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Weekly Bible Notes

Ash Wednesday

Purple

Opening Verse
Collect Prayer
First Reading:
Second Reading:
Gospel Reading
Commentary:
Meditation:
Hymns for this week
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead :

Please note Bible readings remain same each lectionary year

Opening Verse of Scripture    Psalm 99

The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome name-- he is holy.

Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made, and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent. Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may receive from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through the merits of Jesus Christ, our only mediator and advocate. Methodist Worship

Almighty and merciful God, you hate nothing that you have made, and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts, so that when we turn to you and confess our sins we may receive your full and perfect forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.   Methodist Worship

Remember, O Lord, what you have wrought in us, and not what we deserve; and as you have called us toy your service, make us worthy of our calling; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.   Methodist Worship

Holy God, our lives are laid open before you: rescue us from the chaos of sin and through the death of your Son bring us healing and make us whole in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.   Common Worship Shorter Collect

First Bible Reading  Joel 2:1-2, 17-17

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand-- a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as ever was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.

'Even now,' declares the LORD, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.' Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing-- grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, 'Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?''

Second Reading 2 Corinthians 5:20b - 6:10

We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, "In the time of my favour I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation. We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonour, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Gospel Reading  Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. "When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Post Communion Prayer

Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life: give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive these inestimable gifts, and also daily endeavour to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Commentary

So today Lent begins, I hope you all enjoyed pancakes yesterday, and perhaps some of you will refrain from eating flour, meat eggs and fat?

Unlikely I guess

We don’t really give up foods these days for Lent, like many of the old customs it has died out. But the meaning of some of these customs is something which should be preserved and certain things need to be understood so that we may enjoy the benefits which Christians over the centuries have received from them.

Ash Wednesday Service is one such custom.

In a Christians culture which yearly becomes more self-indulgent, the ancient Biblical traditions of covering one's head with ashes, wearing sackcloth, and fasting is perhaps more meaningful than ever before.

It is fashionable to wear crosses of Gold, ordinary flat crosses, or embellished fancy ones, I saw some suggestions this week in a magazine of large chunky crosses on chains to be worn by fashionable brides across the shoulder on long chains down to the waist. Such adornments are worn by believer and unbeliever alike.

But the cross which we wear on this one day of the year is different. It is the real deal. I want to consider this cross under three words which I think summarise what it is about.

Mortality

The sign of the cross on our foreheads is a sign of mortality. The use of ashes, made by burning palm crosses from the previous Palm Sunday, is very symbolic.

As the cross is marked on our foreheads, the priest says, you are created from dust, and to dust you will return. Ashes are reminders to us of our mortality. God made the first human being by breathing life into dust, and without God, human beings are nothing more than dust and ashes. This helps us to be mindful and live in the light of our ultimate accountability before God. There is nothing of which we may boast of ourselves, only of God.

Repentance

Ashes are a symbol of suffering and mourning. Not because we have to endure a sparse Lent devoid of chocolate, but rather because we are sorry for that which is wrong in or lives and we want to change or to use the religious word - repent.

It is not fashionable to repent any more either. Increasingly we are told that our sin is the responsibility of our parents, our upbringing, our lack of opportunities or whatever.

Ashes are a recognition that we know there are things which we can do to change and be better Christians. The ashes are a symbol of sorrow for that which is wrong in our lives and a willingness to try and change. To wear this cross is not about having a nice piece of jewellery, it is about being prepared to change for the better

This is out of step with the world around us, like so much of our faith, it is counter culture. But I like the bravery of the gesture of taking the palms of the crowds, the shallow adoration of the masses, the triumphalism which Jesus so rejected, and using those same palms which the crowds waved, to make the crosses which mark out the faithful few.

This bring me to the last word and I will use the word comfort

Comfort

The church has, quite rightly, been accused of making people feel bad about themselves, and that is true. We should never forget the tremendous privilege of being human, created by God. This is a wonderful thing, and the church has for too long focussed on our vileness and unworthiness.

But Ash Wednesday and what I have said about mortality and repentance, is not about making people feel bad about themselves.

