Worship Notes: Imposition of Ashes

Remember that you are dust,

and to dust you will return.

            These words paraphrase Genesis 3:19 where the Lord proclaimed a curse upon man when he had first sinned.  St. Paul repeated that thought in his letter to the Romans: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

            Ashes to ashes.  Dust to dust.  This is the harsh reality of sin.  The use of ashes long pre-dates the New Testament Church.  In the era of the Patriarchs, Job confessed his sin and declared, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).  The Imposition of Ashes teaches a dual lesson.

            1)  It is a mark of penitence.  We demonstrate outwardly the sorrow for sin that we have inwardly. 

            2)  It is a mark of death.  It is a reminder that we are all dust, and to dust we will return.  The ashes remind us that we are helpless in our sinful condition.  Our only hope is a Savior.  We repent of our works.  We cling to Jesus for his.

            No one should feel obligated to receive the ashes on the forehead.  If you do not want to do it, the ushers will simply pass you by and go to the next row.  Children may participate at the discretion of their parents.

            We will begin the service with the rite.  Where the bulletin indicates, the ushers will begin to invite people by row to come to the communion railing to receive the ashes.  The penitent will kneel at the railing (like Lord’s Supper), and wait as the pastor applies the ashes to the forehead in the shape of a cross.  Please resist all temptations to scratch or smear the ashes.  (The ashes will easily be washed off with soapy water.)

            This ceremony truly sets the tone for Lenten season.  We are marked as sinners.  We are marked for death.  We are marked as the penitent whose only hope is Jesus Christ. 

            Our comfort comes from Jesus who takes our sin.  He dies our death.  He marks us as his own who have been baptized into his name.  That is where the penitent find comfort.  That is where the dying find life.

Ash Wednesday prep

There's no rain, and practically no wind.  The time was right to burn the palm fronds for Ash Wednesday.   Th Imposition of Ashes will be observed on Wednesday, March 5 at 7 pm.

Worship Notes: Ash Wednesday and the Imposition of Ashes

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return.

            These words paraphrase Genesis 3:19 where the Lord proclaimed a curse upon man when he had first sinned.  St. Paul repeated that thought in his letter to the Romans: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

            Ashes to ashes.  Dust to dust.  This is the harsh reality of sin.  The use of ashes long pre-dates the New Testament Church.  In the era of the Patriarchs, Job confessed his sin and declared, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:6)  The Imposition of Ashes teaches a dual lesson.

            1)  It is a mark of penitence.  We demonstrate outwardly the sorrow for sin that we have inwardly. 

            2)  It is a mark of death.  It is a reminder that we are all dust, and to dust we will return.  The ashes remind us that we are helpless in our sinful condition.  Our only hope is a Savior.  We repent of our works.  We cling to Jesus for his.

            No one should feel obligated to receive the ashes on the forehead.  If you do not want to do it, the ushers will simply pass you by and go to the next row.  Children may participate at the discretion of their parents.

            We will begin the service with the rite.  Where the bulletin indicates, the ushers will begin to invite people by row to come to the communion railing to receive the ashes.  The penitent will kneel at the railing (like Lord’s Supper), and wait as the pastor applies the ashes to the forehead in the shape of a cross.  Please resist all temptations to scratch or smear the ashes.  (The ashes will easily be washed off with soapy water.)

            This ceremony truly sets the tone for Lenten season.  We are marked as sinners.  We are marked for death.  We are marked as the penitent whose only hope is Jesus Christ. 

            Our comfort comes from Jesus who takes our sin.  He dies our death.  He marks us as his own who have been baptized into his name.  That is where the penitent find comfort.  That is where the dying find life.

Worship Notes: Imposition of Ashes

 Remember that you are dust, 

and to dust you will return.

             These words paraphrase Genesis 3:19 where the Lord proclaimed a curse upon man when he had first sinned.  St. Paul repeated that thought in his letter to the Romans: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

            Ashes to ashes.  Dust to dust.  This is the harsh reality of sin.  The use of ashes long pre-dates the New Testament Church.  In the era of the Patriarchs, Job confessed his sin and declared, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).  The Imposition of Ashes teaches a dual lesson. 

            1)  It is a mark of penitence.  We demonstrate outwardly the sorrow for sin that we have inwardly. 

            2)  It is a mark of death.  It is a reminder that we are all dust, and to dust we will return.  The ashes remind us that we are helpless in our sinful condition.  Our only hope is a Savior.  We repent of our works.  We cling to Jesus for his.

            No one should feel obligated to receive the ashes on the forehead.  If you do not want to do it, the ushers will simply pass you by and go to the next row.  Children may participate at the discretion of their parents.

