Continuing in the Covenant of Baptism: To Serve all People, Following the Example of Jesus

 

Continuing in the Covenant of Baptism: To serve all people, following the example of Jesus

A midweek evening prayer service for Lent 4 

Opening Dialogue

Behold, now is the acceptable time;

now is the day of salvation.

Turn us again, O God of our salvation,

that the light of your face may shine on us.

May your justice shine like the sun;

and may the poor be lifted up.

 

Hymn of Light – O Light Whose Splendor Thrills (ELW# 563)

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Thanksgiving for Light                                                                                                                    

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

We give you thanks, O God, for in the beginning you called light into being, and you set light in the sky to govern night and day.

In a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night you led your people into freedom. Enlighten our darkness by the light of your Christ: may your Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; for you are merciful, and you love your whole creation, and with all your creatures we give you glory, through your Son Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Psalmody: Psalm 25:1-10 spoken responsively by half verse

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

O my God, in you I trust;

    do not let me be put to shame;

    do not let my enemies exult over me.

Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;

    let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;

    teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth, and teach me,

    for you are the God of my salvation;

    for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,

    for they have been from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

    according to your steadfast love remember me,

    for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

Good and upright is the Lord;

    therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right,

    and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,

    for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

 

Hymn – Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service (ELW #712)

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A reading from the Gospel of John 13:31-35

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Here ends the lesson.

Thanks be to God.

Reflection - Pastor Jennifer

We are nearing the end of this series of continuing the covenant of baptism. Thus far we have contemplated on the first three promises

1. to live among Gods faithful people
2. to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper
3. to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed.

The focus of this week is To serve all people, following the example of Jesus. 

Recall a time in your life when you came in from outside and your feet were hot and dusty, perhaps feeling tired and sore.

You ran a bit of water in the tub, perhaps put in some nice body wash or maybe some epsom salts. You sit on the edge of the tub and place your tired, dusty and dirty feet in the water. 

You close your eyes and allow the sensation of the water swirling around your feet to linger. 

an audible deep sigh is let out. relief. 

and as you take the washcloth and rub between your toes and on the soles of your feet washing away the dust and dirt- you feel refreshed. your whole body feels refreshed, not only your feet. 

taking your feet out of the water the air touches your wet feet making them tingle. then a dry towel is wrapped around your feet further increasing the sense of refreshment. After wiping them dry, you wiggle your toes on the bathmat, smiling at your clean feet, glad to be rid of the dirt and grime of the day. Refreshed and renewed 

It is a sign of hospitality to have your guest’s feet washed when they come in from their journey. For us it is an off-putting thing. but in those countries and places where people walk along dusty roads and paths it is normal, it is expected as it is part of the culture. However it is not the host who washes but the house servant who does this.  

I experienced this when I travelled to Madagascar. We had been walking quite far in a rural area  and our feet were dry and dusty and quite tired form our journey. We arrived at our host's residence and the servant came out and motioned to us to sit on a long bench in the shade. We sat and she removed our sandals and then one by one she came by and poured cool refreshing water over our feet and scrubbed our feet with a cloth and then dried them. At first I was uncomfortable mostly because I was aware of my white colonial privilege in an African Country but as soon as that cool water touched my feet and her hands gently held my feet rubbing away the dirt and grime of the journey I understood in my depths what this act of servanthood was all about. I met Jesus that day. 

Jesus is sharing a meal with his disciples, his friends. During the meal he washes the disciples' feet. The host is not to wash the guests feet, it was a task reserved for the servant not for a teacher, friend and rabbi. 

Jesus knows that his friends will betray him and indeed Judas has just left the room and yet Jesus still offers this sign of servanthood, of love to show them that this is how God will use us to love, bless, heal and feed people in this world. 

Jesus says “A new commandment I give you, just as I have loved you, you also love one another.”  

If we want to understand the promise we make in our baptism to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, we have only to look at Jesus’ life and actions. The foot-washing in which he so recently engaged sets the tone for the humble service that Jesus expects his disciples to render to each other.

