Morning Prayer, the Wednesday after First Sunday in Lent — March 8, 2017

Opening

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. (Psalm 51:15)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be forever. Amen.

Invitatory

The Sun of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings. (Malachi 4:2)
Oh, come, let us worship and praise.

Psalm 95:1-7

Come, let us sing to the Lord:
let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before God’s presence with thanksgiving
and raise a loud shout to the Lord with psalms.
For you, Lord, are a great God,
and a great ruler above all gods.
Come, let us sing to the Lord:
let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
In your hand are the caverns of the earth;
the heights of the hills are also yours.
The sea is yours, for you made it;
and your hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us sing to the Lord:
let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
Come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
For the Lord is our God,
and we are the people of God’s pasture
and the sheep of God’s hand.
Come, let us sing to the Lord:
let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.

Invitatory

The Sun of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings.
Oh, come, let us worship and praise.

Psalm 32

Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven,
and whose sin is put away!
Happy are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt,
and in whose spirit there is no guile!
While I held my tongue, my bones withered away,
because of my groaning all day long.
For your hand was heavy upon me day and night;
my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer.
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.
Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble;
when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.
You are my hiding-place; you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go;
I will guide you with my eye.
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.”
Great are the tribulations of the wicked;
but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord.
Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord;
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.

Lord Christ, you came into the world as one of us, and suffered as we do. As we go through the trials of life, help us to realize that you are with us at all time and in all things; that we have no secrets from you; and that your living grace enfolds us for eternity. In the security of your embrace we pray. Amen.

Song “The glory of these forty days” (ELW 320)

1    The glory of these forty days
    we celebrate with songs of praise;
    for Christ, through whom all things were made,
    himself has fasted and has prayed.

2    Alone and fasting Moses saw
    the loving God who gave the law;
    and to Elijah, fasting, came
    the steeds and chariots of flame.

3    So Daniel trained his mystic sight,
    delivered from the lions' might;
    and John, the Bridegroom's friend, became
    the herald of Messiah's name.

4    Then grant, O God, that we may, too,
    return in fast and prayer to you.
    Our spirits strengthen with your grace,
    and give us joy to see your face.

Exodus 34:1-10, 27-28

The Lord said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me, on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you, and do not let anyone be seen throughout all the mountain; and do not let flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain." So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the former ones; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, "The Lord." The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed,
     "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."
     And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. He said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance."
     [The Lord] said: I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform marvels, such as have not been performed in all the earth or in any nation; and all the people among whom you live shall see the work of the Lord; for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you….
     The Lord said to Moses: Write these words; in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. He was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.

Reflection

In 1528, young seminary professor Martin Luther (https://www.elca.org/Faith/ELCA-Teaching/Luther-and-Lutheranism) visited congregations across Saxony and Meissen. The description of his experiences is brazenly conveyed:

“The deplorable, wretched deprivation that I recently encountered while I was a visitor [of these faith communities] has constrained and compelled me to prepare this catechism, or Christian instruction, in such a brief, plain, and simple version. Dear God, what misery I beheld!” (Luther)

I don’t think it was much different when the Lord God renewed the covenant with Moses and the  Israelites after the golden calf episode. At the very moment Moses was receiving the gift of Torah or law from God, the Israelites set up and worshiped another god at the foot of Mount Sinai, a golden calf (Exodus 32:4). What’s worse, Aaron their co-leader encourages them in this. And Moses literally breaks the stone tablets containing the gift of Torah when he finds out what they've been up to.

God knows that we people will continually break the covenant God has made with us, to be our God, to bless us abundantly, and to protect us from all harm. Thus, God continually renews that covenant and "promises grace and every good thing" (Luther). God does that daily in Baptism. God renews that covenant in sending Jesus the Christ — incarnate, crucified and risen. God renews that covenant by the power of the Holy Spirit poured out, fire-breathed, water-cleansing.

To help us learn the basics about God’s unconditional love, unconditional faithfulness, one-way grace, and ever-present transformative, ‘resurrecting from the dead’ power upon us, Luther wrote The Small Catechism, helping us to ask of God and one another, Was ist das? (What does this mean?).  Instead of building calves, which we will because of our nature, we cherish the questioning, the wondering. What does this mean? Why does God never stop giving, never stop renewing this covenant of faithfulness with us?  Amen.

Scriptural Dialogue

One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)

Gospel Canticle “Song of Zechariah”

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us.

Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel,
you have come to your people and set them free.
You have raised up for us a mighty Savior,
born of the house of your servant David.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us.

Through your holy prophets,
you promised of old to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our forebears,
and to remember your holy covenant.
This was the oath you swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship you without fear,
holy and righteous before you, all the days of our life.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us.

And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way,
to give God's people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us.

Prayers

The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Let us pray. We give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have protected us through the night from all harm and danger. We ask that you would also protect us today from sin and all evil, so that our life and actions may please you. Into your hands we commend ourselves: our bodies, our souls, and all that is ours. Let your holy angels be with us, so that the wicked foe may have no power over us. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

Blessing

May God who has called us forth from the dust of the earth, and claimed us as children of the light, strengthen you on your journey into life renewed. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord’s face shine upon you with grace and mercy. The Lord look upon you with favor
and give you + peace. Amen.

A greeting of peace may be shared by all.

Copyright © 2017 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS011448. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. “The glory of these forty days” (ELW 320) Text: Latin hymn, 11th cent.; tr. Maurice F. Bell, 1862-1947, alt. Outside USA: Text from The English Hymnal © Oxford University Press 1906.