            We will begin the service with the rite.  Where the bulletin indicates, the ushers will begin to invite people by row to come to the communion railing to receive the ashes.  The penitent will kneel at the railing (like Lord’s Supper), and wait as the pastor applies the ashes to the forehead in the shape of a cross.  Please resist all temptations to scratch or smear the ashes.  (The ashes will easily be washed off with soapy water.)

            This ceremony truly sets the tone for Lenten season.  We are marked as sinners.  We are marked for death.  We are marked as the penitent whose only hope is Jesus Christ. 

            Our comfort comes from Jesus who takes our sin.  He dies our death.  He marks us as his own who have been baptized into his name.  That is where the penitent find comfort.  That is where the dying find life.

            Ash Wednesday is February 14.  Good Shepherd's Divine Service is at 7:00 PM.

Worship Notes: The Lenten Season (2024)

Forty Days and Forty Nights

           Throughout the Bible, the number 40 is associated with a time of testing or repentance (e.g., 40 days and nights of the rains falling at the Flood, 40 years of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness to the Promised Land, 40 days of Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the wilderness, 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension, et al.). Therefore, the Church has adopted a Lenten season of 40 days prior to Easter. Incidentally, the word “Lenten” comes from an Old English word lencten which means “to lengthen,” as in, the day light hours are lengthening.

 

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust
           The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. (Ash Wednesday is February 14 this year.) It is “Ash” Wednesday because of the Church’s custom to put the mark of the cross on the head of the worshipers with ashes. These ashes are a reminder that we are going to die one day. As the ashes are applied, the pastor proclaims to each person: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return,” a paraphrase of Genesis 3:19.

           This reminder is awkward and uncomfortable. But sin and death ought to make us feel awkward and uncomfortable. Such a grave reminder of our sinfulness and mortality is a proper way to begin the Lenten season. These forty days are a time of penitence and reflection. While the whole life of a Christian is to be one of repentance, the Lenten season especially focuses us on our need for repentance.

 

A “Fast” Season
           Fasting is a practice that has long been observed by God’s people, going well back into Old Testament times. In fact, our Lord seems to expect that we will do it. In Matthew 6:16, he states, “When you fast…”, not “IF you fast.”
           Fasting goes hand in hand with repentance (Psalm 35:13; Jonah 3:7-9) and with prayer (Esther 4:15,16). Fasting is a ceremony by which we express our repentance in a physical manner. It is depriving ourselves of something physical to focus on the spiritual. It is praying with the body.

           Fasting also trains our bodies and souls. We discipline our flesh to teach it that it is not to control us. We deny ourselves in those parts of our lives in which we are most prone to temptation. When you intentionally deprive your soul of what it wants, it has to get by without. Why is that important? Your desires, uncontrolled, give in to temptation. They lead you into sin. Uncontrolled desires make idols of what your soul wants: desiring excess food is gluttony; desiring extravagant clothing or cars or décor is greed; desiring a man or woman outside of marriage is adultery. Desiring anything outside of God’s order makes you an idolater.
           Most commonly, fasting involves denying oneself at mealtime. It does not necessarily mean total abstention from food. Rather, meals are scaled back. Instead of eating three full meals a day, one eats the equivalent of about 1 ½ meals. The time that one would have spent eating is then devoted to prayer and meditation. The money that one saves can be given to the poor or to a charity. You could also fast in a way that addresses a temptation or weakness that is particular to you. Think about what tempts you, and limit your exposure. If shopping is your weakness, no shopping sprees or comfort purchases during Lent. Too much time wasted on the internet, or visiting sites you shouldn’t be? Only use it at work or when someone else is with you. If you need encouragement, counsel, or more ideas talk with your pastor.

           Fasting from these areas of weakness will heighten your sensitivity to them. It allows you to train yourself to put these cravings to death. And it enables you to enjoy the festival times all the more.
           Should you choose to observe this discipline, do not feel that you have to go all out. Perhaps you will limit your fasting to just Wednesdays and Fridays, as Christians traditionally did throughout the year. Or instead of scaling all the way back to 1 ½ meals, perhaps you will simply omit one of the meals, as well as snacking in between. In any case, fasting is not something we do to seek reward from our Lord. It is a way that we can more intently focus on our Lord, to meditate, and to pray.

Note: Sundays are never fast days, so go ahead and enjoy the good gifts of creation to their fullest on these days! Also, expectant or nursing mothers, children, and the ill are never expected to fast from food, but to provide the nourishment their bodies need.

