3.2.22 Noon Ash Wednesday Service

let us pray almighty and everlasting god you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may obtain of you the god of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through jesus christ our lord who lives and reigns with you and the holy spirit one god forever and ever amen please be seated a reading from the prophet joel blow the trumpet in zion sound the alarm on my holy mountain let the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the lord it 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 and 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 [Music] 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 holy 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 the word of the lord [Music] the lord is full of compassion and mercy slow to anger and of great kindness [Music] he will not always accuse us nor will he keep his anger forever he has not dealt with us according to our sins nor rewarded us according to our wickedness for as the heavens [Music] is his mercy great upon those who fear him as far as these dis from the west so far has we removed sins from us as our father cares for his children so has the lord for those who fear for he himself knows [Music] that we [Music] are bought down a reading from the second letter of saint paul to the corinthians 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 without ministry but as servants of god we have commended ourselves in every way through great endurance in afflictions hardships calamities beatings imprisonments riots laborers 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 imposters 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 the word of the lord uh [Music] call [Music] come to the keeping your [Music] heart [Music] earthly [Music] i [Music] is [Music] not [Music] see [Music] from [Music] oh [Music] moves premiere jesus said 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 arms 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 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 please pray with me create in us clean hearts o god and renew a right spirit within us amen today we begin our journey in lent that 40-day period where we journey with jesus in the wilderness making our way to jerusalem and in the season of lent we are called to remember and to repent a season of self-reflection a prayer and fasting and meditating on god's holy word everything about this season is for us to with clear and open eyes an open heart be honest with a clear-eyed view of where we've been and where god calls us to be walter brugerman says that churches should be the most honest place in town not the happiest place in town and i think he particularly had lent in mind and as we look at the scriptures and the hymnity and the prayers of this day it calls us and points us toward how to keep and observe a holy land looking at that passage from joel we get a rather noisy wake-up call and prophesying of the day of the lord in gloom and darkness the whole thing pivots on one small word yet yet even now return to the lord with all your heart rend your heart and not your garments for our god is gracious and merciful slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love that same theme is picked up in the 103rd psalm about the faithfulness in the steadfastness of god's love for you and for me and part of the message of this season is that god never ceases to call us back to call us to return to rend our hearts and it's important to remember that when scripture speaks of returning it's from the hebrew word shub meaning make a 180 degree turn leaving behind that which separates us from god and one another in turning a different direction following the way of jesus and when scripture in ancient times speaks of the heart it was believed that the heart was the center of our will and our intellect so when the prophet joel speaks of rending our heart he's saying tear it open open wide to the loft in the mercy in the forgiveness of our god don't just do it superficially like rending our clothing no go deep deep down deep open your hearts to a different way a different way of being that reconciles us with god and with one another and of course we don't have to look very hard to see the ways in which we have strayed the ways in which we have fallen short and dare i say it the way we have sinned i know speaking of hearts that many of us this day are heartbroken with what we see going on in ukraine [Music] an innocent people unprovoked a sovereign nation under assault in even in the midst of the horrors that we see unfolding there we see signs of hope think of ordinary citizens gathering on the borders in poland in romania welcoming the refugees the strangers if you will lifting up the light and mercy of a steadfast and loving god look at the people of ukraine themselves who despite having their buildings and their lives bombed and shattered stand tall courageous you can break our buildings but you cannot break our spirits in the global community coming together to stand with them and for them so often the visual is what stays with us so deeply and many of you probably saw another extraordinary vision of hope and resilience in the midst of darkness in the form of that young boy in kharkiv is the troops were coming who was filmed by a washington reporter alone in a hotel lobby at a piano playing philip glasses walk to school it's a haunting piece but for me it was a vision of resistance and resilience and of course we don't have to go to ukraine to see where we have so much work to do as individuals and community in this country we're in the third year of our pandemic and will soon mark the unimaginable one million lives lost in the united states alone we've seen in the pandemic the systemic racism that pandemic continuing to rear its ugly head the climate crisis there are so many things that require each one of us to return and to pick up our cross and to follow jesus sometimes it seems so much that we don't even know where to begin and i think part of the danger in that is that we can get known or worse complacent from this very pulpit over 50 years ago dr martin luther king jr said that we're tied together in a single garment of destiny that whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly to build the beloved community that was intended from the very beginning all of us have to feel these effects and to act and how do we do that well lent gives us a season to reset to remember to repent and to once again renew our commitment to be followers of christ who showed us the way in this cathedral wall journey with you offering some spiritual resources to do that you can sign up online for our daily morning prayer services once again the clergy are writing daily lenten meditations journeying through the gospel of mark ways to come together to worship reflect to look at god's holy word in our place in it in addition we have courses that are offered under the heading of take on lent all of which are on our website and i think sometimes we just need to see how god is in our midst and so i want to lift up two visual images for you to take on your lenten journey that have meaning to me and i hope they will have some meaning for you the first is an image that challenges me in a good way some years ago my husband john and i were traveling in europe and we stopped in a city called komar france which is called and known as a little venice it's a beautiful little town and we had one hour free time and our tour guide said it's a great place to shop which is great if you're a shopper i am