Holy God, source of all love, on the night of his betrayal, Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love one another as he loves us. Write this commandment in our hearts, and give us the will to serve others as he was the servant of all, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
1Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
31b“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Christ Washes the Disciples’ Feet — Gaudin and Le Breton, Amiens Cathedral, Amiens, France
Sermon – Pastor Meggan Manlove
The thread through tonight’s service is summed up in the name of this day, Maundy. A mandate, “A new commandment I give to you. Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
The new commandment is preceded by Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, something that bewilders his disciples. Foot washing was a way of welcoming guests. A person’s feet would become dusty during the journey. The host offered water so that guests could wash their feet—on their own. Maybe one of the host’s servants would do the washing. When Jesus washes his disciples’ feet, he combines the roles. He is both servant and host.
Most of us gathering for worship around the world on this night probably know this story so well that we gloss over how radical his actions really are. Here is a God who comes in human form and kneels at the feet of others. He holds his friend’s dirty, tired, callused feet in the palms of his hands and washes them clean. It’s as far from anything the world would expect in an almighty god. It’s as unexpected as God being laid in a manger, sharing meals with criminals, being friends with foreigners.
Instead of reenacting the foot washing, tonight we are invited to imagine what might take the place of such an act today. It is a tough question, tougher than I anticipated when a colleague first presented it to me. We are far enough from first century Palestine and places and times like Regency England that servants or slaves are no more. Certainly, there are people who take what we might see as less-desirable jobs. But that is not an accurate comparison with tonight’s text. Jesus shares these moments with the people that have been following him, eating with him, and journeying with him. Though the love command is something we carry with us outside our faith community, it is truly about the faith community itself.
Another pastor wrote about the intimacies of Maundy Thursday and compared it to a work-around his congregation in Chicago discovered earlier in the pandemic. The older members of his parish had a long-standing practice of gathering monthly for lunch. It moved online early in the pandemic and the digital cubes were helpful, but something was missing. Intimacy through food was what they needed. When possible, they began cooking, portioning, and delivering a homemade meal to participating seniors and then sharing that lunch together online. And while not all the intimacy of the gathering was reclaimed, something about sharing the same food opened them up to one another again. The sharing of common smells, tastes, and textures cements community in unique ways. Shared meals even from a distance have power. The intimacy is undeniable.
Jesus knows his followers so well that his decision to include them all in these acts of holy intimacy is profound. Gathered in that place are those with strong faith in Jesus’ mission, though they know not yet what costs will come with following him. Judas is known, washed, and fed in all his fear and duplicity. Peter is known, fed, and loved despite his impending denials. All the rest will, in their own ways, flee in fear, leaving Jesus accompanied only by the women in his life and by his fellow condemned. But Jesus does not cancel this intimate evening to distance himself from those who will flee. Instead, he draws them that much closer to his soon-to-be-wounded side.
This is helpful context as we consider what it means to wash another’s feet today. Each of us is different and has different barriers. On the one hand I think that intimacy with others comes easier to some of us than others. And yet this evening is a reminder that all disciples are called to this work, to be open for moments of closeness and intimacy and acts of love.
I can only speak for myself that what most often has prevented me from acts of intimacy is the fear that I don’t have enough: enough energy, enough good answers, enough time, enough compassion. Teachers and mentors wiser than me, plus some experience, has taught me that just showing up is often more than enough. People long to be really and truly seen. We don’t have to have answers or special training to be present in another’s life.
For the last few years, I have been leading groups online through different spiritual practices. One of the favorite practices is titled, “Gazing at a beloved or friendly others.” What participants have shared with me is how much they appreciate the questions. While imagining in their minds eye a person they have recently encountered, they are asked to ponder what fears the person carries/ what unmet longings do they hold, what ancient wounds haunt them, what gifts or joys light them up and yearn to flourish more fully?
The truth is, we all want someone to wonder those things about each of us. And we, gathered this night, believe that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, already knows all the answers for each one of us. But we who hear his voice, who follow him, who obey his command to love one another, then are called to be compassionately curious about others, both those in our community of faith and those beyond. What fears the person carries/ what unmet longings do they hold, what ancient wounds haunt them, what gifts or joys light them up and yearn to flourish more fully?
Jesus’ new commandment to love one another can only be lived with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit empowers us to share in Christ’s vision of communities where vulnerability and intimacy are embraced, not for themselves but for real beloved community. God’s own love makes this possible. A favorite author refused to compose devotions for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, instead writing, “These days’ events are too immense, the love of the Triune God too far beyond my imagining, the meaning of it all unfathomable.” She is right. It’s more reasonable to imagine how we pass on that love to others, following the example Jesus sets on this evening full of intimacy.
28After he had said this, [Jesus] went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
Entry into Jerusalem – John August Swanson
Prayer of the Day
Everlasting God, in your endless love for the human race you sent our Lord Jesus Christ to take on our nature and to suffer death on the cross. In your mercy enable us to share in his obedience to your will and in the glorious victory of his resurrection, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Isaiah 50:4-9a
4The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. 5The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. 6I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
7The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; 8he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. 9aIt is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
Psalm 31:9-16
9Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I | am in trouble; my eye is consumed with sorrow, and also my throat | and my belly. 10For my life is wasted with grief, and my | years with sighing; my strength fails me because of affliction, and my bones | are consumed. 11I am the scorn of all my enemies, a disgrace to my neighbors, a dismay to | my acquaintances; when they see me in the street | they avoid me. 12Like the dead I am forgotten, | out of mind; I am as useless as a | broken pot. R 13For I have heard the whispering of the crowd; fear is | all around; they put their heads together against me; they plot to | take my life. 14But as for me, I have trusted in | you, O Lord. I have said, “You | are my God. 15My times are | in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who | persecute me. 16Let your face shine up- | on your servant; save me in your | steadfast love.”
Philippians 2:5-11
5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.
9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Luke 22:14–23:56
14When the hour came, [Jesus] took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. 15He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 21But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. 22For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!” 23Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this.
24A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. 27For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28“You are those who have stood by me in my trials; 29and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, 30so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
31“Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, 32but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” 33And he said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!” 34Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you have denied three times that you know me.”
35He said to them, “When I sent you out without a purse, bag, or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “No, not a thing.” 36He said to them, “But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one. 37For I tell you, this scripture must be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was counted among the lawless’; and indeed what is written about me is being fulfilled.” 38They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” He replied, “It is enough.”
39He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. 40When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” 41Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, 42“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” 43⟦Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. 44In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.⟧ 45When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, 46and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.”
47While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; 48but Jesus said to him, “Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?” 49When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” 50Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. 52Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit? 53When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!”
54Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. 55When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” 57But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” 60But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. 61The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62And he went out and wept bitterly.
63Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; 64they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” 65They kept heaping many other insults on him.
66When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. 67They said, “If you are the Messiah, tell us.” He replied, “If I tell you, you will not believe; 68and if I question you, you will not answer. 69But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70All of them asked, “Are you, then, the Son of God?” He said to them, “You say that I am.” 71Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!”23:
1Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. 2They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.” 3Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered, “You say so.” 4Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.” 5But they were insistent and said, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.”
6When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7And when he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. 9He questioned him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him, and sent him back to Pilate. 12That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies.
13Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, 14and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16I will therefore have him flogged and release him.” 18Then they all shouted out together, “Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!” 19(This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) 20Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; 21but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” 22A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.” 23But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. 24So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. 25He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.
26As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. 28But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” 32Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34⟦Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”⟧ And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” 39One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
44It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. 47When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.” 48And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. 49But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
50Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, 51had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. 52This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. 54It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. 55The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
Crucifixion
Tenancingo Cathedral Tenancingo, Mexico
Sermon – Pastor Meggan Manlove
What are we to make of the event central to today and Good Friday’s gospel, Jesus’ death? We say Jesus died for our sins. What does that mean really? We are going to dive in quickly to a long interesting and important dialogue within the Christian family. The consensus among Christians for the first millennium was that the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross was being paid to the devil. This made the devil quite powerful and God weak, but it gave people something to blame for Jesus’ death. And it wasn’t God.
Then, in the eleventh century, a guy named Anselm thought he could solve the problem of sin inside of the medieval code of feudal honor and shame. Anselm basically said, “Yes, a price did need to be paid to restore God’s honor, and it needed to be paid to God the Father–by one equally divine.” This theory does not lend itself to any in-depth spiritual journey: Why would you love or trust or desire to be with such a God?
Still, this theory about Christ dying for our sins became dominant in recent centuries. It’s called the penal substitutionary atonement theory. Put another way, substitutionary atonement is the theory that Christ, by his own sacrificial choice, was punished in the place of us sinners, thus satisfying the” demands of justice” so that God forgive our sins.