 

A Season of Passion

           During the Lenten season, the Christian Church generally increases the opportunities Christians have to pray and to hear the word. On the Wednesday evenings (7:00 PM) throughout Lent following Ash Wednesday, Good Shepherd offers Lenten Vespers (an evening prayer service, from the Latin vespera, meaning “evening”). The focus of Lenten Vespers is the Passion of our Lord. The word Passion is derived from the Latin word passio which means “suffering.” The Lord’s passion (zeal) to redeem us drove him to his Passion (suffering) for us. At each Vespers, we will hear a portion of our Savior’s Passion, beginning with the Last Supper and concluding with the death and burial of our Lord. This year (2024), we will read through the Passion of our Lord from the Gospel according to St. Mark. (In other years, the Passion readings are from the Gospels according to St. Matthew or St. Luke.)

 

Little Easters
           If you count the days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, you will get more than forty days. The reason is that the Sundays in Lent are not counted. They are Sundays in Lent, not Sundays of Lent. The focus on these Sundays continues to be the words and works of Jesus, our Messiah, who battles and conquers sin, death, and Satan for us. While the Lent is a penitential season, the Sundays in Lent are feast days and serve as “little Easters” even within the season of Lent.

Farewell to Alleluia
           While Sundays are little Easters, we do not forget that we are in Lent. To reflect the penitential nature of the season, we mute the joy and praise in our Divine Services. This is noticed mainly by the omission of the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory to God in the Highest) and the Alleluias. We also remove the flowers from the altar during Lent. As we continue to make our way closer to Holy Week, our fast intensifies. We will notice that organ music is restricted to the support of congregational singing. The Gloria Patri (Glory be to the Father) is removed from the Psalms. Paintings, statues, and icons are either removed or veiled. The season becomes more somber as we get closer to the cross, until finally on Good Friday, the altar has been completely stripped.

           These omissions are a fast for our eyes and ears. Perhaps it will seem awkward to be missing these things, but that is the point. Lent is a penitential season; therefore, our celebration is muted. But it all heightens the joy and festivity of Easter Sunday when all of the beauty, the music, and the ceremonies are returned to the Church. The sights, the sounds, the smells, and the Alleluia’s break forth in abundance as we join in worship to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and rejoice in the forgiveness and salvation he brings us.



A Prayerful and Penitential Lent

           One more practice you may want to consider this Lenten season is making use of Private Confession and Absolution. This is a rite in which the penitent can hear in a very personal manner the voice of Jesus declaring through his minister, “I forgive you.” The order of Private Confession and Absolution has been made available at the bulletin board so that you can be familiar with it before you come to your pastor. The pastor would be pleased to walk through the rite with you to help you understand the how’s and the why’s. Confession teaches us to recognize our sins, and the Absolution allows us to hear Christ proclaim his forgiveness for those sins that grieve us and torment us. You may contact the pastor to schedule Private Confession and Absolution.

May God bless you this Lenten season as you prepare to celebrate the joys of Easter.

Worship Notes: Ash Wednesday

Remember that you are dust, 

and to dust you will return.

             These words paraphrase Genesis 3:19 where the Lord proclaimed a curse upon man when he had first sinned.  St. Paul repeated that thought in his letter to the Romans: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

            Ashes to ashes.  Dust to dust.  This is the harsh reality of sin.  The use of ashes long pre-dates the New Testament Church.  In the era of the Patriarchs, Job confessed his sin and declared, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).  The Imposition of Ashes teaches a dual lesson. 

            1)  It is a mark of penitence.  We demonstrate outwardly the sorrow for sin that we have inwardly. 

            2)  It is a mark of death.  It is a reminder that we are all dust, and to dust we will return.  The ashes remind us that we are helpless in our sinful condition.  Our only hope is a Savior.  We repent of our works.  We cling to Jesus for his.

            No one should feel obligated to receive the ashes on the forehead.  If you do not want to do it, the ushers will simply pass you by and go to the next row.  Children may participate at the discretion of their parents.

            We will begin the service with the rite.  Where the bulletin indicates, the ushers will begin to invite people by row to come to the communion railing to receive the ashes.  The penitent will kneel at the railing (like Lord’s Supper), and wait as the pastor applies the ashes to the forehead in the shape of a cross.  Please resist all temptations to scratch or smear the ashes.  (The ashes will easily be washed off with soapy water.)

            This ceremony truly sets the tone for Lenten season.  We are marked as sinners.  We are marked for death.  We are marked as the penitent whose only hope is Jesus Christ. 

            Our comfort comes from Jesus who takes our sin.  He dies our death.  He marks us as his own who have been baptized into his name.  That is where the penitent find comfort.  That is where the dying find life.

