A Place at the Table

Prayer of the Day

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.’ ”

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.

Amen.

Prayer of the Day

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.  

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.

Amen.

Prayer of the Day

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.’ ”

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.

Amen.

Prayer of the Day

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.

Sermon – Pastor Meggan Manlove

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.

Amen.

Prayer of the Day

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.

Amen.

Prayer of the Day

Holy God, mighty and immortal, you are beyond our knowing, yet we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Transform us into the likeness of your Son, who renewed our humanity so that we may share in his divinity, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

Exodus 34:29-35

²⁹Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. ³⁰When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. ³²Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ³³When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; ³⁴but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Psalm 99

 ¹The Lord is king; let the ^| people tremble.
  The Lord is enthroned upon the cherubim; let ^| the earth shake.
 ²The Lord, ^| great in Zion,
  is high a- ^| bove all peoples.
 ³Let them confess God’s name, which is ^| great and awesome;
  God is the ^| Holy One.
 ⁴O mighty king, lover of justice, you have es- ^| tablished equity;
  you have executed justice and righteous- ^| ness in Jacob. 
 ⁵Proclaim the greatness of the Lord and fall down be- ^| fore God’s footstool;
  God is the ^| Holy One.
 ⁶Moses and Aaron among your priests, and Samuel among those who call upon your ^|name, O Lord,
  they called upon you, and you ^| answered them,
 ⁷you spoke to them out of the pil- ^| lar of cloud;
  they kept your testimonies and the decree ^| that you gave them.
 ⁸O Lord our God, you answered ^| them indeed;
  you were a God who forgave them, yet punished them for their ^| evil deeds.
 ⁹Proclaim the greatness of the Lord and worship upon God’s ^| holy hill;
  for the Lord our God is the ^| Holy One.

2 Corinthians 3:12–4:2

¹²Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, ¹³not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. ¹⁴But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. ¹⁵Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; ¹⁶but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

 ^4:1Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. ²We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.

Luke 9:28-36

²⁸Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³⁰Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. ³¹They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. ³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. ³⁵Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” ³⁶When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

Sermon – Meggan Manlove       

There are years, like this year, when I really appreciate Transfiguration Sunday. For weeks, we have been listening in as Jesus teaches. His teachings are challenging, dangerous to him and his followers, and frankly it is sometimes hard to grasp what exactly the goal is. What does the reign of God look like? Then, just as we are about to start the 40 days of Lent and the journey towards Jerusalem, Jesus says, let me give you a glimpse of glory, a real glimpse of the foretaste of the feast to come, something that will sustain you for the road ahead. Sustenance for the road ahead sounds pretty good to me this week.

I hope most of us have had those experiences; a place or time when we have seen a glimpse of Jesus’ glory. Where and when have you had a foretaste of the feast to come? Maybe you felt near the presence of God in the midst of grief, upheld by all your sisters and brothers in Christ. Perhaps you experienced the glory of God on a literal mountaintop, looking out over a breathtaking vista, or maybe it was another natural wonder like the ocean or a canyon.

I think about the ways I felt cared for by this congregation in December 2020 when my dad was dying in Mesa and we were still quite locked down due to the pandemic. The actual verb I would use to describe that time is that you carried me. 

I also think of the group of colleagues and mentors who I met with in Northeast Iowa during my first six years in public ministry. We met each Tuesday for an in-depth text study, studying together the scripture passages on which we would preach. But we also met for pizza, beer, and conversation each Friday. I brought every problem a first-call pastor could face to that group and my stories were all met with love and understanding. We did not agree on everything, but I could bring my full self-there and I knew it to be a safe and holy space. There too I got glimpses of the promised feast.

I think of paddling canoes through the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota/Ontario at dawn and hearing the call of a loon. I can see vistas of the old beautiful Black Hills where I grew up. I remember the panoramic views from the peaks of the Absoraka-Beartooth Wilderness in Montana and driving and hiking through the valleys of the Sawtooth and White Cloud ranges here in Idaho–all places I have glimpsed God’s glory. 

Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on a mountain.  They will experience something completely new. There on the mountain, Jesus is transfigured—his clothes become a blinding white. Then Moses and Elijah appear out of nowhere and start talking with Jesus. It is so amazing, so terrifying, that Peter does not know what to say.  

Still, he likes it enough to try to hold on to it—perhaps even make some booths to keep them there. But before he can start building, a cloud descends upon them, and out of the cloud the voice of God is heard: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

This has got to be one of the top ten ecstatic events in the whole Bible.  It sounds a lot like the time God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai or the time God whispered to Elijah on Mount Horeb. Here are the two biggest figures in the Old Testament—Moses, who represents the Law, and Elijah, who represents the prophets—now speaking with Jesus. But God also has something to say. 

God has spoken before in Luke. At Jesus’ baptism, a voice from heaven said, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” It was after that event that Jesus began his ministry of teaching and healing. Now, God speaks again, and it is after this encounter that Jesus sets his face to Jerusalem. It is in this encounter with God that Jesus is empowered and commissioned again for his God-given ministry.

When the cloud disappears, Elijah and Moses are gone. No one is left but Jesus.  The experience is over as quickly as it began. Jesus remains with them, but not the glorious Jesus, arrayed in dazzling white. No, this is the man with whom the disciples ate and slept.  

