Welcome to this, our service for the Second Sunday of Lent, brought to you by the congregations of Craigmillar Park and Reid Memorial Churches. As we continue our journey towards Easter our thoughts turn to the promises of God.

Call to worship (from Psalm 22: 22-23)

I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honour him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

HYMN 162 The God of Abraham praise

(from Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California)

Prayer

Lord, you invite us to follow you:
may we take up our cross,
and walk in your way.

Lord, you invite us to know you:
we are your disciples,
help us to grow in faith.

Lord, you ask us,
“Who do you say that I am?”
You are the One who gives us life eternal.

Lord, to whom all hearts are open,
from whom no secrets are hidden,
cleanse our hearts and minds.
By the inspiration of your Spirit
may we love you completely,
and praise your holy name.
This we ask through Christ our Saviour.

As your people,
we dare to believe you have a plan for us,
a future with hope,
with faith, and with love.
Remind us of your promises.
This day may we live in your joy,
may we worship you with all that we are,
and serve you as disciples.

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

Genesis 17: 1-7
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.’

Abram fell face down, and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

Mark 8: 31-38
Jesus then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.’

HYMN 153 Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father

Reflection

Our lives are full of promises. We see them on our banknotes; businesses make them to customers; we make them when we are married. Promises are both common and normal parts of life. They are, though, special as they change our present by first changing our future. If we are confident in the truth of a promise, then it can radically affect our lives. We may even make decisions today based on promises that will be fulfilled tomorrow. In other words, promises invite us to take risks. People are not the only promise makers for God does too.

In our reading from Genesis we find God making a promise that stretches the credulity of both Abraham and Sarah. It was enormous in its scope, and seemingly impossible to fulfil. The promise of a son through Sarah also, to Abraham, seemed unnecessary as he already had one through Hagar. Yet God was not influenced by the hopes and expectations of Abraham as he had decided that Sarah was to be a part of his plan. God had a future for the pair that was beyond their thinking. Despite being beyond child-bearing age they would have a son. Despite being relatively unimportant they were to be the foundation of a great nation. The will and power of God made this happen.

Through Jesus that nation was expanded as Gentiles were grafted into it. This now meant that the great nation was more than just an ethnic group but would encompass all of humanity. It all was a part of the will of God. The promise of God to Abraham and Sarah is, in part, realised through us. This should be sure enough to affect the way we live our present.

Despite these promises there is often pressure upon us to rely only on that which we can see, feel, or measure. We are encouraged to rely entirely upon the rational and focus on the here and now. It is a short-term approach that does not allow us to see the future in terms that are eternal in nature. We see this in Peter’s response to Jesus in our Gospel reading. He cannot see beyond his immediate understanding or thinking; he cannot imagine a future that is as Jesus describes. He cannot get his head around the pain and suffering that is to come. Peter’s response is perfectly natural, it is instinctive, yet it leaves no room for the will and power of God. There is no space for divine promises.

Perhaps, here, it is worth noting that Jesus’ rebuttal of Peter is in no way to be interpreted as him saying that his disciple is the devil in human form. The word, or name, ‘Satan’ has a root meaning of ‘adversary’; in standing against what Jesus says Peter is taking on the role of adversary, a challenger.

Jesus expects his followers to develop a mindset that is based on a long-term view, a perspective that is based on the promises of God. Our timeframe is to be like that of the one promised to Abraham and Sarah. It means that we are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and look to the future fulfilment of the Kingdom of God. This is not about the giving up of minor treats or luxuries for the weeks of Lent. It is about seeing ourselves as dead to the demands and expectations of this world, and alive to the life directed by God. It is to be alive to the promises of God.
Amen

Prayer

God, you are faithful and your promises are true;
you are the light, and in you is no darkness.
You are to be trusted, and your love is eternal.
As we come before you,
open our eyes to the path of Jesus,
that we may learn to truly love.
Send your Spirit upon us,
that we may be empowered
to love you and your creation.

We pray for the hungry,
both in this land and around the globe.
We see the rise in Foodbank use,
and the increase in poverty around us.
For those who tackle these issues
we give thanks and praise
seeking that we may follow their inspiration
and feed your world.

We pray for the homeless,
without shelter or security.
We see the need for your love,
shown in care vans, shelters, and charities.
For those who work in our streets
to bring hope and a future
we give thanks and praise;
may we be inspired to follow them.

We pray for the anxious or frightened
over job, or home, or health.
We see the need for your peace
to bring stillness to their hearts.
We pray for those who are peacemakers
working in our communities
to heal division and bring healing
to all who struggle.

We pray for ourselves,
bringing our hopes and concerns.
We know that you hear;
we know that you listen.
Open our eyes,
our hearts, our minds,
that we may know your touch
and bless you for your love.

These prayers we bring
in the name of Jesus
whose followers we seek to be.
Amen.

HYMN 396 And can it be?

Benediction

O Christ, the Master Carpenter,
who at the last through wood and nails
purchased our whole salvation;
wield well your tools in the workshop of your world,
so that we who come rough-hewn to your work bench
may be fashioned to a truer beauty by your hand.
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.

Benediction copyright the Iona Community.