not and then almost as an afterthought she said oh and there's a museum that has a famous altarpiece well that's where i went and i made a beeline for this unnamed famous altarpiece which thanks to my friends with the cameras have pulled it up for you to see it's the eisenheim altarpiece created by matthias gruenwald and you see in it christ on the cross in agony on one side of the cross or gathered mary magdalene mary the mother of jesus and john his beloved disciple on the other side and this is the piece that challenges me in a good way we see john the baptist pointing to christ with a bony finger and written in latin is john the baptist saying he must increase and i must decrease christ must increase and i must decrease part of the discipline of fasting in meditating on god's holy word and rending our hearts [Music] is to make space to open up to fill us more deeply and completely with christ whose love surpasses all understanding the one who helped show us the way the second image i offer for you is one that has come to mean so much to me particularly in those times when i need less challenge and more comfort a reminder that christ promised to never leave us or forsake us to be with us always those times when i feel broken or brokenhearted and don't know what way to go and you'll see on your screen the image of the altarpiece in the chapel of the good shepherd at the cathedral where jesus is depicted holding a lamb up tight to his chest into that heart that loves us more than we can possibly ask or imagine a reminder that on our journey no matter what jesus is with us to guide us direct us comfort us challenge us and to point the way in her book searching for sunday rachel held evans put it this way we could not become like god so god became like us god showed us how to heal instead of kill how to mend instead of destroy how to love instead of hate how to live instead of longing for more when we nailed god to a tree god forgave us and when we buried god in the ground god got up the truth of that the embodiment of that changed the course of human history and if we will but embrace it and embody it it will change us too c.s lewis said that the miracle of the incarnation is not only that christ came lived died and rose among us but that christ continues to come to live to die and arise in our midst in these challenging times in our journey to jerusalem hold fast to the truth that we witness as christians that god loved us enough to take on flesh and dwell among us so that our lives would never be the same may it be so for you and for me amen please stand as you are able dear people of god the first christians observed with great devotion the days of our lord's passion and resurrection and it became the custom of the church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting [Music] this season of lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for holy baptism it was also a time when those who because of notorious sins had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness and restored to the fellowship of the church thereby the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the gospel of our savior and of the need which all christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith i invite you therefore in the name of the church to the observance of a holy lent by self-examination and repentance by prayer fasting and self-denial and by reading and meditating on god's holy word and to make a right beginning of repentance and as a mark of our mortal nature let us now kneel before the lord our maker and redeemer foreign almighty god you have created us out of the dust of the earth grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given life everlasting through jesus christ our savior amen you may be seated remember that you are dust to dust you shall return remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return on the platform this [Music] have mercy on me oh god according to your loving kindness in your great compassion blot out my offenses wash me through and through from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sins [Music] for i know my transgressions [Music] had my sins ever before me against you only have i sinned and done what is evil in your [Music] sight and so you are justified when you speak and upright in your judgment indeed [Music] wow for be heart you look for truth deep within and will make me understand wisdom secretly purge me from my sin and i shall be pure wash me [Music] and i shall be clean indeed make me fear of joy and gladness that the body you have broken may reach hide your face from my sins and blot out all my inequities [Music] within me [Music] me out away from your presence and take not your holy spirit from me give me joy of your saving help again and sustain me from your bounded false spirit i shall teach your ways to the wicked and sinner shall return to you deliver me from death oh god [Music] and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness o god of my salvation open my lips o lord and my mouth shall proclaim your praise [Music] had you decided i shall have offered sacrifice but you take no delight and burnt all three i sacrifice a god is a troubled gift a broken and concrete heart oh god you will not despair [Music] have mercy on me oh god according to your loving kindness [Music] in your great compassion blot out all my offenses [Music] wash me through and through from my wickedness [Music] and cleanse me from my sins so 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 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 have spirit on us 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 here lord our anger at our own frustration and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts and our dishonesty in daily life and work we can confess to you our negligence and prayer and worship and our failure to commend the faith that is in us we 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 for all false judgments for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors and for our prejudice and contempt towards those who differ from us accept our independence for our waste and pollution of your creation and our lack of concern for those who come after us restore us good lord and let your anger depart from us favorably please hear us for your message accomplish in us the work of your salvation we may show forth your glory in your 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 the father of our lord jesus christ who desires not the death of sinners but rather that they may turn from their wickedness and live has given power and commandment to his ministers to declare and pronounce to his people being penitent the absolution and remission of their sins he pardons and absolves all those who truly repent and with sincere hearts believe his holy gospel therefore we beseech him to grant us true repentance and his holy spirit that those things may please him which we do on this day and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy so that at the last we may come to his eternal glory through jesus christ our lord amen please stand as you were able the peace of the lord to be always with you and also with you peace peace thank you please be seated good afternoon and welcome to washington national cathedral my name's randy hollerath i'm the dean of the cathedral and we are so honored to have all of you with us today and all of you who are joining us by way of the internet at home god bless you on this ash wednesday i hope that today will be the beginning for you of a holy 40-day