The mortality and repentance of Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are all equal before God. Not one of us is better than anybody else. We all fall short and have no claim upon God’s attention because we are more wonderful human being. That is strangely a message of comfort!

The human tendency to think ourselves better than others is not a nice one. Pride is a sin. However the abandonment of pride can lead to the discovery of great personal spiritual development. Released from the need to be beautiful, clever, successful we can discover more of what God wants us to be.

May Ash Wednesday and all of Lent mean these things to us this year.

Charles Royden

Meditation

Today we begin a spiritual time of reflection. In many churches there will be the occasion tonight to begin Lent with the imposition of ashes. This is the lighting of the Palm crosses from last year and the placing of a cross in ash on the forehead. Repentance and ashes are biblical, spoken of in scripture and this is a good thing to do. It is a sign of the life of the cross, the acceptance of all that owning that cross can bring. Through this commitment we have access to spiritual growth and healing.

Lent is a time to be penitent and to seek God's will for our life as surely as Jesus sought God's direction in the wilderness. We live our lives under the shadow of the cross and this is a good time to consider what the implications of that are. It is a time to say to God 'teach me afresh, where am I going wrong, how do you want me to change?'

In the Old Testament ashes were a sign of sorrow at having let God down they were a demonstration of looking for the new direction and being sorry for what was in the past. They were a sign of repentance and looking forward. The Christian response is of course to see the new direction for us all in the cross and we make the ashes into the sign of the cross. That is where we come to find God's forgiveness and direction for our lives.

One of life's special gifts is that it provides us with countless experiences that help keep things in perspective. We visit a hospital and see people enduring great physical suffering and suddenly the fact that we have the flu doesn't seem so monumental. We view documentaries about famine striking people all over the world and consequently the burnt toast is not catastrophic. We read news of whole societies suffering under repressive dictatorships, and the need to obey a 30mph speed limit round bollards down Wentworth Drive does not so much fray our nerves.

People with wealth and influence die and are cremated. Power, ambition, worries, hassles, manipulations, and posturing are all reduced to a carton of ashes. The point of citing this is not to make us morbid, but to prompt us to reflect. Lent begins with ashes, because ashes can put things into perspective. On Ash Wednesday, we acknowledge our mortality, that all things will pass, and that we too will pass. None of us is indispensable. Family goes on, the economy goes one, the job goes on-life will go on, without us.

"You are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19).

Lent is a time to reflect on matters that we might not reflect on at other times of the year. It is a time for putting things back into perspective, for taking a good look at ourselves, at what we have become, and at what we are doing with our lives. Ashes provide us with a perspective about what counts and what doesn't. Ashes also inform us that our time is limited and that we should take advantage of the time we have left to continue our spiritual development.

We welcome Lent, therefore, with ashes for the opportunities it will afford us to clear our vision and reset our sights. We have much to do before we turn to dust. Lent is a time for tough questions. Where are you going in life? What are you doing with yourself? What kind of priorities do you live by? What changes should you need to make to ensure a more worthwhile life for yourself? What should you become more serious about? Less serious about? Are you preoccupied and overly concerned with trivia? Do you get angry over petty things? Do you lose sleep over matters that have little lasting import? Do you need to push yourself more on worthwhile projects? Do you need to slow down? Think in terms of ashes and see if it doesn't change your perspective.

A Poem: 'The thread'

Something is very gently
invisibly, silently, pulling at me—
a thread or net of threads
finer than cobwebs and as elastic.
I haven't tried the strength of it.
No barbed hook pierced and tore me.
Was it not long ago this thread
began to draw me?
Or way back?
Was I born with its knot about my neck,
a bridle?
Not fear
but a stirring of wonder
makes me catch my breath
when I feel the tug of it
when I thought it had loosened itself and gone.


 

Hymns

1. Blest are the pure in heart  724

2. Guide me O

3. Just as I am   697

4. O breath of life

5. O for a heart to praise my God  536

6. Rock of ages

7. The Church of Christ in every age   804

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

"Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian.

If it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die."

 

Additional Reading

 

Isaiah Chapter 58:1-12

 

 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.
For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

 

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