Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 30, 2025 | St Andrew Lutheran Church

Below is the worship text for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 30, 2025.

You will find the YouTube of the worship at: inklingsermons.com

Our worship service is Sunday at 10 am. Following worship please join us for our coffee and conversation. All are welcome!

Thanks, and thanks again for your generous offerings to our ministry and for supporting DayStar Life Center with food and money.

You may reach out to me at: 727-642-3300.

Regards & blessings,

Pastor Chip

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Fourth Sunday in Lent

Confession and Forgiveness

Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,

who forgives all our sin,

whose mercy endures forever.

Amen.

Let us return to God, confessing our sin in the assurance of God’s abiding love.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Compassionate One,

you are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, but our lives do not always reflect you and your love for the world.

We do not show others the tender compassion you have shown to us.

We do not welcome others with the radical hospitality you grant to all people.

We oppress others, even though you have set us free again and again.

We squander the abundant gifts of the earth.

Transform our lives and guide us again in the way of the cross.

Amen.

Beloved in Christ,

God’s arms are always stretched open wide to welcome the wandering ones home.

In ☩ Christ our sins are forgiven.

We have a place in God’s house forever.

Amen.

Gathering Song:

Spirit of Gentleness

Prayer of the Day

God of compassion, you welcome the wayward, and you embrace us all with your mercy. By our baptism clothe us with garments of your grace, and feed us at the table of your love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

First Reading: Joshua 5:9-12

⁹ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.

¹⁰ While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. ¹¹ On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹² The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

Word of God. Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

Psalm 32

¹ Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven,
and whose sin is put away!
² Happy are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt,
and in whose spirit there is no guile!
³ While I held my tongue, my bones withered away,
because of my groaning all day long.
⁴ For your hand was heavy upon me day and night;
my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer.
⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and did not conceal my guilt.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.
⁶ Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble;
when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.
⁷ You are my hiding-place; you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
⁸ “I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go;
I will guide you with my eye.
⁹ Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding;
who must be fitted with bit and bridle, or else they will not stay near you.”
¹⁰ Great are the tribulations of the wicked;
but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord.
¹¹ Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord;
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

¹⁶ From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. ¹⁷ So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰ So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Word of God. Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

The Holy Gospel according to Luke

Glory to you O Lord

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

¹ Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus.² And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
³ So he told them this parable: ^11b “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 traveled 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 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.’ 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 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.’ ”

The Gospel of the Lord

Praise to you O Christ

When our son…Jason…was in fourth grade…I dropped him off 15 minutes early for school.

I had never done that before…but Susan was teaching at another school and I had to make it to a meeting…
And the school did allow students to be dropped off early.

Two hours later…I was in a meeting…when the school called asking why Jason was absent.

My heart dropped into my stomach…and my body took over in a hyper-ventilating mess of a way.
My mind raced thinking that someone had scooped my child into a van…
Remembering that I had dropped him off early.
Breathing became impossible and I started to hyperventilate.
My child was gone.

Fortunately…Jason was not taken…and was totally fine.

It was just the day of the Scholastic book fair…and he had lost track of time…
Looking at books and had not been around when they took attendance.
He was not in danger.
He was in a book fair.

I have no idea what kind of soul-crushing pain one must experience when a child is really gone.

But the few minutes I experienced a glimpse of it…
An experience shared by many when they cannot find their child at a carnival…
Or a shopping mall or when they do not get off the school bus one afternoon…
Are the most heart-breaking moments of our lives.

Because…when it comes down to it…it is vulnerable to have a child.

To create or adopt a child is to leave yourself vulnerable to a broken heart in the way nothing else can.
Which is why I started wondering this week about the vulnerability of God.

The Lord be with you…

There is much talk about the strength of God and the mightiness of God and the awesomeness of God.

But what of the vulnerability of God?
That God would breathe into dust… and create us in his own image…
That God would bring humanity into being as his own beloved children…
Was to leave himself vulnerable to a broken heart in a way nothing else could have.
What a risk God took creating us.
Giving us enough freedom to be creators and destroyers.
Giving us enough freedom for us to make a mess of everything and act as our own gods…
And to also trust in God and love each other.

