Welcome to our service for the fourth Sunday of Lent, from Craigmillar Park and Reid Memorial Churches. This week our focus is upon the change in perspective that Jesus demands of us if we are to be his disciples.
Call to Worship (Psalm51: 1-2 )
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
HYMN 132 Immortal, invisible, God only wise
(from Westminster Abbey)
Prayer:
(from the words of St. Augustine):
Look upon us, O Lord,
and let all the darkness of our souls
vanish before the beams of Your brightness.
Fill us with holy love,
and open to us the treasures of Your wisdom.
All our desire is known to You,
o perfect what You have begun,
and what Your Spirit has awakened us to ask.
We seek Your face,
turn Your face unto us and show us Your glory.
Only then will our longing be satisfied,
and our peace shall be perfect.
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:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord,
‘when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,’
declares the Lord.
‘This is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,’ declares the Lord.
‘I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbour,
or say to one another, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,’
declares the Lord.
‘For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.’
John 12:20-33
Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’ Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.
‘Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!’
Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.’ The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
Jesus said, ‘This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
HYMN 557 O love that wilt not let me go
The Celebration Choir
Reflection:
Imagine one Sunday morning you are sitting in the church awaiting the start of the service. In the corner you notice that the minister is in conversation with some visitors. Not only are they strangers, their clothes and manners mark them out as being from another part of the world, and from another faith community. How do you react? What do you think? How strange or odd would it look to you? Now imagine that it is not the church but Jerusalem. It is not now but around 30AD. You are Jewish, and the visitors are Greeks. They are not talking to the with minister but with Jesus!
We are never told just what the Greeks wanted to talk about with Jesus. Elsewhere Saint Paul states that the Greeks saw the cross as foolishness so perhaps the answer they sought was rather different from the one they got. It may be that I am being unfair to these particular Greeks. The truth is that we will never know. The culture they came from, though, would have been keen to acquire knowledge that would enhance their lives. Greek thought would have been looking for something that would lead to glory in this present life. It would not have been looking for eternal joy beyond death. Jesus spoke to them about the glory coming through suffering and death.
In a sense it does not really matter if the words of Jesus were difficult for his audience to accept. What does matter is that his words are often difficult for modern humanity to hear or accept. Contemporary Western culture is obsessed with the preservation and enhancement of this life. It is generally interested in avoiding pain or suffering rather than accepting them as a path which may lead to eventual eternal glory. Often, we will hear comments about being interested not in religion but spirituality. Yet this interest is often motivated by a desire to feel better, to become a more fulfilled and rounded person. It is about self and personal desire. It is seldom about God and eternity, yet that is what Jesus was concerned about.
Jesus challenges us to look beyond our current knowledge and experience to consider what is truly valuable. He points to dying to self as leading to change for the good in all around. He points beyond the present to frame our timeline within that of eternity. He points beyond seeking the praise of mankind to honouring God and being praised for that. If we truly seek to follow Jesus then we, too, need to look to the values and practices that matter to him. Following Jesus is more than about interesting discussion around the meaning of life. That is not easy to hear, nor is it easy to do. We do not like the idea of dying to ourselves, but it is the way of Jesus.
Amen.
Prayer:
Have mercy on us, O God, according to your loving kindness;
in your great compassion, hear our prayers.
We pray for the whole church,
all the people of God,
all who respond to the call of Jesus, ‘follow me’
Wash us through and through,
And cleanse us from our sin.
We pray for our nation, for all the nations of the earth,
and for all who govern and judge.
Purge us from our sin,
And we shall be pure.
We pray for those who hunger, those who thirst,
those who cry out for justice,
those who live under the threat of terror
and those without a place to lay their head.
May they hear of joy and gladness,
that those who are broken may rejoice.
We pray for those who are ill, those in pain,
those under stress, and those who are lonely.
Give them the joy of your saving help,
and sustain them with your bountiful Spirit.
Create in us clean hearts, O God,
and renew a right spirit within us.
We pray for those who have been bereaved
Give them your comfort and peace.
We especially pray for… (named individuals in particular need)
We pray for… (particular issues in the news, community or church)
Lord Jesus,
you taught your disciples that unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies it remains just a single grain,
but if it dies it bears much fruit;
as we prepare our hearts to remember your death and resurrection,
grant us the strength and wisdom to serve and follow you,
this day and always.
Amen.
HYMN 167 Guide me, O thou great redeemer
Benediction:
May the love of God, the Father, surround you;
may the presence of Christ, the Son, dwell within you;
may the fellowship of the Spirit empower 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.
Second Prayer comes from the online blog of Rick Morley, and is based on the readings from Psalm 51 and John 12. Used with permission – http://www.rickmorley.com/