This theory has become central to the faith of many, so much so that Christ’s death and what it means has sometimes become more important than what he did in his life, as if we could ever separate his life from what his death means. If only his death mattered, then all we needed was the last three days or even three hours of Jesus’ life. Just pull out a Bible and rip out the first 21 chapters of Luke’s gospel. With the theory of substitutionary atonement, salvation, the healing of individuals and the world, became a one-time transactional affair between Jesus and his Father, instead of an ongoing transformational lesson for the human soul and community for all of history.
At its best, the theory of substitutionary atonement caused us to largely thank Jesus instead of imitating him, which is exactly what our reading from Philippians calls us to do–imitate the self-emptying Jesus. At its worst, substitutionary atonement led us to see God as a cold, brutal figure, who demands acts of violence before God can love God’s own creation.
This dominate theory is steeped in retributive justice: required punishment for wrongdoing. That is not in our God’s character, to begin with, not if we truly believe in a relational Triune God. Put another way, if the cross is payment, or punishment, then who is receiving the payment? Why would God need to pay Godself? If God is God, above all else, then there is no one else that God needs to pay.
Is there any other way to consider Jesus’ death on the cross? Yes, there is. Instead of payment or punishment, instead of any transaction, the cross is a dramatic demonstration of God’s outpouring love, meant to utterly shock the heart and turn it back toward trust and love of the Creator. God does not need to be paid in order to love and forgive God’s own creation for its failures. Love cannot be bought by some “necessary sacrifice.” If it could, love would not and could not work its transformative effects. This theory protects and preserves the absolute freedom and love of God. If forgiveness and love need to be bought or paid for, then it is not authentic forgiveness or love at all, which must be a free letting go. Instead of retributive justice, what God does on the cross is what is most in God’s character, restorative justice.
With the lens of this restorative justice love theory, the cross does several things. First, the cross reveals that we’re “curved in on ourselves.” Jesus Christ comes into a broken world. Through Him sinners are forgiven; the sick are healed; the cursed become blessed; the hungry are fed; suffering is relieved; and death is transformed to life.
But healing what is broken means recognizing that things are broken. Jesus revealed not just the brokenness of individuals, but the brokenness of whole systems. An emphasis on religious rules often labels and excludes the sick and suffering, rather than healing them. The Roman Empire claimed to be source of all goodness and benefits, yet vast portions of society had no share. The systems are sin-sick and serve their own needs.
The difficult thing is that we can’t remove ourselves from sinful and broken systems that surround us. The systems are too vast, too complex, too interconnected. Most of the time we just “go along to get along”. And the hope-filled message of the cross is that Jesus shows up even here, in our broken lives and broken systems. The light shines into the darkness. Remember, Jesus was present even for the Roman centurion who stood guard at the foot of the cross (Luke 23:47).
The cross also shows that we have God’s unfailing love. Yes, we are sinful and broken people, stuck in and participating in sinful and broken systems. And yet, at the same time, we are people saved by the grace, love, and the mercy of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the love of God coming into the world for the world (John 3:16-17). At the cross we see that God’s love in Jesus Christ will not stop. That unfailing, unstoppable love for the whole creation lives in us and makes us one in Him (John 17:11).
There is more to the story, including the empty tomb, but the story unfolds best over the next seven days. Even if Christians are not of one mind when it comes to how the cross leads to salvation, we are all are all stewards of an amazing story that continues to transform lives. This most holy of weeks is one crucial part of the long remarkable story of God and God’s beloved creation. Come back for more of the story.
Prayers of Intercession (Sundays and Seasons)
Drawn close to the heart of God, we offer these prayers for the church, the world, and all who are in need.
A brief silence.
We pray for the church, called to follow Jesus in the way of the cross. Make us unflinching servants of the gospel. Deliver us from hardship as we confront the forces of injustice and practice radical compassion. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
For the earth and all its inhabitants, created in love: Train us to recognize your divine goodness in the world around us. Rouse in us a reverence for creation, that we take greater care of its resources. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
For those in positions of authority called to lead with integrity and compassion: Supply them with courage and vulnerability when challenged with new ideas. Deliver them from fear that limits imagination and impedes justice. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
For those who suffer, waiting expectantly for mercy and consolation: Accompany those who feel abandoned or betrayed, defend those who are wrongly accused, and embrace those who are incarcerated or detained. Heal those who are ill (especially). Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
For Christians around the world, preparing this week to journey with Jesus to the cross: Reveal to us once again the earthshaking power of humble service, unmerited forgiveness, and sacrificial love. Lead us all from death to life. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Here other intercessions may be offered.
We remember those who have died (especially Mikael Agricola and . . .), who were commended into your hands. Remember us when you come into your kingdom, and prepare a place for each of us with you in paradise. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Accept the prayers we bring, O God, on behalf of a world in need, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Creator God, you prepare a new way in the wilderness, and your grace waters our desert. Open our hearts to be transformed by the new thing you are doing, that our lives may proclaim the extravagance of your love given to all 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.
Isaiah 43:16-21
16Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 17who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 18Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. 19I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 21the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
Psalm 126
1When the Lord restored the for- | tunes of Zion, then were we like | those who dream. 2Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with | shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great | things for them.” 3The Lord has done great | things for us, and we are | glad indeed. 4Restore our for- | tunes, O Lord, like the watercourses | of the Negeb. 5Those who | sowed with tears will reap with | songs of joy. 6Those who go out weeping, carry- | ing the seed, will come again with joy, shoulder- | ing their sheaves
Philippians 3:4b-14
[Paul writes:] 4bIf anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
John 12:1-8
1Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
Sermon – Pastor Meggan Manlove
The Season of Lent is coming to an end. Next week is Palm/Passion Sunday when Holy Week will begin. Today we are in transition. Something is about to happen. In the prophet Isaiah we read, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” In the gospel reading, Mary of Bethany anticipates Jesus’ death by anointing him for burial with costly perfume. The road that Jesus travels leads to death and then to life. This is the new thing God is doing.
We are on a bridge between Jesus’ public ministry and his death. Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead and now, before going to Jerusalem, he stops in Bethany. In the world of our scripture passage, it is the week of the Passover, the week of the Last Supper. Judas’ greed is revealed today as it will be later. Jesus’ friend Mary washes Jesus’ feet with oil. There is a lot going on here.
What of our world? Ash Wednesday, we began the Season of Lent, a time of repentance and remembering our baptisms. We were invited into the disciplines of Lent. We have examined ourselves and tried to clean out of our lives whatever is hindering our relationships with God and our love of neighbor. We have been trying to become more faithful disciples. We have been looking at how we respond to God’s love and mercy.
At Bethany we see two contrasting responses to the nearness of Jesus’ death. Judas’ reaction is one of self-centered disdain. Judas does not care for the poor, whatever he says. He is described as a thief, the same word used earlier in the Gospel of John to describe the hired hand who abandons the sheep. Judas covets the money.
In Mary, we are given a picture of the fullness of the life of discipleship. Her act shows forth the love that will be the hallmark of discipleship. Her actions show the recognition of Jesus’ identity that is the decisive mark of the Christian life. In the anointing she shows what it means to be one of Jesus’ own, one of his flock. Mary’s actions model the life of love that should characterize Jesus’ sheep. She seizes the moment to respond to Jesus and she responds with love.
Mary shows us an alternative to those around her. With Jesus’ hour close at hand, she seizes the moment. In her home there is a dinner given in Jesus honor. Mary takes out a pint of expensive perfume and pours it on Jesus’ feet and wipes his feet with her hair. At that time a slave was virtually the only one who could be expected to wash and anoint the feet of another person. In washing Jesus’ feet voluntarily, Mary shows her complete devotion to Jesus, enough devotion to act as his slave. She recognizes the limited time Jesus had with them and responds.
This act of Mary’s foreshadows another foot-washing. Jesus will wash his disciples’ feet as an expression of his love for them. In fact, the verb “to wipe” is the same verb used to describe Jesus’ wiping of his disciples’ feet at the foot washing. It is Jesus’ way of drawing the disciples into his life with God. He will also ask them to repeat this act of service—this time for one another. He asks them to respond to one another with acts of love.
I often move back and forth and back and forth on what is central to this gospel passage. Is the point that Mary recognizes Jesus and seizes the moment? Language of faith might say Mary recognizes and celebrates a moment of transcendence and abundance. Certainly, there are enough images of abundance in Jesus’ ministry thus far to support this being the central thing of the text.
At Cana, 180 gallons of wine are created out of water. Later, five thousand hungry people are fed by the Sea of Galilee, with twelve baskets of leftovers remaining. And, spoiler alert, after his resurrection, Jesus will meet Simon Peter, who fished all night with no results. Jesus will instruct him to cast his net o the other side of the boat. Immediately, the net is bursting it is so full of fish. So Mary, spilling her perfume with wild abandon, seems central. Her complete devotion to Jesus is important.
But there are also these words of Jesus’ towards the end of the story, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” Even as he praises Mary’s action, there seems to be a mandate here, at least when we consider the entire gospel narrative. The mandate is to care for the poor when Jesus has ascended, to extend the service of foot washing beyond the followers of Jesus to all the poor.
