GREETING (Psalm 32:1-2)
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
HYMN 348 “Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling”
PSALM 51:10-17
PRAYER
(Think back to the beginning of this day. Start there, and mentally walk through the day again, while you thank God for the day's blessings and God's continuous work of love. Confess and repent of those times when you forgot, ignored or rebelled against God. Continue to pray with your personal prayer list.)
SCRIPTURE LESSON
(Choose a passage of scripture to read. It can be a chapter, a paragraph, or a particular story. Daily lectionaries are available online or in print that assign a lesson each day from the gospels, epistles, Old Testament and psalms on a three-year cycle. Or you can create a plan to read a book of the Bible, or the whole Bible. Then follow the steps below.)
Read a passage of scripture. Read it out loud, very slowly and carefully as if for the first time. Continue reading until a word, phrase or sentence captures your attention. Stop there to repeat the word, phrase or sentence over and over, listening to it deeply in your heart.
Reflect on why the passage got your attention. Consider the area of your life to which this may apply. Is God saying something to you in this passage? Take time to listen carefully to whatever God may be saying to you.
Respond to God in prayer (or with journaling, music, art or whatever you choose) about what you have heard. Ask questions. Open yourself to God’s will for you.
Rest in God’s company. Be still and quiet. Move beyond thinking, practicing interior silence. Let yourself be open to God’s presence. Savor this moment with God.
PRAYER
Almighty God, the dusty ashes that mark foreheads this Ash Wednesday
remind us that we came from dust, and to dust we will return.
Our lives last only a little longer than wild blooms in a spring meadow.
We deny the transitory nature of this world to our own peril.
Truly, there is so little time for us to change the course our lives travel,
so little time to admit that our selfishness will be our doom.
Loving God, we resist hearing your call to repent and believe the gospel,
but we cannot shut it out, it penetrates our hearts and minds.
Even now, we hear you warning it is necessary for us to change our path.
We hear you, and beg your help making the needed change.
These ashes of repentance are nothing compared to guilt’s heavy burden.
These ashes lie lightly upon our hearts and minds, Holy One.
The ashes speak of our sin’s gravity and its inevitable fate in the grave;
but they also speak of hope for uniting ourselves with Christ.
As we choose the path of living and dying, in Christ and with Christ,
we join ourselves not only to his dying, but also to his rising.
We have a living Savior, and joined with him we will certainly live too.
The path on which Christ leads us is the path of eternal life.
Our bodies may last only a little longer than a wildflower in a meadow,
but our spirits will outlive the mountains, deserts and oceans.
United with our Savior, we will outlive all the stars filling the night sky.
Our earth will cease spinning, but our lives will go on forever.
The dusty crosses of ash lie lightly upon our foreheads, Gentle Father.
They are such a relief from the dead-weight of guilt’s burden.
Let Ash Wednesday mark not just our heads, but also deep in our hearts.
Transform us, Heavenly Father, into the very image of Christ.
Set our feet firmly upon the path that Jesus has already laid out for us.
Use this Lenten journey to ground us in being truly Christian.
Give us the Spirit that sustains us in the face of trouble and persecution.
Give us faith to trust you, love you, and serve you for now on.
Amen.
SILENCE AND COMMITMENT
(Pause to reflect and listen. Work to push out of your mind any distracting or irrelevant thoughts. Concentrate your thoughts on the words of the hymns and choruses you have sung, the prayers you have spoken and the scriptures you have read. Be aware of what you are feeling. Listen for anything that God might be saying to you in this time you have spent together. As God responds to your prayer-time, seek guidance for how you can best respond to God’s will. Then commit to serving God’s will for you.)
HYMN 389 “Freely, Freely”
CLOSING PRAYER (inspired by John Donne’s “A Hymn to God the Father”)
God, forgive me the stain that original sin stamped upon my birth;
and yet I have more.
Forgive the multitudes of sins I committed between then and now;
and yet I have more.
Forgive also the sins of omission, though there are so very many;
and yet I have more.
Forgive me for leading others into sin, by persuasion and example;
and yet I have more.
Forgive me the fantasies and dreams, never executed but so evil;
and yet I have more.
Forgive me the doubts that I have too much for Christ to forgive;
and still I do not stop.
Father, I seek no crown, no glory, no white robe, just forgiveness;
more and more I need it.
Admission to Jesus’ heavenly company, and his wondrous grace,
is my only desire.
This he has already promised, announcing it to all from the cross.
So I have enough, and I am thankful.
Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
