Passion Sunday, Lent 5 - Virtual Service: 29 March 2020 - We Lament; We Wait; We Hope

Welcome and Invitation to worship

O Lord, open our lips
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise

Let your ways be known upon the earth,
Your saving power among all nations

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation
To you be praise and glory for ever.
As a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
Your only son was lifted up
That he might draw the whole world to himself.
May we walk this day in the way of the cross
And always be ready to share its weight,
Declaring your love for all the world.
Blessed be God, Father Son and Holy Spirit

Blessed be God for ever.

Lord, we lament, we wait, we hope, we pray

Confession:

O God, you know my foolishness
and my sins are not hidden from you:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Let not the flood overwhelm me
nor the depths swallow me up;
let not the pit shut its mouth upon me:
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Hear me, O Lord, as your loving kindness is good;
turn to me as your compassion is great:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Hymn -My Song is Love Unknown, Samuel Crossman, 1665
sung by King’s College choir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMart4wXsI0

My song is love unknown, My Saviour's love to me;
Love to the loveless shown, That they might lovely be.
O who am I, That for my sake
My Lord should take Frail flesh, and die?

He came from His blest throne Salvation to bestow;
But men made strange, and none The longed-for Christ would know:
But oh, my Friend, My Friend indeed,
Who at my need His life did spend.

Sometimes they strew His way, And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day Hosannas to their King:
Then "Crucify!" Is all their breath,
And for His death They thirst and cry.

They rise and needs will have My dear Lord made away;
A murderer they save, The Prince of life they slay.
Yet cheerful He To suffering goes,
That He His foes From thence might free.

Here might I stay and sing, No story so divine;
Never was love, dear King, Never was grief like Thine.
This is my Friend, In whose sweet praise
I all my days Could gladly spend

Readings 

The full readings for today can be found by clicking on these links:

Ezekiel 37.1-14 - 

Psalm 130 -

Romans 8.6-11 -

John 11.1-45 -

Readings (short extracts taken from today’s lectionary readings)

Ezekiel 37:11,14
They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.”
‘I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’ 

Psalm 130:1-7
1  Out of the depths have I cried to you, O Lord;
    Lord, hear my voice; •
   let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.

2  If you, Lord, were to mark what is done amiss, •
   O Lord, who could stand?

3  But there is forgiveness with you, •
   so that you shall be feared.

4  I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; •
   in his word is my hope.

5  My soul waits for the Lord,
     more than the night watch for the morning, •
   more than the night watch for the morning.

6  O Israel, wait for the Lord, •
   for with the Lord there is mercy;

7  With him is plenteous redemption •
   and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

John 11:25-27
Jesus said to her [Martha], ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah.’ 

Sermon: Passion Sunday: We Lament, We Wait, We Hope, We Pray

Click here to watch online.

What a strange time we are in right now and how quickly things have changed in the last week alone! Last Sunday all worship services were suspended, but the church remained open. 

Now, everything but supermarkets, hospitals and essential services are closed; we’ve had a week of ‘lockdown’. Many people in our nation and worldwide are in self-isolation, and many are suffering or have died from Coronavirus. 

This is my first video recorded sermon and my first preached to a virtual congregation! 

How are we? Well, we are all concerned. The pace of change is enormously stressful, and we find ourselves sometimes anxious, or angry or fearful, or resigned - not only about the virus itself, but about the long term effects it will have on our economy, our mental health and our society. It’s normal to feel this way. We are experiencing worldwide turmoil and grief, and it’s safe to say that things will never be the same again. 

Today, Passion Sunday, we are together, yet apart: We lament, we wait, we hope and we pray.

We can identify with the lament in Psalm 130:

‘Out of the depths have I cried to you, O Lord;
       Lord, hear my voice;

And with the words of the prophet Ezekiel from ch 37:11
They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.”

Or with the words spoken by Martha to Jesus, after the death of her brother:
‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’

You may be asking, where is God in the midst of this? Does he hear me as I cry to him? Does he care? How can the church help, now that it’s closed? And what can I do to change things, or to make things better? Again, these are normal and important questions, and ones which I hope to begin to address today.

Today, as well as being the first Sunday of Lockdown, is also the Fifth Sunday of Lent, known as ‘Passion Sunday’. In fact the accounts of Jesus’ death in the Gospel’s are known as ‘Passion narratives’. That’s because they are concerned with Christ’s suffering. The word Passion is derived from the Latin Pati or passio, meaning suffering. But the other meaning of passion, the more common meaning is intense love. The passion of Jesus is a demonstration of God’s passionate love for the world, the depth of which is revealed in the suffering and death of Jesus. So today is the beginning of the two weeks of the passion or suffering of Jesus which lead up to Easter.

Reflecting on today’s readings, as well as recognising the situation we find ourselves in, I’d like to reflect on three things: Lament, Waiting and Hoping

We Lament

Lament is simply crying out, from the bottom of our heart. Many Psalms, such as 130, begin with Lament. One of the most familiar is the cry uttered in Ps 22: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me’, the cry Jesus uttered in agony on the cross. 

