Morning Service for Lent 3 2024
HYMN – Lord thy word abideth NEH407 – Ravenshaw
1 Lord, thy word abideth,
And our footsteps guideth;
Who its truth believeth,
Light and joy receiveth.
2 When our foes are near us,
Then thy word doth cheer us,
Word of consolation,
Message of salvation.
3 When the storms are o’er us,
And dark clouds before us,
Then its light directeth,
And our way protecteth.
4 Who can tell the pleasure,
Who recount the treasure
By thy word imparted
To the simple-hearted?
5 Word of mercy, giving
Succour to the living;
Word of life, supplying
Comfort to the dying.
6 O that we discerning
Its most holy learning,
Lord, may love and fear thee,
Evermore be near thee!
PRAYER OF PREPARATION
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen
PRAYERS OF PENITENCE
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Father eternal, giver of light and grace,
we have sinned against you and against our neighbour,
in what we have thought, in what we have said and done,
through ignorance, through weakness,
through our own deliberate fault.
We have wounded your love and marred your image in us.
We are sorry and ashamed and repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us,
forgive us all that is past and lead us out from darkness
to walk as children of light. Amen
May the God of love and power
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by his Spirit
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen
THE COLLECT
Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain,
and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,
may find it none other than the way of life and peace;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen
FIRST READING – Exodus 20.1-17
Then God spoke all these words:
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.
HYMN – O for a closer walk with God NEH 414 – Caithness
1 O for a closer walk with God,
A calm and heavenly frame;
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!
2 Return, O holy Dove, return,
Sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from my breast.
3 The dearest idol I have known,
Whate’er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.
4 So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame;
So purer light shall mark the road
That leads me to the Lamb.
GOSPEL – John 2.13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
SERMON
The Ten Commandments are a sobering read – they become the terms of God’s third covenant with Israel. The first to Noah, the second to Abraham and now this third to the freed Hebrew slaves in the wilderness. According to the writer of the book of Exodus these Ten Commandments were given by the voice of God himself from the holy mountain of Sinai, in fear and trembling the people heard them.
They begin with the declaration of God’s own name, Yahweh, and that name it is to be for ever linked to the exodus, the redemption from slavery, the release to be a people, God’s own people. Yahweh characterises himself as one who frees, liberates from exploitation and oppression, but also as one who will have no equal.
Yahweh insists that he is the subject and not an object, a Thou and not an It, a personal agent who must be honoured, taken seriously, responded to. There is competition, that is accepted, there are rival conflicting interests, other gods who might be worshipped, other priorities and motivations, but Yahweh insists on being put first.
Yahweh also resists being useful, his name cannot be subverted, he cannot be domesticated and manipulated to our ends.
To keep this covenant requires the honouring of the Sabbath – a weekly reminder that God is God and to honour him we must disrupt our lives, cease from production, cease from consumption. To rest on the Sabbath day is inconvenient, to rest oneself, one’s employees, one’s livestock, might be a huge financial sacrifice, but it is insisted upon, demanded and commanded. This is the most profound acknowledgement that God is God, a weekly reminder that we are not God.
We now understand the need for rest, the need for re-creation, but for thousands of years the Sabbath day marked the Jews out as an extraordinary people with a God that made demands and made a difference to people’s lives.
The remaining commandments address social relationships – for a healthy communal life people must be treated with dignity, respect, and justice, and not as subjects or commodities to be used and abused.
The Ten Commandments are, in their way, a revolutionary document, they begin a set of commands which inaugurate a new vision, a community regulated not by fear of kings, but by fear of God, a community not oppressed by the wealthy and the powerful, but one with freedoms guaranteed by the word of its God.
When Jesus strode through the temple turning over the tables of the money changers he too was making a political statement – one that would cost him his life. It was a symbolic act of disgust at the temple authorities. The Sanhedrin and the high priest knew what he meant. In the operation of the Torah and the whole panoply of temple worship, they had forgotten who was at its centre, who was supposed to be its purpose and its focus – Yahweh.
