Year A Lent 5   

Call to Worship  (Psalm 130: 1 to 8) 

“From the depths of my despair I call to you Lord.

Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help!

Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who could escape being condemned? 

But you offer forgiveness so that we might learn to stand in awe of you.

I wait eagerly for the Lord’s help, and in His word I will trust.

I wait for the Lord more eagerly than watchmen wait for the dawn.

People of God, trust in the Lord, because His love is constant,

In Him you will find redemption overflowing.  For the Lord will save His people from all of their sins.”

(English Standard Version, Good News Bible, New International Version, New Living Translation)

  One Commentator points out that the writer of this Psalm expresses a belief, on the one hand, in the mercy of God, on which we are utterly dependant for the forgiveness of our sins and as the source of life, and, a belief on the other hand, in the holiness of God, to whom we are wholly subject in every aspect of our lives.  In our worship today may we have this dual focus; to proclaim our adoration for our Creator God and to express our thankfulness for the undeserving grace and mercy that He freely offers to us.

Prayer of Praise  

  God of Heaven and Earth, we come as People who marvel at your creative power, who marvel at the way things have been made and the way they function, who marvel at the way animal and plant interact, who marvel at the cycles of life that provide the oxygen and water that is necessary for life.  We come as People who are ourselves created beings, yet we experience the closeness with you that you have sought from us from the beginning of Time.

  Holy and righteous God, we come as People who are easily tempted and prone to wander, yet we are thankful that you are faithful to your promise to forgive those who truly repent of their sins.  We are thankful that you embrace us with your love and grace, and transform our hearts.  We are thankful that you are the light for our life’s path, illuminating a way for us that is safe and reassuring.

  Caring and compassionate God, we come as People who stumble and fall, who face trials and troubles in daily life, who are challenged by World events beyond our comprehension, far less our control, who are utterly helpless to manage things that cannot be seen by our eyes nor held in our hands.  Yet, we are truly thankful that you promise to be the strength to enable us to get us through each day, to support us in the hard times, and to carry us when all seems too hard to handle. 

  Almighty God, we come to offer you our praise and adoration, for you are our God, our God who gives wisdom to our mind, renewal to our heart, and life to our spirit.  We come trusting in your power over the forces of darkness to bring about Your Kingdom in Heaven and on Earth, we come as obedient servants, who seek to live out your will for their lives.

  We come today, acknowledging you as Lord of our life, and humbling ourselves before your greatness and majesty.  To your glory and honour we pray.  Amen.

Hymn

“When we walk with the Lord”  AHB531 

Prayer of Confession   

  Merciful God, you know our hearts and our thoughts, our motives and our actions.  You know them better than we know them ourselves.  We come before you merciful God, knowing that we have not obeyed your Word, and that we have not sought after your will for our lives.

  Merciful God, we confess that we tend to judge others by outward appearances and by what is deemed to be socially acceptable.  In humbleness we seek your forgiveness.

  Merciful God, we are too prone to live for the moment, to let our passions and our emotions rule our lives, rather than bring these things into wholeness under your control.  In humbleness we seek your forgiveness.

  Merciful God, often we are overtaken by events and sink into despair.  Rather than cry out to you, we prefer silence and self-pity.  In humbleness we seek your forgiveness.

  Merciful God, our priority, many times, is for a comfortable existence, but one where we are slow to see opportunities to witness or are indifferent to the needs of others.  In humbleness we seek your forgiveness.

  Breathe new life into your Church that meets Bald Hills, and give us a renewed sense of purpose and hope so as to be a voice that proclaims Jesus Christ as the resurrection and the life.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness  (from Psalm 130: 4a) 

  The Psalmist declares their trust and confidence in God, by saying, “but you, God, forgive us”.  Having confessed our sins before God, let us share with the Psalmist the hope that was theirs in the grace and mercy of God, that God has heard our prayers, and that our sins have been forgiven.

  Thanks be to God.

Sermon

    An Admiral was visiting a ship and was chatting to some of the sailors.  Stopping beside one sailor, he asked “What would you do if someone fell overboard?”  Quick as a flash the sailor replied, “I’d raise the alarm and throw them a lifebelt.”  “And what if it were an Officer?” continued the Admiral.  The sailor paused for a moment.  “Which one?” he asked.

    Why did the sailor hesitate before he replied?  Why did he ask his question?  Did he place more value on the life of one Officer compared to other Officers?  It was the same set of circumstances, so why should there be a difference in his response?  Does God respond in the same way?  Does He respond to some ‘as quick as a flash’, but hesitates to respond to others?  Do we ourselves do it for God?  Do we make the judgement that there are some in the World who don’t deserve God’s mercy and forgiveness on the basis of the things that they have done that are so terrible or that have caused so much pain and agony to others?  How does Psalm 130 help to answer these questions?

