Welcome to our service for the fourth Sunday of Lent, from Craigmillar Park and Reid Memorial Churches. This week our focus is upon the love of God for humanity, and our response to that.
Call to Worship (Psalm 107: 1-3)
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures for ever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story–
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.
HYMN 133 Source and Sovereign, Rock and Cloud
(from First Presbyterian Church Waynesville NC)
Prayer
Living, loving, and ever-present God,
you are with us throughout the journey of life.
In days of joy and those of sadness
your presence is ever with us.
You are faithful and true,
your promises to us are sure.
In the wildernesses of life you show us the way,
in darkness you bring us to the light.
We gather this day
to worship you,
to praise your name,
and witness to your love.
We gather this day
to humble our hearts,
to listen for your word,
and to look to the Cross.
Merciful God, ever gentle, ever forgiving,
restore us when we turn from your light and way.
When we fail to see need, open our eyes.
When we fail to hear another’s pain, open our ears.
When we fail to love our neighbour, open our heart.
Renew us once again we pray.
Make us a people who live as your children,
with lives that reach out in grace and mercy,
bringing your truth and healing to our world.
With the words that Jesus taught us, let us now pray together:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
Scriptures
Numbers 21: 4-9 – The bronze snake
They travelled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go round Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!’
Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people.
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
John 3: 14-21 – Light has come into the world
[Jesus said] Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.’
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
HYMN 96 You are before me, God, you are behind
(from New Cumnock Parish Church)
Reflection:
How often have you been told to ‘look up’? What about ‘chin up’? They are phrases that we sometimes hear as people encourage us to look more positively at our situation. They mean us to turn from whatever is holding us down or back. Although we may respond literally and lift our head, the meaning is more metaphorical in nature. Yet in today’s Bible readings the people of God are being asked to quite literally look up. They are to look up and see their salvation.
The people of Israel faced yet another setback. Aside from their seemingly never-ending grumbling, they now faced an enemy that was not themselves. Unable to pass through Edomite lands, they had to go around them, and were forced back towards the Red Sea. The people’s discontent at this stage is both natural and understandable, but their complaints were endangering their chances of reaching the Promised Land. The need to turn back was stretching their faith in God. Yet, because of their circumstances, they needed that faith now perhaps more than ever. If they had given up, as they so often threatened to do, then everything that they had been through would have been worthless. They were so near their destination, yet in some ways they were so far away
Once again they rely on their own understanding rather than rely upon God. God acted, sending snakes into the camp. Yet he also provided a means of being saved from them. To be saved they had to look up to the sign that God gave them. This may seem bizarre to us, but it had the effect of forcing Israel to look to God rather than their own resources.
In many ways we are no different from them. When we face difficulties, in the course of our journey with God, do we not often grumble or despair and rely on our own ways to try to guide or save us. Rather, like the Israelites, we need to look to him more keenly.
Turning to the gospel, John portrays a world that is already lost. It is living according to its own perceived wisdom or ‘lights’, though which give no light at all. This parallels what was happening with the people in the wilderness. We see the lack of reliance on God leading to a fracturing of the people of God. Each has turned to their own factions at the expense of faith.
John reworks the image of God entering into human chaos and providing a means of salvation. This time it is not a bronze snake being lifted up as a sign of God’s faithful love for them. His desire to pull them through goes even further. John combines this image with that of light coming into darkness. Jesus becomes like a torch, raised to bring order to chaos, and hope to despair. As with the people in the wilderness, there are two ways of responding to God’s action. We can turn away for shame or we can turn and be forgiven.
Those are the stark choices laid before us by the cross of Jesus. We can either continue on, in our own wisdom, or turn and know the love of God. The preparations and celebration of Easter point us toward that choice. The festival seeks to drive home the depth of the love that God has for us. We no longer need to rely on ourselves for he has accomplished all that was needed for us to know salvation. All we have to do is choose.
Amen.
Prayer
In the midst of a broken humanity,
You are there,
holding out the offer of healing.
In our wanderings,
You are there,
guiding us in the path to life.
In our darkness,
You are there,
shining your light on all creation.
In our pain,
You are there,
touching us with Your peace.
In everything,
You are present,
never leaving us alone.
When we are tired,
when we are lonely,
when we are grieving
remind us of Your presence.
In all things may we see You
sustaining Your creation
leading us in love.
May we rest ourselves in You,
allowing ourselves to be restored,
and Your new creation to come.
Amen.
HYMN 558 Lord I lift your name on high
Benediction
May the steadfast love of God,
the merciful actions of Christ,
and the renewing power of the Spirit
be with you now,
and evermore.
Amen.
Acknowledgements:
English translations of Lord’s Prayer © 1988 English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC). www.englishtexts.org. Used by permission.
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.