Life in the Messy Middle
St Andrew’s Church
March 30 2025 LENT 4
LIGHTING OF THE CHRIST CANDLE
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL TO WORSHIP
Our God is a shepherding God.
Our God knows us by name.
Our God will never stop searching for us.
So if you feel lost, then know that God is seeking you.
If you feel found, then know that God will never leave.
This is the promise of scripture.
This is the promise of God’s love.
Let us worship our with-us God.
HYMN 202 We lay our broken world at your feet
- We lay our broken world
in sorrow at your feet,
haunted by hunger, war and fear,
oppressed by power and hate.2. Here human life seems less
than profit, might and pride,
though to unite us all in you,
you lived and loved and died.3. We bring our broken towns,
our neighbours hurt and bruised;
you show us how old pain and wounds
for new life can be used.4. We bring our broken loves,
friends parted, families torn;
then in your life and death we see
that love must be reborn.
OPENING PRAYER
Shepherding God, You look for us. You search for us. You turn every corner and climb every mountain. You call our name until your voice is hoarse. When we lose our way, you never stop seeking after us. So once again we pray, find us in this moment. –show us how we can be true and faithful servants in ways that please and honour You. May we be attentive, watching and listening for Your commands and wishes. Look for us and surround us with your presence, so that we might feel you near. With hope we pray, with hope we listen. In the name of your Son Jesus Amen.
Call to confession
Friends, in the Christian tradition many have used “lost” and “found” labels to describe people “out there” versus people “in here.” Many have used “lost” and “found” language to create a damaging dichotomy that Christians are found and non-Christians are lost. But the truth is, each and every one of us is a little bit lost and a little bit found from time to time. Each and every one of us needs the love of the Good Shepherd. So join me in the prayer of confession, as people who know both ends of that spectrum. Join me as we go to God in prayer:
UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION
If God is a painter, let us be the brush.
If God is a musician, let us be the song
If God is an architect, let us be the tools.
Let us be the hands. Let us be the builders.
But if God is a shepherd , who never stops seeking
let us be willing to be found, no matter how lost we feel.
Our God is never far away.
Forgive us for forgetting this good news. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Family of faith, we are all a little bit lost and a little bit found. We grumble. We push back. We doubt God. We doubt ourselves. We leave the flock and lose our way. But fortunately for us, our God is a shepherding God who is always by our side. So hear and believe the good news of the gospel: No matter how far we wander, we can never wander from the bounds of God’s grace. We are loved. We are forgiven. We are not alone. Thanks be to God! Amen.
THE PEACE
HYMN 206 Jesus remember me X2
Jesus, remember me when you come in to your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come in to your kingdom.
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Psalm 63 : 1 – 8 page 899
Luke 15:1-7 page 1623
SERMON LIFE IN THE MESSY MIDDLE
The darker colder days of winter have faded into the past. The warmer, lighter sunny days of summer are yet to come. So here we are – in the messy middle – cloudy, – rains, – mud- all can be discouraging. However, look around – leaves on the trees are slowly showing bits of green – snowdrops and winter aconite are giving us bursts of white and brilliant yellow, bluebells, tulips and day lilies are showing tips of green with the promise of lots of brilliant colour in the weeks ahead!
Then we are constantly bombarded with the messy middle of national and international negotiations – but I’m not going there ! trust me . All over the world there are times of messy middle . … as has been through out all history
During this season of lent , we have been looking at stories of the messy middle for Jesus – the time between his three years of very active ministry teaching, healing, reminding all that this is God’s kingdom.
Last week with Ena we explored the need to spend time growing spiritually and to then use that growth to expand the works of faith in our lives. We learned that in order to thrive as servants in God’s kingdom we need to include both spiritual growth and service. It won’t always be balanced, but the going back and forth is that messy middle that we inhabit.
There is no chapter of the New Testament so well known and so dearly loved as the fifteenth chapter of Luke’s gospel. It has been called “the gospel in the gospel,” as if it contains the very distilled essence of the good news which Jesus came to tell.
As we look at both sides of this particular messy middle we are opened to being both surprised and provoked to consider a different point of view. We have been taught that we are bought into the work ethic of this world, which in turn teaches us that we must always be productive. The truth is that we were not made to live like that. In fact, the Sabbath was made for us. Sabbath rest and worship is not an obligation—it is a gift that God gives to us. Sabbath rest is time for us to reconnect with God and creation.
