Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Lent is the 40-day season preceding Easter, given to remembering the death we’re due (because of sin) and repentance. It culminates with Resurrection Sunday (other Sundays do no count in the 40-days.) Ash Wednesday itself is frequently observed as a day of fasting and repentance for sin. It comes right after Fat Tuesday, part of the Mardi Gras festivities, which probably doesn’t need further explanation. Every Tuesday is a fat Tuesday...

Anyway, although churches like Countryside are not often given to commemorating days like Ash Wednesday, Christians have been remembering this day for centuries. It certainly doesn’t hurt to put the "preparation wheels" in motion for the celebration of new life which is just a few weeks away.

This morning, after Morning Worship, we considered Peter’s Words from Acts 3:19: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” And the following prayer from The Book of Common Prayer.

Most holy and merciful Father.

We confess to you and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinned by our own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven. Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit. Have mercy on us, Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives.

We confess to you, Lord. Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people.

We confess to you, Lord. Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves.

We confess to you, Lord. Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work.

We confess to you, Lord. Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us. We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty.

Accept our repentance, Lord. For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us.

Accept our repentance, Lord. For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us.

Accept our repentance, Lord. Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us; Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation, That we may show forth your glory in the world. By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord, Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

May the Lord do a refreshing work in us in the weeks ahead!

— Pastor Terry