Below is the worship text for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, April 6, 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 first of the month POT-LUCK LUNCH. Bring a dish to pass. 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, April 6, 2025
Fifth 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 Hymn:
Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now
Prayer of the Day
Creator God, you prepare a new way in the wilderness, and your grace waters our desert. Open our hearts to be transformed by the new thing you are doing, that our lives may proclaim the extravagance of your love given to all through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
First Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21
16 Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18 Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
19 I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
20 The wild animals will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.
Word of God. Word of Life.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm: 126
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
then were we like those who dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are glad indeed.
4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses of the Negeb.
5 Those who sowed with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping, carry- ing the seed,
will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.
Second Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14
Paul writes: 4b If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Word of God. Word of Life.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation
Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:13-14)
The Holy Gospel according to John
Glory to you O Lord
Gospel: John 12:1-8
1 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you O Christ
Angelus Silesius…a seventeenth century German priest…wrote this:
The rose has no why…it blossoms because it blossoms.
It pays no attention to itself…nor does it ask whether anyone sees it.
Well…what if we were to live like the rose…without a why?
- What if we blossomed simply because we blossomed.
- What if there was no motive to our blossoming.
- What if there was no seeking to be noticed…to be praised…to accomplish?
- What if we fragranced the world because we could not do anything but fragrance the world?
- The rose is going to do what it’s going to do regardless of whether anyone sees or smells it.
- It’s beauty and fragrance are not a means to an end…It has no why.
I want to live without a why.
- I want to give and do unconditionally.
- At least that’s what I want on my better days.
- I think that’s often how we see ourselves…and how we want to be and live…
- The Lord be with you.
We desire to live unconditionally and without strings attached…but it’s harder than it sounds.
- We live in a world of economy…exchange…and transaction.
- We live in a world in which we pay for what we want.
- There is…as the saying goes…no such thing as a free lunch.
- We are expected to return the favor…pay off the debt…or reciprocate in some way.
- In short…we get what we pay for.
- And we pay in all sorts of ways.
Think about it:
- We exchange our time for money.
- We sacrifice our families for success.
- We trade our dreams for the practicalities of making ends meet.
When my dad was an engineer and company rep for GE…
- He took clients to lunch and sent gifts.
- What was that about?
- Was it about more than a shared meal or friendship?
- Have you ever received a gift and felt indebted or obligated to return the favor.
- Or at least send a thank-you note?
- Even the best-intentioned gifts can leave the recipient with an unintended debt of gratitude.
- And how did we feel when we did not receive a thank-you note or other acknowledgment after giving a gift?
- Or did not receive an invitation to dinner at their house after we had them to dinner at our house?
Have we ever sent flowers after an argument?
- Were we giving a gift or working a deal?
- Have we ever argued over the lunch bill?
- You paid the last time…it’s my turn” or I’ll get it today…you can get it next time.
- And everyone knows that big time donors expect big time returns.
- And it’s not just in politics…sometimes it’s in college admissions.
- If your charitable gifts are charitable enough you get rewarded with a tax deduction.
- Have you ever wondered why somebody was doing something for you…wondered what was in it for them?
It’s even in church and our faith.
- Theologians call it the economy of salvation.
- Believe in Jesus…follow his way…and you too can have salvation.
- Sometimes we believe that our prayers and good behavior are the currency that pays for God’s favor.
- Martin Luther said: No…No…No…No to this (Sola Gratia).
I say none of this as a criticism or judgment but simply as an observation.
- There are thousands of ways in which we daily transact the business of life.
- We cannot escape that.
- It’s hard…maybe impossible…to give a pure gift.
- Economies are a part of our world and our lives.
- As much as I love being a pastor and say that I am not in it for the money…
- I still want and need to be paid.
- I am not suggesting economies are inherently wrong or that we need to rid ourselves of economies…
- But maybe we need to be more aware of them and the power and influence they have.
There are times when we do or need to do something simply for the sake of doing it.
- Things like love…forgiveness…truth…hospitaliy justice…compassion.
- In those times something is being affirmed for itself…
- And not for what it might achieve or accomplish…there is no why.
I think that is what’s going on with Mary in today’s gospel.
- She loves because she loves.
- She anoints because she anoints.
- She fragrances because she fragrances.
- There is no why…it is gift…grace upon grace.
- There is nothing in it for her.
- It is unconditional…without measure or calculation.
- And it looks reckless and irresponsible.
- She is not invested in a result or seeking a particular outcome.
- She is just doing what she is doing because that is what she is doing.
- She breaks the chains of means and ends.
- And it makes no sense to Judas or any other economist.
Gift stands in contrast to economy…even as Mary stands in contrast to Judas.
- Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?
- I do not know what Judas’ real motive was.
- Maybe he was…as our text says…a thief and wanted it all for himself.
- Maybe he really did care about and want to help the poor.
- Or maybe our gospel writer was seeking payback and revenge…another economy…
- And portrayed him in a negative light.
In any event Judas is calculating and practical.
- He knows the market.
- He’s an investor looking for a return.
- He wants to turn Mary’s gift into a profit.
- Judas has a why.
- He’s aligned himself with a means and an end.
- In the economies of our life everything has a why and we become calculating…
- Expecting a return on our investment whether that investment is money…time…love…or a good deed.
Let’s not draw any conclusions:
- Mary is good…Judas is bad.
- Mary is right…Judas is wrong.
- But here’s the thing.
- I know times when I have lived as Judas and times when I have lived as Mary.
Really…they are not two opposite lives or people…
- But two aspects of our lives…two ways of living and relating.
- We hold both Mary and Judas within ourselves.
- They are images of ourselves…images of our charitable self and our economic self.
- We live in the tension of the two.
- That tension reveals that Mary and Judas…gift and economy…are interwoven in each of us.
- It reminds us that the fragrance of life can be neither bought nor sold.
- It reminds us that the fragrance of life is priceless.
- Amazing grace…how sweet the sound.
Song of the Day:
Take My Life, that I May Be
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.
The church declares your praise, O God. Guide us in the example of Isaiah’s imagination, Paul’s transformed identity, and Mary’s faith and devotion; that our lives, too, may be poured out in love as we trust in your promises. God, in your mercy,
receive our prayer.
The earth declares your praise, O God. Make a way for the planet’s future in the sea and the wilderness, the mountains and plains, the tundra and wetlands. Repair habitats and sustainable ecosystems on, above, and beneath the ground. God, in your mercy,
receive our prayer.
The nations declare your praise, O God. Where religious differences divide, bring together those who worship you in the name of Jesus Christ and those who call to you with different names. Guide interreligious dialogue, that faith may unite rather than divide communities. God, in your mercy,
receive our prayer.
The people declare your praise, O God. Restore those whose hope has been dampened through a health diagnosis, job or home loss, divorce, or death. Bring healing to those in need (especially). May all who weep now sing songs of joy again. God, in your mercy,
receive our prayer.
The gifts of the Spirit declare your praise, O God. We thank you for artists who proclaim the gospel (especially Albrecht Dürer). Inspire music, poetry, and images that proclaim the new thing you are doing. God, in your mercy,
receive our prayer.
Here other intercessions may be offered.
The communion of saints declares your praise, O God. Giving thanks for those who have died, (especially Charlott Dallman) we trust in the one who has made them his own: Christ Jesus, our crucified and risen Savior. 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:
Beautiful Savior
Dismissal
Go in peace. Care for others as God cares for us.
Thanks be to God!