What is meant to enjoy God forever is by remembering that we are a “sent” people. . We are sent into the world to do the works of grace and justice. Those works are the way we “enjoy” God into the world.
What we are discovering through this Lenten series is that the messy middle is a place where we can become comfortable. That is the real danger. We can just drift along, believing that we are following Jesus—the disciples were an example of that. They thought that they were doing the right thing for Jesus in that encounter in Samaria. They thought they were doing the right thing in preventing Jesus from going to Jerusalem. Double checking our intentions is always a good thing.
The prophets of Israel pictured God as a good shepherd. For example, Isaiah emphasized God’s loving care for his smallest sheep. He said in Isaiah 40:11, “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom.”
Thus the Pharisees and the scribes were familiar with the motif of God as a shepherd and the people as his sheep. They understood that they were the spiritual under-shepherds of Israel. But they did not understand that Jesus was the Good Shepherd whom God had sent to seek and to save the lost sheep.
Worse yet, the religious leaders of the day did not realize that they were part of the problem. Rather than providing loving care for God’s people, they were in fact misleading them. They were furious when Jesus associated with people like tax collectors and sinners. Luke said in Luke 15:1-2, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’ ”
These folks were spiritual outcasts. They did not worship God or participate in the life of the worshiping community The religious people of that day, wanted no contact whatsoever with irreligious people. They believed that any contact with such people would contaminate them. However , as far as Jesus was concerned, the plight of the lost sheep of Israel – the very people that Israel’s under-shepherds were supposed to rescue – were those whom he had come to seek and to save
You see because they are made in the image of God, they are spiritual beings. So when Jesus comes along, his message resonates with them. They want to know how they can come into a right relationship with God. Jesus constantly tells them that entrance into the kingdom of God is through faith in him and repentance from sin.
Lost sheep are easily disoriented when they are lost. They are defenseless against danger. And they do not find their way home by themselves. All they can do is wait for the shepherd to rescue them. Is this not a picture of our own spiritual condition? Apart from Christ, we are lost. We are defenseless against spiritual danger. And we cannot find our way to God by ourselves. All we can do is to wait for Jesus to rescue us.
The shepherd is a member of the extended family and naturally feels responsible before the entire family clan; any loss is a loss to all of them. This understanding of the culture clarifies the joy in the community reflected at the center of the parable. In short, the extended family loses if a sheep is lost; the whole clan rejoices if the lost is found. A community, a flock , a family and a congregation share the same stability – the closeness which binds them together
Apparently a lost sheep will lie down helplessly and refuse to budge. The shepherd is forced to carry it over a long distance. But, instead of doing it grudgingly, he does so rejoicing! Jesus makes the point that every sheep has value. Every sheep is valued to the extent that their well-being is important enough to warrant a search-and-rescue mission. The mission pays off.
It is the shepherd’s willingness to go after the one that gives the ninety-nine their real security. If the one is sacrificed in the name of the larger good of the group, then each individual in the group is insecure, knowing that he or she too is of little value. If lost, he or she will be left to die. When the shepherd pays a high price to find the one, he thereby offers the profoundest security to the many.
Plainly the meaning of the chapter is that just as there is joy when any shepherd – or any housewife or any father recovers a loss, so there is joy in heaven when a sinner is reunited with God.
This Lenten journey is meant to reassure us. The disciples occupied the messy middle. It is a part of all human condition, and we, like the disciples will struggle with it. Once we commit to moving out of the messy middle we will hear Jesus quietly saying, “follow me,” and we will follow, even if it means we are going to Jerusalem. AMEN
Affirmation of faith ….
We believe in a seeking God, a with-us and before-us God, a chasing-after-us God. We believe that no matter where we wander or what mountains we climb, this God— the God who walked the streets of Jerusalem, shook hands with lepers, patted children on the head, and told stories of love— is always close at hand. So on the good days and the hard days, on the mountains and in the valleys, we believe that we are always being found.
Thanks be to God for a love like that. Amen.
HYMN 191 Now quit your care (omit verse 3)
1,Now quit your care and anxious fear and worry.
For schemes are vain and fretting brings no gain.
