Ash Wednesday and Giving Up Things for Lent

Dear Bethany Families, 

On Wednesday, March 5, most of the Christian Church, including our Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod will observe Ash Wednesday and begin the season of Lent. Bethany will hold Ash Wednesday Divine Services at both 11:00AM and 7:00PM, to which you and your family are invited.

Lent is a solemn penitential season of the Church Year when we focus on the passion of our Lord and His sacrificial death and resurrection for the salvation of the world. The ashes of Ash Wednesday serve as a reminder of our mortal nature, which began as dust from the earth at creation and will return to the ground after we die. This Church season helps prepare our bodies and spirit through prayer, repentance, and a contrition as we look to the ultimate sacrifice of our Lord on the cross.  A relatively new practice in the Lutheran tradition is the Service of the Imposition of Ashes conducted on Ash Wednesday. The sign of the cross is smeared upon the forehead while the words of Gen. 3:19 are repeated: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Every participant, pastor and children included, is marked with ashes and reminded of their mortality. This symbolic practice is by no means necessary, but serves as a helpful teaching tool and reminder of our mortal nature, our sin, and our need for the Savior.  

During the season of Lent, various other practices have been used by Christians in freedom to further focus themselves upon their mortal nature, their need for a Savior, and their need for repentance and faith. These popularly include fasting in various capacities (i.e., giving something up for Lent), increased devotional life (typically including additional midweek worship services), and a liturgical refraining from “Alleluia” (Hebrew for “praise the Lord”) until Easter, when our lips rejoice once again with “Christ is risen, Alleluia!”  Lastly, our pastors have prepared a daily devotional resource for the church and school. It can be accessed online here, or you can have a text and audio version emailed to you by subscribing here, or you can pick up a printed copy at the Welcome Center in the narthex. 

Blessed Lent to you and your family!

In Christ, 

Pastor Seth Clemmer

P.S.  If you’re interested in learning more, below are some helpful articles on the practice of giving things up for lent (encouraging increased devotional life) and other Lenten aspects.

Article on “Giving things up for Lent” 

https://witness.lcms.org/2018/what-to-give-up-for-lent/

Article on "Keeping a Holy Lent"

https://witness.lcms.org/2008/keeping-a-holy-lent-2-2008/

Excerpted from LCMS website:    This ancient act [of the imposition of ashes] is a gesture of repentance and a powerful reminder about the meaning of the day. Ashes can symbolize dust-to-dustness and remind worshipers of the need for cleansing, scrubbing and purifying. The use of ashes on Ash Wednesday is a more recent custom among most LCMS congregations, although some have done it for decades. The ashes are usually derived from the burned palms from the previous Palm Sunday. Usually the pastor takes the ashes on the end of his thumb and makes the sign of the cross on the forehead of each worshiper, saying these words: "Remember: you are dust, and to dust you shall return."