First Sunday of Lent Year C
Apologies this post is late!
From the archives of March 6, 2022 (and March 10, 2019, February 14, 2016, and February 17, 2013, below)
Worship Resources for March 6th, 2022—First Sunday of Lent
Revised Common Lectionary: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13
Narrative Lectionary: Jesus Raises Lazarus, John 11:1-44 (Psalm 104:27-30)
We begin Lent with a reminder from Moses in Deuteronomy 26:1-11. As part of his final discourse to the people, knowing he would not enter the land promised to them before his death, Moses called upon the people to take the first fruits of the land as an offering to God. Before the priests with their offerings, the people remembered that their ancestors, Sarah and Abraham, were wandering Aramaeans, a people without a home. God brought them to a new land, and then to Egypt, where they became a great nation. God is the one who brought them out of their oppression in Egypt with strength and power. Moses called the people to celebrate all God had accomplished, to celebrate with the priests as well as the foreign peoples among them God’s abundance and bounty.
While Psalm 91 is quoted by the devil in both Luke and Matthew as part of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, it is a psalm of blessing and protection for those who turn to God. Those who turn to God have the assurance that God will deliver them from their enemies and do not need to fear death or danger. Those who love God will know God’s deliverance and salvation.
Romans 10:8b-13 is a section often taken out of context. Paul was writing to the church in Rome, to show that both those of Jewish and those of Gentile backgrounds were one in Christ. God hears the prayers and confessions of all. It is faith that saves us in Christ Jesus, not heritage or tradition. This verse is often taken out of context and interpreted in a literal way by some Christians that this confession, by these words, is what is needed for salvation. Instead, Paul was explaining that it is faith that save us, faith in Christ, faith that God raised Jesus from the dead and there is nothing that God cannot do.
In Luke’s account of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness in 4:1-13, the same three temptations are found in Matthew, but the last two are reversed. In Luke’s account, the final temptation is the one in which the devil quotes scripture, Psalm 91, back to Jesus, after Jesus answered the devil’s first two temptations with scripture. The devil twists the scripture to question and sow seeds of doubt into Jesus about whether he was the Son of God. The devil’s twisting of Psalm 91 ignores that the psalmist speaks of those who are faithful in love to God will not face harm. Instead, the devil tries to tempt Jesus into believing he has to prove who he is. There is no one else around, so one must assume that perhaps Jesus was facing some self-doubt. But Jesus is triumphant, quoting scripture back and knowing that it is not up to himself to prove who he is as the Son of God. God knows. Jesus knows and trusts in God the Creator. The devil departs him until an opportune time.
The Narrative Lectionary continues in John, focusing on the story of Jesus raising Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha in John 11. Lazarus fell ill, but Jesus was delayed in visiting him until after he’d already passed. The disciples warned him about going to Judea because they knew the leaders wanted to kill Jesus, but when Jesus finally insisted on going, Thomas boldly proclaimed that they should go to die with Jesus. This an interesting first encounter for readers with the one later known as “Doubting Thomas,” in his boldness of faith early on. When Jesus arrived, he first encountered Martha, who confronted him, saying her brother would not have died if he had been there. However, she also proclaimed her faith, that she knew God would give Jesus whatever he asked. Jesus asked her if she believed in the resurrection, and then told her that he was the resurrection and the life, and Martha declared her belief. Martha went back and called for her sister Mary. Mary, however, went to Jesus, knelt at his feet and wept, stating that if he had been there, her brother wouldn’t have died. She doesn’t make any declarations of faith. And Jesus begins to weep. It is by her grief that he also grieves, and is moved to order the others to roll back the stone and call Lazarus out from death.
These brief verses from Psalm 104:27-30 compliment the John passage in that God is the one whose spirit renews life after death. God holds life and death in all of creation.
