We continue our journey through Lent, and we are nearing Jerusalem. The road is quite challenging and this week we confront some puzzling questions and a challenging story, prompting us to reflect on our own lives and experience
Call to worship
Come and receive that which is beyond words,
that which is beyond price,
that which will never let you down.
Come and receive the love of God,
Creator, Redeemer and Holy Spirit.
Come. Amen.
Hymn: StF 24 “Come, now is the time to worship”
Come, now is the time to worship.
Come, now is the time give your heart.
Come, just as you are to worship.
Come just as you are before your God, come.
One day every tongue
will confess you are God,
one day every knee will bow.
Still the greatest treasure remains
for those who gladly choose you now,
Come now is the time to worship…
Brian Doerksen (b.1965)
Prayers
based on Psalm 63
O God, you are our God.
Our souls thirst for you.
Our minds long for you.
Our arms reach out for you.
O loving, living God,
our lips will praise you,
our hearts shall bless you;
and we will lift up our hands
and call upon your name day by day,
in thanks and in trust,
and in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
God of grace and wisdom,
we bring to you those times we have been judgemental,
unsympathetic at others’ misfortune.
Christ have mercy
We bring to you our complacency
and our smugness when things go right for us.
Christ, have mercy.
We bring to you our impatience
when things don’t happen as quickly
as we would like them to,
when we give up on others too soon.
Christ have mercy. Amen
Gospel Reading Luke 13.1-9
At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'”
Hymn: StF 93 Though the fruit tree does not blossom
- Though the fruit tree does not blossom,
though no ripened grapes appear,
when the harvest fails and fields provide no food,
I’ll be joyful in my Saviour.
The Lord who is my strength;
he will keep my ways and lead me in his truth.Yet will I praise him;
I will lift my hands to the Redeemer;
yet will I praise him; my Creator and my Lord.
Yet will I praise him;
I will put my trust in my Provider;
yet will I praise him; my Saviour and my God - When the night is overwhelming
and the day is far from clear,
when my heart is restless for the peace of God;
let your word, Lord, through the ages,
be the word that now I hear.
Come remind me once again to trust you, Lord.Refrain
- Be the strength, Lord, in my weakness;
let your song be in my night.
Be my rock when all around is sinking sand,
Be the light, Lord, in the darkness;
be the vision of my eyes;
in my passing days you the great ‘I am.’Refrain
Geraldine Latty (b.1963)
Sermon
Judgement is coming, ready or not.
The trouble is the leaders of Israel have failed to act as God wanted them to. They have failed to deliver the fruits of justice and righteousness that God wants. Judgement is coming ready or not
Things can’t carry on the way they are forever
The Day of Judgement was coming and wouldn’t be put off for long.
The choices we make have consequences.
We know that disaster struck Israel because it was heading along the wrong path – looking for a fantasy world of independence from Rome based on military might instead of seeking justice and peace for its people.
Jesus is always challenging us to examine our lives, our church, our nation and ask are things the way that God wants them to be.
Thinking of ourselves as individuals, if we died tonight would we be ready to answer for our lives before God? Would be proud of the way we have lived? Would we be able to say that we have cared for our neighbours and shown love like Jesus did?
As members of British society would we be able to answer for our nation before God?
Could we tell God how what we have done to bring justice in the land for poor people who increasingly are forced to use food banks, for homeless people who have nowhere to live. and the victims of crime especially knife crime which feeds on fear, drug abuse and insecurity amongst young people. What about the way our newspapers and social media cheered when the government decided to halve our aid budget which was essential to the poorest people on earth?
We have to take the opportunity to change. God gives us time to make a difference, to alter things. Jesus says it is just like a gardener who trims and manures a fig tree to give it every chance to grow but if doesn’t it will have to be cut down and replaced.
Now is our time to fruit. The time of judgement is coming and on that day we will have to answer. Will we be found to be like fig trees whose leaves which like our hymns and prayers promise much but which will be found empty and wanting because there are no fruit of love or mercy in our lives?
Hymn to Reflect on
StF 723 Who can sound the depth of sorrow
- Who can sound the depth of sorrow
in the Father heart of God,
for the children rejected, for lives so deeply scarred?
And each light that we’ve extinguished
has brought darkness to our land:
upon our nation, upon our nation,
have mercy, Lord. - We have scorned the truth you gave us,
we have bowed to other lords.
We have sacrificed the children on the altars of our gods.
O let the truth again shine on us,
let your holy fear descend:
upon our nation, upon our nation,
have mercy, Lord. - Who can stand before your anger?
Who can face your piercing eyes?
For you love the weak and helpless,
and you hear the victims’ cries.
Yes, you are a God of justice,
and your judgement surely comes:
upon our nation, upon our nation,
have mercy, Lord. - Who will stand against the violence?
who will comfort those who mourn?
In an age of cruel rejection,
who will build for love a home?
Come and shake us into action,
come and melt our hearts of stone:
Upon your people, upon your people,
have mercy, Lord.
Graham Kendrick (b.1950)
Questions to think about
- The hymn writer suggests that it is not just ancient Israel that stands under God’s judgement, but our nation does too. What might God judge our nation for?
- In the final verse the hymn writer suggests that God’s people i.e. you and I have a duty to act. Our failure to act up until now is the result of our “stone” like hearts.
In what ways do you think we have failed God and other people? What do you think we need to ask God’s mercy for? - The hymn writer calls upon God to melt our hearts – what difference do you think this could make to us?
Prayer
Thank you, loving God,
for your patience and compassion.
When we are like the fig tree – nurture us.
When we are like the owner of the vineyard – hold us back.
When we are the gardener – empower us.
At all times grant us the patience and wisdom of love,
lest we destroy that which you would bless
and uproot that which you would see blossom.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
Creator God, you call the rulers of the nations to repentance.
You call them to leave behind their old ways
of injustice, oppression, greed and conflict and turn to you;
to seek justice, freedom, plenty and peace
for the peoples with whom they are entrusted.
Creator God, we pray that the rulers of the nations might turn to you.
Let the wicked abandon their ways:
and the evil their thoughts.
Saviour God, you call humankind to repentance.
You call us to leave behind our old ways of living,
our selfishness, guilt, anxiety and despair and turn to you;
to seek love, forgiveness, comfort and hope, to find a new and everlasting life.
Saviour God, we pray that humankind might turn to you.
Let the wicked abandon their ways:
and the evil their thoughts.
Spirit of God, you call the church to repentance.
You call us to leave behind our old failings,
our disagreements, intolerance, apathy and fear and turn to you;
to seek unity, love, vision and courage that the world might see and believe.
Spirit of God, we pray that the church might turn to you.
Let the wicked abandon their ways:
and the evil their thoughts.
In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who came to seek and to save the lost. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
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.
Hymn: StF 564 O thou who camest
- O thou who camest from above
the pure celestial fire to impart,
kindle a flame of sacred love
on the mean altar of my heart! - There let it for thy glory burn
with inextinguishable blaze,
and trembling to its source return,
in humble prayer and fervent praise - Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire
to work, and speak, and think for thee;
still let me guard the holy fire,
and still stir up thy gift in me – - Ready for all thy perfect will,
my acts of faith and love repeat,
till death they endless mercies seal,
and make the sacrifice complete.Charles Wesley (1707 – 1788)
Closing Prayer
Living Lord Jesus, help me to be fruitful for you;
help me to change.
Amen.