Weekly Bible Notes

Second Sunday of Lent - Year B

Liturgical Colour - Purple

Introduction

Lent is all about setting priorities and working out just how seriously our commitment to God really is. It is not a time for us to work out where we are going in life, or what decisions we need to take for our future. If we are serious about our faith then we have to allow our own priorities to be seen in the light of God's guidance.

This is very difficult, how do we know what God wants? If only it was so easy to understand the divine plan ! Yet from our reading today we do get a pointer in the right direction. Jesus tells the disciples the following

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself

and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel

will save it.

The message is clear. When we seek to make decisions and choices, Christians are not their own boss. If we seek to be faithful we will need to 'let go and let God.' This might seem to be a loss of freedom and personal sacrifice. It is. However it is only as we learn to put our personal ambitions under God's spotlight that we can ever really be free.

Opening Verses of Scripture  Psalm 104:31,34

May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; may the Lord rejoice in His works. May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
 

Collect Prayer for the Day — Before we read we pray

Almighty God, you show to those who are in error the light of your truth, that they may return to the way of righteousness: grant to all those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ's religion, that they may reject those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.   Common Worship

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 may we come to share in his glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.   Common Worship Shorter Collect

Christ, Son of the Living God, who for a season laid aside the divine glory and learned obedience through Suffering: teach us in all our afflictions to raise our eyes to the place of your mercy and to find in you our peace and deliverance. We make our prayer in your name.  Amen.   Methodist Worship

Merciful Lord, grant your people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.    Methodist Worship

First Bible Reading   Genesis 7:1-7, 15-16

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty ; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram ; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.
I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."
 

(This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)

Second Reading  Romans 4:13-25

It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."
The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

(This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)

Gospel Reading  Mark 8:31-38

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

(This is the Word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God.)

Post Communion Sentence

Almighty God, you see that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves: keep us 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 Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Commentary

Somebody once said that if we want to make God laugh all we need to do is to tell him our plans. The point being that our carefully formulated family and career paths seldom turn out the way the we hope or expect. Human efforts to gain power and control over our lives are constantly the source of disappointment. People spend years of working drudgery preparing for happy retirement, then suddenly hear bad news from the doctor. In future it appears that the longed for retirement bliss will be blighted by the loss of pension funds, closed final salary schemes etc. Life is just so unfair, some couch potatoe smokes and drinks themselves into their 90’s, whilst the calorie conscious jogger has a brain haemorrhage. People invest thousands in the education of children who ‘drop-out,’ whilst other neglectful parents turn out fantastic young adults. Marriages of many years suddenly become only unhappy memories when the long trusted partner walks off with somebody else. So in Mark’s Gospel today Jesus cautions the disciples and us to be careful about what we plan for,
‘Those who want to save their life will loose it,
and those who loose their life for my sake will save it.’
Not one of us has control over our lives, if we try to be Lord’s of our own lives we will be faced with disappointment. The only way to realise fullness of life is to turn over our ambitions, our hopes and dreams to God. In a typical Gospel ambiguity, it is as we loose ourselves that we realise true fulfilment. Our human vision is too small, our plans not nearly as expansive as the ones which God has in store for us.
Not one of us knows what life holds for us in the future, what fantastic amazing events and what terrible tragedies. Yet one thing is certain - the more we ‘let go and let God,’ the more freedom we will find and the more joy we will experience in this life of surprises. Charles Royden
 

Meditation

The glory of God is a human person fully alive. A human person fully alive is the glory of God. St Irenaeus
 

Hymns

1. The Kingdom of God, 651; 

2. Give thanks with a grateful heart, 170 & For I'm building a people of power, 151; 

3. Through all the changing scenes of life, 702; 

4. Father hear the prayer we offer, 132; 

5. Jesus the name high over all, 385

6. New every morning, 480;
7. Jehovah Jireh, 354 
8. I heard the voice of Jesus say, 275
9. The God of Abraham praise, 645

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian,
if it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die
 

Go before us, Lord, in all that we do, with your most gracious favour, and guide us with your continual help, that in all our works, begun, continued and ended in you, we may glorify your holy name, and finally by your mercy obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