    The Psalm commences with a cry of desperation, a cry for help.  “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord” as it reads in the Authorized Version.  The Good News Bible has the sentence reading “From the depths of my despair I cry to you, Lord”, so as to try to make it clear to us the feelings of the writer.  The Hebrew word translated as “depths” is “mahamawh”, which can be translated as ‘chasm’ or ‘abyss’, signifying how we are meant to understand how deep are these depths.  It is apt imagery for the agony and anguish being expressed by the writer as they review their life’s situation.  Likewise, it is also an image of the writer’s feelings of being separated from God by the unbridgeable chasm of sin. 

As one writer puts it, “Without God Humankind is lost. Only God can throw across the gulf between us and God the bridge which we have broken off because of our sin.”  (A Weiser The Psalms p773)  .

    How do we approach God?  Do we come confidently before God presuming that our character or our record of achievements and good deeds will be convincing proof that we are acceptable to God?  Do we put our trust in the level of our offerings of time and energy and money, a trust that such things will easily placate and appease God?  Or do we come before God on bended knees, aware, as did the Psalmist, of our pitiful Human condition?

    Modern translations of the Bible seek to use vocabulary that is in everyday usage.  Hence, many translations have verse three reading as “If you, O Lord, keep a record of our sins, who can stand before you?”  The Hebrew word that is usually translated as sin elsewhere in the OT, the word “chattaah”, meaning a transgression or the breaking of a rule, such as would be used in reference to a traffic offence, is not used here nor in verse eight.  The Hebrew word used in these two verses is “avon” which is usually translated as “iniquity”, meaning a perverseness of the mind or wickedness.  Leslie McCaw explains it in this way, that the word iniquity “is the deepest and most inward of the Old Testament words for sin, it represents the corruption of the heart”.  (NBC p533) 

  Thus we can understand that the writer of Psalm 130 is not seeking to gloss over their sins as just the breaking of a rule that can be absolved with the payment of a fine, but sees sin as a manifestation of our immorality, arising from the wickedness of our Human nature.  One writer states “our true condition cannot be concealed … no one can stand before the holy God, because no living person is righteous in His sight.  At the root of the question is the shattering perception of the tremendous power of sin and of the paralysing powerlessness of people in their bondage to it.”  (A Weiser The Psalms p774)  .

    Do we have this same understanding of sin?  In the evening when we review our day with God, are we as earnest with the confession of our sin?  When we say the responses in the Prayer of Confession during the Sunday Service, do we gloss over the words or are we saying them from the heart?

    That is the setting for the Psalm.  That is the introduction to what the Psalmist is seeking to tell us about themself.  But it is important to note that this Psalm is not an expression of hopelessness, far from it, because the writer is clearly stating that, in spite of their iniquity, in spite of their perverse nature, in spite of the gulf separating them from God, they are still in a relationship with God.  For they declare with confidence in verse four, “But you forgive us”.  Why is this so?  What is it about God, that in spite of our wickedness and our perversity, He is willing to bridge the chasm that separates us from Himself?

    The writer of Psalm 130 uses two different Hebrew words that have been translated as “Lord”.  The first is the word “adonai”, meaning Sovereign or Master, someone who has authority or someone who has ownership over a slave.  This word is used in verse 2 “Lord hear my voice”, in verse 3 “O Lord, who can stand” and in verse 6 “My soul waits for the Lord”.  The second word is the word that is usually translated as “Yahweh”.  This is the personal name of Israel’s God, the name that God spoke when He revealed Himself to the Israelites in Egypt, and the name that was used in the Covenant relationship between God and the people of Israel.  This word is used throughout the rest of the Psalm, including such phrases as in verse 1 “I have cried to you, O Lord”, in verse 5 “I wait for the Lord” and in verse 7 “O Israel, hope in the Lord”.

  The writer of this Psalm is aware of the holiness of the Creator God who commands our attention and our obedience, which makes the writer realize the depths to which sin lowers Humankind and the problem involved in forgiveness.  Yet the writer’s awareness of Yahweh, the merciful redeemer, who seeks to be in relationship with His chosen people, encourages them to approach God in prayer and repentance.  (NBC p533) 

    In what exactly does the writer trust?  Upon what is it about God that the writer depends?  In verse 4 we read “But there is forgiveness in you”, and in verse 7 we read “For with the Lord there is mercy”.  What do these verses tell us about God and, consequently, about our relationship with Him?

