This season of the liturgical year reminds us what a mess we are, and yet how deeply God loves us in the midst of that mess. We don’t have to keep living in patterns of sin.

This Sunday, invite friends or anyone who may wonder how ASD is making a difference in your life and why we worship the way we do.

Many of you are relatively new to ASD, and all of us can benefit from understanding why we make certain liturgical changes during this season. I look forward to explaining some of them as part of the sermon. Here are a few you’ll notice:

No alleluias

The liturgical color of Lent: purple

An opening acclamation with a focus on forgiveness

The Decalogue (Ten Commandments) used as confession

A sung Trisagion: “Holy God, holy and mighty, holy immortal one…”

The Nicene Creed instead of the Apostles’ Creed

A proper preface at Holy Communion with a focus on the temptations of Christ

The Prayer of Humble Access immediately before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ

For example, notice the Lenten themes in the Prayer of Humble Access.

This prayer appears in the 1549 and 1552 Book of Common Prayer and reflects the theological and pastoral heart of the English Reformation. It includes biblical echoes of the Gentile woman in the Gospels who says that even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table. She does not argue merit but appeals entirely to mercy. We are invited to take the same posture- a radical humility and a radical confidence reveals the gospel truth in our lives.

The prayer also echoes John 6 and 1 Corinthians, assuming real participation and cleansing as we receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

One other point to highlight during this season is the Prayer of Confession, or Reconciliation of a Penitent, found in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (p. 447).

This is a prayer you may pray with one of the priests here at ASD, or you may shape your own confession. Our receivers heritage understands that we do not have to confess to a priest in order to be forgiven. And yet, in my experience, there is often a powerful grace present when confessing to another person, much like James 5:16 reminds us: “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

Lent gives us needed reminders that we are all a mess in different ways, each of us carrying our own layers of unbelief. These prayers point us to a God who loves us deeply and offers hope and healing.

Come and See.

+Philip