Another is the cry of the prophets who look to God and ask the same question we ask: ‘Where are you in the midst of my suffering?’ “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” 

The book of Lamentations in the Bible contains 5 laments, each crying out to God, ‘Where are you?’. 

In the midst of this time of suffering and of anxiety, it is helpful to remember that praying in the form of lament is not only permissible, but it is cathartic. We need to cry out to God from the depths of our heart.

We Wait

The second response which is helpful and necessary in the midst of suffering is waiting. Waiting, watching, time passing, are essential parts of the process of healing and of re-calibration. Waiting means acknowledging to ourselves before God that in the midst of the crisis, this ‘new normal’ God is present. 

Martha, after her brother Lazarus had died had to wait for Jesus to come. The Psalmist, too, waits: 

‘I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; •
   in his word is my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord,
      more than the night watch for the morning, •
   more than the night watch for the morning.

And in Lamentations 3, 
²⁴ I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion;     therefore I will wait for him.’
²⁵ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,     to the one who seeks him; ²⁶ it is good to wait quietly     for the salvation of the Lord.

Part of waiting is putting our trust in God to work in spite of the situation, and sometimes because of the situation. So even in the midst of this awful pandemic, we are witnessing something good coming about as a result of the lockdown: the healing and re-calibration of creation itself. 

I’m sure some of you have seen the images of aerial view above China or Italy before the virus struck, with so much pollution, and after industry and air traffic had ceased. 

Perhaps as well as the healing of the planet, time to slow down and be with family is also bringing restorative benefit. 

If not yet, wait. Wait and watch for the Lord

We Hope 

We lament, we wait but we also hope, for that is the nature of faith and trust in God: a God who’s passionate love for us led him through pain and anguish and suffering on the cross is also the God who’s love draws us to himself and offers us forgiveness, restored relationship with himself and at the last eternal life with him.

Actually, there are a lot of signs of hope around. Just this week, I witnessed and joined in with three signs of hope: the first were the many lighted candles placed in our windows last Sunday night, signs of light in the midst of darkness and worldwide prayer. The second sign of hope was on Thursday morning when I took my exercise, prayer walking around Lakeland estate, I saw so many rainbows in windows: The rainbows which children have placed in their windows at home are to show hope and unity. The third was on Thursday night when so many people on our street and all over the country stood on their doorsteps clapping to say thank you to the tireless work of the NHS and to express hope and unity in the face of this virus.

The end of Ps 130 says:
O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, •
   for with the Lord there is unfailing love;
With him is plenteous redemption •
   and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

And, of course, in the very well-known account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead, a foreshadowing of Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead on the third day, Jesus says these word that offer the ultimate hope:

Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’

Jesus’ final question to Martha is the question I leave you with today: 

‘Do you believe this?’.

Do you believe, ultimately, that God’s passionate love, which led Jesus to die, is for you? Do you wait for his presence and restoration during this time of trial in all of our lives? Do you hope in him, who through his death, offers us resurrection and life eternal? 

‘Do you believe this?’

We Pray

God of compassion,
We cry out to you;
In the midst of this pandemic;
be close to those who are ill,
anxious, afraid or in isolation.
In their loneliness, be their consolation;
in their anxiety, be their hope;
in their darkness, be their light;
Receive our prayer through him
who suffered alone on the cross,
but reigns with you in glory,
Our eternal hope and our salvation,
Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen.

Intercessions: Let us pray to God, who alone makes us dwell in safety: 

For all who are affected by coronavirus,
through illness or isolation or anxiety,
that they may find relief and recovery:
Lord, hear us, 
Lord, graciously hear us. 

For those who are guiding our nation at this time,
and shaping national policies,
that they may make wise decisions:
Lord, hear us, 
Lord, graciously hear us.  

For doctors, nurses and medical researchers,
that through their skill and insights
many will be restored to health:
Lord, hear us, 
Lord, graciously hear us.  

For the vulnerable and the fearful,
for the gravely ill and the dying,
that they may know your comfort and peace:
Lord, hear us, 
Lord, graciously hear us.  

We commend ourselves, and all for whom we pray,
to the mercy and protection of God. 

Merciful Father, 
accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, 
our Saviour Jesus Christ. 
Amen. 

Collect

Most merciful God,
who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
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.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hymn As we remember Christ’s passion, we sing When I Survey the Wondrous Cross by Isaac Newton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_fvFfPqjO4

1. When I survey the wond'rous Cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest Gain I count but Loss,
And pour Contempt on all my Pride. 

 2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the Death of Christ my God:
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his Blood. 

3. See from his Head, his Hands, his Feet,
Sorrow and Love flow mingled down!
Did ever such Love and Sorrow meet?
Or Thorns compose so rich a Crown? 

 4. His dying Crimson, like a Robe,
Spreads o'er his Body on the Tree;
Then am I dead to all the Globe,
And all the Globe is dead to me. 

 5. Were the whole Realm of Nature mine,
That were a Present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my Soul, my Life, my All.