We are a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms, building community in a fragmented world.
Prelude - It is Well With My Soul [Lee Rogers], Jan Green
Opening Scripture - Deuteronomy 26:5-11
5you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, 7we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; 9and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. 11Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.
*Response - Come and Find the Quiet Center #575
Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.
*Call to Worship - Steve Hurd
ONE: Jesus went to the mountaintop to pray.
ALL: Jesus went into the city to heal.
ONE: Jesus walked to Samaria to extend love.
ALL: Jesus went to the water’s edge to teach.
ONE: Jesus went to places of peace and connection,
ALL: but Jesus also went to the wilderness.
ONE: There is nowhere we can go that God does not walk with us.
ALL: We are in God’s house. Let us worship Holy God.
Opening Hymn - A Mighty Fortress is our God #65, v.1&4
1 A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
our present help, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe;
with craft and power great, and armed with cruel hate,
on earth without an equal.
4 God’s Word above all earthly powers no thanks to them abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours through Christ who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
the body they may kill: God's truth abideth still;
God’s reign endures forever!
Invitation to Generosity - Steve Hurd
Children’s Moment Rev. Chad Delaney
Pastoral Prayer - Rev. Chad Delaney
Communion
Meditation - Ally Bozeka
Communion Hymn - Bread of the World #387
1 Bread of the world in mercy broken, wine of the soul in mercy shed,
by whom the words of life were spoken, and in whose death our sins are dead:
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer - Ally Bozeka
Words of Institution - Rev. Chad Delaney
Prayer of Illumination
God of the wilderness places in our lives,
it can be hard to hear you in the desert.
It can be hard to hear you in the city,
in the midst of our calendar reminders,
rush-hour traffic, and notification alerts.
It can be hard to hear you, so we ask: make everything quiet.
Pause the chaos. Still the rushing. Ease our racing thoughts.
Give us ears to hear your Word for us today
which promises that even in the desert you are full to the brim.
We are listening. We ache for your good news.
Gratefully we pray, amen.
Scripture - Luke 4:1-13
4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”
5 Then the devil[a] led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil[b] said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”
9 Then the devil[c] took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ 11 and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Sermon - "Even in the Desert", Rev. Chad Delaney
This Lenten season we come to the passages of scripture with a lens we may not be accustomed to during this time of year.
In the season of Lent we are usually focused on the penitential areas., Where are the gaps? What could I improve? What am I missing? I’ve filled myself up too much with so much garbage and chocolate…now I need a cleanse. We repent, we clean out, we reflect, we remove the temptations in our lives…in the hopes that we grow spiritually as we move toward Holy Week.
So…how does Full to the Brim fit with that kind of idea? Usually I’m trying to EMPTY at this time…now you want me to be full? Are you saying that I can keep rolling with the chocolates?
Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman says, “Growing up in the church, I always felt like Lent had a particular vibe—a somber, introspective, possibly even self-critical kind of vibe. I remember giving up things for Lent to practice resisting temptation and feeling the weight of my sin like a cloak of guilt. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly appropriate that Lent elicits solemnity as we journey alongside Jesus on his journey to death. At times in my life, however, this Lenten energy has become crushing, even to the point of self-hatred.” She then goes on to say how the scriptures for this Lenten Season share something different. “These passages have language and imagery sprinkled with nurturing affirmations and nourishing comfort. Love letters from a God who desires for us to have full, expansive lives.”
Instead of looking for the gaps, the failures, the wrongs…maybe we can put on the lens of Abundance to see what happens. To look for them in the passages and in our lives.
Now to me this is dangerous territory. This is not an appeal for “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” Theology. This isn’t the avoid and ignore the bad and focus on the good. But to hold both and step forward in faith.
In the story of Jesus’ temptation, the Devil character is just BEGGING Jesus to focus hard on the scarcity. Lots of ammo too. 40 days and 40 nights in the desert and the Bible says Jesus hadn’t eaten anything and he was famished. No kidding. Jesus is especially vulnerable and hit him where it hurts. Perfect spot to attack and that’s what the devil-character does in the Bible. In the Genesis story they had a whole earth of gardens and apples and whatever else they wanted, but the snake was sure to make that one tree stick in their craw. It's a human temptation--been around for a long time. “Look through the Lens of Scarcity--things are bad, you are bad, everything is bad. Give up and give in.”
And it is hard to flip that lens around to abundance in a genuine way. We know how to try or to convince ourselves everything is going to be ok. Faith is different than that though. Faith faces the truth and lives and loves and hopes through it.
I was moved by a story told by Rev. Erin Bowers about a family in her congregation who gave the baptismal font in memory of their daughter who died from drowning. Of the family, she
writes: “Despite the tragedy they had endured, they trusted in God’s covenant promises enough to assent to them again. And I imagine that they understood exactly what God promised, and what God never had: that God had never promised that water wasn’t dangerous. That God had never promised that this world would not be scary and heartbreaking. But that they trusted that God loved and received their small daughter. And that God loves and receives them. That in life and death we all belong to God.”
In this life we live, we may be experiencing some serious scarcity and difficulty. No sense in denying its existence. Downturn in health of yourself or someone you love. Grief in losing someone whose gap you feel everyday. The division and violence in the world. Poverty and hunger. We might be LOOKING actively for something to believe in….but we keep wringing that dry towel looking for some drop of something to come dripping out. It makes us especially vulnerable diving even deeper down the well of scarcity. The desert is real.
In the story, Jesus is tired, hungry, thirsty…thoroughly dried out, vulnerable to give up and give in. And, I believe his belief that with God there is always enough. Truthfully determined to look through the Lens of Abundance. To face and confront the dire truth….AND to still name God’s provision and strength which never left him. Jesus would feast on the food of the Spirit and serve God alone. Even in the desert of life that would pull him through and nurture his spirit. Even in the desert, Jesus was Full to the Brim.
On this Lenten journey may we be unafraid to face the deserts, scarcity, the realities that we face. To name them for what they are, but not to give over power fully to them. Instead, even in the deserts of our lives may we see and name and believe in the full-ness present to hold us and lift us to abundant life. May it be so. Amen.
You’ve been here before by Rev. Sarah Are Speed
You’ve been here before.
I squeeze that truth like an orange in my hands,
willing some form of comfort to run out,
roll down my wrists, calm these aching nerves.
You’ve been here before—in the wilderness, in the desert,
in the place where nothing is what it seems
and everything is sharp.
You’ve been here before so surely you know how hard it is
to hold tight to what is real in the middle of a storm.
But because you’ve been here before, I will stand tall.
I will sing songs of the river, from here in the sand.
I will sing songs of the river, into the wind.
Closing Hymn - Open My Eyes, That I May See #586
Open my eyes, that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me;
place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee, ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!
Benediction - Rev. Chad Delaney
ONE: We believe God is love and God’s love is overflowing.
ALL: We believe Jesus is a river that is running toward us.
ONE: We believe the Holy Spirit is a vessel
ALL: who holds mercy for you and for me.
ONE: We believe the desert is real and lonely.
ALL: We believe that Jesus has been there and we do not walk alone.
ONE: Even in the desert, we are loved.
ALL: Even in the desert, God is with us.
ONE: Even in the desert, this love overflows.
ALL: Thanks be to God, Amen.
Postlude - Happy the Soul Who Dwells on God [Richard Blake], Jan Green
The Prayers and Liturgy in the service are adapted from works by Sarah (Are) Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org