May the Lord teach you to know yourselves, that you may be truly penitent; so to repent that you may be truly forgiven; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you always. Amen

God of mercy, be swift to help us, as our lips pour forth your praise; and fill our lives with your peace, as we open our hearts to your word and wait for your salvation. Amen

Break into my life afresh O Lord, that I might experience your love, break into my heart afresh O Lord, that others may experience your love through me. Amen

Heavenly Father, so full of forgiveness and mercy, fill your Church with such holiness that our understanding of your ways deepens daily, and all our work and worship glorifies your name. Amen
 

The God of peace fill you with all joy and hope in believing; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you always. Amen
 

Additional Material

Commentary

The covenant between God and His people is a common theme through much of the Old Testament, beginning with God's covenant with Noah in Genesis 9, sealed with the Rainbow, moving on through to the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15 and 17, and to its renewal with Moses in Exodus 19, and on to the covenant with King David, described in Ps 89. Each of the descriptions, and the covenants themselves, build on the previous ones, expanding them and making them more complete. And in each of them we see common characteristics. The one with Abraham in the Old Testament reading is no exception.

The covenant is conditional; 'walk before me and be blameless. I will (then) confirm my covenant between me and you'. The covenant is inclusive; 'for I have made you a father of many nations', so much so that Abram's name is changed from Abram (high father) to Abraham (father of many). 

The covenant is eternal; 'an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come'. God's covenant relationship, a conditional, inclusive and eternal relationship; initiated by God for the benefit of His people. 

Later in the Old Testament Jeremiah introduces the concept of a New Covenant to come, needed because the Old Covenant is becoming broken beyond repair. And in Christ this New Covenant, which we remember at our celebration of Holy Communion, was inaugurated. It too is conditional (on our response to it), inclusive (it is open to all who respond) and eternal (it has no time boundaries attached to it). But to inaugurate this New Covenant, Christ had to fulfil His mission on earth as Messiah, to die upon the cross and to be raised to eternal life. 

For Peter this causes real confusion. In Mark 8 v 29, just before today's reading, Peter has just declared that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Now in Mark 8 v 32 we have the remarkable exchange where Peter rebukes Jesus! Peter knows what Messiahs should do. Messiahs rule! They don't die! What is Christ thinking about? 

For Christ, God incarnate on Earth, it would have been simple to take the easy way out, to literally play God, to snap His fingers and have the world at His beck and call - to take the way of pomp, luxury, riches and ultimate power. But that would not have established the New Covenant relationship with God the father. And so Jesus, in obedience to the Easter Cross and His father's will, chose the way of humility, sacrifice and painful death. Chose the way that brought light from darkness and life from death. Peter ultimately came to understand this. 

As disciples we are not called to atone for the sins of the world through death on a cross. But we are called to participate in Jesus self-sacrificial calling. For each one of us, Lent is a time to reflect on what that means for us personally. What it means not to take the easy way out. To take up the Easter cross of Christ, day by day. 

Peter later denied Christ but subsequently became a fearless witness to Jesus' new way of life. There can be times when we deny Christ, by our thoughts, words and actions. Times which we often regret. But forgiven by the risen Christ, and renewed by His Holy Spirit we too can become powerful witnesses to the love of Christ in the world. Like Peter, we may not always understand what Christ is doing fully. Like Peter we may say the wrong things at the wrong times. But like Peter, we too can live out the New Covenant of Christ and begin and continue to transform the world.  Sam Cappleman

Meditation

The readings for the second Sunday of Lent focus on salvation. Mark is clear, we are saved by Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection. The story of that salvation starts with God's calling of Abram to be the father of many nations, sealed through the covenant He made with him. It ends with us and our response to God's call, a call sealed through the new covenant made possible by the Easter Christ.  Sam Cappleman

Used at the Consecration of the new extension to the Garden of Remembrance

Let us pray to God our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray that God's presence may always be found in this place by all who turn to Him: when people gather here to seek your face and offer praise and prayer. When we commend your servants into your hands to pass through death to you. When we seek forgiveness and grace here, peace and reassurance, strength and consolidation. Amen