In announcing its destruction Jesus declared that he would supplant it, in him worship would begin again, renewed, recreated, refreshed. Such opposition was not merely a theological dispute, an argument over ancient texts or priestly rituals, it was insurrection. Jesus charged the authorities with manipulating God and his worship for their own ends, with using God to exploit their own people. For Jesus there could be no more serious crime – and the Sanhedrin and the high priest knew exactly what he meant.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Let us declare our faith in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures;
he was buried; he was raised to life on the third day
in accordance with the scriptures;
afterwards he appeared to his followers,
and to all the apostles: this we have received,
and this we believe. Amen. 1 Corinthians 15.3-7
HYMN – Father of heaven whose love profound NEH 358 – Rievaulx
1 Father of heaven, whose love profound
A ransom for our souls hath found,
Before thy throne we sinners bend:
To us thy pardoning love extend.
2 Almighty Son, incarnate Word,
Our Prophet, Priest, Redeemer, Lord,
Before thy throne we sinners bend:
To us thy saving grace extend.
3 Eternal Spirit, by whose breath
The soul is raised from sin and death,
Before thy throne we sinners bend:
To us thy quickening power extend.
4 Thrice Holy! Father, Spirit, Son,
Mysterious Godhead, Three in One,
Before thy throne we sinners bend:
Grace, pardon, life to us extend.
INTERCESSIONS – Mary Hinton
Lord, we pray for our world and we ask for your help and guidance as we strive to protect its fragile institutions. May those in authority both nationally and internationally be aware of the responsibility they carry. Turning away from corruption and seeking justice and peace.
Lord, we pray for the people of Gaza who feel forsaken. We pray for those trying to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, a release of Israeli hostages, destruction to stop and aid to flow in. Lord, have mercy on the people of Ukraine, who are surviving in the rubble of homes and livelihoods, while the military stand against the aggressor.
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
Lord, may these weeks of Lent be a time of quiet and refreshment to reaffirm our faith. A time to contemplate the awful suffering and pain which were to come for Jesus. We remember in our prayers, all Bishops and Clergy who minister in your church, especially our newly appointed Bishop Phillip and William our Rector. We give thanks for the laity who support us in our world and our faith.
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
Lord, life has become complicated and expensive; international trade has been disrupted. We feel it in our local community and beyond. May we remain mindful and supportive of all who struggle day to day and those organisations reaching out to help them.
Lord, bless and guide us, our families and friends, that we may love one another and seek the common good.
Lord – in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for all who are sick of mind, body or spirit and all those who care for them in their need. Lord, pour out your healing love on all who suffer. In a moment of quiet, we remember Geoff Small…. and those know to us personally.
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
Lord, hear us as we remember before you all who have died, remembering in this benefice: Anne Richardson and John Bowen. May they rest in peace and may light perpetual shine upon them.
Lord, be with all who mourn the loss of someone close.
Merciful Father,
accept these prayers, for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
As our Saviour taught us, so we pray:
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.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
BLESSING
Christ the Son of God perfect in you the image of his glory and gladden your hearts with the good news of his kingdom; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon us and remain with us always. Amen
HYMN – O Jesus I have promised NEH 420 – Thornbury
1 O Jesus, I have promised
To serve thee to the end;
Be thou for ever near me,
My Master and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle
If thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway
If thou wilt be my guide.
2 O let me hear thee speaking
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
To hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen,
Thou guardian of my soul.
3 O Jesus, thou hast promised
To all who follow thee,
That where thou art in glory
There shall thy servant be;
And Jesus, I have promised
To serve Thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow,
My Master and my Friend.
4 O let me see thy footmarks,
And in them plant mine own;
My hope to follow duly
Is in thy strength alone;
O guide me, call me, draw me,
Uphold me to the end;
And then in heaven receive me,
My Saviour and my Friend.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
In the name of Christ. Amen