St Clement Church Community Sunday before Lent Service

St Clement Church Community Service

Sunday before Lent

Good morning to you all, I’m sending this service out on behalf of Liz, who is poorly in hospital. Father David Wills is taking a Eucharist service at St Clement on Sunday, this Service of the Word is for you to read at home if you’re unable to attend in person. We send Liz our love and prayers, my best wishes to you all, Rev Di

From Liz; welcome to our Community Sunday Morning Service. Are you ready? We are three days away from the beginning of Lent. How do you follow Lent? Do you give up things, like chocolate or alcohol? Do you set aside a little bit longer each day to read your Bible and pray, or do you consciously do an extra ‘good deed’ each day? Perhaps you don’t do any of those things. Lent was the time that Jesus used to prepare Himself for the agony of what lay ahead of him, and then the glory of His Resurrection. What do we need to do to prepare ourselves for sharing in the pain of Good Friday and then the wondrous joy of Easter?

With love Liz

Let us pray

Dear Lord, as we gather here in the harbour of your safety, we thank you for fellowship and family. We ask that you will strengthen us, restore us, and inspire us with your love. Lord, fill us with your peace so that, as we journey onwards, we may pour out your love and grace to others. We ask that our souls may catch the wind of your Spirit so that we may take your promises to all the earth. Amen

A prayer of Penitence

Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen

Hymn: ‘Tis Good, Lord, to be Here’

The Collect for the Sunday before Lent

Almighty Father, whose Son was revealed in majesty before he suffered death upon the cross: give us grace to perceive his glory, that we may be strengthened to suffer with him and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Readings Exodus 24. 12 – 18 2 Peter 1. 16 – 21

Hymn: ‘Be Thou my Vision’

Gospel – Matthew 17. 1 - 9

(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew)

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord

Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ’This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’ When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’

(This is the Gospel of our Lord Response: Praise to you, O Christ)

Reflection

All of us will, at one time or another, have been on interview for a new job, or will have moved house, or will have decided to ask someone to marry us or been the one who said ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ or experienced the loss of a loved one. The result, whatever it may have been, will mean ‘change!’ Change, whether we see it as good or bad, wanted or unwanted, is rarely simple. I’m pretty sure all of us have woken up the next morning wondering ‘what has just happened?’ We may have sighed with relief, we may have wept with disappointment or sorrow, we may have celebrated but equally we may well have wondered what we have just gotten ourselves into, for, at some level, we will have to deal with change.

All of us will have woken up to change in our lives, in the United Kingdom, and in our world. We’ve wondered ‘just what is going on’ and ‘what do I do now?’ Sometimes it is the change that we wanted and other times it is change we never wished for or wanted. Sometimes we experience the change as positive and good. Other times, the change is painful and a loss of something we valued or wanted. Whether we see it as good or bad, desired or unwanted, change always comes with consequences, challenges and questions.

I suspect that each of us could tell stories about the changes that we have experienced, the changes that are happening in our lives right now, or the changes that we hope or fear are happening. How do we live in the midst of change? What handholds are there when it seems the world around us as well as within us is changing?

I wonder whether the disciples in today’s Gospel might be asking the same kind of questions, and if they too are feeling the wind of change blowing through their lives. Why? Well, immediately before Jesus takes Peter, James and John up the mountain, he tells them and the others that He must suffer, die and be resurrected on the third day. He will tell them this again after they come down from the mountain.

What happens on that mountain top took place between Jesus’ two statements of impending change. Maybe that event, what we call the Transfiguration, was about preparing and helping the disciples live through the coming change. Maybe, the Transfiguration story has something to teach and show each one of us about how to live in the midst of change. Maybe that’s why, every year, the Transfiguration is the Gospel we hear on the Sunday before we enter the season of Lent, a season that focuses on change. Change, whether on the mountain top of life or in the valley of the shadow of death is a reality for all of us.