Every generation gets to interpret who the poor are in their midst. The Idaho Press had an insert this week telling the history of the Interfaith Sanctuary in Boise, a group of faith leaders who joined together in 2004-2006 to serve the homeless. In the Old Testament, the people are commanded to remember the trio of the “orphan, the widow and the foreigner.” Who are they today? We are rightfully mindful now of the refugees fleeing Ukraine. But let us also remember the Syrians and the Afghans. Closer to home, El Salvador just declared a state of emergency amid a wave of gang-related killings last weekend that took 76 people’s lives. It is no wonder people continue to flee Central America’s northern triangle. People fleeing violence across the globe are also the ones Jesus says are with us always, the ones we are called to love and serve. Is that what is central to today’s text?
Which is it? Are we being told to take a moment and stand in awe and wonder and God’s love, manifested in Jesus—to abundantly praise God in response to God’s abundant mercy? Or are we being called to pull up a chair and, literally or metaphorically, wipe our neighbors’ feet? The resounding answer is, Yes.
One scholar wrote, “Jesus establishes a parallel between himself and the poor. Now he is present, and Mary rightly feels the need to be extravagant. When he is no longer present in the flesh, the poor will still be there–to be served with the same extravagance.” Lent is the perfect time to rub our eyes, get new focus, see the poor, the refugees, those pushed to the edges of society, with a new perspective.
Returning to the waters of baptism and the promises made at the font is also instructive as we read this text and blend Mary’s devotion with Jesus’ words about poor. There are five promises made in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism: to live among God’s faithful people; hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper; proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed; serve all people following the example of Jesus; and strive for justice and peace in all the earth.
We profess that this is how we live in the covenant God made with us in holy baptism. Now, is one of those promises paramount? Is serving all people more important than living among God’s faithful people? Is sharing in the Lord’s Supper more important than striving for justice and peace? Of course not. If there is one part of the covenant that is most important, it is that God acts first, claiming us, adopting us in the waters, sealing us with the Holy Spirit. Everything we might muster is the result of God first loving and claiming us.
Mary of Bethany gave us a beautiful example of discipleship because she did not simply understand with her head who Jesus was. She actually took in and experienced the abundant love of God in Jesus. She received God’s love.
We are fed and nourished by hearing God’s Word and feasting at the Lord’s Supper. We leave this place ready to proclaim the good news of God in Christ Jesus through word and deed. Living among God’s people was something we missed and grieved during waves of the pandemic. Now we are finding our way back to this promise and its gifts. Living among God’s people reminds us who and whose we are. It strengthens us to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.
But our interactions outside this community and outside these physical walls also inform our life together, even the way we worship. Whenever we encounter Jesus in the stranger, the neighbor, the check-out line, the cafeteria, the border, the long-lost relative, there is an opportunity for us to be transformed. We should always be ready to be surprised by how God chooses to love us, to forgive us, to reveal Godself to us through others.
Today is about newness and abundance. Each day, we the baptized boldly face death, trusting that God has made a new way, a wet way, to travel from death to life. God in Christ has honored our human vulnerability by becoming flesh and by laying down his own life. He is the new way through a dry, barren, and death-filled place. One author wrote, “Because Christ Jesus has made us his own, the baptized walk wet through the desert places of this life, pouring out the whole of their lives, down to the very last hair, in extravagant love for God and for the people God has formed.” Amen.
Prayers of Intercession (Sundays and Seasons)
Drawn close to the heart of God, we offer these prayers for the church, the world, and all who are in need.
A brief silence.
Do a new thing in the church. Free us from paradigms that no longer serve the gospel and bring forward leaders who imagine fresh ways of doing ministry. Give us courage in the face of change. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Do a new thing for creation. Reverse the trajectory of climate change and environmental catastrophe. Revive habitats already impaired by human disregard. Amplify the voices of climate scientists and researchers working to chart a new course. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Do a new thing in our world. Break barriers that prevent political enemies from working together for the well-being of all. Make a way for peace and collaboration among the nations. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Do a new thing for those who suffer. Reveal a path for any who are unemployed or underemployed, for those experiencing homelessness, and for all who struggle with money. Comfort those who grieve and restore those who are sick (especially). Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Do a new thing within us. Direct us into encounters that broaden our understanding of the human experience. Amplify voices that are ignored or devalued (especially). Deliver us especially from the scourge of racism. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Here other intercessions may be offered.
Do a new thing in our death. Fill us with the knowledge of Christ and the power of his resurrection as we give thanks for (names and) all the saints who have attained the prize of their heavenly call. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Accept the prayers we bring, O God, on behalf of a world in need, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
God of compassion, you welcome the wayward, and you embrace us all with your mercy. By our baptism clothe us with garments of your grace, and feed us at the table of your love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Joshua 5:9-12
9The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.
10While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. 11On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.
Psalm 32
1Happy are they whose transgressions | are forgiven, and whose sin is | put away! 2Happy are they to whom the Lord im- | putes no guilt, and in whose spirit there | is no guile! 3While I held my tongue, my bones with- | ered away, because of my groaning | all day long. 4For your hand was heavy upon me | day and night; my moisture was dried up as in the | heat of summer. 5Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and did not con- | ceal my guilt. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” Then you forgave me the guilt | of my sin. 6Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in | time of trouble; when the great waters overflow, they | shall not reach them. 7You are my hiding-place; you preserve | me from trouble; you surround me with shouts | of deliverance. 8“I will instruct you and teach you in the way that | you should go; I will guide you | with my eye. 9Do not be like horse or mule, which have no | understanding; who must be fitted with bit and bridle, or else they will | not stay near you.” 10Great are the tribulations | of the wicked; but mercy embraces those who trust | in the Lord. 11Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice | in the Lord; shout for joy, all who are | true of heart.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
16From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus.] 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3So he told them this parable: 11b“There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. 13A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ 20So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. 25“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ 28Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ 31Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ ”
He Qi – The Prodigal Son, 1996
Sermon – Pastor Meggan Manlove
“There was a man who had two sons.” This week another pastor said that with that one line, we may lose our audience, so familiar is Jesus’ parable. In fact, this parable was part of our youth group gathering discussion a few Sundays ago and one of our eighth graders rattled off the entire story for me, noting how often it was taught in Sunday School.
Is there a new way into this well-known story of Jesus’? All week, I have been singing the lyrics to an old folk song my stepbrother used to sing while playing his guitar:
“I’m just a poor wayfaring stranger Traveling through this world below There is no sickness, no toil, nor danger In that bright land to which I go
I’m going there to see my Father And all my loved ones who’ve gone on I’m just going over Jordan I’m just going over home”
The best version I found on YouTube was a recording by Johnny Cash, best because it’s Johnny Cash. I could not find anything in a quick search connecting this song with the Parable. But I did read that some have suggested the song was derived from an 1816 German-language hymn. To me the song conjures up Old Testament images of making it to the Promised Land along with Jesus’ parable about the gracious father welcoming his son home.
This is the third lost parable in a series. All of them have perhaps been inappropriately named by scribes and people trying to include helpful headings in bibles. And yet, The Parable of the Lost Sheep is not about the lost sheep. All the sheep ever did was get lost. The parable is about the passion of the shepherd who lost the sheep to find the sheep. His passion to find is what drives the parable.
Consequently, it isn’t the younger son’s lostness, wasting all his money on wine, women and song in the far country; and it isn’t the elder brother’s grousing and complaining and score keeping that stands against him. What counts in the parable is the father’s unceasing desire to find the sons he lost—both of them—and to raise both of them up from the dead.
The parable begins with the shameful acts of the younger son. He rejects the value of family solidarity. He also demands his inheritance before his father’s death. But the father does not exercise his patriarchal authority. He does not demand that his younger son give up his plans. The older brother is silent.
The inheritance that the younger son demanded would have been a portion of the family’s land holdings. After selling the land, he left home. He used the money from the sale to support a disgraceful lifestyle. Jesus’ audience would have been shocked by all of this. Theirs was a land-based economy. Jewish families held on to the ancestral lands. But it was also a question of religious belief. Jews considered their ancestral land holdings to be God’s gifts to their families.
The turning point of the story is a crisis in a foreign land. A famine strikes the land where the younger son was living. He squandered his wealth, and he has no resources to help him survive the famine.
Jesus gives us a glimpse of just how far away from home the younger son is. The younger son humiliated himself by working for Gentiles as a swineheard. Moses was clear that swine are not kosher. No good Palestinian Jew would be caught dead near pigs. To top it all off, he could not even ease his hunger with the food he gave to unclean animals.
The son had one hope. The only way he could survive was to return to his father’s house as a hired hand. He knew he could not reclaim his status as a son. Now can you hear him singing:
I’m just a poor wayfaring stranger Traveling through this world below There is no sickness, no toil, nor danger In that bright land to which I go
I’m going there to see my Father
The actions of the father were most unexpected. Remember that he had been shamed by the younger son’s actions. Normally he would have disowned the son. Instead, we hear that the father was waiting for his son’s return. We get the sense that the father had in fact kept vigil, praying for the day his boy would return. Like a shepherd searching for a lost sheep or a woman rummaging for her misplaced coin, the father remained hopeful that the seeds he had once sown in love might yet be harvested in the return of his child.
