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Word and Worship for the Second Sunday in Lent |
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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 22: 23-31 (today’s Responsorial Psalm) 23 You
who fear the Lord, praise him! 25 From
you comes my praise in the great congregation; 27 All
the ends of the earth shall remember 29 To
him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; |
Opening Prayer for the Second Sunday in Lent
O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made the
instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life. Grant us to glory
in the cross of Christ that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of
your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Gospel Reading: Mark 8:31-38
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great
suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said
all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But
turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind
me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human
things.”
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to
become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and
follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will
lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the
gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them
to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed,
what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who
are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the
glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Sermon
(added at the end of the document)
Thanks and Offertory
The
Prayers of Church:
Relying on
the promise of God, we pray boldly for the world, the church, and all in need.
[Short pause]
·
God who calls
us to take part, your call opens up a whole universe of possibilities for
us. Give us faith to respond to your
call, that we may indeed take part. In
your unbounded mercy, Hear our
prayer.
·
God who calls
us to participate, we are surrounded by un-numbered opportunities to share in
the experience of new life. Give us
eagerness to reply to your call, that we may indeed participate. In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
God who calls
us to grow, we confess the fear which holds us back, and hinders our
maturing. Give us the wisdom to discern
your call, that we may indeed grow. In
your unbounded mercy, Hear our
prayer.
·
God who calls
us to engage, free your church from thinking only in terms of buildings and
membership; release us to think about ministry and service. Give us the willingness to hear your call,
that we may indeed engage. In your
unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
God who calls
us to dive in, open us to the sick, the lonely, the victims of injustice, and
all who need a word of encouragement, especially those who we name before you.
·
(Silent
prayer)
·
Give us the
courage to recognize your call, that we may indeed dive in. In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
God who calls
us to be involved, we are not passive observers. We have a part to play, for the sake of the
world. Give us the enthusiasm to answer
your call, that we may indeed be involved.
In your unbounded mercy, Hear
our prayer.
·
God who shepherds us, we pray for the
congregation of St. Ansgar Church, London and their pastor, Pr. David Wirt, In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
God of
eternal life, we pray in thanksgiving for those who lived and served in your
name and who now rest from their earthly labours, those saints who have been
gathered into your eternal embrace In
your unbounded mercy, Hear our
prayer.
·
Into your
hands we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy; through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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.
Romans
4:13-25
13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham
or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of
faith. 14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be
the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For
the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest
on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of
the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father
of all of us, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the
father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who
gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not
exist. 18 Hoping against hope, he believed that he would
become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous
shall your descendants be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith
when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he
was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s
womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise
of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being
fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 Therefore
his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 Now
the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24 but
for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus
our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death
for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
Benediction and Sending
Go forth into
the world to serve God with gladness;
be of good
courage; hold fast to that which is good;
render to no
one evil for evil;
strengthen
the fainthearted; support the weak;
help the
afflicted; honour all people;
love and
serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Go in peace. Share the Good News. Thanks be to God
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(This reading is included for the sake of being complete.)
First Reading: Genesis 17:1-7
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old,
the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk
before me, and be blameless. 2 And
I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly
numerous.” 3 Then
Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall
be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your
name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of
nations. 6 I
will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings
shall come from you. 7 I
will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you
throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and
to your offspring[d] after
you.
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If any want to become my followers,
let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
§ “Follow
me” is a Jesus-phrase we’ve heard very often. It’s what Jesus says when he called
the disciples. It’s what he said to the ‘rich young man’ who felt he could not
give up his riches, something that disappointed Jesus. Here he tells his
disciples that following him - even to the cross – is necessary.
§ “Follow”
puts a person behind the one they follow. Leaders lead and followers
follow; that’s how it works. It’s odd to note that when Peter objects to Jesus’
words on his suffering, Jesus tell him Get
behind me, Satan! Looks like one way or the other, everyone gets
behind Jesus, either by following and going where he goes or by being left
behind as he moves on.
§ Jesus’
words about his suffering and the cross must have been frightening for his
disciples to hear. They had been steeped in the understanding that the Messiah
would be a figure of great political and worldly importance, not a person who
would be suffering. Of course, since they were close friends and followers, it
would mean good things for them as well. Then there is no wonder why Peter
would take Jesus aside to “rebuke” him.
§ This
of course was not the sort of Messiah that Jesus would be. If he was to be a
different sort of Messiah, the disciples would be a different sort of follower,
with different expectations and goals. That would be hard to take as well.
§ For
the Gospel of Mark, the following of Jesus would not be a comfortable
affiliation with a powerful and respected Messiah. For Mark, the discipleship
of a follower of Jesus would be life-changing and quite possibly
life-threatening. The commitment of discipleship means the surrender of a lot
of a person’s life and possibly the shedding of a person’s blood. (Of the
twelve apostles, church tradition holds that eleven of them died a martyr’s
death and one – John – was exiled.) The difference here is commitment. The
Gospel calls for commitment, not some sort of passing acceptance. There are
those who don’t wish to make such a commitment. As the British author, G.K.
Chesterton wrote “The Christian ideal
has not been tried and found wanting. It has been
found difficult; and left untried.”
§ As
disciples, we will face opposition. Some among us have endured persecution for
their faith in their own time. Should we closely follow Jesus’ mission, we will
be opposed. His mission was to proclaim the Kingdom of God which includes the
reconciling of sinners and the healing of the wounded. It includes compassion
for those on the margins of our society. All of this may antagonize those in
power and it may wound us especially if it confronts our own deeply-rooted
ideas and prejudices. The first cross we might have to take up is the one that
leads to the death of those parts of us that oppose the Kingdom of God in some
way.
§ This
is part of the denial of self that Jesus tells of. It is far more than denying
ourselves a meal or a small pleasure or an hour’s sleep. It convicts us of the
far more deadly idea that we are the center of the universe and our desires are
primary. In simple terms, it comes down to the realization that we are not God
and only God is God.
§ With
that in mind, I’d like to share something with you. It’s a prayer that came to
my attention on the internet this week and I think it strikes home on what
we’ve been talking about here. It was written by a Catholic Jesuit priest, Fr.
James Martin and it is titled “The New Serenity Prayer.”
§ God grant me the serenity to accept
the people I cannot change, which is pretty much everyone, since I’m clearly
not you, God. At least not the last time I checked.
And
while you’re at it, God, please give me the courage to change what I need to
change about myself, which is frankly a lot, since, once again, I’m not you,
which means I’m not perfect.
It’s
better for me to focus on changing myself that to worry about changing other
people, who, as you’ll no doubt remember me saying, I can’t change anyway.
Finally,
give me the wisdom to just shut up whenever I think I’m clearly smarter than
everyone else in the room, that no one knows what they’re talking about except
me, or that I alone have all the answers.
Basically,
God, grant me the wisdom to remember that I’m not you.
Amen.
§ Could
it be that our greatest “cross to bear” is just ourselves? That might be the
greatest cost of being Jesus’ disciple.
If any want to become my
followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