Worship Notes: Imposition of Ashes

Remember that you are dust, 

and to dust you will return.

             These words paraphrase Genesis 3:19 where the Lord proclaimed a curse upon man when he had first sinned.  St. Paul repeated that thought in his letter to the Romans: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

            Ashes to ashes.  Dust to dust.  This is the harsh reality of sin.  The use of ashes long pre-dates the New Testament Church.  In the era of the Patriarchs, Job confessed his sin and declared, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).  The Imposition of Ashes teaches a dual lesson. 

             1)  It is a mark of penitence.  We demonstrate outwardly the sorrow for sin that we have inwardly. 

             2)  It is a mark of death.  It is a reminder that we are all dust, and to dust we will return.  The ashes remind us that we are helpless in our sinful condition.  Our only hope is a Savior.  We repent of our works.  We cling to Jesus for his.

             No one should feel obligated to receive the ashes on the forehead.  If you do not want to do it, the ushers will simply pass you by and go to the next row.  Children may participate at the discretion of their parents.

            We will begin the service with the rite.  Where the bulletin indicates, the ushers will begin to invite people by row to come to the communion railing to receive the ashes.  The penitent will kneel at the railing (as we do at the Lord’s Supper) and wait as the pastor applies the ashes to the forehead in the shape of a cross.  Please resist all temptations to scratch or smear the ashes.  (The ashes will easily be washed off with soapy water.)

            This ceremony truly sets the tone for Lenten season.  We are marked as sinners.  We are marked for death.  We are marked as the penitent whose only hope is Jesus Christ. 

            Our comfort comes from Jesus who takes our sin.  He dies our death.  He marks us as his own who have been baptized into his name.  That is where the penitent find comfort.  That is where the dying find life.

Worship Notes -- The Imposition of Ashes

 Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return.

             These words paraphrase Genesis 3:19 where the Lord proclaimed a curse upon man when he had first sinned.  St. Paul repeated that thought in his letter to the Romans: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

            Ashes to ashes.  Dust to dust.  This is the harsh reality of sin.  The use of ashes long pre-dates the New Testament Church.  In the era of the Patriarchs, Job confessed his sin and declared, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:6)  The Imposition of Ashes teaches a dual lesson. 

            1)  It is a mark of penitence.  We demonstrate outwardly the sorrow for sin that we have inwardly.  

            2)  It is a mark of death.  It is a reminder that we are all dust, and to dust we will return.  The ashes remind us that we are helpless in our sinful condition.  Our only hope is a Savior.  We repent of our works.  We cling to Jesus for his.

            No one should feel obligated to receive the ashes on the forehead.  If you do not want to do it, the ushers will simply pass you by and go to the next row.  Children may participate at the discretion of their parents.

            We will begin the service with the rite.  Where the bulletin indicates, the ushers will begin to invite people by row to come to the communion railing to receive the ashes.  The penitent will stand at the railing this year to limit touch points, and wait as the pastor applies the ashes to the forehead in the shape of a cross.  Please resist all temptations to scratch or smear the ashes.  (The ashes will easily be washed off with soapy water.)

            This ceremony truly sets the tone for Lenten season.  We are marked as sinners.  We are marked for death.  We are marked as the penitent whose only hope is Jesus Christ. 

            Our comfort comes from Jesus who takes our sin.  He dies our death.  He marks us as his own who have been baptized into his name.  That is where the penitent find comfort.  That is where the dying find life.

Worship Notes: Lenten Season

 Worship Notes regarding the Lenten Season

Forty Days and Forty Nights

            Throughout the Bible, the number 40 is associated with a time of testing or repentance (e.g., 40 days and nights of the rains falling at the Flood, 40 years of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness to the Promised Land, 40 days of Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the wilderness, 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension, et al.).  Therefore, the Church has adopted a Lenten season of 40 days prior to Easter.  Incidentally, the word “Lenten” comes from an Old English word lencten which means “to lengthen,” as in, the day light hours are lengthening.

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

            The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.  (Ash Wednesday is March 6 this year.)  It is “Ash” Wednesday because of the Church’s custom to put the mark of the cross on the head of the worshipers with ashes.  These ashes are a reminder that we are going to die one day.  As the ashes are applied, the pastor proclaims to each person:  “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return,” a paraphrase of Genesis 3:19.

            This reminder is awkward and uncomfortable.  But sin and death ought to make us feel awkward and uncomfortable.  Such a grave reminder of our sinfulness and mortality is a proper way to begin the Lenten season.  These forty days are a time of penitence and reflection.  While the whole life of a Christian is to be one of repentance, the Lenten season especially focuses us on our need for repentance.

