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Service of Word
and Prayer for the Third Sunday after Epiphany |
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The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all. And also with you. |
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Psalm 62:
5-12 (today’s Responsorial Psalm) 5 For
God alone my soul waits in silence, 8 Trust
in him at all times, O people; 9 Those
of low estate are but a breath, 11 Once
God has spoken; |
Oration for the Third Sunday after Pentecost
Almighty God, by grace alone you call us and accept us
in your service. Strengthen us with your Spirit, and make us worthy of your
call, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Gospel Reading: Mark 1:14-20
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good
news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother
Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17 And
Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18 And
immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As
he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who
were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he
called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men,
and followed him.
Sermon
(added at the end of the document)
Thanks and Offertory
The
Prayers of Church: (from
the Celebrate)
·
For continued progress for the
distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and treatments, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.
·
For our bishop, Michael and all in
authority in the church, let us pray. Have
mercy, O God.
·
For Bishop Susan Johnson and the staff
of the ELCIC national headquarters, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.
· For all the needs and prayers we hold in our hearts… (a time of silent prayer)… let us pray. Hear us, O God.
The
Lord’s Prayer
Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Our
Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven.
Give
us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against
us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For
thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the
glory, forever and ever. Amen.
First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5, 10
3 The word of the Lord came to
Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get
up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell
you.” 3 So
Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now
Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4 Jonah began to go into
the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh
shall be overthrown!” 5 And
the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great
and small, put on sackcloth.
10 When God
saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind
about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do
it.
Benediction and Sending
The Lord bless us and keep us.
The Lord make his face shine on us and
be gracious to us.
The Lord look upon us with favor and
give us peace.
Amen.
Go in peace. Share the Good News. Thanks be to God
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(The
second reading is included for the sake of being complete.)
1
Corinthians 7:29-31
29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
“The time is fulfilled,
and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good
news.”
·
If
there ever was a prophetic call or direction of what to do, “repent” might be
the least popular. None of us like to be called on the carpet and told we are
wrong. It doesn’t feel good and it often hurts in one way or another. We can
say that the one calling us to repent is being judgemental. We could plead that
they really don’t know us, because if they did, they’d know how wonderful we
really are.
·
Or
so we think. Yet, the first thing we hear from Jesus in Mark’s Gospel is The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” It could be said that he is echoing John
with this message. It might also be said that this message is for times past
and not for us now.
·
This
message is very much for our own time. Just because we don’t want to hear it is
beside the point. The Kingdom of God has come near. Since we believe that Jesus
is the Messiah and the Son of God, we know that Kingdom has come near. Its
nearness leads to changes and the first change is a change of heart… also known
as repentance.
·
The
first of Luther’s 95 Theses is this; When
our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire
life of believers to be one of repentance. (Thesis #1, the 95 Theses) Some might find
that rather harsh, evoking images in the mind of sack-cloth, ashes, fasting,
and bodily pain. (For some more on this, look at the reading from Jonah.) In
our own time, it usually doesn’t mean those things. Fasting has value for
clearing the mind, for solidarity with the world’s hungry, and for remembering
what we are about by giving us time for other things. Itchy clothes and other
such discomforts don’t do much for me. Even fasting can only go on for so long
without damaging one’s health.
·
Repentance
in the Biblical sense is based on change. The word used in Mark’s Gospel which
we translate as “repent” means “turn around.” The idea is to turn
from one thing to other things or to change the way one is facing. We all know
how that can work. A change in how we face changes what we can see; for
example, if you face the sun, you cannot see your own shadow.
·
The
turning means more than a simple change in our view. The way the word is used
it also means a change in a person’s behavior and ultimately a change in that
person’s values, direction, and even place in the world. If you are in a hole,
the world looks different when you get out of that hole and what you need and
what you can do changes as well.
·
This
call to repentance and belief in the Good News does not remove any of us out of
the often-hostile world we live in. It continues to place us in this world and
it directs us to our own way of living as a way of affecting the world around
us. Any machine - or any system for that matter - changes if any part of it
changes. A stubbed toe changes how any of us walk and that changes our posture
and even our level of energy.
·
If
we hold to Luther’s words, the whole of our lives is to be a turning around. If
we hold to the words of Scripture, the Kingdom is near and that Good News urges
us to change what we are doing and often why we do it. It urges us to lay some
things aside and pick up some new things. It places all that we are and all
that we do in a new light, the light of the Good News of God’s Kingdom. It
urges us to be disciples, to follow Jesus, and to turn ourselves around again
and again to be made over in the image of Jesus and the Good News that he is.
·
Did
I say “again and again”? Isn’t once enough? If we know ourselves we might not
be able to ask that question with a straight face. Every morning, we start
anew. The struggle with the arrogant self begins again… and the renewal that
comes with God’s grace begins again.
·
The
call to repentance is actually Good News. Our God covers us with second chances
and the Kingdom always remains near.
“The time is fulfilled,
and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good
news.”
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