Luke’s account of Jesus’ temptation seems out of balance at first. We are more accustomed to Matthew, where the final temptation is the devil tempting Jesus to worship him and have the world. In Luke, the final temptation instead is self doubt. That one isn’t worthy of God’s love. Even Jesus wondered. Perhaps in his time in the wilderness, God was silent. The final temptation is to demand that God answer, to demand that God act in the way we want God to. Jesus prevails in trusting in God even in the silence. In the Narrative Lectionary, faith may have assured Martha and Jesus that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, but it was a very human emotion—grief—that moved Jesus to act right then and there. A reminder that God takes notice of us, as God did in Exodus 2:25 of the people crying out under their oppression. God hears us when we grieve, when we cry out against injustice, and is moved to act. Both of these lectionaries remind us that what we want isn’t necessarily what is best for us, but when we cry out in hopelessness, despair, crying out from oppression and injustice—God hears us. God knows. And God will act.
Call to Worship (from Isaiah 40:6-11)
A voice says, “Cry out!”
“What shall I cry?”
The grass withers, the flowers fade,
But the word of our God will stand forever.
Lift up your voice with strength,
Our God comes with power and might.
For God is our shepherd, carrying the lambs,
And God will carry us through.
Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
Holy One, we come to You in this season of Lent crying out to You. We cry out because of war and injustice. We cry out because of violence and oppression. We cry out because the world’s ways and the world’s leaders have failed us again. We cry out for You to save us, O God. We confess that we have been led astray by the world’s power and might. We confess that we have been led astray by worldly understandings of security and strength. We confess that we have sometimes been on the side of the oppressor, and at times have turned away from the cries of others. We confess we have failed to recognize Your children in the world, Your face in one another. Forgive us. Call us into accountability. Call us into the work of reparation and restoration. Guide us into the work of justice, reconciliation, forgiveness, and healing. In the name of Christ, who went to the cross and laid down his life for us, we pray. Amen.
Blessing/Assurance
God will continue to lead us out of the wilderness of oppression into the place of hope and healing. God will continue to teach us the way of repentance and forgiveness, if we are open to God’s instruction. God’s wisdom is with us: in the scriptures, the sages of old, the lessons from the past, and in our hope for the future, if we believe it, if we cling to it. Live into God’s ways. Be slow to judge and quick to forgive. Know God’s forgiveness in your life, and go forth to help repair and restore the world. You are forgiven, loved, and restored. Amen.
Prayer
Almighty God, You made this earth for all of Your children and Your creatures. You breathed life into all living things, and called human beings to care for it. We have failed time and again and resorted to violence instead of listening and healing. Our wilderness temptations are all around us and we fail all the time. O God, You still love us. You still create new life. You still work on us to forgive one another and pursue justice. O God, may it not be too late for us to change our ways. May it not be too late for humanity to resolve to do better, to repent of our power and greed and violence. May it not be too late for us. Be with us, O God, a flame fighting the wind and shadows. Burn bright in us, O God, and save us. Amen.
Worship Resources for March 10th, 2019—First Sunday of Lent
Revised Common Lectionary: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13
Narrative Lectionary: Forgiveness, Matthew 18:15-35 (Psalm 32:1-2)
We begin this first Sunday of Lent in the Hebrew Scriptures with the practice of giving the first fruits of harvest. In Deuteronomy 26:1-11, the practice of celebrating the spring harvest was a way of giving thanks to God for leading the people into the promised land, but also a reminder that once they did not have a home. Once they were enslaved in Egypt, now they were given a land of their own, and they gave back to God as a reminder of what God had given them.
The psalmist writes in Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 that God is their refuge, in whom they trust. Because the people have made God their refuge, no evil shall befall them. God will answer those who call out, and God will protect and deliver them. Even angels shall be with them and guard them from harm.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, Paul speaks of the word of faith we proclaim, in 10:8b-13. Our words of faith match what is in our heart, what we believe—it does not matter our background. Speaking to a primarily Jewish congregation in Rome, a community he had not met yet, Paul wants to make clear his theology, that what saves is not one’s traditions or heritage, but their word of faith and belief of their heart.
Luke’s account of Jesus’ time in the wilderness includes the same three temptations listed in Matthew’s account, but in a different order. They both begin with the same temptation, of Jesus being hungry after fasting and the devil tempting him to command stones to turn into bread, but in Luke’s account the devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world second. Lastly, the devil takes Jesus to Jerusalem and the pinnacle of the temple, and even quotes scripture back at Jesus from Psalm 91. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.” If God is real, God will save you. For Luke, this is the greatest temptation, the one that foils the devil, because Jesus will not test God. Jesus, fully human and fully divine, faces his humanity in this moment, that he doesn’t have to prove God exists.