A “Fast” Season

            Fasting is a practice that has long been observed by God’s people, going well back into Old Testament times.  In fact, our Lord seems to expect that we will do it.  In Matthew 6:16, he states, “When you fast…”, not “IF you fast.”

            Fasting goes hand in hand with repentance (Psalm 35:13; Jonah 3:7-9) and with prayer (Esther 4:15,16).  Fasting is a ceremony by which we express our repentance in a physical manner.  It is depriving ourselves of something physical to focus on the spiritual.  It is praying with the body.

            Fasting also trains our bodies and souls.  We discipline our flesh to teach it that it is not to control us.  We deny ourselves in those parts of our lives in which we are most prone to temptation.  When you intentionally deprive your soul of what it wants, it has to get by without.  Why is that important?  Your desires, uncontrolled, give in to temptation. They lead you into sin. Uncontrolled desires make idols of what your soul wants: desiring excess food is gluttony; desiring extravagant clothing or cars or décor is greed; desiring a man or woman outside of marriage is adultery.  Desiring anything outside of God’s order makes you an idolater. 

            Most commonly, fasting involves denying oneself at mealtime.  It does not necessarily mean total abstention from food.  Rather, meals are scaled back.  Instead of eating three full meals a day, one eats the equivalent of about 1 ½ meals.  The time that one would have spent eating is then devoted to prayer and meditation.  The money that one saves can be given to the poor or to a charity.  You could also fast in a way that addresses a temptation or weakness that is particular to you.  Think about what tempts you, and limit your exposure.  If shopping is your weakness, no shopping sprees or comfort purchases during Lent. Too much time wasted on the internet, or visiting sites you shouldn’t be? Only use it at work or when someone else is with you. If you need encouragement, counsel, or more ideas talk with your pastor.

            Fasting from these areas of weakness will heighten your sensitivity to them.  It allows you to train yourself to put these cravings to death.  And it enables you to enjoy the festival times all the more. 

            Should you choose to observe this discipline, do not feel that you have to go all out.  Perhaps you will limit your fasting to just Wednesdays and Fridays, as Christians traditionally did throughout the year.  Or instead of scaling all the way back to 1 ½ meals, perhaps you will simply omit one of the meals, as well as snacking in between.  In any case, fasting is not something we do to seek reward from our Lord.  It is a way that we can more intently focus on our Lord, to meditate, and to pray.

            Note: Sundays are never fast days, so go ahead and enjoy the good gifts of creation to their fullest on these days!  Also, expectant or nursing mothers, children, and the ill are never expected to fast from food, but to provide the nourishment their bodies need.

A Season of Passion

            During the Lenten season, the Christian Church generally increases the opportunities Christians have to pray and to hear the word.  On the Wednesday evenings (7:00 PM) throughout Lent following Ash Wednesday, Good Shepherd offers Lenten Vespers (an evening prayer service, from the Latin vespera, meaning “evening”).  The focus of Lenten Vespers is the Passion of our Lord.  The word Passion is derived from the Latin word passio which means “suffering.”  The Lord’s passion (zeal) to redeem us drove him to his Passion (suffering) for us.  At each Vespers, we will hear a portion of our Savior’s Passion, beginning with the Last Supper and concluding with the death and burial of our Lord.  This year (2021), we will read through the Passion of our Lord from the Gospel according to St. Mark.  (In other years, the Passion readings are from the Gospels according to St. Matthew or St. Luke.)

            It should also be noted that, on Good Friday, the Passion of our Lord is read in its entirety from the Gospel according to St. John.

Little Easters            

If you count the days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, you will get more than forty days.  The reason is that the Sundays in Lent are not counted.  They are Sundays in Lent, not Sundays of Lent.  The focus on these Sundays continues to be the words and works of Jesus, our Messiah, who battles and conquers sin, death, and Satan for us.  While the Lent is a penitential season, the Sundays in Lent are feast days and serve as “little Easters” even within the season of Lent.

Farewell to Alleluia

            While Sundays are little Easters, we do not forget that we are in Lent.  To reflect the penitential nature of the season, we mute the joy and praise in our Divine Services.  This is noticed mainly by the omission of the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory to God in the Highest) and the Alleluias.  We also remove the flowers from the altar during Lent.  As we continue to make our way closer to Holy Week, our fast intensifies.  We will notice that organ music is restricted to the support of congregational singing.  The Gloria Patri (Glory be to the Father) is removed from the Psalms.  Paintings, statues, and icons are either removed or veiled.  The season becomes more somber as we get closer to the cross, until finally on Good Friday, the altar has been completely stripped.