In community we are to love and Iive among God’s faithful people. Jesus also calls us to love our neighbours and our enemies because God loves the world and all people in it. 

This new commandment Jesus gives the disciples is positive and open-ended. Rather than focusing on the “Thou shalt nots,” of the ten commandments and the laws of Leviticus, it says, “thou shalt.” 

Where many Old Testament laws were very specific, this law is very broad. We can never claim full compliance, because there is no end to the requirement. When have we loved enough? There is always need for more love. People could respond to the old law with a bookkeeper’s mindset. Not so with this new commandment!

The focus is on loving action rather than loving feelings. In chapter 15, Jesus will repeat the commandment, saying, “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13). In his own life, Jesus translates love into action that benefits the beloved. He calls us to do the same.

This makes it possible to obey.  

While it might be impossible to feel affection for some people, it is not impossible to help them. Our action-love is a gift of Christ, who loved us, showed us how love behaves, and makes of us a new people born again in his image and capable of loving with his love. We can truly obey this commandment when “it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20).

If you believe yourself to have a valid excuse not to love a particular person, consider the context in which Jesus tells the disciples to love one another. Jesus has just told them that one of them will betray him, and they do not know who that will be. The betrayer Judas has departed (v. 30), but the disciples do not know that (vv. 28-29). Jesus commands them to love one another anyway—in spite of the fact that they do not know who the betrayer will be—do not know who it is that they cannot trust.

Our Christian witness can take many forms, from supporting food banks to solemn liturgy,  but it always involves love.

The church grew rapidly after the resurrection, in part because of the powerful witness of Christian love. “See how they love one another,” the pagans said (Tertullian, Apology). It is difficult not to respond to the witness of a loving person.

Ignoring this new commandment is not an option. Paul warns, “If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal,… If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

But, as with all commandments, this one ultimately requires us to rely on God’s grace rather than our compliance with the law. 

Most of us fail daily to act in loving ways, even toward loved ones—and even more so toward people who rub us the wrong way. 

The Good News is that God loves us anyway! We must pray for grace to keep the commandment—and for grace when we fail. 

Let us pray:

Though you are God,

with all the influence and status that the name implies,

you refused to pull rank,

and parade your power among us.

Instead, you chose to step down into our experience,

living among us, as one of us,

with all the struggle and suffering

that goes with being human.

More than that, you adopted the role of slave,

washing feet, serving people of no reputation or social standing,

and giving of yourself completely.

As incredible as it sounds,

you are the God who serves,

and we can respond in no other way

than to give ourselves to you in praise.  Amen*

* The God who Serves by John van de Laar  https://sacredise.com/the-god-who-serves/

Scriptural Dialogue                                                                                                              

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,

but in these last days God has spoken to us by the Son.

 

Gospel Canticle – My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness (ELW #251)

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The Prayers

In peace, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For the health of the creation, for abundant harvests that all may share, and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For public servants, the government, and those who protect us; for those who work to bring peace, justice, healing, and protection in this and every place, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For those who travel, for those who are sick and suffering, and for those who are in captivity, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For deliverance in the time of affliction, wrath, danger, and need, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For all servants of the church, for this assembly, and for all people who await from the Lord great and abundant mercy, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

A time of silence follows.

Giving thanks for all who have gone before us and are at rest, rejoicing in the communion of all the saints, we commend ourselves, one another, and our whole life to you, through Christ our Lord.

To you, O Lord.

O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works: give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey your commandments; and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God forever. Amen.

We give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have graciously protected us today. We ask you to forgive us all our sins, where we have done wrong, and graciously to protect us tonight. Into your hands we commend ourselves: our bodies, our souls, and all that is ours. Let your holy angels be with us, so that the wicked foe may have no power over us. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Let us pray as Jesus taught us:

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 forever. Amen.

 

Blessing

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen.