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Today is the Second Sunday in Lent, February 28, 2021. Another month is soon behind us, and it will be March, the unofficial Spring opener. Even the piles of snow that still dot the landscape will be gone, and the earliest blooms will come to light. Better days will soon be ours as the glory of God continues to shine upon us.
We open our hearts to the Presence of God and worship together.
Call to Worship:
*Spirit of God, Spirit of Lent, join us here this day*
We are invited again to explore our faith.
We are welcomed by God as people of the covenant.
God bids us to worship with exploring spirits.
The expanse of the Holy Spirit's domain is boundless.
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We enter this season as though entering a wilderness place.
We hope that God will meet us on the way.
We long for the promises of God to us,
For health and peace, for progress and prosperity.
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How hard it is to set on sights on things above.
How hard it is to hear God’s voice of comfort and care.
Yet with hope and faith held fast in the struggle,
We open our hearts to the Holy One in our midst.
*Spirit of God, Spirit of Lent, join us here this day*
Invocation:
In trust and confidence, we call on your name, Almighty God, eager to experience your gifts in our midst. We have heard your amazing promises given to our ancestors in the faith. We seek your word for us in our day, for we want to grow strong in our faith as our ancestors did in theirs. As they gave you glory and praise, we gather to do the same. As they passed on their faith to new generations, we seek to teach and live in such a way that our children and their children will also be drawn to serve you and others. And yet, O God, we struggle.
Help us, Dear Lord, with our faith. Help us to trust even when we can't understand. Grace us, we pray, with patience and peace. Fill us with a regular awareness of your presence that serves to brighten our days and replenish our joy. Do be with us in this time so that our hearts can truly sense the nearness of your love, and help us to grow in you and with others. It in Jesus' Name we gather and we pray. Amen.
Hymn: “The God of Abraham Praise”
The God of Abraham Praise (Lyric Video) - YouTube
Readings: Genesis 17.1-7;15-16; Psalm 22.23-31; Romans 4.13-25; Mark 8.31-38
Reflection:
I feel for our friend Peter in the Gospel lesson. No one likes to hear friends put their focus on the negative and talk of suffering, rejection and death. Plus, Peter knew Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, and to his read, that's not how the story is supposed to go. It's no wonder that Peter took Jesus aside to chide him a bit. Jesus' response seems a bit harsh to my read. Rather than patiently explain the way things were going because it was the way that God's will could best be set in motion, Jesus rebukes Peter.
What's interesting is that Jesus call, to "get behind me Satan," wasn't directed only to Peter, but rather it was said as Jesus looked at all the disciples. Jesus knew the propensity to see and understand things according to contemporary insight and worldly wisdom wasn't something that Peter suffered alone. It was something they all did, something we all do.
When things don't go the way we think they should, when evil seems to be winning the war and well-being is replaced by suffering and death, it's only natural to challenge the flow and to question God. For some, such worldly grief can result in a full-blown crisis of faith. And it's not wholly unreasonable. If we were in charge of the world, if we were directing the flow of the world, the bad that befalls some people would readily be turned around. We'd do all we could to make sure the good wins out, and we'd do it on our timeline, with clearer, more readily visible results. But that's not how things work. We're not in charge, and the timeline is not ours.
Jesus challenges the earliest disciples and us to see things differently. He casts things in the light of "my sake," that is for the cause of Jesus, and for the "sake of the good news." But when suffering and death come our way, or perhaps worse, the way of a loved one, it sure is tough to see things in such light.
Our country hit a sad milestone this week. Over half a million people have now died from Covid in the US alone. As the Times reports, that means "that more Americans have died from Covid-19 than did on the battlefields of World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined." That's a staggering amount, and a whole lot of death and grief. Plus it hasn't been just the old and feeble who have died, but even the young and seemingly healthy. It seems to me to be time to take Jesus aside and do some rebuking of our own.
And yet, somehow, someway, this is apparently the Way for us. Somehow, someway, this is to help us and others to move forward to more abundant life, to life in God, to a life of faith. Somehow, someway, God's will and ways are still active. We can only wonder how, and do what we can to make the best of things as we continue to give ear to God.
Abram, here renamed Abraham, did not see the full promise of God true in his lifetime. Sarai, here renamed Sarah, did not see nations or kings of people rise from her womb. They did, however, get a glimpse through the birth of their son Isaac. The seemingly impossible was made possible in the birth. Paul, who knows the rest of the story of Abraham and Sarah's line, cites the beginning as the offspring of hope that let the grace of God arise. For Abram to believe the promise it was a matter of "hoping against hope," of hoping even when all hope seemed have died.