The Narrative Lectionary follows Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness in Matthew 18:15-35. Jesus is teaching the disciples the importance of mediating conflict, of trying to reconcile, but also shows that it doesn’t always work. This should not be taken as prescriptive for all conflicts, especially when abuse is involved, but many concerns between people who hold one another in mutual regard and respect can be resolved through dialogue. When Peter asks how often he should forgive, Jesus tells him forgiveness isn’t something completed by quick words, but it is a process. Jesus tells a parable about a slave who could not pay his debt, and the king forgave him—but then the slave then went after someone who owed him money. When that man couldn’t pay, the slave had him thrown in jail—but the other slaves reported him to the king, and the king in his anger had him handed over to be tortured. We cannot hold the sins of someone against us when we continue to sin in that same manner.
The psalmist begins their song in Psalm 32 with a declaration of blessing: happy are those whose sins are forgiven. Happy are those that God finds without deceit—for those who do not hide their sins before God.
We begin Lent with the familiar story of Jesus facing temptation in the wilderness. While we may perceive this experience of Jesus in spiritual terms, being tempted to perform a magic trick, whisked away to see the kingdoms of the world, and then placed at the pinnacle of the temple, these are very human temptations Jesus faces. Jesus was fully human and fully divine, and in his humanness, he may have questioned where was God while he was facing all of this. While he was famished in the wilderness. Where was God when his people were oppressed by the Romans? Where was God when he needed his basic needs met? But Jesus does not test God, does not demand God prove they exist. Instead, Jesus faces his own temptations, and the devil leaves him. For the Narrative Lectionary, there is a temptation to make reconciliation and forgiveness either too simple or too complicated. Either we think we have to forgive quickly without thought, or we do not forgive at all. Instead, we must wrestle with both the human and divine elements of forgiveness—that we still sin, and are still need of forgiveness, and yet, we also want to protect ourselves from harm. It seems from both Jesus’ direct teaching and the parable he shares that the clearest understanding of forgiveness is we must forgive others for doing the same things we still do.
Call to Worship
We enter this season of Lent, knowing the wilderness is ahead;
Prepare us, O God, to face whatever adversity may come.
We enter this week, uncertain of the distractions that might arrive;
Help us, O God, to keep our minds on You.
We enter this day, hoping to set our hearts on Christ;
Keep us, O God, to the way of faith.
We enter this time of worship, dependent upon our God;
Show us, O God, Your way, Your truth, and Your life. Amen.
Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
Faithful One, we confess that we give up too easily. We throw our hands in the air and turn away. We confess that we almost always take the easy way out and we struggle with the difficult questions of faith. Keep us to Your way, O God. Keep challenging us to do justice, love mercy, and be humble with You. Hold us to the covenant You have made with us, to be our God, and for us to be Your people. Guide us on this journey of faith, through the valleys of shadow, beyond our doubts and fears. Remind us that You are close to our hearts, always. Amen.
Blessing/Assurance
May the peace of Christ be with you. May the hope of God be with you. May the joy of the Spirit be with you. May the love of God abide with you forever. May you know God’s forgiveness and mercy, and may you share these gifts with the world. Amen.
Prayer
Gracious God, we know we are not always so graceful. We stumble over each other. We barely can see beyond the log in our own eye but are quick to jab at the splinters in others. We fumble with forgiveness and blunder our apologies. Gracious God, help us to be more graceful: with each other and with ourselves, and to extend Your wonderful grace to the world. Amen.
Worship Resources for February 14th, 2016—First Sunday of Lent
Revised Common Lectionary: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13
Narrative Lectionary: First Last and Last First, Mark 10:17-31 (Psalm 19:7-10)
We begin Lent (Lent comes from the Latin meaning “to lengthen,” of the lengthening of days in springtime) with a passage about springtime thanksgiving in Deuteronomy, remembering how the people gave an offering of the first fruits of the spring harvest to the priests at the temple. Through this act, they also remembered that their ancestors were once without a home, and after settling in Egypt during a famine in Jacob and Joseph’s days, the people later were enslaved. Freed by God, they came to a land “flowing with milk and honey,” a land that provides for them, and they are to give back to God their Creator out of their thanksgiving. This celebration is not only for them, but for all who reside in the land.
