Welcome to worship this evening at St. John’s Lutheran in Schuyler and thank you for joining us. As you prepare for this time of worship, we encourage you to set aside distractions and prepare your heart and your space to be a sanctuary. This may include lighting a candle, having a bowl of water in front of you to remember your baptism, or having your bible or a hymnal handy.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023 • Ash Wednesday
Click here to see the announcements and the prayer list.
WELCOME
GATHERING SONG (ELW 599) Lord Jesus, Think on Me
Lord Jesus, think on me, and purge away my sin; from selfish passions set me free and make me pure within. Lord Jesus, think on me, by anxious thoughts oppressed; let me your loving servant be and taste your promised rest. Lord Jesus, think on me, nor let me go astray; through darkness and perplexity point out your chosen way. Lord Jesus, think on me, that, when the flood is past, I may the_eternal brightness see and share your joy at last.
GREETING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray.
Almighty and ever-living God, you hate nothing you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and honest hearts, so that, truly repenting of our sins, we may receive from you, the God of all mercy, full pardon and forgiveness through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
FIRST READING: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them
in ages to come.
Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord, your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her canopy.
Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”
Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.
PSALM: Psalm 51:1-17
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; in your great compassion blot out my offenses.
Wash me through and through from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my offenses, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are justified when you speak and right in your judgment.
Indeed, I was born steeped in wickedness, a sinner from my mother’s womb.
Indeed, you delight in truth deep within me, and would have me know wisdom deep within.
Remove my sins with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be purer than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness; that the body you have broken may rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my wickedness.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
Let me teach your ways to offenders, and sinners shall be restored to you.
Rescue me from bloodshed, O God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
For you take no delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. You are not pleased with burnt offering.
The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; a troubled and broken heart, O God, you will not despise.
SECOND READING: 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10
We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
We are turning, Lord, to hear you; you are merciful and kind — slow to anger, rich in blessing, and with love to us inclined..
GOSPEL: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
The holy gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you, O Lord.
[Jesus said to the disciples:] “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN OF THE DAY (ELW 606) Our Father, We Have Wandered
Our Father, we have wandered and hidden from your face; in foolishness have squandered your legacy of grace. But now, in exile dwelling, we rise with fear and shame, as, distant but compelling, we hear you call our name. And now at length discerning the evil that we do, behold us, Lord, returning with hope and trust to you. In haste you come to meet us and home rejoicing bring in gladness there to greet us with calf and robe and ring. O Lord of all the living, both banished and restored, compassionate, forgiving, and ever-caring Lord, grant now that our transgressing, our faithlessness may cease. Stretch out your hand in blessing, in pardon, and in peace.
INVITATION TO LENT
Friends in Christ, today with the whole church we enter the time of remembering Jesus’ passover from death to life, and our life in Christ is renewed.
We begin this holy season by acknowledging our need for repentance and for God’s mercy. We are created to experience joy in communion with God, to love one another, and to live in harmony with creation. But our sinful rebellion separates us from God, our neighbors, and creation, so that we do not enjoy the life our creator intended.
As disciples of Jesus, we are called to a discipline that contends against evil and resists whatever leads us away from love of God and neighbor. I invite you, therefore, to the discipline of Lent—self-examination and repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love—strengthened by the gifts of word and sacrament. Let us continue our journey through these forty days to the great Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
CONFESSION OF SIN
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Silence for reflection
Most holy and merciful God,
we confess to you and to one another, and before the whole company of heaven, that we have sinned by our fault, by our own fault, by our own most grievous 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, O God.
We have shut our ears 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, O God.
Our past unfaithfulness, the pride, envy, hypocrisy, and apathy that have infected our lives, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to share the faith that is in us, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our neglect of human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our false judgments, our uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Restore us, O God, and let your anger depart from us.
Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.
Normally at this point in the service, we would do the imposition of ashes as a sign of our mortality and penitence, reminding us that only by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ are we given eternal life. We will instead offer ashes during our regular worship service this coming Sunday.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Sustained by God’s abundant mercy, let us pray for the church, the world, and all of creation.
Silence for reflection
O Lord, our God, you gather your church and call us to return to you. Accompany us throughout our Lenten pilgrimage. Create in us clean hearts and renew all the baptized to declare your praise. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew your creation, O God. Bring rains to parched places and heal lands affected by a changing climate (local ecosystems or other natural places may be named), that all inhabitants of the earth experience your abundance. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew the nations, O God. Give voice to those on the margins and resolve to world leaders who seek to protect those most vulnerable. Loosen the bonds of injustice and bring an end to all violence, oppression, and persecution. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew your people, O God. Respond to those who cry out to you in secret or in seclusion. Equip us with compassion to care for those who experience homelessness, food insecurity, economic hardship, and illness (especially). Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew this congregation, O God. Inspire our faith formation ministries and those who teach and lead (Sunday school teachers, Christian education directors, or others may be named). Invigorate us with lifelong curiosity and wonder as we grow as your disciples. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
O Lord, our God, we give thanks for all your faithful ones of every time and place. Renew us by the example of their lives of prayer and service, and at the last, bring us with them into your everlasting presence. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
SENDING SONG (ELW 320) The Glory of These Forty Days
The glory of these forty days we celebrate with songs of praise; for Christ, through whom all things were made, himself has fasted and has prayed. Alone and fasting Moses saw the loving God who gave the law; and to Elijah, fasting, came the steeds and chariots of flame. So Daniel trained his mystic sight, delivered from the lions’ might; and John, the Bridegroom’s friend, became the herald of Messiah’s name. Then grant, O God, that we may, too, return in fast and prayer to you. Our spirits strengthen with your grace, and give us joy to see your face.
BLESSING
God, the giver of love, Christ, the resurrection and the life, and the Holy Spirit of rebirth bless you in this Lenten journey.
Amen.
DISMISSAL
Go in peace. Serve in love.
Thanks be to God.
St. John's Lutheran Church 