From Sampler to Sower

“Brethren, while fasting bodily, let us also fast spiritually. Let us loosen every bond of injustice. Let us destroy the strong fetters of violence. Let us tear up every unjust writing. Let us give bread to the hungry and let us welcome the homeless poor into our houses, that from Christ our God we may receive the great mercy.” (Stichira, Wednesday of the First Week)

As I was reading Alexander Schmeman’s phamphet Great Lent: A School of Repentance yesterday, I came across this sticheron, written to be used as part of Orthodox worship on Clean Wednesday, the first Wednesday in the Great Lent.

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Looking at my analytics, several visitors to the site have come here over the last few days searching for examples of an Ash Wednesday order of service, or guidance as to what to say during the imposition of ashes.  I realize this post is probably too late for most planning 2011 services, for future reference, here is our Ash Wednesday service for 2011.

Prelude

Reflection

We will sing “There is None Like You”.  In between verses, the following Scriptures will be read:

• Deuteronomy 32:3-4
• 1 Chronicles 29:10-11
• Isaiah 40:25-26, 28-29

Then we will sing “I Love You, Lord”

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The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began,
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say

‘That sounds like a bit of old Bilbo’s rhyming, said Pippin. ‘Or is it one of your imitations? It does not sound altogether encouraging.’

‘I don’t know,’ said Frodo. ‘It came to me then, as if I was making it up, but I may have heard it long ago.  Certainly it reminds me very much of Bilbo in the last years before he went away.  He often used to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door,” he used to say. “You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is know knowing where you might be swept off to.”‘ (From J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Book One, Chapter 3)

Perhaps my favorite quote of my favorite book of all time (as long as like Tolkien, you view the Lord of the Rings as a single book).  This quote unlike any other captures the mystery of adventure and the thrill of travel.

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Last week I wrote briefly on the significance of the imposition of ashes as part of an Ash Wednesday service.  Today I’d like to share a little more about the larger season of Lent and how it can strengthen and nourish your soul this year.

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul employs an extended analogy from athletics to describe the importance of discipline in the Christian life.  (For more on this passage, see this sermon summary.)  He notes that while athletes run in order to win, winning isn’t the result of running. Winning is the result of training. While there is no point in training without running, there is no hope in running without training.

But what exactly are we called to train?  Certainly not our bodies, for the race Paul is describing is not won by speed or even mere physical endurance.  So if not our bodies, what?

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Our church is preparing to embark on an exciting journey next Wednesday night. Along with many sister churches across the denomination, we will be journeying from Ash Wednesday, through Easter, to Pentecost Sunday in a series we’re calling Ashes to Fire.

To begin this journey, we will be having a special Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday, March 9 at 6:30 pm.  Like most Ash Wednesday observances, our worship service will focus on reflection and repentance at the outset of our Lenten journey.  And as in similar Ash Wednesday observances in the past, our service will include a ritual called the imposition of ashes.

We realize that such a ritual may seem unusual to some of our parishioners.  It is very possible to have grown up Nazarene and never taken part in such a ritual.  Understandably the unfamiliarity of the ritual to some, as well as its association in the minds of some with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, leads to questions.  This is my attempt to answer some of these.
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Your Peek Behind the Curtain

Okay, this is a new one for me.  I don’t know how, or even if, this will work, but I’m going to give it a shot.

You, dear reader, are hereby offered a All-Access Backstage Pass to our youth ministry’s creative process.  We’re bringing you backstage, and inviting you to check out what’s going on behind the curtain.

Of course, that means you’re getting a glimpse of a work in progress and not the finished product.  As such, this post, and others like it will probably be rambling and scatterbrained, big on ideas, short -at least at first- on actual implementation.

As you know if you are following my weekly updates, our youth ministry is currently in a teaching series called Mythbusters.  It’s set to conclude on Tuesday, February 17th, following our final three lessons focused on Faith, Hope and Love.  That means we’re just under one month out on our next series – high time to get working on what’s next.

Next on the teaching schedule is a Lenten series, culminating, like most Lenten seasons, with an Easter celebration.  Our teaching will be guided by the Lectionary’s epistle readings.

My goal, every Lent, is to very intentionally challenge students to develop the daily disciplines which will ground their faith in an ever deepening relationship with the God whose name they claim.  That’s not to say that during Epiphany I attempt to help they develop a superficial version of Christianity that only affects their Sunday mornings and Tuesday nights – it’s just that Lent provides an intentional time every year to teach them to focus on the presence of God in every part of their life.

And so, I find myself wondering what we will do this year to help move us toward this goal.

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