Sundays at All Hallows (Sunday, March 24, 2024)
This Sunday, the Sixth Sunday in Lent, is called Palm Sunday. It is the Sunday before Easter Sunday and is the beginning of Holy Week. In a number of Christian traditions on this Sunday a special liturgy, the Liturgy of the Palms, begins the service, recalling Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Palm branches are blessed and then distributed to the congregation who form a procession. As the congregation processes around the community and then into the church’s sanctuary or worship center, the congregation sings “All Glory, Laud and Honor” and other hymns and sacred songs appropriate for the occasion. In England freshly cut willow branches are substituted for the palm branches.
On this Sunday the Passion Gospel, which retells the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and burial may also be read. The Passion Gospel appointed for this liturgical year is Mark 14:1-15:27.
In some churches the congregation is given small crosses, made from palms, as a reminder of the occasion and the events that it commemorates.
GATHER IN GOD’S NAME
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Francis Patrick O’Brian’s “Hosanna!”
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
1 Children of Jerusalem
shouting praises followed him.
“This is he who comes to save,
He our ransom from the grave.”
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
2 Entering Jerusalem,
crowds of people covered him.
“Hosanna to the chosen One!
Blessed is he, God’s only Son!”
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
3 Open wide the sacred door,
the king of glory rides once more.
Sing hosannas, shout his name,
to the world God’s love proclaim.
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
[Instrumental interlude]
4 Blessed Christ, who comes in pow’r,
save us all from Satan’s hour.
Grasping not Divinity,
he wins our freedom on a tree.
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
5 Earth and sea and sky above,
glory in this saving love:
Blessed, rich in mercy he
He who sets all people free.
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
6 Ev’ry tongue on earth confess,
Jesus rich in holiness
comes to be our saving Lord;
in his name be God adored.
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
7 Spirit of the living God,
pouring forth eternal love,
help us praise the Blessed One,
praise until our life is done.
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
God has promised forgiveness
to all who truly repent,
turn to Christ in faith
and are themselves forgiving.
Let us confess our sins to God our Father.
Silence
Almighty and merciful God
we have sinned against you,
in thought, word and deed.
We have not loved you with all our heart.
We have not loved others as our Saviour Christ loves us.
We are truly sorry.
In your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us to amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be;
that we may delight in your will
and walk in your ways;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen
Merciful Lord,
grant to your faithful people pardon and peace,
that we may be cleansed from all our sins,
and serve you with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Rob Smith’s “Undivided.”
1 Give me an undivided heart
That I might fear your name
Teach me to walk in righteous paths
And follow in your ways
For you are gracious and forgiving
Hear, O Lord, and answer me
2 Give me an undivided mind
That I might love your word
Help me to hunger for your voice
And know your Spirit’s sword
For you are good, your truth unchanging
Life is found in serving you
Undivided – I want to live for you
Single-minded – all that I say, all that I do
Sanctify me, take me and make me new
That I might live for Christ, my Lord
3 Give me an undivided love
For all that you desire
Make me a living sacrifice
Ignite in me your fire
For you, O Lord, are God eternal
All my ways are known to you
Undivided – I want to live for you
Single-minded – all that I say, all that I do
Sanctify me, take me and make me new
That I might live for Christ, my Lord
Undivided – counting my gains as loss
Single-minded – whatever the pain, whatever the cost
Sanctify me, help me take up my cross
And live for him who died for me
Let us pray.
Silence
Almighty and everlasting God,
who, in your tender love towards the human race,
sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
Grant that we may follow the example
of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD
A reading from the New Testament (Philippians 2:1-11)
Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another. I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind. Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own. The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had:
He always had the nature of God,
but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God.
Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had,
and took the nature of a servant.
He became like a human being
and appeared in human likeness.
He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death—
his death on the cross.
For this reason God raised him to the highest place above
and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.
And so, in honor of the name of Jesus
all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below
will fall on their knees,
and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Silence
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.
“He was humble….”
In today’s reading the apostle Paul holds up Jesus’ humility as an example for the church at Philippi. It is an example that many who, while they claim to be Christians and therefore presumably disciples of Jesus do not follow. They appear intent upon making a name for themselves; keeping themselves in the public spotlight, like the Pharisees, doing and saying things to draw attention to themselves; and pursuing selfishly their own personal advantage without any regard for the effects their words and actions have on others.
Paul urges the Philippians to adopt Jesus’ attitude after encouraging them strongly not to be prideful, not to think that they are better or more important than other people, to care about other people, and not to do only what they think is best for themselves.
Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own.
What Paul is telling the Philippians is true for those who call themselves Christians in our own time and also for ourselves.
A number of public figures who identify themselves as Christian or claim to represent the interests of Christians are motivated by personal ambition, not concern for the good of others. Their example is not one Paul would commend to us. It is also not an example that we would wish to commend to anyone genuinely seeking to follow Jesus as his disciple.
A strong desire to be seen as the most important person in a church and to have other church members defer to their wishes in all matters in which they take an interest may also motivates ordinary Christians. Such individuals are apt to put their preferences first irrespective of whether these preferences are the best choice for a church in its particular circumstances. This has too frequently led to the premature death of a church. While some decisions can arrest the decline of a church and give it a new lease on life; others can hasten its demise.
Boastfulness, praising ourselves and what we have done, even going as far as claiming other people’s accomplishments as our own, is not a character trait that Paul encourages the Philippians to develop. Nor is it a character trait that we would wish to develop. It conflicts with the attitude of humility that Jesus displayed, and which Paul urges the Philippians and us to adopt.
