Hello friends. Due to hazardous weather expected this evening, we are cancelling our Ash Wednesday Service. The full text of the service (including a meditation and links to music at the bottom of the lyrics for each hymn and anthem) will be online by 6 PM. We will miss gathering together, but want our community to stay safe.
As we watch the days lengthen and the winter recede, the church’s heart turns toward Lent. This is the spring season of preparation for the central celebration of all Christians: the Easter festival, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
How do we begin? We begin simply, with the sign of ashes on our foreheads. This reminds us that all life is fleeting, and invites us to live our days in the fullness of our faith. It also reminds us that in life and in death we belong to God.
Join us for a simple Ash Wednesday supper at 5:30 pm, followed by worship with the imposition of ashes at 6:15 pm. Come to worship in our beautiful sanctuary, or right here online, if you are at home or on the road. When our hearts turn to the fast that God desires—the fast of justice and love—our light will shine more brightly than ever.
Ash Wednesday: Then Your Light Will Shine
February 22, 2023
Union Presbyterian Church
Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Liturgist: Doug Moore Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube
Call to Worship
God came to be among us in the world in Jesus Christ,
not to condemn the world,
but so that the world might be saved through him.
God’s love endures forever.
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth should change,
though the mountains should shake in the heart of the sea,
though the waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
God’s love endures forever.
Evening Hymn #477 W & R “Come and Find the Quiet Center”
Shirley Erena Murray
©1992, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Come and find the quiet center
In the crowded life we lead,
Find the room for hope to enter,
Find the frame where we are freed:
Clear the chaos and the clutter,
Clear our eyes, that we can see
All the things that really matter,
Be at peace, and simply be.
Silence is a friend who claims us,
Cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us,
Knows our being, touches base,
Making space within our thinking,
Lifting shades to show the sun,
Raising courage when we're shrinking,
Finding scope for faith begun.
In the Spirit let us travel,
Open to each other's pain,
Let our loves and fears unravel,
Celebrate the space we gain:
There's a place for deepest dreaming,
There's a time for heart to care,
In the Spirit's lively scheming
There is always room to spare!
Come and Find the Quiet Center-Kirk Marcy, Bothell High School Combined Choirs
Evening Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
Almighty God, you despise nothing you have made,
and you renew the lives of all who trust in you.
Create in us new and contrite hearts,
that truly acknowledging our frailty and brokenness,
we may receive from you, God of mercy,
your healing, your wholeness, and your peace.
We pray in the holy name of Jesus, and as he taught us.
The Lord’s Prayer
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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Scripture Isaiah 58:1-9 The Message by Eugene Peterson
Shout! A full-throated shout!
Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives,
face my family Jacob with their sins!
They’re busy, busy, busy at worship,
and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people—
law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’
and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,
‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way?
Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’
“Well, here’s why:
“The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit.
You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after:
a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
a fast day that I, God, would like?
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
Response We do not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Thanks be to God!
Meditation
The setting for our passage from Isaiah is the time after the Israelite exiles have returned home from Babylon. Throughout it, Isaiah writes as if the voice of God, calling for the prophet to tell the people what’s wrong with their lives.
The interesting thing is this: the people already know there is something wrong with their lives. The newly rebuilt Temple has brought the returnees to tears. It is not the Temple they remember. Life back home is not the joy their nostalgia led them to expect it would be. There is conflict in the community. They worship—they try to feel close to God, but nothing works. In frustration, they ask God, “Don’t you even notice our worship? Our fasting?” Nothing is as they expect it to be. They wonder where God is. Nothing feels right.
Fasting is an ancient practice of many religions. Growing up in my Catholic parochial school, there was an expectation from a fairly young age that we would “give something up” for Lent, but also that we would fast and abstain from eating meat on all the Fridays of the season (there were modified versions of these practices for children). For Christians, the idea around fasting is that our hunger opens a space for us to focus on God. We remove something we like or love, and we feel its absence, and this provides us with an opportunity to explore the meaning of that empty space, and to connect or reconnect more closely with God in prayer, or meditation, or reading scripture, or some other spiritual practice. Fasting, in theory, can help us to deepen our prayer life.
But fasting is one of those things that can go really wrong, in a variety of ways. Is it fasting if my primary goal is weight loss? Is it fasting if it makes me belligerent, ready to fight? Is it fasting if I tell absolutely everyone that I am doing it, and walk around making a point of how tired and worn out it makes me? For people with certain eating disorders, fasting can be deadly, leading to behaviors that are unhealthy and self-destructive.
But fasting can also go wrong in other ways. Presbyterian Christians are all about grace, so we don’t believe we can purchase or earn God’s love. But fasting can feel like an attempt to gain God’s favor. Look, God! See how good I’m being! Aren’t you proud of me? Now will you love me? (Spoiler alert: God already loves you.)