    God is a God who is willing to forgive sin and is capable of forgiving sin.  And, as the one true Creator God, it is God alone who can forgive sin.  In doing do, God proves Himself to be more powerful than sin itself.  This point alone would bring the writer to proclaim in verse 4, “so that we should stand in awe of you.”  However, this is possible only through the graciousness of God, for it is through the grace of God that our sins are forgiven, that our sins are cancelled, the slate wiped clean.  The claim of the holy God upon the obedience of Humankind is given emphasis because of God’s mercy.  Paul talks of this in his letter to the Church in Rome.  In chapter 8 verse 10 we read “But if Christ lives in you, the Spirit is life for you because you have been put right with God.”  Earlier in the Letter Paul wrote “Surely you know that God is kind because He is trying to lead you to repent.” (Romans 2:4)

    The writer of Psalm 130 is sharing what has occurred in their own life, that it is worth-while to place your hope in the Lord.  Some have written that this is a joyous Psalm.  The overriding tone is one of glad liberation, and is the voice of a genuinely free person.  Upon that basis they are calling others to enter into the same relationship of forgiveness with God.  The promise of God is for the whole community of God’s People.  While they were engaged in their personal struggle for the assurance of redemption from sin, they gained the knowledge that God is a God who redeems all people, and can redeem all people from all of their sins. 

    God is a God of steadfast love and mercy, who does not seek to favour some over others.  God does not abandon His People, instead His desire is to bring healing and wholeness to people’s lives.   Have we experienced this redemption in our own lives?  From the depths of our own despair have we reached out to the God of love and mercy, who is waiting for us to call out to Him for help?  Have we experienced the relief from guilt or loss, the lifting of that great burden that weighs us down?  Put your trust in what the Psalmist has shared with us; God’s word can be trusted, God’s love is constant, God is always there willing to save.  May we too be eager to see how God can act to bring life and peace to our lives.  Amen.

Hymn

“Breathe on me breath of God”  TiS407 / AHB320

Prayers for Others  (by Don Whisson)  

O Lord our God, we come to You as children to a loving father.

In a few short weeks, our world has been turned upside down as the coronavirus pandemic has continued to run rampant through the populations of many countries.

So we, who are blessed with good health, would pray for those of your children who are suffering, for those who are vulnerable, and for those who are fearful and anxious.

Some are merely inconvenienced, but we pray for those whose lives are at stake.

Some, who are in employment, have the luxury of working at home, but we pray for those whose no longer have a job.

Some have the inconvenience of settling in to self-isolation at home, but we pray for those who have no home.

Some have only themselves to look after, but we pray for those who have the added concern of looking after others who depend on them for their wellbeing.

We pray for our Prime Minister, and the medical authorities that they might have the wisdom to put in place the best practices to halt the spread of the virus.

We pray too for the medical researchers in their quest to develop a vaccine to combat it the disease. 

We pray for our medical practitioners who are putting their own lives at risk to provide care for those have already contracted the virus.

We have been disturbed by the selfishness of some who have succumbed to the panic buying of groceries which has led to shortages and deprived the vulnerable.  May your Spirit dispel the anxiety of all in our society, and grant them compassion for their neighbours.

At this time we pray for your Church, as it seeks alternative ways to provide support for its members.

We thank you that you journey with us as we journey through these uncertain times.

We pray for those in our own community.

We pray for Kylie and the volunteers who assist her at our Bald Hills State School. 

Grant her wisdom in dealing with the varied challenges that come her way in her day to day interaction with the children and the staff at the school, especially at this time.

We continue to pray for Alisi as she serves you at Morayfield.

We are aware of the health issues that some of our friends are facing right at present,

and we ask that they might experience your compassion and your presence in their lives.

We pray especially for Valerie, as she deals with her illness & the separation from Max in a higher care facility.  We ask that you will surround them with your love, & grant them your peace, day by day. 

We also continue to pray for Andrew, & for the medical people who are treating him, that they might find an effective way to treat his condition.

We also continue to pray for Margaret Mellon, that her situation might improve so she might join her daughter in Melbourne

Father, you are a God of compassion, and You work in ways that we cannot imagine.

 In your compassion, may you continue to ease the suffering and the fears of your children,

And during this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other, may we find ways to provide your loving embrace to our neighbours.

We offer these prayers in the name of Jesus who taught us to pray:

The Lord’s Prayer

  Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name,

  your kingdom come,

  your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

  Give us today our daily bread.

  Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

  Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil,

  For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,

  now and for ever.  Amen.

Hymn

“O breath of life come sweeping through us”  TiS409 / AHB322

Benediction and Blessing    

 “Bounty” by Elsie Campbell

“Lord, when I look around and see the wonders of Your hand,

The glory and the majesty of sky and sea and land.

I am amazed that I should dare to come to You and bring

My smallest doubts and fears, and ask your help in everything.

Yet, when I see each small flower’s face, fashioned with love divine,

I know Your bounty can embrace a humble life like mine.”

[31^st Day in Sunlit Ways]

  May the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and remain with you always.  Amen.

Benediction Hymn

“May the grace of Christ our Saviour”  TiS777