“Ashes are an ancient biblical symbol of repentance, sorrow, poverty and sacrifice,” he writes. In his latest book, Presbyterian Worship Questions and Answers, Gambrell addresses why people are marked with ashes as they begin the season of Lent. Try me, O God, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me.
426): “Search me, O God, and know my heart. David Gambrell, from the church’s Office of Theology & Worship, led a responsive reading from Psalm 51 - including singing this refrain from the “Glory to God” hymnal (No. The liturgy for the Ash Wednesday service was taken from the Book of Common Worship. David Gambrell assisted during the Ash Wednesday service.
“May we allow the hidden work of the Spirit to make us a little more like our Lord,” said Collins. It was in this wilderness, early in his ministry, where Jesus was tempted to forget - and throw away - who he was as God’s beloved. That is what the season of Lent is modeled on - the story of Jesus being led by the Spirit right after his baptism into the wilderness, where he fasted and prayed. “So, let’s pay less attention to whatever we might be trying to do for God, of how we might want to save the world - and allow God to show us what the Spirit is doing within us, as we find our story in the empty wilderness with Jesus.” “Jesus came from the tomb with a gaping hole in his side and freshly scabbed hands and ankles,” she said. Reflecting on Matthew 6: 1–6, 16–18, in The Message, where Jesus warns his disciples “ to be especially careful when trying to be good, so that you don’t make a performance out of it,” and when practicing “some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God,” to not “make a production out of it,” Collins encouraged those gathered to remember what she sometimes forgot when her focus was on what she was going to do during Lent.
What habit would she struggle to let go of? What practice would she take up in hopes of it becoming a habit? Her expectation come Easter was that she would emerge from the tombs of her own making, filled with new life. Nikki Collins, national coordinator for the PC(USA)’s 1001 new worshiping community movement, spoke of how she used to think about what she was going to do with the 40 days of Lent. (Photo by Randy Hobson)ĭuring the Ash Wednesday service, the Rev. Nikki Collins led worship on Ash Wednesday. “What I try to do now is add a new spiritual discipline.” “I don’t give stuff up anymore,” he says. He describes it as part of his “baptismal journey” of dying to old ways and rising to new life. It’s a time for Jones to re-examine his faith, what it means that God has created him - and is reconciling and restoring his life. “It’s a little morbid at first,” he says, “but as I move fully into the Lent, it’s all about reclaiming who I am as a child of God, as God’s creation.” For Jones, Lent begins when he hears the words, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Which is what Jones experiences now and is reminded of when the Lenten season begins. “My parents didn’t always show me my purpose - and love.” “We didn’t grow up celebrating Lent,” he says of his family’s faith tradition. In worship at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Center on March 6, Jones said he was reminded of how taken aback he was when he first began to encounter the season of Lent. LOUISVILLE – For Ray Jones, the acting director for Theology, Formation & Evangelism, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of a personal journey, as it does for Christians around the world, into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Staff at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville took part in worship on Ash Wednesday.
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