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Word and Worship for the Fifth 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 51: 1-12 (today’s Responsorial Psalm) 1Have
mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your
abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2Wash
me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3For
I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4Against
you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that
you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. 5Indeed,
I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. 6You
desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret
heart. 7Purge
me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than
snow. 8Let
me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 9Hide
your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10Create
in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. 11Do
not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from
me. 12Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing
spirit. |
Opening Prayer for the Fifth Sunday in Lent
O God, with steadfast love you draw us to yourself,
and in mercy you receive our prayers. Strengthen us to bring forth the fruits
of the Spirit, that through life and death we may live in your Son, Jesus
Christ our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
New
Testament Reading: Hebrews 5:5-10
5So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was
appointed by the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten
you”; 6as he says also in another place, “You are a priest
forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” 7In the days
of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and
tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because
of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a Son, he learned
obedience through what he suffered; 9and having been made
perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10having
been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
Gospel Reading: John 12:20-33
20Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some
Greeks. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in
Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip
went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus
answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very
truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those
who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will
keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father
will honor.
27“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from
this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father,
glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I
will glorify it again.” 29The crowd standing there heard it and
said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30Jesus
answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now
is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven
out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all
people to myself.” 33He said this to indicate the kind of death
he was to die.
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]
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·
Gracious and
loving God, we wish to see Jesus. In our
tiredness and weariness, we ask for healing and hope.
In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
Gracious and
loving God, we wish to see Jesus. We are
surrounded by hatred and fear, and crave the love and welcome you promise. In
your unbounded mercy, Hear our
prayer.
·
Gracious and
loving God, we wish to see Jesus. We are
overwhelmed with racism and injustice, with displacement and death. Reveal yourself, that all may know your love.
In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
Gracious and
loving God, our world wishes to see Jesus.
Inspire your church, that we may go to the margins, and listen to the
outsider, and bear the kind of fruit you desire.
In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
Gracious and
loving God, our world wishes to see Jesus.
Use your people to bring healing where there is sickness, relief where
there is suffering, and unity where there is division. We especially ask that you use us to be your
presence with those whom we name before you.
In your unbounded mercy, Hear
our prayer.
·
Gracious and
loving God, our world wishes to see Jesus.
In the middle of separation, in the middle of pandemic, in the middle of
our broken lives, show yourself to us.
And then, gracious and loving God, show yourself through us. In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
Gracious and loving God, we pray for our
bishops, Susan and Michael and the congregation of St. Peter Church, Broadhagen
and their pastor, Pr. Laura Sauder. In
your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
Gracious and
loving God, 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, remembering. 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.
Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
31The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It
will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them
by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke,
though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33But this is
the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says
the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their
hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No
longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know
the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,
says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin
no more.
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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Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
·
This passage from John’s Gospel is often used as a
funeral reading because it reminds the congregation (and the preacher) that
what leads to life and growth of a crop involves the “death” of the grain of
wheat. Any number of you with me today understand this far better than I do!
·
However Jesus is not talking about agriculture or
farming here. In his preaching, he used examples and figures from farming or
fishing or other daily activities because his listeners could grasp those
examples and through them, grasp his message.
·
Jesus seems to know that his time among his disciples is coming to a close. His mission is not ended. In fact, the pinnacle of that
mission is coming quickly. He realized that his preaching and example and his
opposition to the abuse of power around him will put him in opposition to the
powerful and will most likely cost him his life.
·
Yet that cost will not be the end of it all. His
death will bring on the hardest lesson of the Kingdom of God. The lesson is
that death leads to life and a harvest of fruit for the Kingdom of God.
·
Alone one seed, one grain of wheat grows to a single
plant. Yet even that single plant requires the seed to break open and change.
It requires the seed to give up being a seed and become something more.
·
Should Jesus give up his life for the sake of the
Kingdom of God, it would lead to a strong witness to the values of that
Kingdom. It would also ultimately show the power and mercy and grace of God in
this world highlighted in the ultimate mystery of the Resurrection.
·
There the seed has fallen, died, broken open, and
come to new life! Such a mystery also points to the new life of those who
follow Jesus. As John tells us, Jesus said Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my
servant be also. We as his followers and disciple have our hope in
him to lead us to where he is.
·
However, if we are to be where Jesus is, somehow,
some way, we will follow the same path there. If Jesus could or would not
escape suffering, neither will we, although our suffering does not save us or
redeem us. It may let us be a little more like Jesus though.
·
This far into the season of Lent - even in the
middle of this pandemic and its isolation – we are facing the power of the
Church’s observance of Holy Week. Next week is Palm Sunday where we see and
experience both the triumph and joy of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the terror of his passion and
death. Good Friday follows shortly and we hear again of Jesus’ suffering for
the sake of those he loves and we are faced with the sadness and terror of the
cross.
·
Then Easter, where fallen and broken grain of wheat
is seen to bear fruit, not simply for itself but for the whole world, a world
that has to stand in awe of the grace of God portrayed in such a way.
·
The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the mystery of
this time in the Church’s life. We lost last Easter to it and we’re limited for
this Easter, but what we have in Holy Week cannot be destroyed by this disease
that both takes life and complicates life. The seed still falls, dies, and
ultimately bears fruit.
·
And in that fruit is our hope and our life.
·
“Pour
forth, we ask You, O Lord, Your grace into our hearts; that as we have known
the incarnation of Christ,
your Son by the message of an angel, so by His passion and cross we may be
brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
Very
truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
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