As soon as he saw his son, he ran out to meet him. He had been publicly shamed by this child. Yet he kissed him, gave him a robe and ring, and threw a party. This was completely out of character. The feast the father arranged was necessary to repair the damage caused by the son to his neighbors. They would have regarded his behavior as undermining traditional values and setting a terrible example. The banquet served to ease the younger son back into the good graces of the neighbors.
The economy of such love and grace surprises and offends us. It is so extravagant. The ways of the world suggest that yes, the son might be welcomed home. It would have been reasonable—a ration of bread and water in answer to his great sin. But in the economy of God, rejoicing for the return of a child is simply not enough. Joy must be made all the more complete by abundance: the best robe, the finest ring, the fatted calf.
While the banquet was going on, the elder son reappeared in the story. He was consumed by jealousy and resentment. But the father reaches out to him, just as he reached out to the younger son. The older son was in danger of becoming just as lost as his brother. So, the father abandoned his guests, a breach of etiquette. He reaches out to persuade the older son to rejoice at his brother’s return.
As Jesus tells it, the father does not get all censorious with the elder brother. And he does not defend the younger brother. Instead, he shifts his way away from both brothers. The father turns attention to his own love and bounty. There is plenty to go around, he says. No one will run short. “All that is mine is yours.”
This is not your younger brother’s party so much as it is my party, the party I throw for many. I am on the lookout for my loved ones. The reconciliation between the father and younger son did not occur because of what the son did. The reconciliation happened because of what the father did.
The older son is having none of this. For now, at least, he is full of resentment and self-righteousness. He flat out rejects his Father’s love. This son is lost too. In a few chapters, Jesus will have his conversation with the rich young many who wants to inherit eternal life. We never hear what happens to that young man. Some of us hold out hope that in the end, he sold his possessions and followed Jesus. Likewise, Jesus does not tie up this parable. He leaves room for the older brother to change his mind. Jesus always leaves room to change our mind, to change our words, to change our hearts, to ultimately change our actions. It can be at once infuriating and the one thing that gives true hope and life.
Maybe, in the end, the older brother will give up his resentment and self-righteousness and sing:
I’m just a poor wayfaring stranger Traveling through this world below There is no sickness, no toil, nor danger In that bright land to which I go
I’m going there to see my Father
Maybe someday the older brother will join the Father’s party too.
Behind the parable is the truth about God and God’s kingdom. We are all lost. We are all mired in sins of sensuality and greed and self-referential resentment. We are all hip-deep in pig slop of envy. Before we knew it, God reached out in the people of Israel and then in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. God raised us up and called us home.
It is just not about you or me. It is not about my sin or your sin. It is about God and god’s life-giving love and mercy and abundant life. Over and over God’s stretching; searching, healing love finds someone and call that person back home. But that does not mean there is less for the rest of us. It means there is more. More wine. More feasting. More music. It means another, and now bigger, party.
In Holy Communion we eat and drink to this Jesus who reveals the heart of God to us. We eat and drink to his ministry. We eat the body of Christ that we might inexplicably become the Body of Christ. You are what you eat. We eat and drink this feast that rich and poor, black and white, male and female, prisoner and free, conservative and liberal, younger and older, might all be welcomed into that incredible party God is throwing without end.
Prayers of Intercession (Sundays and Seasons)
Drawn close to the heart of God, we offer these prayers for the church, the world, and all who are in need.
A brief silence.
Jesus formed the disciples in the ways of extravagant mercy and profound welcome. Lead your church to be a community marked by forgiveness, hospitality, and celebration. Send us to transform a world plagued by fear and condemnation. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
You make the land to produce a harvest that sustains your entire creation. Equip farmers and farm workers who till the soil. Nourish the earth with ample rainfall and abundant sunshine. Heal grounds tainted by pollution or misuse. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Countries are divided and leaders often harbor grudges. Reconcile nations that experience conflict (especially). Act quickly to bring an end to war. Anoint peacemakers trained in the art of diplomacy and foster a spirit of collaboration among political rivals. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Your people cry for help in times of distress. Resolve disagreements among family members. Save those experiencing financial hardship. Hear our prayers for those who are sick or grieving (especially). Console us with the promise that everything can become new. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Your love comes to us when a table is set and a feast is prepared. Bless the feeding ministries of this congregation (especially). Bring an end to hunger in our community and around the world. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
We pray for the people of Ukraine, and for our sister churches of Eastern Europe. Kindle in the hearts of all your children the love of peace, and guide with your wisdom the leaders of the nations, so that your the earth will be filled with the knowledge of your love. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
The one who was dead is alive again. We give thanks for those who have died, confident that steadfast love surrounds them. Shelter them in your love until we are gathered at your heavenly banquet. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Accept the prayers we bring, O God, on behalf of a world in need, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Eternal God, your kingdom has broken into our troubled world through the life, death, and resurrection of your Son. Help us to hear your word and obey it, and bring your saving love to fruition in our lives, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Isaiah 55:1-9
1Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
6Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; 7let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Psalm 63:1-8
1O God, you are my God; eager- | ly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there | is no water. 2Therefore I have gazed upon you in your | holy place, that I might behold your power | and your glory. 3For your steadfast love is better than | life itself; my lips shall | give you praise. 4So will I bless you as long | as I live and lift up my hands | in your name. 5My spirit is content, as with the rich- | est of foods, and my mouth praises you with | joyful lips, 6when I remember you up- | on my bed, and meditate on you in | the night watches. 7For you have | been my helper, and under the shadow of your wings I | will rejoice. 8My whole being | clings to you; your right hand | holds me fast.
Luke 13:1-9
1At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.2[Jesus] asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” 6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”
Sermon – Pastor Meggan Manlove
The classic NBC drama Law and Order recently made a comeback. I was there for it, primarily because Hugh Dancy, one of my favorite actors, is in the cast. I loved this show in my late teens and would watch reruns for hours while home on college breaks. I was not alone.
Much has been written and discussed about the show’s appeal. I am confident that one factor is the dependable formula–solving the crime, making the case, and the District Attorney, representing the people, us, always wins. At the close of every episode someone is blamed and held accountable. Humans are prone to place blame. We want to place blame when a tragedy is cause by other humans, when it’s a natural disaster, and when it is some combination. I actually don’t fault my teenage self for wanting to escape into the world of Law and Order, so long as I remembered that it is not reality.
Jesus brings an alternative perspective, outlook, and way of living. Instead of focusing on other people’s misbehaving, make sure you are producing good fruit. Instead of assigning causality to others misfortune, ensure that you are not ignoring your own missing fruit. There is more. Jesus’ words suggest that tending to one’s own life and changing one’s own mind is the best strategy to prevent or even persevere through unexpected calamity. The call to repent, to change our perspective and actions, turns out to be life-giving.
The event that sparks Jesus’ response is Governor Pilate’s execution of Galileans during some ritual practice. Such an event could have personally affected Jesus on multiple levels. He was a Galilean, which means that this violence impacted people from his neighborhood, people whom he could have known and grown up with. Pilate was a direct appointee of the Roman empire, and he had a track record for being a blood-thirsty, violent ruler. Pilate epitomizes the fear-inducing brutality that Roman provincial subjects, like Jesus, daily experienced. His presence in this passage and his eventual role in Jesus’ execution capture Pilate as Rome’s representative in Judea.
Jesus does not even discuss Pilate in his response; he instead talks about his fellow Galileans. He asks if those who were slaughtered were worse sinners than other Galileans because of how they suffered. Popular understandings of divine retribution presumed that punishments, especially catastrophes, were proportionate to the crime or sin. To that logic Jesus emphatically says, “No!”
Behind the report about Pilate and the Galileans, Jesus reads an attempt at self-justification rooted in the common notion that disaster befalls those who deserve it. We might imagine Jesus’ conversation partners saying, “you are right to warn about judgment Jesus, but judgment is reserved for those whose sin sets them apart from ‘us.’”
It is true that Deuteronomy chapters 28-30 in the Hebrew scripture insists that judgment will overtake those whose lives are characterized by disobedience. However, and this is an important however, this is not the same thing as arguing that disasters come only to hose who are disobedient. In fact, Jesus does not deny sin its consequences. He does not deny that sin leads to judgment. Instead, Jesus rejects the theory that those who encounter calamity have necessarily been marked by God as more deserving of judgment than those who do not. Upon Jesus’ execution under Pilate, no doubt it will be tempting to dismiss Jesus as one deserving of God’s judgment. But remember, disaster and God’s judgment are not synonymous.
