Ash Wednesday: A Confession
“Return to me, says the Lord, with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” (Joel 2:12-13)
Intro:
Sin, confession/repentance, mortality, death...Many times these are not this that ordinary people delight in discussing. Sin- the truth that there IS right and wrong and that we make very bad mistakes and are much more less than perfect. Confession and repentance, the idea of sharing your most shameful failures with another. Mortality, the reality that our lives are brief and fragile and will one day end. Death, the fear of the unknown, the question mark at the end of our lives- what will we face? There's no escaping it or changing it no matter HOW advanced our technology or medicine gets. No matter how rich or powerful or intelligent we become in this life, we are ALL created beings, we ALL have a beginning, and we ALL have an end. And today is the day we as Christians remind ourselves of all of these things. Not for the mere fact to depress ourselves, but to remind ourselves that God is God and WE ARE NOT, that His ways ARE HIGHER THAN OUR WAYS and that we as created beings are completely indebted to the grace and mercy of our God and ONLY have salvation through cross and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Scripture tells us that God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. It also tells us that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself, the same will be exalted. Friends, today is a day to put aside all pride, to empty ourselves of everything great that we think we are and focus on God. The Bible is very clear: we are finite beings that have a beginning and an end who will one day answer to God, and God alone. Therefore, we MUST align ourselves with HIS reality, with HIS way, and with HIS requirements. Today, is a day we actively remind ourselves of that. We MUST not hide from the truth of death and of the consequences of sin, we MUST remind ourselves and others that the ONLY way to deal with sin and the ONLY way to overcome our own mortality and death is by humbling ourselves before the mighty hand of God, by confessing our sins, by repenting from our offensive ways to God and by simply receiving His mercy, and grace and forgiveness.
So today I'd like to do something a little different; today I'd like to remind us of all of these things that we do not like to think on- almost by way of a lengthy prayer, I'd like to preach this sermon almost as a confession of our inadequacy and humility. By doing this today, we pause to take our eyes wholly off ourselves and turn them back on God- the author and finisher of our faith. By doing this, we glorify Him, we worship and honor Him. Let us honor Him now as we are reminded of our smallness, our sinfulness our mortality, and our need for His grace, mercy and ongoing forgiveness...
I. Father God, today we remind ourselves that YOU are our Creator, and the WE are the Created:
A. As You said in the beginning, "let us make man in our own image, and in our likeness...then the Lord God formed the man out of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature..." and You said unto him after he had sinned "cursed is the ground because of You; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life...till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return..." (Genesis 1:26, 3:17,19)
1. There is something in modern man that strives almost to believe that he is immortal- master of his own universe and commander of his own destiny. And though God does gift us with free will and an ability to set our own course in a limited way- nothing could be farther from the truth. The bible tells us very plainly He is God and we are not- that He is without beginning or end, and that we had a beginning and will die- His days are without end, and ours are numbered. This truth MUST remind us of our own mortality and reminds us that no matter how great we think we can become, both as a human race, OR as individuals- we are GREATLY LIMITED in our understanding AND abilities. No matter how rich or powerful or intelligent we become we cannot create life, nor can we prevent death. We are made by Him, and therefore we BELONG to Him- let us never forget we are not our own but serve and are indebted to an all powerful Creator...
? CONFESSION #1
FATHER GOD, WE RECOGNIZE YOU AS SOVEREIGN CREATOR, AND WE GLORIFY YOU AS YOUR CREATED ONES. HAVE MERCY ON US AS WE SEEK TO DO YOUR WILL. HELP US TO WALK AND LIVE AS YOU WOULD HAVE US WALK AND LIVE- AS YOU CREATED US TO BE. NOT OUR WILL, BUT THINE BE DONE...
