out my offenses.
Wash away all my guilt:
and cleanse me from my sin.
Congregation: Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Leader: 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.
Leader: 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.
Leader: 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.
Ten Commandments Responsive Reading:
All: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not worship any graven image.
Thou shalt not take God’s name in vain.
Remember the sabbath to keep it holy.
Honor thy father and thy mother.
Leader: We have not loved you with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.
Lord have mercy.
Congregation: Lord have mercy.
All: Thou shalt not kill.
Leader: Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in Him (I John 3:15).
Christ have mercy.
Congregation: Christ have mercy.
All: Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Leader: But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt. 5:28).
Lord have mercy.
Congregation: Lord have mercy.
All: Thou shalt not steal.
Leader: He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need (Eph. 4:28).
Christ have mercy.
Congregation: Christ have mercy.
All: Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Leader: Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow is the man who gives false testimony against his neighbor (Prov. 25:18).
Lord have mercy.
Congregation: Lord have mercy.
All: Thou shalt not covet.
Leader: They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance (Micah 2:2).
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven.
Christ have mercy.
Congregation: Christ have mercy.
All: Merciful God,
we have sinned
in what we have thought and said,
in the wrong we have done
and in the good we have not done.
We have sinned in ignorance:
we have sinned in weakness:
we have sinned through our own deliberate fault.
We are truly sorry.
We repent and turn to you.
Forgive us, for our Savior Christ's sake,
and renew our lives to the glory of your name. Amen.
Closing song: Bless the Lord (from Ps. 103)