Jesus seems to honor his audience’s fear and the vulnerability that their fright has opened up in them. It is not a bad thing for them to feel the full fragility of their lives. It is not a bad thing for them to count their breaths in their fear–not if it makes them repent.
Don’t worry about Pilate and all the other things that can come crashing down on your heads. Jesus seems to tell his listeners that terrible things happen and you are not always to blame. But don’t let that stop you from doing what you are doing. That torn place your fear has opened up inside of you is a holy place. Look around while you are there. Pay attention to what you feel. It may hurt you to stay there and it may hurt you to see, but it is not the kind of hurt that leads to death. It is the kind that leads to life. To drive the point home, he tells a parable.
The parable of the fig tree has often been read allegorically, assuming that the landowner is God, and the gardener is Jesus. But nowhere else in this gospel do we find a picture of an angry, vindictive God that needs to be placated by a friendly Jesus. Maybe instead the landowner is a bit representative of our own sense of how the world should work. We want things to be fair and we define fair as receiving rewards for doing good and punishment for doing evil. Maybe the gardener is God, the one who consistently raises a contrary voice to suggest that the ultimate answer is not punishment but instead mercy, reconciliation, and new life.
Where does the call to repentance fit into all this, the call for a change of heart, a new perspective? God is patient, which gives Jesus’ hearers time for repentance, but there is a limit. Divine patience is simply another expression of God’s love and grace. What does it look like to repent? To feel our fragility, our dependance on God?
The season of Lent is the season of digging down around the roots and fertilizing. During these forty days of Lent, we nourish our own roots. We adopt the disciplines of Lent, all for the sake of our relationship with God and our neighbors. We remember that in the waters of Baptism we are reborn children of God and inheritors of abundant life. We are made members of the body of Christ. We live with Christ and with his people. We grow in faith, love, and obedience to the will of God. In Baptism we renounce the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever. Part of repentance is remembering whose we are.
When we repent, when we gain the renewed perspective of our relationship with God, we cannot help but bear fruit. I suspect, though I could be wrong, that many if not most sermons on this text today, will ask us to think about how we are bearing fruit individually. That is, no doubt, a faithful reading and interpretation of the text. I am equally interested in how communities bear fruit.
This may be because of all the reading I have been doing the past year on how poorly some Christians do at fruit-bearing. My interpretation is surely clouded by friends and colleagues emotionally harmed by lack of fruit-bearing. What does it mean for a family unit to bear fruit? Or a group of friends, a congregation, a Christian nonprofit or university? What are our branches? Our fruit? Put another way, what does faith active in love look like? Specifically, what does faith active in love look like in Canyon County in 2022? We will keep asking and answering that question together, knowing that God is faithful and patient and desires for all creation abundant life, life epitomized in fruit bearing.
The prophet Isaiah gives a second beautiful invitation for abundant life this morning. “Ho everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, Come, buy wine and milk with money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” Examine your lives, the prophet implies. Clean out what does not give God true satisfaction. I know another way the prophet says. “Listen carefully to me…Incline your ear…Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.” Love and abundant fruitful life are promised. “Let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” God is waiting. Amen.
The Vine Dresser and the Fig Tree — James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY
Prayers of Intercession (From Sundays and Seasons)
Drawn close to the heart of God, we offer these prayers for the church, the world, and all who are in need.
A brief silence.
We pray for the church around the world in all its forms: for pastors, deacons, bishops, chaplains, and mission developers; for church councils, committee chairs, and all lay ministry leaders; for congregations that contemplate difficult decisions about the future of their ministry. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
For the health of this planet and the well-being of its creatures: for lands impacted by droughts and at risk of wildfires; for fig trees and vineyards that produce fruit for our nourishment and delight; for animal habitats threatened by climate change. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
For those called into positions of civic responsibility: for judges, attorneys, and court administrators tasked with uncovering truth and delivering justice; for activists and community leaders who cast a vision of a more compassionate and equitable society. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
For those who call upon you for mercy: for all who live in poverty and experience hunger; for any who feel tested beyond their strength; for those who are hospitalized or near death, and for all in need of healing (especially). Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
For the advocacy efforts of this congregation: for those whose faith leads them to speak difficult truths and engage in difficult conversations with policymakers; for those who promote mercy over vengeance or retaliation. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
The prophet Isaiah foretold that one day we would beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks. Grant an end to hostilities in Ukraine, that your people might know peace. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
For those whose earthly journeys have ended, we give thanks. With (names and) all the saints, we praise you for the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Accept the prayers we bring, O God, on behalf of a world in need, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
God of the covenant, in the mystery of the cross you promise everlasting life to the world. Gather all peoples into your arms, and shelter us with your mercy, that we may rejoice in the life we share 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.
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
1After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” 4But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” 5He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” 8But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. 17When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”
Psalm 27
1The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then | shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I | be afraid? 2When evildoers close in against me to de- | vour my flesh, they, my foes and my enemies, will stum- | ble and fall. 3Though an army encamp against me, my heart | will not fear. Though war rise up against me, my trust will | not be shaken. 4One thing I ask of the Lord; one | thing I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek God | in the temple. 5For in the day of trouble God will | give me shelter, hide me in the hidden places of the sanctuary, and raise me high up- | on a rock. 6Even now my head is lifted up above my enemies | who surround me. Therefore I will offer sacrifice in the sanctuary, sacrifices of rejoicing; I will sing and make music | to the Lord. 7Hear my voice, O Lord, | when I call; have mercy on me and | answer me. 8My heart speaks your message— | “Seek my face.” Your face, O Lord, | I will seek. 9Hide not your face from me, turn not away from your ser- | vant in anger. Cast me not away—you have been my helper; forsake me not, O God of | my salvation. 10Though my father and my moth- | er forsake me, the Lord will | take me in. 11Teach me your | way, O Lord; lead me on a level path, because of | my oppressors. 12Subject me not to the will | of my foes, for they rise up against me, false witnesses | breathing violence. 13This I believe—that I will see the goodness | of the Lord in the land | of the living! 14Wait for the Lord| and be strong. Take heart and wait | for the Lord!
Philippians 3:17–4:1
17Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. 18For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. 19Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. 4:1Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
Luke 13:31-35
31At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to [Jesus,] “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
Hen Gathers Her Brood
Dominus Flevit Church Jerusalem
Sermon – Pastor Meggan
Today Jesus speaks words of disappointment and heartbreak. He laments: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!’”
When he speaks of Jerusalem, Jesus is referring to the civic leaders, who see Jesus’ message as divisive, controversial, and dangerous. Jerusalem reflects local leaders under the auspices of empire who conspire to eradicate a voice that critiqued their power and challenged their authority. To be clear, not everyone in Jerusalem and certainly not all Jews were opposed to Jesus and his message. Jesus’ critique is against those who criminalize truth-tellers.
Jesus and his disciples and the journey to Jerusalem may seem too far away in time and space for us to relate to. And yet I think the metaphors of today’s text are as illustrative now as ever. There are many things that gather us together—different affiliations, interests, needs. Do we really trust that nothing can keep us from the love of God, as we sing this season? Sometimes, yes. But often we are resistant to the love of God, to that relationship.
For Jesus, God’s compassionate dream is to gather God’s human children closer. God is determined to gather God’s children into God’s loving embrace. This mission is at the center of Jesus’ work. God is like a mother hen—including, embracing, and welcoming God’s children into the family of humanity that God has always intended.
The good news is a new community, born not of social custom but of God. Again and again, over and over we see Jesus’ intent to bring in those cast out, to raise up those beaten down, to bring those on the fringes of society close to God’s heart. This is at the heart of Jesus’ message.
When Jesus begins his ministry, he links it with the prophecy of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Isaiah spoke these words when the Israelites were in exile in a foreign land. Isaiah’s prophecy saw the Spirit of God causing good news to be declared. The Spirit of God changed lives and transformed societies. That prophecy formed the beginning of a chain reaction of personal and spiritual transformation.
This new vision must have been on Jesus’ mind as he looked toward the city that would ultimately reject him. With his face towards Jerusalem, Jesus is confronted by some Pharisees. They tell him Herod wants to kill him. And here Jesus gives the crowd two symbols, two metaphors, two alternatives. One is a fox and the other a hen.
Jesus calls Herod a fox—a metaphor that paints Herod as sly, cunning, and voraciously destructive. As a representative of the powerful who oppress those God seeks to gather, Herod is depicted as a devouring fox.
The Pharisees warn Jesus, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” There is real cause for fear here. John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus, spoke against Herod and Herod imprisoned and beheaded him. Jesus is not afraid. He has things to do, and he is going to Jerusalem.
But the danger to the community is real and present. In some respects, the fox’s style is something familiar and so also somewhat comfortable to us. The fox does keep peace. It is a peace created by making everyone afraid. There is order because no one wants to feel the fox’s bight.
