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Word and Worship for the Third 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 19 (today’s Responsorial Psalm) 1 The
heavens are telling the glory of God; In
the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, 7 The
law of the Lord is perfect, 11 Moreover
by them is your servant warned; 14 Let
the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart |
Opening Prayer for the Third Sunday in Lent
Holy God, through your Son you have called us to live
faithfully and act courageously. Keep us steadfast in your covenant of grace
and teach us the wisdom that comes only through your Son, Jesus Christ our
Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and forever. Amen.
1
Corinthians 1:18-25
18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For
it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater
of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For
since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God
decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who
believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire
wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling
block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those
who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than
human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Gospel Reading: John 2:13-22
13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In
the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money
changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of
cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle.
He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their
tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take
these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His
disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume
me.” 18 The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show
us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews
then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and
will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was
speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised
from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they
believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
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]
·
Holy One,
there is no place that is not holy for you.
Unlock our awareness, so we may not limit you to certain locations, and
may see your presence everywhere. In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
Holy One,
there is no person who is not holy for you.
Free us from our preconceptions about others, and enable us to receive
the gift that you give in all people. In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
Holy One,
there is no thing that is not holy for you.
Release us from viewing the world around us as simply raw material for
our own use or profit, that we may begin serving your creation as you have
called us. In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
Holy One, you
call your church to holiness. Liberate
us from seeking status; liberate us for humility and service.
In your unbounded mercy, Hear
our prayer.
·
Holy One,
every day, every moment, is an opportunity to encounter you. Open us to your presence in our work, in our
relationships, in our illness, and in our pain.
Move us to share your love with those we name before you.
[Silence] In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
Holy One, all
of life is holy. May we enter each
moment, each interaction, each decision as pregnant with possibility to respond
to your loving presence. In your
unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
Holy One, we pray for our bishops,
Susan and Michael and the congregation of St. John Church, Aylmer. In your unbounded mercy, Hear our prayer.
·
Holy One, 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 especially Ed Stanat. 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.
First Reading: Exodus 20:1-17
20 Then God spoke all these words:
2 I am
the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery; 3 you
shall have no other gods before me.
4 You shall
not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth. 5 You
shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God
am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third
and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast
love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my
commandments.
7 You shall
not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for
the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
8 Remember
the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a
sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son
or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien
resident in your towns. 11 For
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is
in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the
sabbath day and consecrated it.
12 Honor your
father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that
the Lord your God is giving you.
13 You shall
not murder.
14 You shall
not commit adultery.
15 You shall
not steal.
16 You shall
not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 You shall
not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or
male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your
neighbor.
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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·
We’ve all seen or encountered or tripped over that
concrete block at the top of a parking space, the block with two hefty bolts or
steel rods in it to keep it in place. The block that would make us fall
face-first into the asphalt. We could call it a “stumbling block”, but to the
people of Jesus’ time such a thing might be called a skandelon… where our word “scandal” comes from.
·
The foolishness Paul wrote about uses the word that
come to us as “moron.” That word isn’t used much anymore, except for fans of
the old Three Stooges short movies and it’s probably just as well; it’s a
rather nasty word when it’s used.
·
Paul says that Christ crucified is a scandal for
some and moronic for some others. He goes on to say that to still others Christ
crucified is the very power and wisdom of God: For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness
is stronger than human strength.
·
As with so many things, God has turned things
upside-down. What is considered foolishness is actually wisdom and weakness is
strength. Poverty becomes a better understanding of fleeting riches. Listening
to what cannot be heard constitutes a way of life. And finally – craziest of
all – the instrument of a shameful and horrible death becomes the symbol of a
changed and renewed life, both here and in what is to come.
·
That was Paul’s world, a world where the Christian
faith was new and perhaps unknown to many. Christians endured persecution a
number of times and were misunderstood more often. As time when on, the church
was recognized and legalized by the government that existed at the time. It
developed a structure that permitted more people to join and sad to say, forced
many to join.
·
Such is not the case today. In some places, Christ’s
disciples maintain a culture that makes discipleship or at least, church
membership part of the culture. In other cases, Christians exist in a society
where other religions, philosophies, and activities compete for people’s
attention. Here in this nation, that is how it is. The church exists and many
see it as just an option for belonging and behavior, one choice among many.
·
It comes down to a question and a tough question it
is.
·
Are we willing to embrace the scandal of the Cross?
·
Are we willing to accept the foolishness of faith in
Christ?
·
Those are real questions that we must ask ourselves,
perhaps daily. We may have to face some questions about our value and the value
of our beliefs from some people around us. That would be expected since holding
to God’s Kingdom and the values of the Gospel seems like foolishness to many. If
few listen to God’s voice and pay attention to it, then we take our true value
from God’s view of God’s people and those who wish to please him for the sake
of Jesus Christ.
·
There’s an ancient tradition with the wide Christian
Church of the “Fool for Christ.” These people look foolish to those around them
and they often do things that get them laughed at and kept at arm’s length as
someone who is weird. Would we be willing to be a “Fool for Christ”? Today it
wouldn’t take shaving our heads or wearing strange clothes. What it might take
would be radically foolish acts like kindness, compassion, patience, and maybe
good humour – all things that seem to be missing in the world around us. Would
wearing a surgical mask and washing our hands make us fools? If we do it for
the safety and health of those around us, yes! Would kindness and compassion
for our neighbors make us fools? Possibly, if it is done for the sake of our
faith in Jesus. Would listening to some fool prattling on over YouTube on a
Sunday morning make us a fool? If the Gospel is preached and prayer is true,
then yes. We might gladly be “fools for Christ” since as Paul wrote:
we proclaim Christ
crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but
to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and
the wisdom of God
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