Lent calls to prayer to trust and dedication
God brings new beauty nigh ; reply, reply
Reply with love to love most high ;reply, reply ;
Reply with love to love most high.
2.To bow the head in sackcloth and in ashes,
Or rend the soul, such grief is not Lent’s goal
But to be lead where heavens glory flashes
God’s beauty to come near ,make clear , make clear
Make clear where truth and light appear;
make clear , make clear
Make clear where truth and light appear
- For righteousness and peace will show their faces
to those who feed the hungry in their need
and wrongs redress who build the old waste places
and in the darkness shine;
Divine, divine, divine it is when all combine
Divine, divine, divine it is when all combine !
5.Then shall your light break forth as doth the morning
Your health shall spring; the friends you make shall bring
God’s glory bright ,Your way through life adorning;
And love shall be the prize .
Arise, arise, arise and make a paradise
Arise, arise, arise and make a paradise !
OFFERING
God has shown us the meaning of generosity in the beautiful diversity of creation, in the overflowing love of Jesus and the never-ending gift of the Holy Spirit. God has blessed us and called us as a community that honours each other – serves with joy and shares our love and possessions that we may rejoice in what is ours to give . Let us present our tithes and offerings .
DOXOLOGY
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him all creatures here below
Praise him above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost
OFFERTORY PRAYER
Lord receive these offerings as our tangible expressions of love and gratitude Transform them into a source of life for many so that your kingdom may grow in the hearts of all . In the name of Jesus Amen
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Oh God, be glorified in creation, be glorified in your church and be glorified in our worship here in this worship this very morning. Though we are very small and you are so grand, help us to magnify your name so that the nature of your grace is larger and easier for people to see. When folks ask for an explanation of the hope we have, give us the words to answer thoughtfully and well.
As we continue to celebrate this Lenten season, help us to enter the rhythm of generosity and grace. Be with us in what may be our messy middleness as we prepare for the week ahead .
We give thanks for the springtime season- for the greening of trees , the budding of flowers, the song of the birds , the rain to feed the gardens and forests, the warming sunshine – the bright traces of glory in your incredible creation.
Right now there is so much that is wrong with the world – causing so much fear, anxiety, suffering – even hopelessness. Wars and rumours of war, chaos in national and international situations . We earnestly pray for your justice, wisdom and guidance for all in positions of leadership and bring peace for all that for far too long have only suffered and known war and are in great need for respect for life on all sides
We bring before you the prayers we have voiced and the prayers we silently hold in our hearts
Thanks for .
We pray for those who need your healing hands….
For those suffering grief …..
For those who are travelling ….
We give thanks for the work continuing to be done on the installation of the new elevator
Touch us this day so that we will feel and use the energy we need to carry on in faithful discipleship and service in the week ahead in the name of Jeus who taught us to pray together saying
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. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
HYMN 205 Oh love how deep, how broad how high
- O love, how deep, how broad, how high,
how passing thought and fantasy,
that God, the Son of God, should take
our mortal form for mortals’ sake.2. For us baptized, for us he bore
his holy fast and hungered sore;
for us temptations sharp he knew,
for us the tempter overthrew.3. For us he prayed; for us he taught;
for us his daily works he wrought:
by words and signs and actions, thus
still seeking not himself, but us.4. For us to wicked hands betrayed,
scourged, mocked, in purple robe arrayed,
he bore the shameful cross and death,
for us gave up his dying breath.5. For us he rose from death again;
for us he went on high to reign;
for us he sent his Spirit here
to guide, to strengthen and to cheer.6. All glory to our Lord and God
for love so deep, so high, so broad,
the Trinity whom we adore
forever and forevermore.
BENEDICTION
As like sheep we wander from the path, nibbling a patch of grass here and clump of heather there, so we can only wait to be found by the shepherd, and carried back home on his shoulders. And every time that happens, God doesn’t condemn or punish, but rejoices. So, as we face a new week, and a new chapter in the life of this church, let us look forwards with hope and confidence, firmly focussed upon God, who comes to us in Christ Jesus, and who continually seeks us out. Blessings be upon you from God the Father , Son and Holy Spirit AMEN
CLOSING SONG 646
Lead me Jesus I will follow
Down the dusty pathway
All along the sea;
Teach me Jesus to be loving
Your disciple I will be x2
Ted Green 1982