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 is a psalm of comfort and assurance of God’s presence, that God will not allow harm to come to those who love God. God is their protector and defender, and God will answer them when they call out. God will even command the angels to protect those who love God from evil.
Romans 10:8b-13 is Paul’s assurance that those who believe that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead will be saved. This passage is often quoted to become a doctrine about how one is saved, but reading in the context of chapter 10, Paul is giving a universal message—salvation is available for all. The old divisions of Greek and Jew no longer apply because of Christ.
Luke 4:1-13 is Luke’s account of Jesus’ temptation by the devil in the wilderness. Matthew, Mark and Luke all contain an account of the temptation. Mark has few details and does not say how the devil tempted him. Matthew and Luke have the same temptations, but Luke reverses the order of the last two, placing the temptation of testing God as the last (quoting from Psalm 91). This period of temptation prepared Jesus for his ministry, because he had resisted evil, down to the last temptation of even testing God.
The Narrative Lectionary focuses on the story of the rich man who came to Jesus, who wanted to inherit eternal life. In Mark 10:17-31, Jesus asks the rich man, after seeing how well he kept the commandments (and in verse 21, it reads that Jesus loved him), Jesus tells him that he lacks one thing. He needs to go and sell all that he has and give the money to the poor. He will have treasure in heaven, and that he should follow Jesus. But the man goes away grieving. Jesus declares it will be hard for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God, but all things are possible with God. And when Peter, always trying to look good, says, “We’ve left everything to follow you,” Jesus reminds him that the first will be last, and the last will be first. Perhaps that is even a little insight into Peter’s rash behavior—in his trying to look humble, he is too proud about it.
Psalm 19:7-10 declares that the law of God is perfect; it revives the soul, makes wise the simple, and enlightens the eyes. The law of God is more desirable than all the world’s wealth and fruits of harvest.
On this first Sunday of Lent, we rejoice that spring is coming. Resurrection is coming. But in this time when we wait (oh, don’t the seasons of the year always have to do with waiting!), we remember that temptation is all around us to hurry up, to be busy for busy-ness sake, to do things our own way because the other ways are too slow or too simple. Instead, we pause. We remember that Christ gave himself up for us, going to the cross, and that we, too, must humble ourselves, and must remember the needs of others. We will all get there, to that promised land, if we are patient and help one another, becoming last of all and servant of all, resisting the temptations of the world to hurry up and do things our own way.
Call to Worship
The Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness alone;
When we are lonely, Christ is with us.
Jesus faced temptation and resisted evil;
When we face trials in our life, Christ is with us.
God provided for Jesus and met his needs;
When we are ready to give up, Christ is with us.
Enter this time of worship, knowing that Christ is already among us.
May our spirits be renewed, our faith lifted up,
our hearts filled with the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
We confess our pride, O God. We confess that we want to do things our way and at our pace. We confess that in our rush to live our lives we knock over those in our way or let go of others holding us back. Forgive us for not seeing our neighbor in need. Forgive us for causing others to stumble. Forgive us of our sins of pride and selfishness. Call us into Your ways of love and mercy. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Forgiveness/Assurance of Pardon
God knows we want to do things our own way, and it’s hard to stop and remember that God knows best. But when we put our trust in God, we find our spirits renewed. Take a breath. Pause. Slow down. Remember that Christ is with you. Forgive yourself, and forgive others. Know God’s love, and take time to see God’s beauty in creation all around you. Amen.
Prayer
Designer of the Universe, You have designed in us the capacity to love deeply. We close ourselves off because loving so greatly, we become changed, and change is hard. Open our hearts to Your love that surpasses all understanding. Open our minds to new ideas and insights. Open our lives to let others in who are different from us, whom You call Your children, whom we ought to call our neighbors, our kindred in Christ. Open us up, so that we might fully know Your design for us, for our lives, and for our role in this life. Designer, Architect, Creator—fill us with love, as Your intended purpose for us. Amen.