II. Secondly Father, we remind ourselves that we are indeed sinful creatures and are in need of help and redemption...
A. "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God..." (Rom. 3:23)
B. "Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me..." (Psalm 51:5)
C. "Who can say 'I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from all my sin'?" (Prov. 20:9)
D. "Therefore, just as through one man, sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all have sinned..." (Rom. 5:12)
E. "There is none that doeth good, no not one...no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, no not one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of snakes is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes..." (Rom. 3:10-18)
F. "We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us have turned to his own way, but God has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.... He was pierced for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon HIM, and by His wounds we are healed..." (Isa. 53:5-6)
1. Once again, modern man has much trouble in admitting that he is sinful. People don't have a problem admitting that they aren't perfect or that they make mistakes, but for them to say "I am a sinful being" is incredibly difficult. This is largely due to the fact that admitting a failure has to do simply with doing something the wrong way: answering a math question wrong or missing the nail they meant to hit, where as SINNING has to do with MORAL FAILURE, and a moral failure has to do with answering to a higher power and admitting that they fall short of that higher power's laws and demands. They do not believe there is such a thing as a Holy God, or an all Powerful Righteous Judge who will hold all men to account. Therefore, they do not believe in holiness, or righteousness, nor the ability to fall short of either of them. Today, we, as servants of the Most High God humble ourselves and admit our failures before Him. In so doing, we honor Him as the Only One Who is Worthy of all glory and honor and praise- for He alone is Holy... Join me in this confession:
? CONFESSION #2:
? FATHER, WHATEVER GOOD WE THINK WE HAVE IN US, WE RECOGNIZE IT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO RESTORE US TO YOU. LORD GOD, WE FREELY ADMIT THAT WE HAVE ALL FALLEN, EACH ONE OF US IS GUILTY OF AT LEAST EVEN ONE SIN- AND THIS IS ENOUGH TO SEPARATE US FROM YOUR HOLINESS.
? WE HUMBLE OURSELVES BEFORE YOU BY ADMITTING OUR GUILT. WE FREELY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE HAVE FAILED AND HAVE NO OTHER RECOURSE BUT TO TURN TO YOU...
? YOU ARE HOLY, WE ARE UNHOLY, YOU ARE WORTHY, WE ARE NOT. YOU ARE PURE, WE ARE FULL OF SIN, WE LAY OUR PRIDE ON THE ALTAR AND BOW BEFORE YOU THIS DAY AND GIVE YOU ALL GLORY AND HONOR AND PRAISE- FOR YOU ALONE ARE HOLY.
III. Thirdly Lord God, we confess to You with our lips our sin, and ask Your Forgiveness- for this is what the word of God says:
A. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness..." (1 John. 1:8-9)
B. Proverbs 28:13 says "Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy."
C. "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead You will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved...for everyone who calls upon the Name of the Lord will be saved." (Rom. 10:9-10, 13)
1. Friends, there is something about confessing to the Lord (and to others) the sins that we have done. By doing so we humble ourselves, break our pride and acknowledge that we are truly inadequate and incapable on our own. When we confess with our mouth our sins, we openly admit we have failed God, we humble ourselves by verbally asking for His Mercy. By doing this we submit ourselves to Him and acknowledge that we need Him- that He ALONE can save us, that nothing else we can do will make us better. In this sacred act- for it IS a sacred act, we empty ourselves, break ourselves, and ask Him to forgive us and make us whole as nothing or no one else can do... As we have gathered together for this Ash Wednesday, let us each take a moment and do that right now quietly...
? (brief moment to bow and confess quietly our personal sins to God...)
? Pastoral Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your infinite mercies. Thank You for Your willingness to forgive all our sins as we confess them to You. Thank You for the death of Your Son that cleanses us and makes us whole again. As we have confessed, make us new and holy in Your sight once more, and help us to walk in righteousness and newness of life. Jesus' Name we pray- Amen.
IV. Finally Lord God, we pause to be reminded of our own Mortality, that Life is Brief, that We are Frail, and that Death will find us all.
