Virtual Worship - 27 March 2022

4th Sunday in Lent and Mothering Sunday

Service Sheet (pdf)

Call to worship:

Let us thank God for the love that holds us in being,
moment by moment,
ever welcoming us home.

Song: 

Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy (Hymns and Psalms 552; Singing the Faith 526) 

Introduction to the theme:

On Mothering Sunday, we appreciate the presence and importance of nurturing love for us. Life’s challenges can mean we forget this love. We can become lost through the mistakes and wrong choices we make, or perhaps by the pressure and responsibility we feel under to get things right. The joy is that God’s outrageous love is always, always there, welcoming us home again.

Opening prayer:

On this Mothering Sunday,
we open our hearts before you, faithful God,
bringing those we love, and those we struggle to love,
those we have lost, and those we are afraid of losing.

We bring our tears and our joy,
our disappointments and our hopes.
We bring all that we carry and all that we long to lay down –
in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Introduction to the bible reading:

The parable of the prodigal son is one of the best known of Jesus’ stories. It is a story about finding and being found – the Father’s words at the end of the story sum up its meaning: ‘for he was lost but now is found.’

I always think of this story as being the Good News in miniature - the gospel message in a nutshell. At heart, the gospel is not first and foremost about how we find God, but about the God who finds us. That is the Good News - how God in Jesus Christ reveals himself to us, makes himself known to us, embracing us and bringing us back to himself. No matter how much we go off on our own way, God never stops loving us, caring for us, and longing to be reconciled to us - like the Father in the story who sees his lost son from far away who races out to meet him, puts his arm around him and brings him home - to great celebration. This theme of finding the lost is an important theme in Luke’s gospel – seen, for example in the story about the woman who loses and coin and turns the house upside down looking for it (15.8-10); the shepherd who searches far and wide until the missing sheep is found (15.1-7); Zaccheus the tax collector whom everyone detests, but who Jesus makes a point of finding, ‘for the Son of man came to seek and save the lost’ (19.1-10). All of these stories spell out the Father’s love for his children.

Bible reading: 

Luke 15.11-32 The Parable of the Prodigal and his brother

11 Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with[c] the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’” 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”[d] 22 But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

25 ‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” 31 Then the father[e] said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”’

Food for thought

The two sons both had lessons to learn about the importance of finding and being found. The younger Son had gone off with his share of the property and squandered the lot. He is reduced to looking after pigs, which would have been the least desirable of jobs for the son of a Jewish family. And at this lowest point in his experience, at the point where he has nothing more to lose, Jesus uses a wonderful phrase - the son ‘came to himself’ or ‘he came to his senses.’ In other words he found himself - he recognised who he was and what he needed to do. This period of Lent is an ideal time for us to have a good look at our own lives - at who we are and what we need to do. Just as Jesus spent time in the wilderness reflecting on the words he heard at his baptism, “You are my beloved son,” and on the mission that lay ahead for him, so we too can usefully use Lent to rediscover ourselves as children of a God who loves us and calls us to be reconciled to God and share in a ministry of reconciliation to others. It is a time for finding ourselves and coming back to God; an opportunity for repentance and making amends wherever we have failed to live up to the life that God wants us to live. Returning to God, we find that he has already set out meet us, with arms open wide and a celebration already being prepared. Moving to meet with God, we find that God is already on the move towards us.

And what about the older son; how does this gospel message of finding and being found apply to him? I remember leading a Lenten bible study a number of years ago when we were looking at the words to one of Wesley’s best loved hymns, ‘And can it be’, which contains the line, ‘Tis mercy all, immense and free, For O my God, it found out me.’ For me, that line says pretty much what I have been trying to say in this service - about how God finds us. But to one member of the group, it expressed a sense of being found wanting - that the hymn in some way exposed a shortcoming in him. Such being found wanting applies very well to the experience of the older son. For instead of sharing his Father’s compassion, the older son shows only a resentment and jealousy of what is going on around him. And so he fails to meet the requirements of hospitality and celebration that the occasion of the return of the younger son demands. The gospel message will not always rest easy with us - there will be times when it challenges us and reveals our shortcomings. But God is a God of grace who wants the very best us and has given us the very best in Jesus Christ. Even though we too may be found wanting, God does not give up on us, but claims us and assures us of our place with him. May we too respond to this gospel of grace which has found us out and given us hope.

For further reflection: Rembrandt’s painting of the prodigal Son

Look at the picture showing Rembrandt’s painting. What do you notice? Catholic priest, Henri Nouwen, who died in 1996, was inspired by Rembrandt’s painting of the prodigal son. It led him to understand Jesus’ story in a fresh way. Yes, he identified himself with both the younger and older sons - he too felt himself to be sometimes wayward and sometimes resentful. But the more he studied the picture, the more he felt drawn to the father figure - Henri Nouwen might have been like the sons, but he also felt a deep calling to become like the father, showing compassion and mercy to those who needed it. There is a challenge in Henry Nouwen’s experience for all of us - that each one of us can be ministers of God’s grace - reaching out in welcome, offering our love to those around us. For if we ourselves have been like the sons who have received of God’s mercy and compassion, should we not also be inspired to share the same with others?

Prayers for others

Gracious God, we pray that your reconciling love may bring harmony to our world.
We pray for those caught up in conflicts between nations and states;
for all who live in fear of the bullet or the bomb.
May the leaders of the nations listen to each other, and commit themselves to peace.
We pray for those whose relationships have broken down.
May your love bring reconciliation, your peace dissolve bitterness,
and your grace disperse anger.

We bring to you homes that are filled with conflict,
and pray for all who suffer from domestic violence and abuse.
Bring healing to those who bear the scars of the ways they have been treated,
and enable them to experience love.

We pray for all who seek to mediate, to bring reconciliation and peace,
that they may have wisdom, patience and compassion.
We bring our prayer in the name of Christ,
through whom all are reconciled to you, our God. Amen.

Song

We finish with the well-known hymn, Amazing Grace, which contains the inspiring line, ‘I once was lost but am found’. Reflect on this hymn in terms of your own life and as you continue to give thanks for God’s grace and love. Singing the Faith 440, Hymns and Psalms 215) 

Blessing: 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all forevermore. Amen

Acknowledgments: Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Prayers taken from Roots resources, copyright Roots For Churches Ltd.