This sermon can be listened to here
Gate Pa – Year B 2nd Sunday in Lent, 2021
Readings:
Psalm Psalm
22:23-31
First Reading:
Genesis
17:1-7,15-16
Second Reading:
Romans
4:13-25
Gospel:
Mark
8:29-38
What I want to
say:
Explore how liturgy shapes our identity, the flow of
liturgy, and how we gather
What I want to happen:
People to reflect on we gather and how we might
engage with that more intentionally.
Mark
8:27-38
Common English Bible
27 Jesus and his disciples went into the villages
near Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say
that I am?”
28 They told him, “Some say John the Baptist, others
Elijah, and still others one of the prophets.”
29 He asked them, “And what about you? Who do you
say that I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” 30 Jesus
ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
31 Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: “The
Human One[a] must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief
priests, and the legal experts, and be killed, and then, after three days, rise
from the dead.” 32 He said this plainly. But Peter took hold of Jesus and,
scolding him, began to correct him. 33 Jesus turned and looked at his
disciples, then sternly corrected Peter: “Get behind me, Satan. You are not
thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts.”
34 After calling the crowd together with his
disciples, Jesus said to them, “All who want to come after me must say no to
themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. 35 All who want to save their
lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me and because of
the good news will save them. 36 Why would people gain the whole world but lose
their lives? 37 What will people give in exchange for their lives? 38 Whoever
is ashamed of me and my words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the
Human One[b] will be ashamed of that person when he comes in the Father’s glory
with the holy angels.”
The Sermon
1.
Introduction:
Last week first
Sunday in Lent
As usual we
heard story of Jesus in wilderness.
At baptism
given identity as beloved son
Spirit
casts him out into wilderness
Where the
great tester tests this identity to the max.
-
What does Jesus think being the beloved son mean?
-
How will he live that out?
-
What will he trade it for?
We see that
same wrestling with this identity this week
Jesus says
that to be the beloved son means to suffer many things, be rejected, be killed,
and then, after three days, rise from the dead
Peter responds
by scolding and correcting Jesus
This wasn’t
how he understood this messiah thing happening
This was
not what being the beloved son meant in his book
To which
Jesus responds – I lead and you follow
Get behind
me tester
This IS
what it means to be the beloved son.
2.
Lent
As I said
last week -> origins lent - early
church
-
time where candidates to be baptised at Easter
-
Led through own wilderness experience
ð Not learn about
Christianity
ð Immersed
into a new way seeing themselves in world
o New
identity
o Beloved
children of God
Story of
becoming vicar
-
Letting go of my old ways of seeing myself
o understanding
place with in church
-
before service I was an ex national youth person
-
end of service vicar
o whole lot
new responsibilities
o new ways
engaging with people
o new place
in life church
o quite the
wrench
o sure many
you have had similar experiences
o takes time
work out what it all means
same for
those baptismal candidates
-
When went into water baptism old self would die
o All old
ways describing themselves.
§ Family
§ Trade
§ Place in
empire
-
Replaced with beloved child of God
o New
relationships and priorities
-
Who with their new brothers and sister in God’s
community – church
-
live bringing hope and healing to their world
-
joining God’s
work of creating world all thrive and flourish
“Now is the
time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Let that blow your minds and change your hearts
and lives, and trust this good news.”
Lent is a
time for us to spend time asking
What does
it mean for US to be beloved child of God?
-
How does that shape our identity?
-
What helps us know that
-
What help us live that out
-
What gets in the way of knowing that
-
What prevents us living that out
3.
Being shaped as people of God –
Worship @@@
Within
Anglicanism one major means of knowing we are children of God and living that
out
Liturgical Worship
Want to
spend some time in Lent exploring our liturgy
In part so
that we can be aware of how it works and its importance
In part so
we can engage with it more intentionally
In part so
might encourage some of you take on new roles
4.
Anglican Liturgical Tradition
Remind
ourselves how introduced that
The
Anglican liturgical tradition is based on an understanding of corporate worship
that is an encounter between the Living God and God’s church,
which
changes and shapes us as we participate as individuals and as the Church.
Starting
point in corporate worship is God.
we are
invited by God into the worshipping life that eternally exists within the
Trinity
-
We do not welcome God into our worship
-
God welcomes us and invites us to take part in the
worship that exists within the fabric of all creation.
Long time
thought our prayer book was a great resource
Come
realise more that resource
More than
way should be done
Our liturgy
God given gift that allows us to enter into this worship in God
-
With all who will worship
-
All who have worshipped
God
is especially inviting us to worship in common,
-
with those who use the same texts,
-
all who claim use of this tradition
-
with all who have and will worship in common with
the ancient liturgies on which the Anglican tradition is based.
Worship
is not just about me
Or
even us gathered here
God
is offering time where our hearts may be set on fire with God’s love
for
us
For
God’s world
And
all who share this world with us
That
we may truly love God with all our heart and soul and mind.
God
is offering a time where we are formed into the people of God
5.
Flow
Our
liturgical tradition has a flow and structure that includes:
-
GATHER – We gather with God and with each other;
-
STORY: we engage with scripture
-
GO: We are sent out to join God in mission
Spend a
week looking at each of these
6.
Gather
Gathered by
God in to this worshipping space
-
gathered in God
-
gather with others as God’s community
-
gather by being here and being still in God’s
presence
gather by
signing our opening hymn – try heard to not have hymns and songs that use “I”
o but “we”
o this
morning we sang “we are many we are one”
also are
gathered in use of our liturgy, psalm and songs/hymns”
e.g psalm
this morning
Psalm
gathers us in this growing swell of praise for God
By praising
God, we align our very selves with God.
-
aligning ourselves with God’s vision
-
God’s promises, covenants
-
God’s steadfastness
-
God’s love
These are
not just words we say because they are in the liturgy or readings
these are
words that shape and mould us
they are
words that change us
that gather
us into all that God hopes and seeks for, for all people
when we
speak these words we are saying yes to faithfulness and love
7.
Gather with each other
part of
that is that we gather with each other to become God’s beloved community
liturgy
offers different ways seeing and speaking about and to each other
-
Grace and peace to you from God
-
God fill you with truth and joy
gather by
turning around and greeting each other and becoming body of Christ in this
place
-
by dong that we are taking part in God’s gathering
of us in the space
gather by
acknowledging all that separates us from God and each other
-
all times forgotten we are beloved children of God
-
all times not lived as beloved children
-
all time we have traded in being beloved children of
God
ð So that we
might know that we are forgiven
and can
start again living our identity as beloved children.
8.
door
Starts at
door
Not just
handing out books
Agents of God’s
welcome into this place
enabling
people to fully participate
ensuring
they have all they need
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