Faith. The Letter to the Hebrews gives it this definition: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Conviction is confidence. And it's through the conviction, the confidence of hope, that we're called to hope, even when we're living through the barren days of old Sarai's womb.
It's hard to take hold of faith when hope seems to have died, this I know. I still struggle with the death of young beloved children, and even with the death of the not-so-young beloved loved ones, children and mates. My heart breaks for those who suffer when my vision sees no good cause or hope in it. But I've lived long enough to see powerful good come out of tragedy and loss. I've seen the death of thousands, including those whom I've loved, give rise to new treatments and vaccines that have changed the world. Such was the case when HIV and AIDS first plagued our planet, such is the case today with this pandemic. I've seen the death of children and partners dramatically change the course of life for the better, for me and others who were thrown into the depths of grief and despair. I've seen beauty arise from fierce and deadly wildfires that cleared the way for sunshine and new life. I've seen homes and towns be rebuilt after hurricanes and floods. I've seen hope when hope seemed hopeless. Yes, I've seen powerful good to come from ways that I would have re-written or edited out all together from the course of the world. Such has strengthened my faith and improved my vision, my understanding.
But I still side a bit with Peter because I get it. I think I will long struggle to correct my vision, my understanding when the bad seems to be winning. Like Peter, the suffering, crucifixion and death of Jesus is something that I would have fought and struggled to re-write. But such was God's Way, and such paved the way for salvation, not just for Peter and the early disciples, but for us, as Jesus made the final sacrifice that brought atonement for us all. It was for us and for our salvation that Jesus died. Yet few really saw that coming, and fewer still the gift of the resurrection. It would take years for all of that to be sorted out and for new understanding to come. But faith and hope won out, and I believe is winning still.
Hold tight to the vision of heaven. Hold tight to the understanding of faith. Hold tight to hope the promise birthed by grace in action. God is still acting, still speaking, still creating. We might not really get it, but God does, and that's what matters. Be blessed by God. Amen.
Prayers of the People:
Good and Gracious God, God of all generations, whose revelation in Jesus Christ awakened us to new life and new outlooks, we give you thanks for the blessings of our time. When we seek to see your goodness and love, we know it is there. You glisten on the raindrops that nourish our planet, you shine through the clouds of our days, you lead us from the ice and snow of winter to the blossoms and beauty of spring. We are grateful for all our gentle blessings, and for the ways we witness new life come from seeming dead places, and we endeavor to remain in the good graces of your love.
Help us when we're slipping to tighten our hold upon you. Draw us near in gentle ways lest we leave you to only be sought in times of trouble. And in times of trouble, come and touch us in powerful and healing ways that fill us with the insight and wisdom we need to journey through with you. Come to us in regular times, even though we know you sometimes call us to self-denial and risk-taking service. Yet we dare to listen for your call, knowing that it may draw us to give more, to do more, to love more, to be more forgiving, less judgmental, and to grow in our understanding.
Be with those who struggle in darkness and in death. Be with those whose days are watered by their tears and for whom hope seems to have died. Break through the clouds of sin and sadness and let your light shine brightly on us all.
Dear Lord of our world in need, we pray for the many who struggle daily to find the basics to live. We pray for those far away and those close to home, the refugees, the wandering, the homeless, the isolated and addicted, the hungry, the battered, and those who feel they have been tossed aside. Grace them all with new understanding and new ways of being and doing in the world.
Gift your people with the breakthroughs we need to move ahead to more readily follow in your path and do what you would have us do. Be with those who suffer and those who tend to their needs, and let us all heal, learn, and grow together.
We pray for ourselves in our own struggles of mind, body and spirit. Heal us, O God, in all our sore and broken places. Help us, particularly in this season of Lent, to grow closer to you and strengthen our faith. Show us how to be of service and to bring blessing to our world around us. Fill us with an appreciation for your love in the action of our lives.
Be with our families and friends, and the many we know who are struggling in their time. Grace us all with patience and insight, and your Spirit that ignites our hearts. Help us, Dear God, to build one another up, to support each other in the storm, and to look ahead with joyful hope nested in the thankfulness of our being.
We pray, dear God, for the many on our prayer list... Bless us all, O God, and grant us your saving presence in our midst. We ask these things in Jesus' Name who taught us to pray saying, "Our Father who art in heaven...."
Hymn: “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”
God Moves in A Mysterious Way with Lyrics - Bing video
Benediction:
May God's wisdom fill you, and new understanding be yours. May hope shine bright in your heart and bring you strength and song. May faith be yours in abundance that everyday will be light with the peace that passes all understanding. Go in peace, today, and always.
Amen and amen.