A. “What is your life? It is but a vapor that appears for a little while then vanishes away…” James 4:14
B. 1 Chron. 29:15 says “our days on the earth are but a shadow, and there is no abiding…”
C. 1 Peter 1:24 says “All flesh is like the grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever…”
D. Job 14:2 declares “[Man] springs up like a flower and withers away, like a fleeting shadow he does not endure”
E. "It is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgment" (Heb. 9:27)
F. "Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; THEN the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it..." (Eccl. 12:7)
1. Benjamin Franklin once said "only two things in this life are certain: death and taxes..." and all I can say is if you've finished paying your taxes...only ONE thing left remains... Friends, this life is so incredibly short that Jesus, James, Peter and Solomon all compared it to the life of a flower that is here one moment and gone the next- springing up one day, and withered only a few months or even days after. In reality each of us deep down find ourselves scoffing at that for there are many times when it FEELS our days go on forever. But ask the widow who just recently lost her husband- married 50, 60, even 70 years and now it seems its gone by too fast. Or the father who just watched his son die before him- not enough time... Ask anyone who lived during the depression or World War II, or remember Kennedy getting shot or walking the line at your high school graduation, or the moment your first child was born or back when you could leave the keys in our car unlocked and not worry about it being stolen at the general store- we pause and think of it as if it were yesterday, then all of a sudden we are snapped back to reality and reminded of how fast it truly has gone by. Do you realize 16 years have passed by since the Two Towers were hit in New York? Or that 40 years ago Elvis died? It's been 54 years since President Kennedy was shot, and 74 years have passed since that infamous day at Pearl Harbor that launched us into the greatest war the world had ever seen. And did you know that oil can STILL be seen rising to the top of the waves from the USS Arizona that sank?—a reminder that though it may seem long ago, it's still just as fresh today than it was ¾ of Century ago. These things make us pause and remember this life is so very short. That it doesn't go on forever. That each of us get a flash in the pan, and then we return to the dust we were taken from. Ash Wednesday reminds us of that fact, and helps us to focus on the here and now. It strips us of our feeling of invincibility calls our attention that one day we will "shuffle off this mortal coil" as Shakespeare said, and see Almighty God face to face. It is a healthy sobering thought, one that we must never forget- to make the most of the days we are given, and to give thanks to God has given each one of them to us. As we focus on this, we again give glory to God who alone is without beginning or end, and who alone has the ability to raise us to eternal life if we faithfully serve Him with this short life on earth. Say this last confession with me if you will...
? CONFESSION #4:
FATHER, WE KNOW THAT WE ARE BUT DUST AND ASHES AND THAT ONE DAY, WE WILL ALL FACE THAT ETERNAL DOOR. HELP US THEN TO LIVE EACH DAY FOR YOU AND THANK YOU FOR EVERY DAY THAT YOU GIVE US AS A GIFT, FOR WE KNOW NOTHING IS CERTAIN. LET US NOT BE AFRAID OF WHAT WILL COME- FOR YOU GIVE US THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE, BUT HELP US SIMPLY TO WISE WITH THE TIME WE ARE GIVEN, AND THANKFUL FOR THE DAYS YOU HAVE PUT IN OUR HANDS. HELP US TO USE THEM ALL FOR YOUR GLORY. IN JESUS' NAME WE PRAY, AMEN...
Conclusion:
As we have paused today and remembered each of these things- God as our creator, the reality that we are full of sin, the need of turning to God for repentance and the certainty of our own death, let us now once more pause and give Him Honor as we take out the ashes and mark ourselves with the reminder both that we are dust, that we are sinful, that we are in need of repentance, that we will one day die, BUT that we are His.
At this time I will come through and offer to all that would like to partake of this symbolic act. Don't be bashful if you'd like to pass, for much like baptism or communion it's truly what on the inside of your heart that matters. As I come through however, please remain seated as we will conclude the service together with one more prayer and song and leave in quiet reflection together of everything we've remembered today...
