4 Lent/Year B
March 14, 2021
Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21
Today is the 4th Sunday in Lent…. We are mid-way through the season of Lent… and it seems like a good opportunity to pause…to rest…and to remember…our place, and our belonging, in the greatest love story ever told…the story of God’s love for all people, and for all of creation….
Today, I would like to invite us to pause and rest for a few moments, in the knowledge and in the assurance of this love for us…and to remember…to remember just how far we have come, together, since March 2020, through our faith, through our persistent hope, and by the gift of God’s grace and mercy…
Moment of Silence
Just a couple of days ago, on March 12th, we marked the one-year anniversary date of the first COVID-19 case recorded in Alaska…
On March 15, 2020, on the 3rd Sunday in Lent, we held our last in-person service in the church, until just a couple of weeks ago…
On Monday morning, March 16, 2020…I signed up for a zoom account to begin our planning for online services.
On March 22, 2020, the 4th Sunday in Lent, our worship and all of our programs held at St Peter’s…moved to an online format called zoom…a format that many of us had never even heard of before…
I was reminded this past week just how fast the initial planning took place, for that 1st service to be held on zoom, on the 4th Sunday in Lent…when I received notification in my email inbox, to renew my zoom account…
This was only a beginning…ALL of us have learned so many new things along the way this past year…to help each other stay connected…and to remain hopeful…in the midst of so many losses, uncertainties, and never-ending changes that unfolded, in this past year of the pandemic…
I am sure that there are many other anniversary dates that all of you can remember this past year…they seem to help us, and steady us a bit, as we look back to see where we’ve been, and how far we have come…
But, it’s not just the dates, we find ourselves remembering in times like this…Those dates and the many other milestones marked this past year are associated with the remembrances, most importantly, of people, those who have died, the loved ones we have been separated from, and those who have given so much of themselves for the well-being of others…God’s beloved children of all cultures and races, all walks of life, mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings, frontline workers, grocery store workers, restaurant staff, teachers…all beloved children, known and unknown to us….all surely a part of the greatest love story ever told…the story of God’s love for all of us, and for all of creation….
I looked back to my sermon on March 15, 2020 to see what I had written in the 1st few days after Alaska reported the first case of covid-19 in our state…
This was my new prayer mantra, that I shared on that day…and the one I would keep before me every day since then…
God is in the midst of all of this…God has always been with us. God will be with us for the long journey ahead….
God will be with us for the long journey ahead….
This is the promise, anew, every morning…
This next year will still be filled with continued uncertainties and learning many new, hopeful, and life-giving things…and through God’s continued grace and mercy, and through our faith, and our persistent hope, 2021 can be a year of healing for all of us….
One of the best things we can do to encourage and support healing, in these coming days and months….is to listen and share our stories with one another…take time to rest and remember… share the stories of what has helped you in this past year, share the stories about the people who have inspired you and have helped you in this past year…listen to the stories of those who are grieving…listen with the ear of your heart….and share the greatest love story ever told…the story of God’s love for all of us, for all of creation…
A Story of Love
~ written by Roddy Hamilton, and posted on Listening to the Stones. http://newkilpatrickblog.typepad.com/nk-blogging/mucky-paws/
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son….” John 3:16
gather round
I have a story to tell
of one who reached inside himself
and took a handful of love
like a pile of stardust
and said: this is for you
it is all you need
it is all you will ever need
there is enough here
to change the whole world
take it
many laughed at him
mocked him
and ignored the invitation
but some dared to take it
and those who did
noticed something about this love
they found they could do what the gift-giver could do
they could stand with the lost
welcome the traveler
eat with the hungry
they found themselves doing what the man first did to them
give something of themselves to others
they became like the man
offering themselves
and as they offered themselves
others took the invitation
and many still do
and many still trust
it is enough to change the whole world.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, AK
Hymn after sermon: Come, thou fount of every blessing
John Lewis: guitar/vocals