As Paul writes elsewhere, our praise should focus on God and what God has done, not on ourselves and our accomplishments.
To claim other people’s accomplishments as our own is to engage in a form of robbery, a violation of the Eighth Commandment, “Do not steal” (Exodus 20:15). So are fraud, getting money by deceiving people, and not paying someone money we owe them. In Leviticus 19:11 we read, “Do not steal, cheat or lie.” In Leviticus 19:13 we further read, “Do not rob or take advantage of anyone….” Jesus alludes to these moral commandments in his teaching.
As Christians an important part of our calling is to represent Jesus to the world. This means that our words and actions must reflect Jesus, embodying Jesus’ character as well as the truths and principles that he taught.
There is a tendency in some forms of contemporary Christianity to lose sight of the truth that repentance, faith, the new birth, and baptism as important as they are, are only the beginning of the Christian life. When we turn from sin in repentance and turn to Jesus in faith, we enter a new relationship with God. It is a dynamic relationship, one that is continuously developing—or at least it is supposed to be. God, working in us, transforms us into a new person. We become more like Jesus in our attitudes, our way of thinking, and our behavior. This does require our cooperation with God.
What we are seeing, however, is a significant number of individuals whom we charitably assume are Christians based upon their profession of faith but who are suffering from what may be described as arrested development. They are not becoming more like Jesus. Some may be described as “functional atheists.” They act as if God does not exist.
How then do we account for their arrested development. One possibility is that they did not experience a change of heart and make a genuine profession of faith. They were carried away by the excitement of the moment, experienced pressure from family members and others to “make a decision for Christ,” or did not want to be the only one who did not go forward and say a “sinner’s prayer” when their friends did.
On the other hand, their change of heart and their profession of faith may have been genuine. They received little or no follow-up. The spiritual formation that they received was left solely to chance. They were given little or no opportunity to mature and develop as disciples of Jesus.
They may not have been encouraged to grow spiritually. They may not have been taught well or set a good example.
This said, if we are honest with ourselves, we are not as spiritually mature as we might like to be or would like to see ourselves. There is always room for improvement.
God works in us throughout our lives. God follows no set timetable. As we take advantage of the means of grace that God has given us, we grow in the likeness of Jesus, in the likeness of God. In an upcoming series I will be looking at the various means of grace, the different ways that God enables us to grow in his likeness.
Silence
Open this link in a new tab to hear Johanna Anderson’s “Praise to the Lord of the Small.”
1 Praise to the Lord of the small broken things,
who sees the poor sparrow that cannot take wing.
who loves the lame child and the wretch in the street
who comforts their sorrows and washes their feet.
2 Praise to the Lord of the faint and afraid
who girds them with courage and lends them His aid,
He pours out his spirit on vessels so weak,
that the timid can serve and the silent can speak.
3 Praise to the Lord of the frail and the ill
who heals their afflictions or carries them till,
they leave this tired frame and to paradise fly.
to never be sick and never to die.
4 Praise him, O praise Him all ye who live
who’ve been given so much and can so little give
our frail lisping praise God will never despise-
He sees His dear children through mercy-filled eyes.
Let us affirm with Christians across the ages what we believe about God
and his love for us.
We believe in one God,
who made us and loves all that is.
We believe in Jesus Christ,
God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was born, lived, died and rose again,
and is coming to call all to account.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
who calls, equips and sends out God’s people,
and brings all things to their true end.
This is our faith, the faith of the Church:
We believe in one God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER
Let us pray for the Church and the world.
Almighty and everliving God,
hear the prayers which we offer in faith and love:
For peace, and for your salvation to be known throughout the world …
For the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church
and for the unity of all Christian people …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
For all who serve and lead in your Church,
for pastors, elders, and other ministers …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
For all your people, growing in the faith of Christ,
and passing it on to generations yet to come …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
For all who live and work in this community …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
For families, and for those who live alone …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
For all who are sick in body or in mind,
and for those who care for them …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
For all in authority,
and especially for our President …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
For all who have been entrusted with the responsibility of government …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
For those who work for peace, justice and righteousness throughout the
world …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
Rejoicing in the fellowship of your holy apostles and martyrs, and of all
your servants departed this life in your faith and fear, we commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to you, Lord God; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
As our Savior taught his disciples, we pray
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,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
THE SENDING FORTH OF GOD’S PEOPLE
Almighty God,
we thank you for the gift of your holy word.
May it be a lantern to our feet,
a light to our paths,
and strength to our lives.
Take and use us
to love and serve all people
in the power of the Holy Spirit
and in the name of your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
May the almighty and merciful God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
bless us and keep us
now and forever. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear John Chisum’s “Christ Above Me.”
Christ above me
Christ beside me
Christ within me ever guiding
Christ behind me
Christ before
Christ my love my life my lord
Christ above me
Christ beside me
Christ within me ever guiding
Christ behind me
Christ before
Christ my love my life my lord
1 Bread of life from heaven
Lover of my soul
Peace of God so ever present
I surrender my control to
Christ above me
Christ beside me
Christ within me ever guiding
Christ behind me
Christ before
Christ my love my life my lord
2 Mercy everlasting
Tenderness divine
Word of God so ever healing
I surrender heart and mind to
Christ above me
Christ beside me
Christ within me ever guiding
Christ behind me
Christ before
Christ my love my life my lord
Christ above me
Christ beside me
Christ within me ever guiding
Christ behind me
Christ before
Christ my love my life my lord
Christ above me
Christ beside me
Christ within me ever guiding
Christ behind me
Christ before
Christ my love my life my lord
Those present may exchange a sign of peace.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
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