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Prelude: Savior When in Dust to Thee arr. By Lani Smith

Opening Psalm: Psalm 51:1-17
¹        Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
²      Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse   me from my sin.
³     For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
⁴    Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what   is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
⁵      Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
⁶     You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
⁷    Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and   I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸     Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
⁹     Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰   Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and   right spirit within me.
¹¹   Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take   your holy spirit from me.
¹²   Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in   me a willing spirit.
¹³   Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners   will return to you.
¹⁴   Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,   O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
¹⁵   O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your   praise.
¹⁶   For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a   burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
¹⁷   The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Greeting:
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

Prayer of the Day:
Let us pray.
Gracious God, out of your love and mercy you breathed into dust the breath of life, creating us to serve you and our neighbors. Call forth our prayers and acts of kindness, and strengthen us to face our mortality with confidence in the mercy of 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: Isaiah 58:1-12
¹Shout out, do not hold back!   Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. ²Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. ³“Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. ⁴Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. ⁵Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?

⁶Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them,   and not to hide yourself from your own kin? ⁸Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. ⁹Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, ¹⁰if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. ¹¹The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. ¹²Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
This is the Holy Gospel according to Matthew, the 6th chapter.
Glory to you, O Lord.

¹“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.

²“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. ³But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

⁵“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. ⁶But 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.

¹⁶“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. ¹⁷But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so 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.

¹⁹“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Hymn of the Day: ELW 601 “Savior, When in Dust to You”
Savior, when in dust to you low we bow in homage due;
when, repentant, to the skies scarce we lift our weeping eyes;
oh, by all your pains and woe suffered once for us below,
bending from your throne on high, hear our penitential cry!

By your helpless infant years, by your life of want and tears,
by your days of deep distress in the savage wilderness,
by the dread, mysterious hour of the insulting tempter’s pow’r,
turn, oh, turn a fav’ring eye; hear our penitential cry!

By your hour of dire despair, by your agony of prayer,
by the cross, the nail, the thorn, piercing spear, and torturing scorn,
by the gloom that veiled the skies o’er the dreadful sacrifice,
listen to our humble sigh; hear our penitential cry!

By your deep expiring groan, by the sad sepulchral stone,
by the vault whose dark abode held in vain the rising God,
oh, from earth to heav’n restored, mighty, reascended Lord,
bending from your throne on high, hear our penitential cry!

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 these forty days to the great Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Confession:
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
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 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.

Imposition of Ashes:
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth. May these ashes be a sign of our mortality and penitence, reminding us that only by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ are we given eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.

Accomplish in us, O God, the work of your salvation,
that we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of you Son, our Savior,
bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

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

Prayers of Intercession
Drawn close to the heart of God, we offer these prayers for the church, the world, and all who are in need.

Prayers continue with each petition ending:

Merciful God,
receive our prayer.

Accept the prayers we bring, O God, on behalf of a world in need, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Offering:
https://tithe.ly/give_new/www/#/tithely/give-one-time/468062

The Great Thanksgiving:
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Blessed are you, O God of the universe. Your mercy is everlasting and your faithfulness endures from age to age.

Praise to you for creating the heavens and the earth. Praise to you for saving the earth from the waters of the flood. Praise to you for bringing the Israelites safely through the sea. Praise to you for leading your people through the wilderness to the land of milk and honey. Praise to you for the words and deeds of Jesus, your anointed one. Praise to you for the death and resurrection of Christ. Praise to you for your Spirit poured out on all nations.

In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.

With this bread and cup we remember our Lord’s Passover from death to life as we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will come again.

O God of resurrection and new life: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts of bread and wine. Bless this feast. Grace our table with your presence.
Come, Holy Spirit.

Reveal yourself to us in the breaking of the bread. Raise us up as the body of Christ for the world. Breathe new life into us. Send us forth, burning with justice, peace, and love.
Come, Holy Spirit.

With your holy ones of all times and places, with the earth and all its creatures, with sun and moon and stars, we praise you, O God, blessed and holy Trinity, now and forever.
Amen.

Lord’s Prayer:
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us saying:
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.

Communion

Table Blessing:
The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace.
Amen.

Post-Communion Prayer:
Let us pray.
Merciful God, accompany our journey through these forty days. Renew us in the gift of baptism, that we may provide for those who are poor, pray for those in need, fast from self-indulgence, and above all that we may find our treasure in the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Benediction:
Almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever.
Amen.

Sending Hymn: 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.

Sharing of the Peace & Dismissal:
May the peace of the Lord be with you always.
And also with you.

Go forth into the world to serve God with gladness; be of good courage; hold fast to that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honor all people; love and serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks be to God!

Postlude

 

Portions reprinted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, copyright 2006.  Used by permission of Augsburg Fortress, license #SBL09796L.  Music reprinted from the ELW, by permission of OneLicense, license #A712349.  Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.   Used by permission.