Lectionary for Lent 4
By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8
Reading. Ephesians 2:1-10. Paul’s argument in this passage is really quite straight forward!!! What we were then (before Jesus came) is not what we are now. Similarly what we are now (through the ministry of Jesus), is not what we will be in the new future that Jesus Christ is preparing. What could be simpler!
Seriously, Paul is simply stating that the mercy of God brought Jesus to begin the saving action that was needed for a world gone wrong. Rather than being part of the solution we were part of the problem for we like everything else, had lost our relationship with God and as such we were in the darkness. Jesus came and changed all of that, and so “by grace we have been saved”. This is a twice repeated statement signifying its huge importance in Paul’s argument. Once we were lost but now we are found; once we had no future, now the future is ours. Say it how you like but the end result is all through the grace of God, demonstrated through the ministry of Jesus Christ. We are now with Christ, as it were in his presence. Paul reminds us in Philippians 1:21ff, that either living or dead we are with Christ because we are in Christ. (c/f 2 Corinthians 5:17). However that is only one part of the argument for being in Christ we can still anticipate a future. Christ is now ruling in God’s presence, but there will come a time when Christ will return to rule the world in the New Creation. That was the anticipated cry of triumph of the early Christians, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15 This will signal the “age to come” and as our reading says in this age God will once again show his immeasurable kindness towards us and we will be empowered to both praise and serve him. From Paul’s perspective when we are “in Christ”, the past is gone and a whole new and exciting future is opening up.
Prayer. Lord, as the season changes and the days grow shorter we remember that life its self is filled with changes. We reach a peak and then decline and the sense of our mortality is ever present. As we turn to you now in prayer we remember again that you are from everlasting to everlasting; the Alpha and the Omega; and in you we can find eternal security. In Jesus Christ you have covered our past and presented us with a future which is filled with promise. Though we love life we know that our times and our seasons are all in your hands. We thank you for the safety of your providential care and ask that we may always walk hand in hand with you: Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Reading. John 3:14-21 This passage contains some of the best loved verses in the bible. They are great words of comfort to all who link their lives to God. It expresses the essence of God’s nature which is to love. This love is all encompassing, God loves the world and at the same time expresses the personal love God has for each person. All who believe will not perish but be granted eternal life. These verses give all believers the quiet assurance that life can be faced because God has all things in hand. On the other hand this collection of verses also present a more serious side, for the total care of God is not without conditions. These verses remind us of the consequences of trying to live without God. This principle of consequences is not without precedence: As far back as the beginning of the Old Testament, as the children of Israel were leaving Egypt on the journey to the Promised Land God laid out this principle. “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live. Deuteronomy 30:19 (NRSV) The key within this principle is to live in obedience to God’s law and God’s way. We cannot choose our own way of doing things and then expect that God will simply accept us. Either we live in God’s way and enjoy the blessings that God provides or we do it in our own way and accept the consequences. The ministry of Jesus was that all would work together under the obedience of God’s sovereignty. Therefore while there is some discipline within the Christian life there is also the promise that for those who accept what Jesus has done on our behalf the promise is secure.
Prayer. Gracious Lord, In Jesus Christ you have loved us with an everlasting love and by your grace have drawn us to yourself. We thank and praise you for the wonder of your great love which sustains us in the events of life. Help us always to look to you as we face the trials of life. In joy and in sorrow it is your love that supports us. For this and for all your blessings we give you thanks, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Collect. Gracious Father, you gave us our Lord Jesus Christ as a model of humility: in lowliness and obedience he yielded up his life on the cross. Enable us to follow his example, that, in humility and obedience, we may bear witness to your steadfast love and attain the joy of the resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
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