St. Andrew’s Church 

 

March 27th, 2022, Lent 4 

 

Lighting of the Christ Candle

 

 

Welcome and Announcements:

• This morning St. Andrew's welcomes John Hanna to the pulpit. Thank you John for leading our worship today and may the Holy Spirit guide us all through out the week ahead.
• April's Loonie Offering will be going to Second harvest to learn more check the "Recent Posts" to the right of your screen.

 

Call to Worship:  

If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation! 

Thanks be to God for such great mercy. 

Everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
Thanks be to God for new beginnings!
God has given us the ministry of reconciliation through Christ Jesus. 

Together we will make a new beginning in Christ!
Let us worship God with joyful hearts, trusting God to renew us and all things. 

We will lift our praises to God with hearts refreshed by grace. 

 

Hymn: “God of mercy God of Grace” #39

 

  

Prayer of Invocation 

God of Mystery and Mercy, 

we gather to worship you in humility and hope  

because we believe you have the power to change the world,  

to change the world for the better with your love. 

We gather to worship you,  

trusting that no one or situation is beyond your concern,  

or your embrace. 

Such love astonishes us.  

Without your grace we cannot imagine such love. 

Inspire us with a vision of love  

that will change the world and our lives, in and through 

through the love and mercy of Jesus Christ,  

your Son, and our Saviour. 

Father God be present in our worship, inspire our prayers, instruct us with your Word, the written Word, and the Spoken Word, and accept our praise as we lift our hymns of praise to you. Bless this hour and glorify yourself even as we lift to you our Unison Prayer of Confession: 

  

 

 

      O God of glory, God of government, God of grace; in you we have all we need and yet we strive for more and more of this world’s earthly pleasures and possessions. We spend too much of our time pursing transient things and not enough time pursing the things of God.  We neglect time spent in quiet contemplation of your Word and instead crowd our lives and minds with a multitude of empty sounds.  We think of ourselves as devout and righteous 

when we do not look beyond our own wants and needs and sacrifice any of our time and possessions to help others.  Forgive us Lord.  Through your loving grace help us to live lives worthy of your sacrifice and love. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. 

 

Assurance of Pardon:  

Remember the promise that the apostle Paul declares:  

What can separate us from the love of Christ? Hardship? Distress? Peril or sword?  

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through the God who loves us.  

Neither death nor life, things present nor things to come can separate us  

from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  

Thanks be to God for such a promise!  

The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. 

 

Passing of the Peace 

 

Hymn: “Now thank we all our God” #457

 

 

Scripture Readings: 

Psalm 32 

Blessed is the one
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord does not count against them
    and in whose spirit is no deceit. 

3 When I kept silent,
    my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
    your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
    as in the heat of summer. 

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin. 

6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
    while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
    will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
    you will protect me from trouble
    and surround me with songs of deliverance. 

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
    which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
    or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
    but the Lord’s unfailing love
    surrounds the one who trusts in him. 

11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
    sing, all you who are upright in heart! 

                          Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32  

 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 

3 Then Jesus told them this parable:  

11 “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 

13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. 

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 

28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 

31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” 

                       

 

Sermon: – The Prodigal sons 

 

 

 Prayer for Understanding 

 

Soften our hearts, O God, as we listen to the words of scripture, and the spoken word, so that our hearts may be fertile soil into which you plant your living Word. Produce in all of us a harvest of righteousness in accordance with your will.  Amen. 

  

I have said this before in other sermons; “I love Lenten services because they cause us to look deep within ourselves as we journey with Christ to the cross”. So, I challenge you to be fearless in your self-reflection this morning. As you hear the Word of God let it speak to your souls. Weeks ago, we heard the Words of God himself, they were words of affirmation and instruction: “this is my Son, whom I have chosen; Listen to Him”.  

The pious and self-righteous leaders, the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered: “This man (Jesus) welcomes sinners and eats with them.” One could say, “truer words were never spoken” and before we move along this morning, I want you to let that statement sink into your hearts and minds. “This man (Jesus) welcomes sinners and eats with them”. (pause)        

  Psalm 32 begins: “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.” This so reminds me of the experiences of the younger son, the prodigal son as he is commonly known as. It was a journey for the young man, one that would bring blessing when he stopped deceiving himself and acknowledged his lowly estate, acknowledged how far he had fallen. Blessings would come, when in the young man’s spirit, there was no deceit. 