            These omissions are a fast for our eyes and ears.  Perhaps it will seem awkward to be missing these things, but that is the point.  Lent is a penitential season; therefore, our celebration is muted.  But it all heightens the joy and festivity of Easter Sunday when all of the beauty, the music, and the ceremonies are returned to the Church.  The sights, the sounds, the smells, and the Alleluia’s break forth in abundance as we join in worship to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and rejoice in the forgiveness and salvation he brings us.

A Prayerful and Penitential Lent

            One more practice you may want to consider this Lenten season is making use of Private Confession and Absolution.  This is a rite in which the penitent can hear in a very personal manner the voice of Jesus declaring through his minister, “I forgive you.”  The order of Private Confession and Absolution has been made available at the bulletin board so that you can be familiar with it before you come to your pastor.  The pastor would be pleased to walk through the rite with you to help you understand the how’s and the why’s.  Confession teaches us to recognize our sins, and the Absolution allows us to hear Christ proclaim his forgiveness for those sins that grieve us and torment us.  You may contact the pastor to schedule Private Confession and Absolution. 

May God bless you this Lenten season as you prepare to celebrate the joys of Easter.

Worship Notes -- Ash Wednesday & Imposition of Ashes

Remember that you are dust, 

and to dust you will return.

These words paraphrase Genesis 3:19 where the Lord proclaimed a curse upon man when he had first sinned.  St. Paul repeated that thought in his letter to the Romans: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)
Ashes to ashes.  Dust to dust.  This is the harsh reality of sin.  The use of ashes long pre-dates the New Testament Church.  In the era of the Patriarchs, Job confessed his sin and declared, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:6)  The Imposition of Ashes teaches a dual lesson. 


    1)  It is a mark of penitence.  We demonstrate outwardly the sorrow for sin that we have inwardly. 


    2)  It is a mark of death.  It is a reminder that we are all dust, and to dust we will return.  The ashes remind us that we are helpless in our sinful condition.  Our only hope is a Savior.  We repent of our works.  We cling to Jesus for his.


No one should feel obligated to receive the ashes on the forehead.  If you do not want to do it, the ushers will simply pass you by and go to the next row.  Children may participate at the discretion of their parents.
We will begin the service with the rite.  Where the bulletin indicates, the ushers will begin to invite people by row to come to the communion railing to receive the ashes.  The penitent will kneel at the railing (like Lord’s Supper), and wait as the pastor applies the ashes to the forehead in the shape of a cross.  Please resist all temptations to scratch or smear the ashes.  (The ashes will easily be washed off with soapy water.)
This ceremony truly sets the tone for Lenten season.  We are marked as sinners.  We are marked for death.  We are marked as the penitent whose only hope is Jesus Christ. 
Our comfort comes from Jesus who takes our sin.  He dies our death.  He marks us as his own who have been baptized into his name.  That is where the penitent find comfort.  That is where the dying find life.

Ash Wednesday is February 26.  Our Divine Service begins at 7:00 PM.

Worship Notes: Imposition of Ashes

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return.

            These words paraphrase Genesis 3:19 where the Lord proclaimed a curse upon man when he had first sinned.  St. Paul repeated that thought in his letter to the Romans: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

            Ashes to ashes.  Dust to dust.  This is the harsh reality of sin.  The use of ashes long pre-dates the New Testament Church.  In the era of the Patriarchs, Job confessed his sin and declared, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:6)  The Imposition of Ashes teaches a dual lesson. 

            1)  It is a mark of penitence.  We demonstrate outwardly the sorrow for sin that we have inwardly. 

            2)  It is a mark of death.  It is a reminder that we are all dust, and to dust we will return.  The ashes remind us that we are helpless in our sinful condition.  Our only hope is a Savior.  We repent of our works.  We cling to Jesus for his.

            No one should feel obligated to receive the ashes on the forehead.  If you do not want to do it, the ushers will simply pass you by and go to the next row.  Children may participate at the discretion of their parents.

            We will begin the service with the rite.  Where the bulletin indicates, the ushers will begin to invite people by row to come to the communion railing to receive the ashes.  The penitent will kneel at the railing (like Lord’s Supper), and wait as the pastor applies the ashes to the forehead in the shape of a cross.  Please resist all temptations to scratch or smear the ashes.  (The ashes will easily be washed off with soapy water.)

            This ceremony truly sets the tone for Lenten season.  We are marked as sinners.  We are marked for death.  We are marked as the penitent whose only hope is Jesus Christ. 