The Israelites are fasting alright, but God sees it going wrong in so many ways. Isaiah says that some are using fasting to gain control over other people and make a profit. People are showing off because of their fasting.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight, God says.
You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
How about the kind of fast I want? God asks. How about this?
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.”
The kind of fasting that pleases God is the one that creates space in our lives, not our stomachs, so that we can focus on God’s priorities. South African scholar Juliana Klaassens writes, “[This passage] … should be understood in terms of God’s justice that runs like a golden thread throughout the book of Isaiah.” God’s priorities include justice. God’s priorities include care for those who are hurting or lacking or powerless… God’s priorities include relieving oppression, breaking the chains of discrimination. God’s priorities include making sure all people have roofs over their heads, and clothes on their backs, and enough to eat.
When we become a part of God’s plan for caring for the world and one another, we begin to shine. It’s amazing how connected we feel with God when we are doing our best to love and care for all God’s people. Our minds are no longer filled with worries about impressing God. We’re doing God’s work. The love of God being brought to our neighbors fills us, too—it’s one of those “the more you give away, the more you have” situations.
Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, the season focused on Jesus’ journey to the cross and resurrection. Almost since the church was birthed, people have set this season aside as a time to prepare for the great mystery of Easter, as well as a time to deepen our faith through the use of certain practices. Prayer, fasting, and “almsgiving” are the big three, traditionally speaking. But each of us can and should discern what would be most meaningful to us. It could be reading scripture or using a devotional (we have a lovely one you can pick up at the church or receive as a digital file to read on your phone, tablet, or computer. Just send me an email.) It could be volunteering somewhere or taking a daily meditation walk, enjoying the beauty of nature. It could be taking something on or giving something up. Spend some time contemplating what would give you joy, what you could look forward to each day, what would help you on your journey. You’ll know when you’ve discovered the right thing for you.
Consider the fast that pleases God, working towards the kind of justice that is that golden thread, running through the book of the prophet. I think the best Lenten practice is the one you don’t want to stop doing once Easter has come and gone. Share the love of God with your neighbors. A wise man said that “It is in giving that we receive.” May your observance of Lent bless you and fill you with the love of God.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Anthem “A Willing Heart,” Tom Fettke
©2003, Beckenhorst Press, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Create in me a pure heart,
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.
Create in me a pure heart,
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
May Your Spirit and presence be near me.
And restore unto me,
And restore unto me,
And restore unto me
The Joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me with Your gracious Spirit.
Create in me a pure heart,
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.
Create in me a pure heart,
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
May Your Spirit and presence be near me, O God.
“A Willing Heart” by Tom Fettke—Chancel Choir of Messiah Lutheran Church, Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
Invitation to the Lenten Disciplines
I call us to a holy fast ... and a holy feast
in each day of this Lenten season ahead.
Let us ... fast from worry,
and feast on trust in God,
fast from complaining,
and feast on appreciation,
fast from negatives,
and feast on affirmatives.
Let us ... fast from emphasis on differences,
and feast on the unity of life,
fast from hostility,
and feast on tenderness,
fast from anger,
and feast on empathy.
Let us ... fast from judging others,
and feast on the image of God within them,
fast from words that pollute,
and feast on phrases that heal,
fast from idle gossip,
and feast on purposeful silence.
Let us ... fast from self-concern,
and feast on compassion for others,
fast from discontent,
and feast on gratitude,
fast from bitterness,
and feast on forgiveness.
Let us ... fast from facts that depress,
and feast on examples that inspire,
fast from discouragement,
and feast on hope,
fast from anxiety,
and feast on prayer.
Psalter Reading Psalm 51, selected verses
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.
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.
Imposition of the Ashes
Remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return.
Accomplish in us, O God, the work of your salvation,
that we may show forth your glory in the world.
By the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
bring us with joy into the fullness of your realm of love, justice, and peace.
Hymn #257 W & R “What Wondrous Love Is This” (Public Domain)
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul,
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down;
When I was sinking down beneath God's righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul!
To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing,
To God and to the Lamb I will sing!
To God and to the Lamb, who is the great "I AM,"
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,
While millions join the theme, I will sing!
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on, I'll sing on,
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on!
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing and joyful be,
And through eternity I'll sing on, I'll sing on,
And through eternity I'll sing on!
St. Olaf Choir—“What Wondrous Love,” arr. Robert Scholz (Southern Harmony)
Benediction Go out into God’s beautiful and broken world,
and engage in the kind of fast that is pleasing to God.
Let your light shine!
And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit
be with each and with all of us, this evening and forevermore.
Amen.
Liturgy adapted from the Book of Common Worship, PCUSA.
Invitation to the Lenten Disciplines from Tom Sherwood, Carleton University Chaplain