From the very beginning, Jesus is true God and true man. From the beginning, he is filled with glory—the very glory of God. But that glory of the father is a glory we cannot bear. Moses knew that. When he asked to see God’s glory, God answered, “No one shall see me and live.” So, God put on flesh; God became known in a way we could see. At the Transfiguration, Moses finally does get his wish: he looks directly into the face of God—God’s face revealed in Jesus.

We live by faith—faith that is strengthened by those transfiguration moments—but also faith that, even in the everyday moments, senses that God is present and at work in the world.  We live by faith—faith that trusts that God is present in the midst of our sorrow and in the ordinary parts of our lives.

For me, the greatest glimpses of God’s glory, the best foretastes of the feast to come, have occurred when I was at a place apart. Because I worked at Camp Christikon in very formative years, my 20s, the glimpses I received then still shape me.  Christikon, nestled in the big beautiful Absorka Mountains north of Yellowstone National Park, is primarily a hiking camp for junior and senior high school kids. 

Our director Bob Quam was intent on creating intentional Christian community, full of encounters with the natural world, work, play, prayer, worship. Central to life at Christikon were stories.  Bob Quam talked about the “old, old story” of which we were still a part–the story of homecoming from exile and life from death, the story of love embodied and outpoured in Jesus for the sake of the world, the story of the wedding feast at the end of time which we could taste now in the body and blood of Christ, as well as other elaborate meals Bob prepared regularly for his staff.

Part of why I encourage youth and adults from this congregation to attend Luther Heights Bible Camp is to have some of the experience I had at camp. If we truly believe that the gospel can transform lives and communities down here in the literal valley, it’s helpful to have had a glimpse of God’s glory, of the feast, of the kingdom, even if we have to go away to get those glimpses. Our intergenerational church campout, while not a full week, has frequently done the same thing as summer camp–given us a glimpse of God’s glory.

Camps often get critiqued as being retreats from the real world or a bubble that serves to protect participants from the outside world. My dad, who thought and wrote a lot about camping ministries, suggested that the camp community is the real world in that it is closer to the world as it should be, as God intended it to be. He wrote, “We have seen a glimpse of the kingdom. We have seen a bit of life as it should be. Working together, we create places where people can come, learn, and go out into the world to make it as it should be.”

We don’t remember our own mountain top experiences to indulge in nostalgia. Nostalgia can be a dangerous form of remembering that steals the pleasure out of the present. But there is a place for remembering and giving thanks for people and places through whom God has worked in your lives. Our Psalm helps us remember almost every week. Before we join together in the Lord’s Prayer, the long prayer I speak is all about remembering. And at the heart of that prayer, we recall Jesus telling his disciples, when they gather to eat the bread and drink the wine, to do it “in remembrance of me.”

Down the mountain, we hold on to God’s vision of glory and wholeness and peace.  Even standing smack-dab in the middle of brokenness, in the middle of a world experiencing violence, we hold on to God, we call upon God, we behave as if God’s new world of wholeness is on the way, and we are sustained by the glimpses that we have seen already: those moments when people are healed and comforted, those times when violence gives way to reconciliation and selfishness gives way to love, those moments when whole communities reach out and care for one another. 

We praise God for moments of grace—moments when it all comes together. And we praise God for the promise that all of our moments are upheld by the abiding presence of God.  

Jesus came down that mount of Transfiguration. His disciples followed him on a journey of transformation. Together they experienced the heights and the depths of our experience. Jesus knows us in the very depths of our souls and loves us still—we can live in faith and hope. Not because we have it all together, but because God is here.  

Prayers of Intercession (from Sundays and Seasons)

The prayers are prepared locally for each occasion. The following examples may be adapted or used as appropriate.

The Spirit of the Lord is poured out upon us in abundance; so we are bold to pray for the church, the world, and all that God has made.

A brief silence.

Transform us by your greatness, O God. Send us down the mountain to share joy with all people. Make us agents of change, confident that your hope will vanquish despair and your goodness will conquer evil. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

The mountains and valleys sing your praise. Dazzle us with your presence in every landscape: bluffs built by ancient glaciers, canyons carved by flowing rivers, flat horizons with uninterrupted views, and sands shaped by ocean tides. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

You love justice and establish equity. Strengthen leaders of local governments, community nonprofits, and grassroots campaigns. Bless them with gifts of integrity, creativity, and sound conscience. Build up safe and joyful communities where all people may thrive. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

Heal those who are in distress (especially). Give patience to those waiting for answers. Grant hope to those who have reached the limits of treatment. Give compassionate hearts to those who accompany loved ones through illness and uncertainty. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

Today we shout alleluia from the mountaintop; this week we enter the wilderness of Lent. Bless all who prepare and lead us in worship during this change of season: pastors, deacons, musicians, and all who contribute to our worship life (especially). God of grace,

hear our prayer.

With deep sadness that we pray for peace and for the people of Ukraine. God who sees the weakness in acts of naked aggression; God who feels the fear in moments of acute helplessness: cure this warring madness, and shield all who fall in harm’s way. Leach the poison from the mind that thinks strength is shown in a bullying force. And may an equal strength in solidarity give resolve to those whose aim is to protect, and respect, not just the ones we call our own, but all with whom we can share a better, more peaceful world. (from the Corymeela Community)

hear our prayer.

Blessed are they who listened to Christ’s voice in this life and now rest with him (especially). Transform us from glory into glory, and give us your peace, that we do not lose heart. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

Since we have such great hope in your promises, O God, we lift these and all of our prayers to you in confidence and faith; through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Amen.