The Herod of today’s text, Herod Antipas the ruler of Galilee, is not too different from his father Herod the Great–the king who plotted unsuccessfully to have Jesus killed as a baby. Both Herod’s ruled with fear. They feared any threats to their own existence and instilled that fear into others. Our minds today might immediately picture Vladimir Putin as someone who rules with fear. That is an appropriate connection, but we might think about figures closer to home. Who in our own country or state, elected figures, celebrities, or CEO’s, rules with fear? Are we even aware of the tools they use, of the power fear wields?
Fear and hate do not come out of a vacuum. Hate speech in the form of political commentary is sinful. Even reposting Facebook or Instagram memes or forwarding emails vilifying anyone, or any group are part of the problem. We Christians cannot claim ignorance. We know better. Jokes and posts and words that promote hate and fear are the acts of foxes. They are dangerous and deadly and do harm to the innocent. We must reject hate-fueled fear just as Jesus did. We must reject hate expressed against our brothers and sisters of other faiths and backgrounds and countries—even if we find such fear and hate in ourselves.
The trouble with the foxes and the fear they instill is that it keeps us from an alternative that is far better. The alternative Jesus gives is the hen. God is protecting and nurturing. Jesus compares his desire for Jerusalem, as God’s emissary, to that of a mother hen who instinctively draws her young under her wing when danger threatens. Jesus does not choose the image randomly. Throughout the Old Testament the Lord describes a desire to shelter Israel under her wings.
The mother hen’s love is steadfast. Her chicks are extremely vulnerable. They wobble around on their little legs. They have no tough outer-shell to protect them–only their fuzzy yellow coverings. The chicks know the warmth and protection of the mother.
But Jesus laments because God’s people are not like these chicks. The mother hen laments because her young are exposed but will not accept her protection. What more can she do but stand up to the fox and seek to shelter and protect her young? What will become of the young if they do not accept the shelter of their mother’s wing?
We turn to all sorts of other things for protection and hope and assurance. It might be a political party, a nationality, a gender, a cause, a news source, a weapon, or money. It is so easy to put our trust in these affiliations or resources or even in intangibles like power or status. What do you turn to for hope and assurance?
Imagine how different our faith history would be if Abram and Sarai, of our Old Testament lesson, had given into the deep and terrifying unknown? Or what if Jesus succumbed to the fear that the Roman authorities had it in for him? What if the person most integral to your faith formation gave into the fear, anger, and hatred all around them? How different would life be if no one taught us that we are beloved by God?
In the final chapter, of Dan Erlander’s book Baptized We Live, he has a piece titled “Freedom to be human, weak, vulnerable.” Try advertising with that slogan in 2022. Erlander writes, “Trusting our heavenly Father, we depend on God for our strength, our security, our validation. Thus, the game is over. We are free! Free to embrace our humanity and to walk as creatures of this earth. Free to be weak, to be honest, to be interdependent, to be vulnerable, to love. We are free to live at the foot of the cross! We are free even to die!”
There are so few places in our world today where we can tell the truth about our brokenness and sorrow and fears. But Jesus said yes to so many people who were on the margins or didn’t fit in or who had been cast aside. Jesus says yes to us when we are afraid, weary, grieving, and depleted, when we are not our best selves.
There are about ten chapters in Luke’s gospel between Jesus turning his head toward Jerusalem and when he actually arrives there. For Jesus, that is a lot of time and space for healing, teaching, calling people to return to God, and painting a picture of God’s reign. In the end, his words and actions are what lead him to the cross.
There is still time to repent, to have a new perspective, and to welcome in God’s reign. But the crowds will not have him. Still, the call is always present. God wants us under God’s wings. God is eager to protect us, to help us, to forgive us, to strengthen us, to welcoming children into the family of humanity that God has always intended.
The image of the hen suggests the advent of a new creation. Remember the first creation story? A wind from God swept over the waters. In fact, a better translation is that God “brooded” over the waters, as a hen might brood over her young. Jesus is brooding over the face of the deep. He is lamenting Jerusalem’s past, anticipating what he will endure. In the new reign of God, the blessed will not be those who come in the name of power and strength. The blessed will be those who come in the name of the humble and faithful Lord of creation.
And thanks be to God, the offer to repent and to choose love over fear and hate was, has been, and is open. The offer to welcome the reign of God will continue to be made during and following Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. It was an offer not only to Jerusalem but to the entire world.
Prayers of Intercession
Drawn close to the heart of God, we offer these prayers for the church, the world, and all who are in need.
A brief silence.
You gather the church into a community of mercy and grace. Unify Christians around the globe in efforts to proclaim good news even in the face of opposition and to protect those whose lives are imperiled by the gospel. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
You create the entire universe and call it good. Hinder those who would cause further destruction to our planet’s fragile ecosystems, and augment the calls of those who advocate for thoughtful stewardship of the earth’s resources. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
You raise up leaders committed to love and justice. Nurture in those who govern patience to receive criticism, openness to new ideas, and courage to change course when needed for the sake of the common good. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
You hear us when we cry to you. Attend to those expecting a child, and console those who have experienced miscarriage. Comfort veterans enduring post-traumatic stress. Shield those endangered by domestic violence. Uphold those who are ill or grieving (especially). Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
You kindle faith that moves us into action. Guide children and adults preparing for baptism or confirmation. Empower Sunday school teachers, confirmation leaders, and parents who share their faith with younger generations. Give us all a renewed sense of vocation. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Here other intercessions may be offered.
You welcome us into your heavenly realm. We give thanks for those whose labors on earth are ended and who now rest with you. On the final day, gather all of us, with them, in your loving arms. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Accept the prayers we bring, O God, on behalf of a world in need, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
13 Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding, 14 for her income is better than silver, and her revenue better than gold. 15 She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. 16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.
This Lent, Trinity Lutheran, Nampa’s midweek theme is The Tree of Life. Each Wednesday, as part of our Taize Prayer services, we hear a scripture passage that mentions trees or the tree of life specifically. I was familiar with every passage recommended by our worship resource except for this one from Proverbs.
The tree of life is first found in Genesis 2-3, where cherubim and a flaming sword guard it after Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden. Here in Proverbs, not at all off limits, the tree as wisdom may be grasped–not as a means to everlasting life, but for health, prosperity, and joy.
In some poetry of the ancient Near East, wisdom was likened to a great woman in the skies who guided people toward righteous living. For the Hebrew people, this Wise Woman was the Torah. In Lent we can see Christ as this Wisdom, a tree of life for us.
There are few things I appreciate more in the life of faith than a good image, metaphor, or story. I have absorbed myself in data points the last two years trying to lead a congregation thought the Covid pandemic. I often wonder what metrics I am supposed to use to measure ministry today. And Trinity Lutheran is involved in affordable housing work, another arena where data points are abundant and needed, especially when trying to gain funding or change laws.
So more and more I love that faith is less about data and more about stories and images that give life and hope. I find the tree of life compelling because my life has been full of trees. Ponderosa Pines dominated my youth growing up in the Black Hills. In college, riding my bike along the Red River (which runs north), I grew to love the changing colors. The fall colors of Minnesota paled in comparison to those I witnessed in central New York, during what we would now call my gap year. I walked my subdivision perimeter in Nampa a ton during the first months of the pandemic and was amazed by the buzz of the trees–hundreds of pollinators found the blossoms in those trees. There was so much life in those branches.
It makes complete sense to me that people would equate that life with the life that comes from Wisdom. Sometimes we sons and daughters of the Reformation are so grateful to be justified by grace alone, a great corrective at the time, that we forget or minimize the guidance for abundant life in scripture and our tradition.
It is not that following the Torah (and I mean the entire Torah not just 10 Commandments) and teachings of Jesus are a guarantee of health and joy, at least not if we look at the metaphor purely as individuals. There are too many structural and systemic barriers in place.
But what if we were to follow the Torah and Jesus teachings as entire congregations or communities? Trees again can guide us. Much has been written in the last five years about how trees are not siloed organisms in the forest. Instead, they communicate with each other. A classmate of mine summarizes some of the recent literature in her book review of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest.
There is so much wisdom for how to live well in scripture, and this living well does bring joy and health. I do not need data points to tell me that, though they exist. It is my lived experience. I am ultimately happier when I care for friends and strangers. My body is better off when I do not covet, but instead keep a gratitude journal. I am healthier in body, mind, and spirit when I take time to worship God and take time for rest.
Likewise, the communities I am part of are also healthier when we heed the teachings in scripture: when we practice love of neighbors within and beyond our community, when we celebrate what God has given us instead of having a scarcity mindset, when we take time to re-create in the mountains at Luther Heights or during the annual church campout, when we together worship the Lord our God with our heart, soul, and mind. Like the trees, we are made for community, for doing faith together.
My former professor Don Browning defined practical theology as “critical reflection on the church’s dialogue with Christian sources and other communities of experience and interpretation with the aim of guiding its action toward social and individual transformation.”Sacred Playgrounds is a practical theology project that Browning would have admired. Jacob Sorenson seamlessly weaves together theology, church history, scripture, and empirical research about the impacts of Christian summer camp on campers.
