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St Clement Church Community First Sunday in Lent Service

Good morning

We are now in Lent, the period of forty days leading up to Easter. Unlike Advent, which is a celebration and a time of anticipation, Lent has been a traditional time for fasting, giving up something or abstinence. Whether we choose to give up things we enjoy or perhaps choose to do a daily good deed for someone else, Lent invites us to make our minds and hearts ready for remembering Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

With love to you all

Liz

Let us pray

Jesus, Lamb of God, when you walked the earth, you did not consider heavenly equality, though that was yours to choose, but took the role of servant, and in humility and obedience allowed the rough of our sin to be hammered into your flesh for the sake of our salvation. And so it is that we acknowledge you as Lord of all, to the glory of God the Father, Son and Spirit, Three. Amen

We say together:

Forgive those things we have done which have caused you sadness, and those things we should have done that would have brought you joy.

In both we have failed ourselves and you.

Bring us back to that place where our journey began, when we said that we would follow the way that you first trod. Lead us to the Cross and meet us there.

Amen

Hymn: 538 On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry

Prayer of Penitence

Lord God, we have sinned against you; we have done evil in your sight. We are sorry and repent. Have mercy on us according to your love. Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin. Renew a right spirit within us and restore us to the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Collect for First Sunday in Lent

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your power to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen

Readings:

Genesis 9. 8 - 17

1 Peter 3. 18 – the end

Hymn: 132 Father hear the prayer we offer

Gospel: Mark 1. 9 - 15

(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

(This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.)

Reflection

Home is, hopefully, a place of safety, warmth, security. At some point we’ve all done it - we leave home. Throughout our lives, over and over again, we leave home. We leave home physically, emotionally and spiritually. We leave the places that are familiar, comfortable and predictable. Sometimes we can’t wait to leave; we’re ready to go. Other times, we would rather not leave and other times, the circumstances of life push us out the door. Regardless of how or why it happens, leaving home is part of life. It happens in lots of different ways and times.

For children, it might be the first day of school. Young adults move out of their parents’ home to start university or go to work. The significant changes in life are all forms of leaving home: a marriage, a divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a loved one. New employment or the loss of employment are about leaving home. Moving to a new town, retirement, the loss of health, all involve leaving home. The major decisions that bring us to the crossroads in life are also about leaving home. Certainly, I can remember many of these; life changing dramatically.

Leaving home can be difficult, frightening and risky. It opens us to new discoveries about ourselves. It challenges our understanding of where we find significance, meaning and security. Ultimately, though, leaving home is the beginning of our spiritual journey and growth. We are more vulnerable to and in need of God when we leave home.

Leaving home is not simply about the circumstances of life. Throughout the Bible, we learn it is the way of God’s people. Adam and Eve left the garden. Noah left his dry land home. God told Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you.” Jacob ran away from home fearing for his life. Moses and the Israelites left their home in Egypt. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is leaving home.

Mark tells us, “Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee” to the River Jordan. He leaves his home and now stands with John in the Jordan, the border between home and the wilderness. There he is baptised. The heavens are torn apart, the Spirit like a dove descends, and a voice declares, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” From there, “the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” Baptism may happen in the river but the baptismal life begins in the wilderness.

This story is not just about Jesus. It is our story too. The Father’s words refer to Jesus in a uniquely literal way but they also apply to each one of us. By grace, gift, and the choice of God we are his beloved daughters and sons. If leaving home, getting baptized and going into the wilderness is Jesus’ way, then it is our way too. We leave behind our old identity, we are identified and claimed by God as his children, and we go into the wilderness.

This is what this holy season of Lent is about. It is no coincidence that on Wednesday we were marked with ashes of remembrance, the dust of our creation, and today we are taken to the wilderness. Wednesday’s ashes lead us to wilderness soil. Lent is about leaving home, and leaving home in Lent and life, always takes us to the wilderness.

The wilderness is an in-between place. We are betwixt and between, neither here nor there. We have left behind what was, and what will be, is not yet clear. In the wilderness we come face to face with the reality of our lives; things done and left undone, our fears, our hopes and dreams, our sorrows and losses, as well as the unknown. These facts of our life are the source of our temptations.

Temptations – we tend to think of as relating to our behaviour. Behaviour is important, but the real temptations are from within us, not around us. We are either tempted to believe that we are more than or less than the dust of God’s creation or we are tempted to not trust God’s willingness to get his hands dirty in the dust of who we are. The temptations are not about our behaviour, breaking rules, being bad. God doesn’t tempt us to see if we pass or fail. The temptations are for our benefit, not God’s. They are part of our salvation. We leave home and experience wilderness temptations to discover our true identity as a beloved child of God, and our only real home is with God.

We can never escape or avoid the wilderness. Like Jesus, we must go through it. We must face ‘the temptations of Satan and be with the wild beasts.’ BUT, “Remember who you are,” is their message. “You are a beloved son of God. You are a beloved daughter of God. You are one with whom he is well pleased.” Over and over they tell us. They remind us. They encourage and reassure us.

With each remembrance of who we are, a child of God, we can overcome the temptations and take another step towards God. That is the way through the wildernesses of life. Remembrance after remembrance, step after step; “I am a beloved child of God. With me he is well pleased.”

Through Lent, and indeed each day of our lives, let these words fill our minds, cross our lips and occupy our hearts. The truth of these words is the way home.

Amen

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: 400 Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us

Intercessions by Daphne Hawkins

In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ, let us pray to the Father.

Merciful Father, on this the first Sunday of our Lenten journey, we pray you will be with us, present in our little church and reaching out to those unable to be with us in body, but join us every week in mind and spirit. Thank you for another night of sleep and rest; for renewed health and energy as we start out on another day; for the certainty that whatever that day may hold, we do not face it alone but with you beside us. You will never let us down.