“Deliver us from bloodguiltiness, O God…” Psalm 51

On this Christian Holy Day, Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent, we invite people of all faith traditions to join with us for an inclusive service to call for personal and national repentance and for committed actions to turn us back from the brink of war.

Lent is a time when Christians around the world enter a 40 day period of repentance and renewal in preparation for the celebration of Easter. During this season, we remember Jesus’ 40-day fast in the wilderness, when he struggled with temptation. We repent for wrongs we have done and engage in spiritual disciplines and self-denial. We pray for healing and reconciliation with God and with the whole community of life.

Today, we pray especially for reconciliation with people of other faith traditions and philosophies, and welcome all people to this gathering. We acknowledge the need to nurture understanding and cooperation in order for ongoing cycles of violence to end. 

As we stand here today, when the violence of endless war threatens to consume the earth,

we remember that we stand in the presence of the Creator and Source of the universe, who is experienced in an infinite number of ways and is called by many different names by the peoples of the earth. 

We also recognize where we stand at this pivotal time in human history. We stand in the heart of a nation that has more political, economic, and military power than has ever before existed on earth, a nation whose government is dominated by huge, for-profit corporations that seek access to oil, water, forests, human labor... all the riches that God has bestowed as the common heritage of all the creatures of the earth. Our government is engaged in endless war…(update with current details…)

This is sin. We repent for the violence in our own hearts and lives and our complicity in our government’s actions. We call on the President and Congress to repent of the harm they intend and to radically change course, to turn away from war and to work for peace, justice, and the healing of the earth. 

As we stand here today, we invoke the presence of those courageous people around the world who are struggling to help create a better world, and we remember those who have gone before us, to whom we are indebted. As we speak out a few of their names, let us all say together “Presente!” as they do in Latin America, to remind us of their ongoing power and presence in our lives. (Name one person and have the congregation respond: “Presente,” invite others to name people as well, people such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Rosa Parks, Judi Bari, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jesus of Nazareth, the Dalai Lama….)

We invoke the presence of our children and grandchildren and those who will come after. They are counting on us! For to them we will leave the earth either a wasteland or the glorious, life-giving planet that God created it to be. And we invoke the mountains and oceans, the plants, birds, and animals, the whole community of life, acknowledging our interdependence with our fellow creatures of the earth. 

Now we will sing a song that includes all of these various strands of our lives. 

      Weave, weave, weave, weave,

      Weave a living tapestry

      We the fabric, God the Weaver

      One in love are we.

Prayer for Mercy and Transformation: Psalm 51 (1, 10-12, 14-15)

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions.

Create in me a clear heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

O God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of

your deliverance.

O God, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

As Jesus came near [to Jerusalem] and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.

Explanation of Symbol of Ashes

(Holding Ashes): Ashes symbolize our mortality. Today, on Ash Wednesday, we use ashes of a symbol of both repentance and mortality. Ashes remind us of who we are: human beings, made up of the dust of the earth. Our bodies are made up of the same elements that make up the crust of the earth. For that matter, we are made up of the same elements that make up the furthest stars. We are, quite literally, star dust. We participate in the great unfolding journey of the universe, and our role is to celebrate in mystery and awe. And yet we are mortal. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Humus, human, humility—these words all have the same root. Today with humility we acknowledge that we are created beings, dependent on the God who created us and interdependent with the rest of creation: plants and trees, mountains and rivers, starts and swirling galaxies. Our time on earth is short, and we are called as human beings to contribute to the great unfolding story of the universe. 

(Holding Ashes): Ashes also symbolize repentance. To repent means to turn around, to turn back to God. In ancient times, people put dust and ashes on themselves as a way of showing their intention to turn away from harmful actions and to turn back toward God.

On this Ash Wednesday, we repent of our own violence toward ourselves and others. We repent of the violence we have done to the earth and the poor with our lifestyles of mindless overconsumption. 

We repent of our government’s plans to wage endless war in our name and with our tax dollars. We publicly call on our government to repent of the permanent war it is waging even now and of the plans to attack and invade Iraq. We call on our government to listen to the people of the world in their desire for peace and to cooperate with the international community in helping create a peaceful, just, and sustainable world.

We acknowledge our part in our nation’s sins. We are complicit to the degree that we are silent. We are complicit to the degree that we enjoy the benefits of US Empire. We are complicit to the degree that we do not resist war and take actions for peace. 

And so today, for our part, we repent for our complicity and for the violence in our own hearts and lives, and pledge in humility and with contrite hearts to do all in our power to turn ourselves and our nation around. 

Invitation to Join in Lenten Discipline and Witness: A Fast From Overconsumption

During the forty days of Lent we invite people to join us in a “Fast from Overconsumption” as a form of self-denial from the empty benefits of the permanent war economy and as a witness to our solidarity with the Iraqi people and other victims of US Empire, including those here at home. Each person’s practice will be different, but each of us will struggle make do with less, to share, and to live in more sustainable ways. We will especially work on finding ways to cut down on our use of oil, which contributes so greatly to plans for the current war.

Words of Commitment (Leader invites the congregation to repeat)

On this day we renew our commitment to resist war

To refuse the fruits of the permanent war economy

To turn away from overconsumption

To share with those who are in need

To live in more sustainable ways

To work with people of various faiths and perspectives

To do all in our power to create a peaceful, just, and sustainable world, so that children today and all future generations may experience beauty, sufficiency, compassion, and joy in life. Amen

Listen to these words of Daniel Ellsberg, war resister during the Vietnam War

(see attached):

In our struggles for peace and justice, we do not struggle alone. Though we cannot always see or feel it, we have tremendous support. A “great cloud of witnesses” surrounds us and urges us on.

We are part of an emerging global community made up of people engaged in various struggles for peace and justice around the world. This community supports us—we support each other. We are connected with those who have gone before, the martyrs and heroes, all the ancestors who invested themselves for the sake of future generations, and we are connected with those who will come after. They support us--we are their champions. We are related to the earth and all its creatures in a web that cannot be broken without injury to all—we are their advocates. We are connected to God—we witness to the power of the Spirit to give us light in this present darkness, to bring peace in this time of war, to bring love in this time of hate, to bring new life out of the ashes of death and despair, and to weave a living tapestry out of all the parts of creation.

Song: “Weave a Living Tapestry”

      Peace, peace, peace, peace

      People we must work for peace 

      May love prevail and all wars cease

      Our hope is peace.

      Love, love, love, love

      People we are made for love

      Let’s love each other as ourselves

      For God is love.

      Weave, weave, weave, weave,

      Weave a living tapestry

      We the fabric, God the Weaver

      One in love are we.

Benediction -- Ephesians 6: 

And now, to the One who, by the power at work within us, is able to do incredibly more than all we can ask or even imagine, to that One be the glory in our lives, in the world, and throughout the whole universe, forever and ever. Amen.