Morning Prayer, Wednesday after the Second Sunday in Lent — March 15, 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.

Prayer

Let us pray. Merciful God, the fountain of living water, you quench our thirst and wash away our sin. Give us this water always. Bring us to drink from the well that flows with the beauty of your truth through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Exodus 17:1-7
(Because the thirsty Israelites quarreled with Moses and put the Lord to the test, Moses cried out in desperation to the Lord. The Lord commanded Moses to strike the rock to provide water for the people. The doubt-filled question—”Is the Lord among us or not?”—received a very positive answer.)

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

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

John 4:5-42
(Jesus defies convention to engage a Samaritan woman in conversation. Her testimony, in turn, leads many others to faith.)

Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jewish man, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jewish people do not share things in common with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his children and his flocks drank from it?”

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”

The woman said to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.”

The woman answered him, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

The woman said to Jesus, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jewish people. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and those who worship God must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming”(who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.”

Jesus said to her, “Here I am, the one who is speaking to you.”

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?”

Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see someone who told me everything I have ever done! Can this be the Messiah?” They left the city and were on their way to him.

Meanwhile the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”

But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”

So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?”

 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will and accomplish the work of the one who sent me. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Many Samaritans from that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.”

So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and Jesus stayed there two days.

And many more believed because of his word.

They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

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

Reflection  “Bread of Life,” Lauren Redpath

Somethin’ Somethin’ Somethin’
Somethin’ in the water

everyone will come along
if we keep this going on
everyone will come along
if we keep this going
Somethin’ in the water
th’ Somethin’ in the holy water
Somethin’ in the water
th’ Somethin’ in the holy water
You are holy
You are the Bread of life
You are worthy
You are the Bread of life

everyone will come along
if we keep this going on
everyone will come along
if we keep this going
somethin’ in the water
somethin’ in the holy water
somethin’ in the water
somethin’ in the holy water
You are holy (if we keep this going on)
You are the Bread of life (if we keep this going)
You are worthy (Somethin’ in the water, Somethin’ in the holy water)
You are the Bread of life (Somethin’ in the water, Somethin’ in the holy water)

(clap) everyone will come along
if we keep this going on
everyone will come along
if we keep this going
Somethin’ in the water
Somethin’ in the holy water
Somethin’ in the water
Somethin’ in the holy water
You are holy (if we keep this going on)
You are the Bread of life (if we keep this going)
You are worthy (Somethin’ in the water, Somethin’ in the holy water)
You are the Bread of life (Somethin’ in the water, Somethin’ in the holy water)

You are holy (if we keep this going on)
You are the Bread of life (Jesus, if we keep this going)
Somethin’ in the water
Somethin’ in the holy water
Somethin’ in the water, water
Jesus (If we keep this going)
If we keep this going
Jesus (you are the Bread of life!)

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. “Bread of Life,” Lauren Redpath, album New ℗ 2005 Redpath Records, LLC.