period of lent of self-examination and of repentance so that we might prepare ourselves for holy week and easter and to that end if you would like to receive the right of reconciliation or as it's known confession it will be offered today and anyone who would like to receive the right of reconciliation is welcome to following the service in war memorial chapel on this side of the cathedral or in holy spirit chapel right on this side of the cathedral it says that you have to sign up and register that is really intended for those who are at home if you're at home and would like to receive the right of reconciliation you can register online and meet with a member of the clergy privately one-on-one from wherever you are around the country or around the world for the right of reconciliation if you'll sign up if you're with us today in the nave there's no need to register for anything just go to either of the chapels and we will be we will be honored to spend some time with you as we move now into the holy eucharist please know that everyone is welcome to receive communion everyone is invited to come to christ's table and be fed regardless of your church affiliation or lack thereof as i always say please come forward if you would like to we will be distributing bread only for this communion because of covet 19. and if you'd rather not receive communion you're welcome to stay in your seats but i hope what you'll do instead is to come forward when others come forward but just cross your arms over your chest like this that way we know you'd rather not receive communion and we'll just offer you a prayer and a blessing finally thank you for being with us and if you're able to support us in our ministry for all of the services and programming of this cathedral we would be very grateful there are boxes in the back where you can make a donation or you can support the cathedral online walk in love as christ loved us and gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to god i've tasted it in glory i lit it there you poured all your spirits care still you loved me [Music] i've lived for with nobody to blame it took what you gave me squandered your grace till you [Music] nothing compares to what you've done for me nothing compares to what you've done for me [Music] i could live for the broken sharing the pain i could die like a martyr i live like a saint just to love you i could sing like the angels gather your praise be blessed beyond measure and give it all away just you but nothing compares to what you've done for me no nothing compares to what you've done for me [Music] [Music] my heart has been broken i've laid out my shame because of your mercy all i can say is i love you [Music] so i'll tell your story i'll carry your name i'll live for your glory lord i'll share your pain just to love you [Music] compares to what you've done for me nothing compares to what you've done for me nothing compares to what you've done nothing could separate us nothing could separate no death or life or death or height are seen unseen power now or never the lord be with you and also with you lift up your hearts we have them to the lord let us give thanks to the lord our god to give god thanks and praise god it is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you father almighty creator of heaven and earth through jesus christ our lord who was tempted in every way as we are yet did not sin by his grace we are able to triumph over every evil and to live no longer for ourselves alone but for him who died for us and rose again therefore we praise you joining our voices with angels and dark angels and with all the company of heaven who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your name [Music] holy holy lord [Music] you [Music] is [Music] holy and gracious father in your infinite love you made us for yourself and when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death you in your mercy sent jesus christ your only and eternal son to share our human nature to live and die as one of us to reconcile us to you the god and father of all he stretched out his arms upon the cross and offered himself an obedience to your will a perfect sacrifice for the whole world on the night he was handed over to suffering and death our lord jesus christ took bread and when he had given thanks to you he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said take eat this is my body which was given for you do this for the remembrance of me after supper he took the cup of wine and when he had given thanks he gave it to them and said drink this all of you this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins whenever you drink it do this for the remembrance of me therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith christ has died christ is risen christ will come again we celebrate the memorial of our redemption o father in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving recalling his death resurrection and ascension we offer you these gifts sanctify them by your holy spirit to be for your people the body and blood of your son the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy sacrament and serve you in unity constancy and peace and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom all this we ask through your son jesus christ by him and with him and in him in the unity of the holy spirit all honor and glory is yours almighty father now and forever and now as our savior christ has taught us we are bold to say 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 to do temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen [Music] lamb of god you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us love of god you take away the sins of the world have [Music] lamb of god you take away [Music] us peace [Music] the gifts of god for the people of god take them in remembrance that christ died for you and feed on him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving [Music] oh heart of mine why must you stray from one so fair you run away and one more time you have to break the heaviness of needless shame [Music] o heart of mine [Music] come back home you've been too long out on your own and he's been rare [Music] all along watching for you down the road so come on his arms are open wide his name is jesus and he understands he is the answer you are looking for so come home running just as you [Music] his name is jesus and he understands [Music] he is the answer you're looking for so come home [Music] his arms are open wide his name is jesus and he understands he is the answer you've been [Music] just as you are come home running as you are [Music] come home [Music] praying together almighty god you have given your only son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and an example of godly life give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive these spiritual gifts and daily endeavor to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life through jesus christ our lord amen let us bow down before the lord grant merciful lord to your faithful people pardon and peace that they may be cleansed from all their sins and serve you with a quiet mind through jesus christ our lord amen [Music] you the glory of this [Music] all things were made [Music] moses saw the loving god who gave us [Music] [Music] is [Music] our spirit strengthen with thy grace [Music] [Music] every [Music] the [Music] let us bless the lord thanks be to god you foreign

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Length: 82min 38sec (4958 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 02 2022