The book contains two complementary arguments: the Christian summer camp experience makes multiple measurable impacts on campers, and camping ministry deserves attention from academic scholars. The research supporting the project is impressive. During the summers of 2015 through 2019, Sorenson’s team surveyed more than 7,000 campers at over 35 Christian camps across the United States and Canada.
O Lord God, you led your people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide us now, so that, following your Son, we may walk safely through the wilderness of this world toward the life you alone can give, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
1When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, 2you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. 3You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” 4When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, 5you shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, 7we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; 9and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.” You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. 11Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
1You who dwell in the shelter of | the Most High, who abide in the shadow of | the Almighty— 2you will say to the Lord, “My refuge | and my stronghold, my God in whom I | put my trust.” 9Because you have made the | Lord your refuge, and the Most High your | habitation, 10no evil | will befall you, nor shall affliction come | near your dwelling. 11For God will give the angels charge | over you, to guard you in | all your ways. 12Upon their hands they will | bear you up, lest you strike your foot a- | gainst a stone. 13You will tread upon the lion | cub and viper; you will trample down the lion | and the serpent. 14I will deliver those who | cling to me; I will uphold them, because they | know my name. 15They will call me, and I will | answer them; I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue and | honor them. 16With long life will I | satisfy them, and show them | my salvation.
Romans 10:8b-13
8b“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Luke 4:1-13
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ” 5Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” 9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ 11and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 12Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
The term “Lent” originally comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “lencten” which means “spring.” This is the time, in the Northern Hemisphere at least, when the days are lengthening. Lent is a springtime for the souls. We dig down around the roots of our faith–giving those roots all they need to flourish. It is a season of fasting, prayer, giving, and repentance. Repentance is having a new perspective, new lenses to see God, ourselves, and our neighbors. We put the Alleluias away until Easter morning and instead sing, “Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God.”
The season of Lent began as period of fasting leading up to the Vigil of Easter. Catechumens, a churchy word for those preparing for baptism at Easter, would fast and spend days in intense preparation. For those that were already baptized, Lent was a period to be renewed in their faith by studying the Bible, the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.
Although it was originally only a two-day period of preparation, Lent became a three-week preparatory period in the middle of the fourth century and then this was further expanded into six-weeks, or forty days. By the end of the fifth century, there was a desire to exclude Sundays from Lent since Sundays are always celebrated as feasts of the Resurrection. And so, Lent begins not on Sunday, but on Ash Wednesday.
The current practice of forty days of Lent recall Moses’ forty-day fast on Mount Sinai, Elijah’s 40 days on the mountain, and of course Jesus’ forty-day fast in the wilderness after his Baptism.
To fully grasp Jesus’ journey, we have to go back to that baptism. Then and there God declared Jesus to be his Beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased. The words of that address are taken up in today’s story of testing. This time they are on the lips of the adversary. Two times the devil recalls God’s address. He calls it into question with the taunt, “If you are the Song of God.” It is followed by specific tests to find out whether Jesus truly is God’s Son–from the devil’s point of view.
These are not tests to do things that are desirable but not good for him (like our temptation to eat an extra piece of cake). These are tests to see whether even good things can lure Jesus from a focus on God and God’s will.
One pastor summed up the three tests as being about wealth, power, and safety. These are tests we are familiar with today. “At every turn it seems we are tempted to set aside God’s agenda for our own. We are tempted to be derailed from the best God wants for us all…. Jesus is tempted with three things quite familiar to us as well: wealth, power, and safety.”
The first temptation is to turn a stone into a loaf of bread. This would certainly ease Jesus’ hunger after 40 days of fasting. If Jesus can do that then he can also turn the many stones covering Israel’s landscape into food. He could feed the many hungry people in a land often wracked by famine. This sounds like the manna in the wilderness that fed the Israelites. The challenge is to be a new Moses.
Later Jesus will teach his disciples to pray, “give us this day our daily bread.” Bread is necessary for life. Martin Luther says bread is “Everything that nourishes our body and meets its needs, such as: Food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, yard, fields, cattle, money, possessions, a devout spouse, devout children, devout employees, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors and other things like this.”
So, what’s wrong with Jesus wanting these things? Absolutely nothing, unless their support replaces his primary mission. Our lives too are derailed by good things. The temptation is to make our life about the constant pursuit of more. If you follow Jesus, there will comes a time when you are tempted to forget your God-given mission by following the god of more.
Elsewhere, Jesus teaches, “Don’t worry about your life: what you will eat or drink, or what you will wear. Trust God, who clothes the fields and feeds the birds. Seek first God’s kingdom and let everything else work itself out.”
The second test portrays the devil in the role of “ruler of this world” who can manage the governance of the world’s kingdoms. The price is to worship or honor that authority. In return, the devil will hand it all to Jesus. Remember that most of the known world in our author Luke’s day was under the strong and oppressive control of Rome. A change in regime could only be for the world’s good, right?
Again, Jesus answers no. The price is too high. Jesus’ reply is from the She’ma Israel, in Deuteronomyl. Moses gave this creed to the Israelites just before they entered the Promised Land. He told them not to forget who gave the land and commanded them to worship and serve the Lord. Jesus reinforces this rule later when he gives the first or two great commands: Love the Lord your God. All authority belongs only to God. Even playing the world’s game for a good purpose would risk serving something less than God.
The devil tempts Jesus to trade his calling, hist destiny, his integrity for power. Like bread, power is not bad. Think of what you could do with political power. You could feed people. You could change systems around finance and housing. You could empower everyone to vote. You could make a real difference.
Jesus, however, accomplished his mission without holding political office. He did not wield power in that way. If we chase power, political, church, or other, we will miss what God can do with our powerlessness. God says, “My power is made perfect in your weakness.” It was not in Jesus’ political or military power that made a difference. It was his love and serving and dying for us which made all the difference.
The testing concludes in Jerusalem. This is the same place where Jesus’ ministry will culminate in his passion and resurrection. The devil quotes Psalm 91, which promises God’s protection to those who are righteous. The temple in Jerusalem is the place where supposedly the most righteous carry out their work. “Go there,” the devil challenges, “and test it!”
However, many of the professionally righteous people in Jesus’ day were living out their role by working hand in glove with the Roman occupiers. They were actually hurting Israel’s poor and suffering people. Surely reform is in order. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy again, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Like power and wealth, safety is not a bad thing. But if saving our own skin becomes the highest good, we will never risk anything. There would be no cross. We may think ships are safest in the harbor, but that is not what ships are built for. Life is dangerous. In the end, no one gets out alive. Don’t trade your mission for an illusion of immortality.
The 40 days of Lent begin in the wilderness, for each of us for Jesus. Wilderness is not always a comfortable place, but it is necessary. It is a place with much to offer: reflection and healing, but also temptation and testing.
Bishop Rinehart warns, “Expect to have your calling and mission questioned. Satan speaks constantly: ‘Why give your life to this silly religious business? The church is just a petulant club of judgmental moralists. Leave this behind. Go make some real bread. Live the high life. Eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Forget your cross. Are you some kind of masochist? Why sacrifice for others? Why be a servant? Why servitude at all? Go for the gusto. Don’t worry about the poor. Didn’t Jesus say the poor will always be with you? You can’t save the world. Go, live your life.’”
Perhaps one of the reasons we fear the wilderness experience is because we know that we will encounter voices of doubt, fear, and temptation, as well as the voices of faith, hope and love. So, the season of Lent and its accompanying wilderness are not without risks. The wilderness is wild after all. But the alternative is closing our hearts to the spiritual, being left to go on our own strength.
This season invites us to change routines. Listen. Fast. Pray. Give. Trust. Know that none of our practices or disciplines makes you a better person, right before God, of special merit. Instead, the disciplines of Lent simply clear away the clutter so that we can see and hear God more clearly.
What of the end of Jesus’ time in the wilderness? Jesus sent the devil packing. “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.” The devil came back. It happened during Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem. The devil entered Judas and set in motion the betrayal and arrest, the trial and the denial, the abandonment and the crucifixion. He spoke through a variety of voices. Religious leaders said, “Let him save himself if he is the Messiah.” A criminal asked “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” Again, there is temptation for proof, a sign, or some kind of power and action.
The devil always comes back. We will never pass the devil’s testing. And we do not look at Jesus to see how to do it. We are like the criminal on the cross. We are in captivity and cannot free ourselves. Today, in the wilderness of our temptations, Jesus Christ comes. He comes through water, bread and wine, to remember you, to claim you and free you from sin, death and the power of the devil. Thanks be to God.
Prayers of Intercession – Sundays and Seasons
The prayers are prepared locally for each occasion. The following examples may be adapted or used as appropriate.
Drawn close to the heart of God, we offer these prayers for the church, the world, and all who are in need.
A brief silence.