I wonder if this is what Jesus is telling us about in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

I confess to you that early on in my ministry I thought the word prodigal meant returning…
And having repented of your wrongs.
Or at least I thought prodigal meant coming home after having been independent and stupid for a while.
I am sure you already know this…
That the word prodigal means spending resources freely and recklessly.
Being wastefully extravagant.

I have always heard this parable…one of the most famous stories in the Gospel…titled the Parable of the Prodigal son.

But out of everything we could say this story is about…
Why do we say it is about the wasteful extravagance of the younger son?
Why is that the focus when it is not even that interesting?

What I mean is this:

It is common for young people to leave home…waste their lives and their money for a while…
Until they have no other option…but to come home to the parents they did not treat very well…when they were leaving in the first place.

I think we make this a story about the wasteful stupidity of the younger son…

Because it is a story we are more familiar with…
Than the alternative…which is this:
If the word prodigal means wasteful extravagance…
Then is it not really the story of the prodigal father?

Is it not wastefully extravagant for the Father to give his children so much freedom?

Is it not wastefully extravagant for the Father to discard his dignity…
And run into the street toward a foolish and immature son who squandered their fortune?
Is it not wasteful for the father to throw such an extravagant party for this kind of wayward son?

But…I love that kind of grace.

I love that Jesus tells this story of the prodigal father…
In response to the Pharisee’s irritation that Jesus would eat with tax collectors and prostitutes…
Because…when it comes down to it…we are a church filled with saints and sinners…
Not a church filled only with pious pharisees.

Some of us might find the grace the father shows to the younger son bordering on offensive.

But the thing that really gets my attention…in this story…is how wastefully extravagant the father is toward the older son.
The son who never left him.
The one who has always done everything right.
The son who is clean cut and went to college right out of high school…
And came back to work in his father’s business.
The child who always signs up to do jobs at synagogue…
But resentfully notices all the slackers who show up and never help at all.
The child who feels entitled.
The child who cannot stomach going into a party to celebrate the return of his screw-up of a brother.

I cannot stand that older brother…even as I cringe at the ways I am like him.

It is wastefully extravagant that the father says to that kid:
All that is mine is yours.

What risk God takes on us.

Children who waste everything in dissolute living.
Children who begrudge grace being extended to people who so clearly do not deserve it.
But this is a risk born of love.
God risks so much by loving us…
Which is why I prefer calling this the Parable of the Prodigal Father.

Because it is here…we see that our relationship to God…is not defined by our bad decisions…or our squandering of resources.

It is not determined by our virtue.
It is not determined by being nice or being good.
Our relationship to God is simply determined by the wastefully extravagant love of God.
A God who takes no account of risk.
But…runs toward us no matter what.
Saying…all that is mine is yours.

Song of the Day:

Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling

Prayers of Intercession

Led by the Spirit, let us turn to God in prayer for the church, the world, and all those in need.

A brief silence.

God of faithful promise, make your church a new creation in Christ. As you reconcile us to yourself, guide us also in your way of reconciliation, that through confession and forgiveness, repentance and reparations, your church may bear witness to your love. God, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

God of new beginnings, restore balance to the earth. Send rain to places of drought and sunshine to places of flooding, that the produce of the land may again support life. God, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

God of prodigal grace, unite the nations as fellow members of the human family. Give leaders the courage to put aside pride and ego, to cease squandering lives and time, and to work for the well-being of all. God, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

God of boundless love, receive with open arms any in need of compassion especially. Embrace all who are far from home or estranged from loved ones, and all who live with regret. Embolden your people to offer and to seek forgiveness. God, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

God of radical inclusion, widen human circles to welcome all who are excluded. Bless the work of disability ministries, ministries by and with neurodivergent people, and multicultural and ethnic-specific ministries; that the welcome of Jesus be extended to all. God, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

God of resurrection life, welcome home all who have died. We thank you for their lives and entrust them into your keeping, where true reconciliation and eternal peace are found. God, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

Receive the prayers of your people and draw all things together in your love, in the name of Jesus, who leads us from death to life.

Amen.

Pray with me:

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 against us.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.

Amen.

Blessing

God our tender parent,

God the crucified one,

God the reconciling Spirit,

☩ bless us now and forever.

Amen.

Sending Song:

My Life Flows on in Endless Song

Dismissal

Go in peace. Care for others as God cares for you.

Thanks be to God!