            Our comfort comes from Jesus who takes our sin.  He dies our death.  He marks us as his own who have been baptized into his name.  That is where the penitent find comfort.  That is where the dying find life.

Worship Notes regarding the Lenten Season

Forty Days and Forty Nights
Throughout the Bible, the number 40 is associated with a time of testing or repentance (e.g., 40 days and nights of the rains falling at the Flood, 40 years of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness to the Promised Land, 40 days of Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the wilderness, 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension, et al.).  Therefore, the Church has adopted a Lenten season of 40 days prior to Easter.  Incidentally, the word “Lenten” comes from an Old English word lencten which means “to lengthen,” as in, the day light hours are lengthening.


Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

  The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.  (Ash Wednesday is March 6 this year.)  It is “Ash” Wednesday because of the Church’s custom to put the mark of the cross on the head of the worshipers with ashes.  These ashes are a reminder that we are going to die one day.  As the ashes are applied, the pastor proclaims to each person:  “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return,” a paraphrase of Genesis 3:19.
This reminder is awkward and uncomfortable.  But sin and death ought to make us feel awkward and uncomfortable.  Such a grave reminder of our sinfulness and mortality is a proper way to begin the Lenten season.  These forty days are a time of penitence and reflection.  While the whole life of a Christian is to be one of repentance, the Lenten season especially focuses us on our need for repentance.

A “Fast” Season

Fasting is a practice that has long been observed by God’s people, going well back into Old Testament times.  In fact, our Lord seems to expect that we will do it.  In Matthew 6:16, he states, “When you fast…”, not “IF you fast.”

Fasting goes hand in hand with repentance (Psalm 35:13; Jonah 3:7-9) and with prayer (Esther 4:15,16).  Fasting is a ceremony by which we express our repentance in a physical manner.  It is depriving ourselves of something physical to focus on the spiritual.  It is praying with the body.
Fasting also trains our bodies and souls.  We discipline our flesh to teach it that it is not to control us.  We deny ourselves in those parts of our lives in which we are most prone to temptation.  When you intentionally deprive your soul of what it wants, it has to get by without.  Why is that important?  Your desires, uncontrolled, give in to temptation. They lead you into sin. Uncontrolled desires make idols of what your soul wants: desiring excess food is gluttony; desiring extravagant clothing or cars or décor is greed; desiring a man or woman outside of marriage is adultery.  Desiring anything outside of God’s order makes you an idolater. 
Most commonly, fasting involves denying oneself at mealtime.  It does not necessarily mean total abstention from food.  Rather, meals are scaled back.  Instead of eating three full meals a day, one eats the equivalent of about 1 ½ meals.  The time that one would have spent eating is then devoted to prayer and meditation.  The money that one saves can be given to the poor or to a charity.  You could also fast in a way that addresses a temptation or weakness that is particular to you.  Think about what tempts you, and limit your exposure.  If shopping is your weakness, no shopping sprees or comfort purchases during Lent. Too much time wasted on the internet, or visiting sites you shouldn’t be? Only use it at work or when someone else is with you. If you need encouragement, counsel, or more ideas talk with your pastor.

Fasting from these areas of weakness will heighten your sensitivity to them.  It allows you to train yourself to put these cravings to death.  And it enables you to enjoy the festival times all the more. 
Should you choose to observe this discipline, do not feel that you have to go all out.  Perhaps you will limit your fasting to just Wednesdays and Fridays, as Christians traditionally did throughout the year.  Or instead of scaling all the way back to 1 ½ meals, perhaps you will simply omit one of the meals, as well as snacking in between.  In any case, fasting is not something we do to seek reward from our Lord.  It is a way that we can more intently focus on our Lord, to meditate, and to pray.

Note: Sundays are never fast days, so go ahead and enjoy the good gifts of creation to their fullest on these days!  Also, expectant or nursing mothers, children, and the ill are never expected to fast from food, but to provide the nourishment their bodies need.


A Season of Passion
During the Lenten season, the Christian Church generally increases the opportunities Christians vespera, meaning “evening”).  The focus of Lenten Vespers is the Passion of our Lord.  The word Passion is derived from the Latin word passio which means “suffering.”  The Lord’s passion (zeal) to redeem us drove him to his Passion (suffering) for us.  At each Vespers, we will hear a portion of our Savior’s Passion, beginning with the Last Supper and concluding with the death and burial of our Lord.  This year (2019), we will read through the Passion of our Lord from the Gospel according to St. Luke.  (In other years, the Passion readings are from the Gospels according to St. Matthew or St. Mark.)
have to pray and to hear the word.  On the Wednesday evenings (7:00 PM) throughout Lent following Ash Wednesday, Good Shepherd offers Lenten Vespers (an evening prayer service, from the Latin
It should also be noted that, on Good Friday, the Passion of our Lord is read in its entirety from the Gospel according to St. John.


