Our Savior Lutheran Church
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

Lent Services

            Ash Wednesday March 5th 7pm

                        The service will include “The Imposition of Ashes”. See below for an explanation of the custom:

The Imposition of Ashes and Ash Wednesday

The application of ashes in the Bible reminded God’s people of their mortality because of our fall into sin. Consider Genesis 2: 4-8; Genesis 18: 27; Psalm 103: 14; Ecclesiastes 3:20; 12:7

The application of ashes in the Bible was an ancient symbol for repentance. Consider Job 42: 6; Jeremiah 6: 26; Daniel 9: 3; Jonah 3: 6

Our Savior in his death and burial became lifeless dust for us. Consider Psalm 22: 15; Luke 23: 50-56; John 19: 40-42

The use of ashes can serve as a visual reminder of our need for Christ’s Death and Resurrection. Consider Matthew 11: 21; 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 (esp. verse 47).

Ash Wednesday has Deep Historical Roots in the Christian Church

Tertullian - AD 160-215 was one of the earliest church fathers to introduce and write about the use of ashes on the first day of Lent. By then Lent was intended to be a 40 journey of quiet contemplation of the Passion History of our Lord. The Sundays during Lent remain a celebration of the Resurrected Christ, while the remaining day until Easter lead us to humbly bow in repentance and faith. This concept of a 40 day Lent began in Western Europe in the first and second century of Christianity. Worship leaders in Rome received it from others, introduced the shaping of the cross, and passed it on to many generations.

When the Reformation went into full swing, Martin Luther held to a main measuring stick for what to “keep” and what to “throw away.” That measuring stick was the doctrine of Justification by Faith in Christ Jesus. If the practices of his mother church in Rome reflected false teachings they were dismissed. If they were supportive of teaching Christ and Grace they were ultimately held as heritages of the Church’s past. Church historians are not clear how the practice fell from Lutheran practices. It simply faded out of Liturgy Texts and was buried much deeper under the age of Lutheran Pietism in America.

Using ashes and referring to their Biblical symbolism continues to be more prevalent in our Liturgical culture than we tend to remember. It has been, and still is, called ASH Wednesday for a reason. When Lutheran Pastors hold Committal services they still refer to the passages above which speak of “ashes to ashes … dust to dust” as an appropriate reminder of our mortality. The sign of the cross (upon the head and heart) also calls us to remember our Baptisms through which we were made children of God. Many Lutheran congregations, even in our WELS church body, have relearned the beauty that is there with careful study and teaching. Instructions for this service are included in the Occasional Services Book, a worship leaders’ manual connected Christian Worship: a Lutheran Hymnal.

According to ancient customs the ashes are achieved by burning dried palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday services. They are mixed with some olive oil and carefully applied to the forehead or hand in the shape of a cross.

The Ash Wednesday Service

When we gather for Ash Wednesday, we will begin our 40 day journey to the cross and empty tomb. We will hear the first of six historical lessons that review the events of Holy Week and Jesus’ sufferings. The service will include the first of a series of 6 sermons based on sections from those reading. We will sing familiar hymns of the Lenten Season, pray familiar prayers and join in the fellowship of the history of the Church.

Toward the beginning of the service those who are gathered will be invited, but not compelled to receive the ashes in the sign of the cross, upon their forehead or on the back of their hand. The pastor will repeat the words “Remember that you are dust; and to dust you will return.”

The worshippers will be invited to leave in quiet reflection: the Law reminding us of our sin and mortality; the Gospel reminding of our Savior’s death and resurrection for our salvation.

From the prophecy of the Psalms our Savior Jesus calls:

“My Strength is dried up like a potsherd and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in

the dust of death.” (Psalm 22: 15)

Isaiah Study

Isaiah 4 (EHV)

2 On that day, the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel. 3 Then whoever is left in Zion and whoever remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, that is, everyone who is registered for life in Jerusalem. 4 The Lord will wash away the disgusting filth of the daughters of Zion and cleanse the blood of Jerusalem from its midst by the Spirit of judgment and by the Spirit of burning. 5 Then over the entire site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies, the Lord will create a cloud of smoke by day and a bright flaming fire by night, so there will be a canopy over all the glory. 6 In the daytime there will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat and to provide refuge and a hiding place from the storm and the rain.

Pastor’s Comments

            In the first three Chapters of Isaiah, God gives the prophet a very threatening message to deliver to His people. He sought to remove their reliance on themselves and their perceived strength which led them to forsake worship of their Lord God. God gives a wonderful promise of the Branch, the coming Savior who will wash away their sins. God alludes to the model of his saving activity which is the Exodus from Egypt. God had demonstrated his saving power by destroying Pharaoh and leading his people directly in the wilderness in smoke and fire. Christ came to bring in a greater Exodus from the power of sin, death, and the devil.

Luther’s Comments

            On verse 6… In all things Christ is our Defense. But all of these attacks are not perceived and not felt without suffering. The sectarians will someday feel the sun without shade, because they go to meet the naked majesty of God nakedly, casting aside the humanity and flesh of Christ. This is possible only for a time. I have often advised and still advise younger theologians that they must so study the Holy Scriptures that they refrain from investigating the Divine Majesty and His terrible works. God does want us to learn to know Him in this way. You cannot nakedly associate with His naked Godhead. But Christ is our way to God. Those who speculate about the majesty are crushed and led to despair by Satan. The reason for this is that they are looking for answers of a kind that they cannot know, such as for the question: Why did God condemn Judas but spare Peter? And such a speculator argues with God as if with some potter.