The psalmist continues: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer”. Was it a sin for the young man to ask for his share of the inheritance? Was it a sin for the young man to gather it all together and set out for a distant country? I don’t believe so, I believe the sin came when the young man became reliant on the inheritance and forsook the God of his fathers, forsook the Lord. He squandered his wealth in wild living and when it came to the Lord, he kept silent, he gave no thought to God.  

Do we do the same thing? Do we squander our wealth? Some may say I am not rich; I have nothing to squander. Are you a Christian? ……. The inheritance which we have received from God the father, which we did not have to ask for, is not primarily material, it is spiritual as well, so yes, we are wealthy. So, again I ask; do we squander our wealth?  

When we sin and we all sin, often the last person we want to talk to is God, we keep silent. The psalmist hits the nail on the head, doesn’t he? God in his grace doesn’t allow us peace in our silence, we feel our bones wasting away, we feel his hand heavy upon us, we feel like we have no strength, like we are burnt-out. I find, in my life, that it is times such as this when I shut God out, that Satan plants all manner of doubts in my mind, sapping my strength and confidence in God. 

 When we shut God out with our silence, it is like we are entering into a famine, isn’t it? This is where the young son found himself, right in the middle of a famine, with no ability to feed himself. His bones were wasting away, and his strength was sapped; so off he went to work for someone else. As he cared for the pigs, he longed for the pods the pigs were eating but no one gave him anything. How far he had fallen, how hopeless a situation he was in, a barren wasteland of his own making for the larger extent.  

The psalmist continued saying: “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore, let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them.” This is so true of the younger son isn’t it, for Luke says: “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.  

“When he came to his senses” what a great statement. It reminds me of a scene from the movie Moonstruck. The character played by Cher was told by her boyfriend that he loved her, and she promptly slapped his face and told him to “snap out of it”. Sometimes we need that face slap; for the younger son it was the desperation of his circumstances. In that instance with the clarity of the Holy Spirit, he is able, to see the way forward. I need to make a 180-degree turn, go back to my father, confess my sin and my unworthiness, seek his forgiveness and be as a hired servant. When we face the consequences of unforgiven sin, we too need to “snap out of it”. We too need to come to our senses by praying to God, confessing our sins, making that 180-degree turn called repentance, asking for forgiveness, and seek to serve and follow God as he leads according to his will. 

The psalmist continues saying: “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” This passage reminds me of the younger son’s father, who sees his son while he is a long way off and is filled with compassion for him. The father runs to his son, throws his arms around him, and kisses him. Does the young son think he is off the hook and no longer needs to make things right? No, he doesn’t, Luke tells us; “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’” With that the father instructs his servants to look after the needs of his young son. “Bring the finest robe and put it on him, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”  

I remember many years ago visiting one of our former members who was so overcome with guilt that she could not accept that she was welcome in church. Her guilt arose from her past, not from any offense done in this congregation. I used the parable of the prodigal son to encourage her but to no avail, in her mind she was unworthy of forgiveness. So, I turned it around and said what if you were the parent, how would you respond to your child, could you forgive them as this father did? Would you be happy to embrace them and welcome them home and into your presence? “Absolutely I would” she said, I told her this is how your Father in heaven welcomes you also. Sometimes we just need to forgive and love ourselves just as God forgives and loves us. God is our hiding place; he will protect us from trouble and surround us with songs of deliverance. And not only that he will instruct us, guide us along the way, counsel us, and never take his eye off us. 

As we near the end of Psalm 32 we hear these instructive words; “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.  Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.” In following our theme so far, I could excuse you, if you thought that the desperation and hopelessness of the younger brother, was the bit and bridle that turned him around and lead him home. But for me when I read this passage from Psalm 32, I thought of the older brother. Not that he was wicked but that he required a bit and a bridle to overcome his anger and stubbornness.  

Luke tells us; “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So, his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ I think the older brother could be compared to Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, pious and self-righteous. What was that they said? “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Is this not the attitude of the older brother? He says “I’ve slaved for you, I’ve obeyed you, I’ve never squandered your property, and what thanks have I ever got? Then you have the nerve to ask me to celebrate the return of this good for nothing, carousing, useless, sinful brother. He got his inheritance and squandered it, what right does he have to this welcome? What right does he have to this fine cloak? What right does he have to the ring on his finger and the sandals on his feet? What right does he have to this celebration? 