Little Easters
If you count the days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, you will get more than forty days.  The reason is that the Sundays in Lent are not counted.  They are Sundays in Lent, not Sundays of Lent.  The focus on these Sundays continues to be the words and works of Jesus, our Messiah, who battles and conquers sin, death, and Satan for us.  While the Lent is a penitential season, the Sundays in Lent are feast days and serve as “little Easters” even within the season of Lent.


Farewell to Alleluia
While Sundays are little Easters, we do not forget that we are in Lent.  To reflect the penitential nature of the season, we mute the joy and praise in our Divine Services.  This is noticed mainly by the omission of the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory to God in the Highest) and the Alleluias.  We also remove the flowers from the altar during Lent.  As we continue to make our way closer to Holy Week, our fast intensifies.  We will notice that organ music is restricted to the support of congregational singing.  The Gloria Patri (Glory be to the Father) is removed from the Psalms.  Paintings, statues, and icons are either removed or veiled.  The season becomes more somber as we get closer to the cross, until finally on Good Friday, the altar has been completely stripped.
These omissions are a fast for our eyes and ears.  Perhaps it will seem awkward to be missing these things, but that is the point.  Lent is a penitential season; therefore, our celebration is muted.  But it all heightens the joy and festivity of Easter Sunday when all of the beauty, the music, and the ceremonies are returned to the Church.  The sights, the sounds, the smells, and the Alleluia’s break forth in abundance as we join in worship to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and rejoice in the forgiveness and salvation he brings us.


A Prayerful and Penitential Lent
One more practice you may want to consider this Lenten season is making use of Private Confession and Absolution.  This is a rite in which the penitent can hear in a very personal manner the voice of Jesus declaring through his minister, “I forgive you.”  The order of Private Confession and Absolution has been made available at the bulletin board so that you can be familiar with it before you come to your pastor.  The pastor would be pleased to walk through the rite with you to help you understand the how’s and the why’s.  Confession teaches us to recognize our sins, and the Absolution allows us to hear Christ proclaim his forgiveness for those sins that grieve us and torment us.  You may contact the pastor to schedule Private Confession and Absolution. 

May God bless you this Lenten season as you prepare to celebrate the joys of Easter.

The Lenten season

Preparation for the Lenten Season

A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth, our guilt and evil bearing
     And, laden with the sins of earth, none else the burden sharing.
Goes patient on, grows weak and faint 
     To slaughter led without complaint,
          That spotless life to offer,
Bears shame and stripes and wounds and death,
     Anguish and mockery and says,
          “Willing all this I suffer.” (Christian Worship 100:1)

The Lenten season is a 40 day period (not including Sundays) leading up to Easter.  It is a penitential season.  That is why it begins with Ash Wednesday – a powerful reminder that “dust you are, and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19)  Since we are dust and marked for death, we approach our Lord in penitence and humility, seeking his mercy.

One of the ways we may express our penitence is by fasting.  Fasting need not be a total deprivation of food.  Traditionally, Christians would reduce the number of meals they ate from three to two.  Of those two meals, one (usually the later meal) was rather light.  Or you may partake in two rather small meals with a regular sized meal.  Sundays, however, remain feast days.  Fasting, prayer, and the giving of alms go together. (Matthew 6:1-6,16-18)  The time that we give up on feeding our bodies is devoted to prayer and meditation, and the money we would have spent on ourselves would be given to the poor or to a charity.  Though such practices are not mandatory, Luther’s Small Catechism reminds us, “Fasting and other outward preparation may serve a good purpose….” 

The Lenten fast is also experienced in our Divine Services.  During the Lenten season, we will not sing Alleluia or the Gloria in Excelsis (“Glory be to God on high…”).  Flowers are also removed from the altar.  As we continue further into the Lenten season, the fast intensifies and we will notice some omissions from our Services:

These omissions are a fast for our eyes and ears.  Perhaps it will seem awkward to be missing these things, but that is the point.  Lent is a penitential season.  Our celebration is muted.  But this also will highlight the air of celebration on Easter Sunday when all of these sights and sounds return to our worship as we will rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord.

Grant that I your passion view with repentant grieving.
   Let me not bring shame to you by unholy living.
How could I refuse to shun every sinful pleasure
   Since for me God’s only Son suffered without measure? 
(Christian Worship 98:5)