The Third Sunday Of Lent
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Prelude, Welcome, and Information Hymn
#618 Guide Me
Ever, Great Redeemer |
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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. Psalm: Psalm 95 O come, let
us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our
salvation! Let us come
into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of
praise! For
the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand
are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is
his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. O come, let
us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is
our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the
sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not
harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the
day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the
proof, though they had seen my work. For forty
years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a
people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.” Therefore
in my anger I swore, “They shall not enter my rest.” |
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The Lord be with you. And
also with you. Let us pray. Merciful God, the fountain of living
water, you quench our thirst and wash away our sins. Give us this water
always. Bring us to drink from the well that flows from the beauty of your
truth through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. |
Reading:
Exodus 17:1-7
A reading from Exodus
From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites
journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim,
but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with
Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you
quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted
there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you
bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with
thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this
people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to
Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with
you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I
will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock,
and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in
the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah,
because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is
the Lord among us or not?”
The Word of the Lord
Reading: Romans 5:1-11
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to
this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of
God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that
suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and
character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s
love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been
given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the
ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though
perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God
proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for
us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood,
will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more
surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more
than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we
have now received reconciliation.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel
Verse:
Lord, you are truly the
Savior of the world; give me this living water that I may never thirst again. (John 4:42, 15)
Gospel Reading: John 4:5-42
A reading from the Gospel of John
So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground
that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus,
tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A
Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a
drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The
Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a
woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with
Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it
is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he
would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have
no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are
you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons
and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of
this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I
will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in
them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him,
“Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming
here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come
back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her,
“You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five
husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is
true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our
ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people
must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the
hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in
Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for
salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when
the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father
seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship
him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that
Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all
things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to
you.”
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking
with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking
with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city.
She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have
ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were
on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat
something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know
about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought
him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of
him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months
more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the
fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and
is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice
together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another
reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have
labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that
city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I
have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to
stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed
because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of
what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know
that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise
to you, O Christ.
Sermon
(added at the end of the document)
Hymn
#611 I Heard
the Voice of Jesus Say
Thanks and Offertory
Prayers of the Church:
Gracious God, we all have been washed in the
living water of your grace. Hear our prayers this day for the world, the
church, and for all people according to their needs and grant us your blessing.
As our
observance of Lent continues, bless all those preparing for Baptism in all
churches, we pray... Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
As our
observance of Lent continues, grant that our food may be the same as Jesus’ –
to do your will and complete your work, we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
As our
observance of Lent continues, make us worthy to reap the crop that you have
sewn, we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
As our
observance of Lent continues, let us be with you in relieving the sufferings of
all who have suffered from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, as well as all
who work for recovery, we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
As our
observance of Lent continues, we pray that you will grant peace to Ukraine, Russia,
Iran, and Afghanistan, and to all who suffer the terrors and dangers of war
anywhere, we pray… Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
As our
observance of Lent continues, bless with good health all who struggle with the
COVID-19 virus, the seasonal “flu”, and the RSV virus as well as who work for
healing in any way, we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
As our observance of Lent continues, we pray that you would bless the church of St. Paul in Leamington and their pastor, Pr. Sylvia Swiatoschik, we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
As our
observance of Lent continues, hear the prayers of our hearts for those we care
for and for those who have asked for our prayers … * … we pray… Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer. {*Gail Mauer, Deb Kirschner, Rose Gotzmeister,
Rick Cerna}
Gracious
God, we have heard your word and it is in you that we believe and trust. In
your mercy, give us what is best for us as we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Hymn #336 Lamb of God
The
Lord’s Prayer
Finally let
us pray for all things as our Lord would have us ask:
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.
Closing prayer
God of our
pilgrimage,
we have found
the living water.
Refresh and
sustain us as we go forth on our journey,
in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord
Amen.
Benediction & Sending
May the Lord
bless us and keep us.
May the
Lord’s face shine upon us with grace and mercy.
May the Lord
look upon us with favor and X give us peace.
Amen.
Hymn
#777 Come to Me,
All Pilgrims Thirsty
Go in peace. Serve
the Lord. Thanks be to God.
W
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Upcoming Services for February,
March, & April: (All services begin at 11:00am) March 19 Holy Communion at St. John’s (Lent
IV) March 26 YouTube (Lent V) April 2 Holy Communion at St. John’s (Palm
Sunday)
& Special Congregational
Meeting April 7 Good Friday at St. John’s April 9 Holy Communion at St. John’s (Easter
Sunday) April 16 YouTube (Easter II) April 23 Holy Communion at St. John’s (Easter
III) April 30 YouTube (Easter IV) |
“He told me everything I have ever
done.”
But God proves his love for us in that
while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
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John’s Gospel
goes on for quite a while today and there is a lot to digest there. For one
thing, Jesus has reached out to the Samaritan people, who did not get along
with the Jewish people of the time. He also shattered the custom of not
speaking to women. By the way, the woman-at-the-well (which is the title by
which she is identified since her name is never mentioned) goes to preach the
Good News even before the disciples! For John, it is always the women who carry
the Good News first. We’ll see this at Easter with Mary Magdalene at the
Resurrection.
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What appears
to be the amazing thing that the Samaritan woman carries is the acceptance she
found in Jesus. He knew her through and through and still called her his own.
He didn’t condemn her or run away from her. He did not set preconditions to
welcoming her. He didn’t tell her to go away, but actually told her that he is
the Messiah. She is among the first to receive that revelation.
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It is
important for us to hear about this episode because of the way Jesus accepts
the woman as she is. The teaching on the “Living Water” and on worshipping God
“in spirit and truth” cannot be forgotten. I’m not going to speak on them today
because there is only so much time. Suffice it to say that this passage, like
many passages in John, is packed with teachings and with theological
understanding. In our own day, scholars far better than your pastor are still
unpacking this.
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The
acceptance of the Samaritan woman by Jesus is echoed in Paul’s Letter to the
Romans. Paul meant to visit the Christian community in Rome, the capital of the
Empire, but he only made it there while under arrest. The Letter to the Romans
may have been his introduction to the Roman Christians, showing the truth of
his teaching. This is a guess but it sure seems right.
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Paul
proclaims the grace of God given to all of us by saying that Jesus died for
sinners. (While we were sinners
Christ died for us.) Again this message of salvation come to us
before any preparation on our part, because it cannot be bought, earned, or
worked for. It is freely given; it is grace!
·
Why do I keep
talking about this? Well, it is the central point of the Christian Gospel. It
is the nut of Good News. I keep bring it up because it is the crux of my
ministry.
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Luther said
he proclaimed the Good News of grace all of the time because congregations
often forget it. (I’m sure you never do.) Further, I continue to proclaim this
Gospel truth for a very selfish reason – I forget it all the time. I
continually make efforts to be worthy of grace and of the Gospel, to earn what
God has promised in Christ… and I fail… as I must. To hear the proclamation of
the free gift of grace in Jesus Christ is still a stunning thing. I hope I
never take it for granted and that I will always be stunned by God’s grace.
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As I said
earlier, this passage of John’s Gospel is packed to the gills with things to
reflect on:
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Jesus as the messiah
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The
significance in Scripture of a meeting at a well
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Jesus having food to eat that you do not know about.
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The Samaritan
woman’s message to her people and their response
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Sowing and
reaping
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Worshiping in
spirit and truth
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And that just
names a few.
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Let’s just take
time to remember, reflect on, and be thankful for the free gift of God’s grace.
If we do that, we’ll have kept the best of Lents and will wait joyfully for
Easter.
But
God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for
us.
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