Lent Day 2
Theme – Fasting
Gather
Christ goes on before us, during these days of Lent, telling us to deny ourselves…
…and we take up our cross and follow.
Song – Forty Days
Prayers of the People
God who knows our every weakness, we pray this day for those along our journey who need comfort from affliction and release from bondage. You are the great and ultimate healer. May we be not mere observers and recipients of your overwhelming love, but also Spirit-led instruments that live out your redemptive story to all people.
Lord, in your mercy…
…Hear our prayer.
Confession
Source of life and all that is good…
…we confess to you how far we have journeyed astray, more often acting as if this world is home, rather than as aliens in a foreign land. We have chosen pleasure rather than justice, pride rather than mercy, and platitudes rather than sacrifice. Forgive us, O Lord.
Presentation of the Nails and Song – Sojourn
Alms Giving
Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 6:2
Lord of all…
…Take these gifts, bless and multiply them, that you may be glorified. Amen.
Reading – Isaiah 58:1-14
“Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God.
‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
“Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Song – Dust
Benediction
Holy Father, as we fast for these forty days of Lent, may our sacrifice be not about punishing ourselves, for no amount of humiliation can atone for our waywardness, but rather, led by your Spirit, may it move us away from our own narrow existence, and into a fuller life as you draw us closer to you and your people.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Amen.
Next: Lent Day 3