Sometimes God’s grace can be a hard pill to swallow, like when he pays the worker hired in the last hour of the day the same wage as the one who worked hard all day. Or what about Israel constantly turning away, constantly being sent prophets, judges, kings and even the Son of God. Israel still turns away, yet God still reaches out. What about us, who by the grace of God are forgiven through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, us who pray “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”, are we quick to forgive and forget? We as Christians are quick to celebrate the grace of God by acknowledging that when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We are quick to remind ourselves that through Christ our sins are removed as far as the east is from the west in fact, they are remembered no more. Yet we hang on to hurts, we cling to resentments, we say we forgive but struggle to forget. I find myself thinking; “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” Is that the kind of grace we want from God? That is the kind of grace that the older brother wanted to extend to his brother. That is the kind of grace that needs to be reined in by a bit and bridle. God’s grace is willing to put that bit and bridle on even the most unforgiving heart and turn it back to himself.  

As we have looked at the parable of the prodigal son, in part through the eyes of the psalmist; we see that perhaps there were two prodigal sons. Each one squandered their wealth in differing ways and had to be turned back to their father. What about us? At the last Board of Managers meeting, we were talking about our deficit budget and questioning how long we can sustain the ministry here in St. Andrew’s. Several people mentioned that they hesitate to invite people to Church or even hesitate to ask adherents to become members of the church, because of the uncertainty around the Remits that were approved last year, and the uncertainty of what will be decided at the General Assembly this year in June; not to mention the strain of Covid or Rev. Ena’s absence due to health. I believe that these distractions are causing us to squander our inheritance both materially and spiritually and it must stop. When we withhold from God what is his due, we are being like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. What would Jesus do? The pharisees and teachers of the law answered that saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Praise the Lord for that we must do the same.      

Psalm 32 ends with these words; “Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” God wants us to celebrate with him, he wants each of us to proclaim the good news; Jesus came, Jesus died, Jesus rose again, and we are forgiven. It has been said, “with age comes wisdom” so let us take to heart the words spoken by the father in the parable. My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”  

As you go from this place today, I want you to think of one positive thing you can do this week that will bring glory to God and minister to someone in need. Then go and do it, God bless you all. Amen.    

 

Hymn: “Come, let us sing” #706

 

Offering
The Apostle Paul declared that in Christ there is a new creation. Everything has become new! What new things can God do with the gifts we offer today?  

With expectant hearts, let us place in God’s hands what we have to offer in Christ’s name. 

Doxology

 

Offertory Prayer 

We place these gifts into your hands, O God.  Bless them with your transforming grace so that they may become seeds springing up with new life in the world you love.  

Fill our hearts with that same grace so we can bring hope  

to weary and worried lives in Jesus’ name.  Amen. 

 

Prayers of the People  

Gracious God,  

you have called us together as your people, 

to be the church of Jesus Christ. 

Make us one in faith and discipleship, 

breaking bread together, and telling the good news, 

so that the world may believe you are love,  

turn to your ways and live in the light of your truth. 

Faithful God,  

Embrace us with your hope. 

 

Creator God,  

you made all things and called them good. 

We pray for the earth in its vulnerability,  

depleted by our lifestyle choices and our economic expectations.   

Inspire reverence for the earth in all people. 

Guide us all to make wiser choices for the sake of your creation. 

Help us use resources wisely, with future generations in mind, 

guarding the fragile balances you have set between many precious species. 

Faithful God,  

Embrace us with your hope. 

 

Jesus Christ, Prince of peace,  

you taught us of God’s reconciling grace 

in the story of a father who welcomed back his wandering son 

and invited his jealous son to open his heart. 

Speak to the hearts of all your people 

in this time when so many neighbours and nations sit in judgment on each other, 

provoking conflict and resentment.  

Teach us how to seek peace on earth together.  

Call those in positions of power and influence to work for the common good.  

Turn us away from anger, fear,  

violence or vanity, 

which can turn neighbour against neighbour and nation against nation.  

May all who claim your name be known as makers of the peace. 

Faithful God,  

Embrace us with your hope. 

 

O Christ, healer of hearts and hopes, 

you desire health and wholeness for each one of us: 

We pray that those who have lost their livelihoods in this pandemic  

may find true abundance. 

Grant rest and renewal to those who are broken in body, mind or spirit, 

and bring comfort and hope to all who face loss and loneliness. 

We lift before you the names of those on our hearts today: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faithful God,  

Embrace us with your hope. 

 

Spirit of power and promise, embrace us with hope this day  

so that we may live faithfully,  

encouraging each other by the commitment we see in Jesus Christ  

who taught us to pray together: 

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: “Love divine, all loves excelling” #371

    

Blessing and Benediction: 

Now may the Love of God, the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, And the Peace of the abiding Holy Spirit, rest and be with us all now and forever more.  

  

Parting chorus

  

 

                     THREE-FOLD AMEN