One of the things I am aware of in the midst of change is just how many voices begin to speak. Some are outside of me and some are from within. There are voices of commentators chattering about what is happening and what should be done, voices of judgement, voices of second guessing, voices of fear. There are voices of self-doubt, self-criticism, and all the would’ves, should’ves, and could’ves. Some voices tell us to run and hide, and others tell us to fight and resist. Some voices ask questions and want explanations. Other voices deny what is happening, blame, or declare it to be the end of the world. So many voices cry out for attention. Not every voice, however, is helpful or worth listening to.

Some voices may sound sweet but they are not good for us. The story of the Transfiguration says there is only one voice to listen to. The voice of God speaks from the bright cloud overshadowing Peter, James, and John. ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him.’

What if in the midst of change we sought to hear and listen to that one voice, the voice of Christ? What if we kept our ears open to what he is saying in our life and the world today? To let ourselves become aware of and attentive to what he is saying and doing, to let his concerns and desires become our concerns and desires, to let his way of engaging life and the world become our way of engaging life and the world. It would mean that whatever change comes upon us, it does not have to have the final word. There is another voice. Jesus is always speaking a word larger and more powerful than all the other voices. In the midst of change, Jesus speaks a word of life, a word of hope, a word of forgiveness, a word of mercy, a word of beauty, a word of generosity, a word of courage, a word of love, a word of healing.

I suspect we’ve all faced change that has caused us to stumble and fall, paralysed us, or left us overwhelmed. Again, this is not about whether the change is perceived as good or bad. It’s about regaining our balance and getting our feet back under us. It’s about stepping into new life when we aren’t sure what that looks like or if there really is a new life waiting for us.

The three disciples ‘fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.’ Jesus touches them and says, ‘Get up.’ But, it’s more than just ‘get up.’ A more literal translation would be something like ‘be raised up,’ ‘be aroused from the sleep of death,’ or maybe even ‘be resurrected.’

Jesus comes to us in whatever circumstances of change we find ourselves, touches us, and says, ‘Get up, be raised.’ It’s the promise that though life has changed, it has not ended. Somehow new life is hidden in the midst of change, even when we cannot see it or do not believe it. God uses the changing circumstances of our lives and world to bring us into new life.

Most of us I suspect live with some level of fear. Change often brings about fear – the fear of losing what we love, value and desire; and sometimes it’s the fear that comes with getting what we want. In the midst of change Jesus says, ‘Do not be afraid.’ He speaks to the heart of the human condition. They are the words we need to hear when we are raised up and back on our feet. His words do not magically eliminate our fear. Instead, they are the call to take a first step into a new and changed life despite our fear. They are the assurance, once again, that change does not have the final word. Christ does. We are not called to be fearless but to be courageous in the midst of change and fear.

I don’t know what changes you are dealing with but, listen to Him. Be raised up. Do not be afraid. What if those words are holy wisdom for times of change? What if they are the means by which we step into our own transfiguration? Maybe it wasn’t Jesus who changed on the mountain top. Maybe it was Peter, James, and John. Maybe their eyes were opened and their seeing changed, so that everywhere they looked they saw ‘Jesus himself alone.’ Maybe they saw Jesus for the first time as He had always been.

If that’s true, and I believe it is, then it means that every change – whether good or bad, wanted or unwanted, joyful or sorrowful is illumined with divine light and filled with God’s presence.

Listen to Him. Be raised up. Do not be afraid. Amen

Affirmation of our Faith

Let us declare our faith in God.

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love.

We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high.

We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amen

Hymn: ‘Pour out Thy Spirit from on High’

Intercessions by Helen Dunbar

In the power of the spirit let us pray to the Father through Christ the Saviour of the world.

Dear Lord, we gather here in this Church today to worship you in love and fellowship. We pray to you trusting in your power to transfigure and heal. Help us to set our faces steadfastly to where you would have us go. God in the Glorified Jesus has given us a preview of our resurrection and eternal life. Let us pray that today it will help us grow in our Love and compassion, for those in need.