Worship Resources for February 17th—First Sunday of Lent
Revised Common Lectionary: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Luke 4:1-13; Romans 10:8b-13
As we begin Lent, we are reminded of the signs of God’s promises to the people. In Deuteronomy 26:1-11, we remember God’s promise to the people, that one day they would enter the Promised Land, and that they would celebrate by giving back of the first fruits of the land. As they settled into their new home, they would also remember that their history was of being a wandering people, from their ancestor Abraham, a wandering Aramean, to having themselves wandered in the desert. Deuteronomy also has a call to show compassion to those aliens who live among the people, for all those who wander, and to give back to God from the place they now call home. The journey of Lent begins with a reminder that our ancestors were wanderers, and we, too, are on a journey of faith for which we need to give thanks.
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16, is familiar to Christians as the scripture quoted by the devil while Jesus was in the desert, but this psalm brought assurance of God’s deliverance and protection to the people. For the people whose ancestors had wandered, shelter of the Most High was an assurance of God’s presence, a safe haven, an understanding that they were protected. For those who are faithful, they will find shelter, security and safety in God.
Luke 4:1-13 tells the story of the temptation of Jesus when he is in the desert. While Mark’s Gospel doesn’t tell of the temptations Jesus faced, we are given three temptations by the devil in Luke’s account (note that the second and third are reversed in Matthew’s version). We are reminded of the perseverance of Jesus and our own need to persevere against temptation. In Lent, we seek repentance and forgiveness, to turn back to God from where we have gone wrong, and to seek new life in Christ as we journey to the cross. We are reminded of our own need to repent when we have failed, but also to know we are forgiven, and that we can turn from the temptations of the world to the ways of God.
Roman 10:8b-13 is often taken out of context as a “formula” by which one is saved, but when read in full context, we see that Paul is dismantling the concepts that both Jew and Greek Christians held, in that Jesus is the same Christ to both—there is no requirement of circumcision or of special proof, there is no special status to those grafted in (chapter 11) or those who were part of the branches, all believe in the same Jesus the Christ. On this journey of faith, there is a danger of saying some are in and some are out, some are not worthy, or have a lesser place. But even among the Israelites who entered the Promised Land, there were resident aliens, and God reminded them to welcome the strangers and the aliens just as they were welcomed as strangers. So too, followers of Jesus need to welcome others, recognizing that we believe in the same Jesus the Christ.
Lent begins as a journey to the cross, a journey of repentance and self-denial, a journey of serving others. We are also reminded that our ancestors were sojourners, that we are called not only to seek forgiveness but to forgive and reconcile with others, and that we have faith in the same God, the same Christ, and when we are seeking God, we are seeking relationship with each other. The journey reminds us that we are in this together, pilgrims to the cross, where we put to death what has separated us from God and live in the hope of resurrection.
Call to Worship
Out of a faraway land, God called Abraham and Sarah
Our ancestors trusted God to lead them to a new home
Out of Egypt, and out of the wilderness, God called Moses, Aaron and Miriam to lead the people
Our ancestors followed God’s commandments to a new land
Out of exile, God called the people to return to their home
Our ancestors believed in the promise of God to a new life
In this season of Lent, we journey with Christ to the cross
Let us follow our Lord into the hope of resurrection. Amen.
Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
We are broken by sin in the world. We feel powerless to help the hungry and the homeless, the problems seem overwhelming to us. Lord, break through the sin of the world. Help us to find ways to stand up to injustice, to stop participating in systems of sin. Guide us into ways of life that lessen harm to others and the earth. Keep us to paths of righteousness, justice and mercy. In the name of Christ, who overcame temptation, and who journeyed to the cross and gives us the hope of resurrection, we pray. Amen.
Blessing/Assurance of Pardon
Don’t give up. God has not given up on you. As long as you breathe, you have life, you have hope, and you can rejoice, for God is doing something new in you. You are forgiven, you are loved, and you have new life. Go and share this Good News. Amen.
Prayer
God of our ancestors, You became known to us as a God who is always with us, a God who travels with us from place to place. You are also a God who travels with us through our stages of life, through our grief and joy. You never leave us, even when we sin, when we fall short, You are with us. You have shown Your faithfulness in history, in our stories of faith in Scripture, and in our own lives. Call us to seek a deeper understanding of You in our lives, that we may draw closer to You and Your ways. In the name of Jesus, who draws us close, we pray. Amen.