+ In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
The Greeting:
Grace, mercy and peace
from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ
be with you
and also with you.
Prayer of Preparation:
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Collect – Lent 2
Almighty God,
by the prayer and discipline of Lent
may we enter into the mystery of Christ’s sufferings,
and by following in his Way
come to share in his glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Readings:
Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18
15 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. 7 He also said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” 8 But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” 9 So the LORD said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—
Philippians 3:17- 4:1
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
Luke 6:46-49
The Wise and Foolish Builders
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.
Homily:
This story of the wise and foolish builders comes at the end of Chapter 6 in St Luke’s gospel where a lot of Jesus’ teaching has been gathered together. We have the Sermon on the Plain as it is known in Luke as opposed to the Sermon on the Mount of St Matthew’s gospel. There are two incidents which took place on the Sabbath Day: the disciples getting hungry as they were walking through a cornfield and rubbing the grain together. This was seen as work and not allowed by the Jews on the Sabbath. The other thing not allowed was doing anything to promote healing from disease or accident. Jesus healed the man with the withered hand. Also within this chapter Jesus chose 12 apostles out of all the people who were following him and they are named.
So, we get to this story right at the end of the chapter. We have a wise man who carefully considers where he will build his house and he is safe from everything that bad weather storms and floods can throw at him because he has laid good foundations on rock: his house stands firm. A foolish man, however, decides to build a house without proper foundations and it soon collapses. Jesus is not really talking about houses of course. He is talking about the foundation we lay for our lives. He says that those who hear his words and put them into practice have a good foundation which will withstand the storms which will inevitably come. Those who hear but do not put those words into practice have no proper foundation when troubles come and will collapse, either temporarily or more permanently.
Continuing my school stories today. I was invited into Thompson school to talk to a class about the Bible and was asked to explain particularly why Christians view the Bible as sacred. What does the word “sacred” mean? So, this exercised my brain for a while. I could see that this lesson was probably part of a series about different religions and their sacred books. In fact, when I got there, they told me they had had a visit from a Rabbi and had learnt quite a lot about the Old Testament from her. Some people who have nothing to do with church or Christianity still seem to have a belief that there is something special about a Bible. I was in Swaffham church one day and a woman came in and said she wanted to see the Vicar. On unpacking this a bit more, she had apparently moved house and found a large family Bible in the attic and did not know what to do with it. Presumably, it had been left behind because the previous occupant did not know what to do with it. So, the lady thought that the Vicar would know what to do with it and take it off her hands. I don’t know what happened next. I don’t think that the Vicar of Swaffham has a stack of family Bibles.
The Old Testament was written by many different people at specific times in the history of the Jewish nation. The New Testament was again written by several people and specifically to tell the story of Jesus’ life and ministry and then how we should behave as followers of Jesus. Some Christians believe that every word of the Bible is inspired by God and written down as he dictated it. Others believe that it is a historical document, written for a day and time but large parts of it are not relevant to us now, And there are many shades of belief along this line.
The fact is, however, that the Bible is our sacred book and the teachings of Jesus have formed the backbone of our society for over two thousand years. Psalm 127: 1 also speaks about houses. It says: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” The words of the Bible, whether we believe that God wrote every one of them through his apostles and prophets or whether we believe that they were written for a specific day and time, still have the power to change our lives today. They are not just the foundation laid when we were children or teenagers in our Sunday school or confirmation class. Sacred means that when we read passages they have the power because they are inspired by God to speak to us today.
It's one way that people know they are called to be Ministers or Missionaries or know to move into specific areas of life. It’s how we know what direction to take in our lives and what decisions to make. As Christians, we believe that God is constantly at work in our lives speaking to us through our prayers and Bible reading. So, in Lent and at other times, people may decide to read through a book of the Bible or join in a discussion group. For those people who can use the internet, there are many organisations that are doing Lent courses or something as simple as a verse a day for us to think and pray about and we don’t even have to meet together. We can read them each or join in zoom groups. You only need to look at the Church of England site to find all sorts of things. Norwich Diocese has things going on too. Sometimes we need to put some extra discipline in our lives and deliberately search for what God has in store for each one of us individually. The church sets aside times within its yearly calendar like Lent for us to do that.
Just as we inspect our own houses from time to time to make sure that they are still holding up as they should, we should make sure that our lives are still built on the rock which is the Word of God.
Intercessions
Loving God, because we trust you,
we come to you now with our concerns
for the Church and the world.
We bring before you all those who find it hard to believe,
and hard to trust in a faithful loving God;
we bring those who teach the faith;
all who preach the good news.
Give the right words for each situation and each person,
and enable the seed to take root and grow.
We pray for Graham, Alan and Jane our Bishops and all the clergy in this Deanery and Diocese as we journey through Lent together.
Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.
We bring those whose authority and decisions affect the lives of many people and the health of the planet.
We pray for sensitivity and honesty,
and the strength to retain integrity
even in positions of power.
We pray for all the leaders of the nations of the world.
At this time we continue to pray for the people of Ukraine and for all the agencies working to relieve suffering in that country.
We thank you for all the local initiatives being set up to collect supplies and we pray that they will all reach their destination and be able to be used by those in need.
Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.
We bring the newly born and their parents,
and all those whose family circumstances face change;
give us the spiritual flexibility
to adapt to your guiding in all our relationships,
and above all in our relationship with you.
We pray for Riva who was baptized last Sunday and for those preparing for Baptisms or Weddings in the churches in this Benefice in the next few months.
We pray for this Church and for Katharine and the PCC as they serve this parish and make decisions about future events.
We pray for our schools and Thorp House.
Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.
We bring all for whom illness or injury
has caused disruption, uncertainty
and the prospect of long-term change;
and all who find their lives are spinning
out of their control;
give them the knowledge
of your total loving and unchanging presence,
so that in all the changes and troubles of life
they may be assured of your everlasting protection.
Particularly today we pray for: ……..
Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.
We commend to your love and mercy
all those who have made the journey through death,
especially any who have died unprepared,
or had violent deaths.
We thank you for your compassion on them
and pray that they may know the forgiveness,
peace and joy of heaven.
We give thanks for the lives of: Joyce Bishop, Peter Harold Smith and Betty Mildred Burlingham who have died recently and we pray for their families and friends who mourn them.
Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.
As we call to mind the guidance and help
you give us each moment of every day,
We thank you and praise you, Holy God,
For you alone have the words of eternal life.
Merciful Father
Accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Peace
Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us access to his grace.
The peace of the Lord be always with you
And also with you
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 again 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.
Final Prayer:
Almighty God,
you see that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves:
keep us both outwardly in our bodies,
and inwardly in our souls;
that we may be defended from all
adversities which may happen to the body,
and from all evil thoughts which may
assault and hurt the soul;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Blessing:
Christ give you grace to grow in holiness, to deny yourselves, take up your cross,
and follow him;
And the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always. Amen