We pray for the church. Sharpen its proclamation of the word so that your people learn to reject voices of deception and distraction. Strengthen all who are tempted to believe lies about themselves or others. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
We pray for the earth and all its creatures. Protect wilderness places and all plant and animal species that call them home. Sustain farmers and all laborers who work the land and harvest the fruits of its abundance. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
We pray for the nations of the world. Awaken elected leaders and government officials to the needs of those who are oppressed and grant them compassion to deal mercifully with immigrants and refugees who reside among us. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
We pray for those in need. Rescue those experiencing mental illness or contending with addiction. Ease the anxiety of those who live with dementia. Command your angels concerning all who are sick (especially). Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
We pray for this assembly. Bless those who bake bread and prepare the table for our communion celebration. Accompany those who share the bounty of this meal with those who are homebound or hospitalized. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Here other intercessions may be offered.
We give thanks for those who have died (especially). Gather them with all the saints into your heavenly dwelling place. Encourage us with the promise that all who call upon your name are saved. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Accept the prayers we bring, O God, on behalf of a world in need, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Almighty and ever-living God, you hate nothing you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and honest hearts, so that, truly repenting of our sins, we may receive from you, the God of all mercy, full pardon and forgiveness 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.
Isaiah 58:1-12
1Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. 3“Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. 4Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. 5Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
6Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? 8Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, 10if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. 11The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. 12Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
Psalm 51:1-17
1Have mercy on me, O God, according to your | steadfast love; in your great compassion blot out | my offenses. 2Wash me through and through | from my wickedness, and cleanse me | from my sin. 3For I know | my offenses, and my sin is ev- | er before me. 4Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil | in your sight; so you are justified when you speak and right | in your judgment. 5Indeed, I was born | steeped in wickedness, a sinner from my | mother’s womb. 6Indeed, you delight in truth | deep within me, and would have me know wisdom | deep within. 7Remove my sins with hyssop, and I | shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be pur- | er than snow. 8Let me hear | joy and gladness; that the body you have broken | may rejoice. 9Hide your face | from my sins, and blot out | all my wickedness. 10Create in me a clean | heart, O God, and renew a right spir- | it within me. 11Cast me not away | from your presence, and take not your Holy Spir- | it from me. 12Restore to me the joy of | your salvation and sustain me with your boun- | tiful Spirit. 13Let me teach your ways | to offenders, and sinners shall be re- | stored to you. 14Rescue me from bloodshed, O God of | my salvation, and my tongue shall sing | of your righteousness. 15O Lord, o- | pen my lips, and my mouth shall pro- | claim your praise. 16For you take no delight in sacrifice, or | I would give it. You are not pleased | with burnt offering. 17The sacrifice of God is a | troubled spirit; a troubled and broken heart, O God, you will | not despise.
2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10
20bWe entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 6:1As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 1“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 5“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 16“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Sermon – Pastor Meggan Manlove
As we approach year three of the global pandemic, nearly 6 million deaths globally and now we lament Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, even as we know there are many armed conflicts around the globe, I come to this year’s Ash Wednesday service feeling covered in ashes. Unlike Ash Wednesday 2020, we do not so much need ashes on our foreheads to remind us of our mortality. The reminders are everywhere. Can the cross of ashes on our foreheads remind us of mortality and something more this year?
One thing I love about symbols, particularly in the life of faith, is that there is often more than one meaning, at least if it’s a good symbol. The waters of baptism both cleanse us and drown our sin. When we drink the wine of Holy Communion we remember Christ’s blood, shed on the cross, but we also remember the wedding at Cana when he turned water into wine. This makes us recall the vineyards here in the Treasure Valley and the notion that Holy Communion is a foretaste of the feast to come. Candles remind us of the lights in the sky which God created at the dawn of creation, the pillar of fire that led the Israelites through the Red Sea, and that Christ is the light in the darkness.
So, back to ashes. Ashes, in addition to being a sign of mortality and repentance, are a symbol of cleaning. They were once used as a cleansing agent in the absence of soap. So, ashes tell of both death and renewal. It is that symbolism of cleansing and renewal that I am drawn to this year. And cleansing and renewal are all part of the season of Lent.
Lent translates from a Middle English word that means “spring.” We might all be on the cusp of doing some spring cleaning in our homes, that yearly ritual of polishing things, washing windows, dusting corners, and airing out blankets and pillows and rugs in the warming air.
One writer notes that soul-cleaning does not need to imply that we are filthy, worthless people who must be made pure in order to know God or do good or be worthy. We are not impure in that way. In the same way that my house is not impure at spring housecleaning time. It is simply dusty and a bit stuffy. So it is with our lives. Winter can foster spiritual complacency, perhaps. With so much inside time, our souls revel in coziness, warmth, and comfort. Winter spirituality can let us settle in. Things get disordered, overlooked.
And we do not have simply winter but two years of regular quarantining, time when we were sick, time when people we live with were sick. Regular faith practices were turned on their heads. We learned to worship first by looking at a screen, then with social distancing and no singing. Some of you found new disciplines or faith practices, or you adapted old practices. Adversity can produce opportunity and I am confident that happened around the globe. Individuals and pockets of people found new ways to pray, and read scripture, and serve their neighbor with acts of love.
Lent is always a time to shake things up and I think Lent 2022 might be a particularly appropriate season to reflect on how we have grown in faith, or how we have struggled, how we have adapted, and what it means to follow Jesus in the next chapter. What needs to be purged, scrubbed, or opened up?
Those ashes remind us that this is a new season. It’s time to get off the sofa and poke in neglected corners and open windows. It’s a great time to take a look inside ourselves and our collective whole. And, as with every Season of Lent, it is a time to try new practices. Our gospel passage from Matthew has much to say about what the church calls, the discipline of Lent, which sounds sterner than it is.
Jesus highlights three religious practices common to first-century Judaism that continue to be practiced today by people of many faiths, including Christianity: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Jesus is particularly concerned with setting side by side the human perception and God’s reception of our religious activities. In other words, what motivates our actions is very important. In the end, the passage presents this question, “Why do I do what I do, during this season?”
The journey through Lent, through this spring soul cleaning is ultimately characterized by caring about others and the world, whether it is popular or unpopular, applauded or criticized. It is a season to do what we do as faithful people because it deepens our identity and rootedness in what is central to God. That includes care for the poor, the voiceless, the disinherited, and the exploited.
So, with the goal of spring soul cleaning, deepening faith, and with the three disciplines of Lent already laid out in the gospel, what kind of Lenten disciplines might we take up this year? I’m not speaking in the abstract; I’m talking about each of our lives for the next 40 days.
What change can you make in your own life that will impact your corner of the world? Yes, you can give up the excess of something you maybe need less of physically—sweets, soda, junk food. And certainly, that helps you become a good steward of the physical body God gave you. You might end up with more energy for bringing in the reign of God. What will that new work look like? You might give us some screen time in favor of face-to-face connections. You might give up a favorite beverage and save the money and on Easter donate your savings to a refugee resettlement agency.
Perhaps you could spend some time cultivating one of the many community gardens in Nampa. There is the discipline of reading through the Book of Psalms, or you could read through the Gospels of Luke or John, which we will hear from on Sundays during Lent. You might add to your daily prayers and intentional prayer for the people in your life who are the most difficult. Another wonderful discipline taken up by people is journaling gratefulness. That has been a transformative experience for individuals, changing not just their minds but the way they end up encountering other human beings and all of creation. Whether we give something up, change our financial giving, pray, or do some combination, the possibilities for Lenten disciplines are infinite.
The other symbolism within the ashes is transformation, for ashes themselves are a product of transformation. When something is burned, when a thing meets fire, ash is created. Ashes are about cleaning, creativity, and change. Today, Ash Wednesday, offers a new start, new possibilities, and a pathway of transformation. Thanks be to God.
Prayers of Intercession
Drawn close to the heart of God, we offer these prayers for the church, the world, and all who are in need.
A brief silence.
Renew your church, O God. When we have drifted from our call to proclaim repentance and to guide your people toward justice, lead us back to you. Encourage believers who hold the church’s doors open to those who have felt excluded. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew your creation, O God. Transform parched places into watered gardens and preserve every creature that awaits the arrival of spring. Turn each of us from practices of environmental exploitation to become responsible stewards of all you have made. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew our civic life, O God. Teach those in authority to advocate for the liberation of all who are oppressed and grant them courage to make difficult decisions. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew our lives, O God. Spare your people from diseases of the body, mind, or spirit and send healing to those overcome by illness or grief (especially). Restore to us the joy of your salvation. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew this congregation, O God. During these forty days of Lent, confirm our sense of mission and expand our imagination for ministry. Deepen our faith, increase our love, and draw us into your unfolding work of healing and restoration. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Here other intercessions may be offered.
As we mark ashes on our foreheads, we give you praise, O God, for all the saints who died and yet are alive with you (especially John Wesley and Charles Wesley, whom we commemorate today). Receive us with them into your eternal embrace. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Accept the prayers we bring, O God, on behalf of a world in need, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
