Fifth Sunday in Lent March 21, 2021

The Fifth Sunday in Lent March 21, 2021

The Collect

 Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 Old Testament Jeremiah 31:31-34 

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. 

Psalm 119:9-16 

9 How shall a young man cleanse his way? *

 By keeping to your words. 

10 With my whole heart I seek you; * 

let me not stray from your commandments. 

11 I treasure your promise in my heart, *

that I may not sin against you. 

12 Blessed are you, O LORD; * 

instruct me in your statutes. 

13 With my lips will I recite * 

all the judgments of your mouth. 

14 I have taken greater delight in the way of your decrees * 

than in all manner of riches. 

15 I will meditate on your commandments *

and give attention to your ways. 

16 My delight is in your statutes; * 

I will not forget your word. 

The Epistle Hebrews 5:5-10 

Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. 

The Gospel John 12:20-33 

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 

A Litany for the Fifth Sunday in Lent

Creator of the stars of heaven

your wonders are all around us

we see you in every flower

we know your voice in the wind.

Draw us always, Lord, closer to you.

Trial and hardships are all around

even in the darkness you are there

we ache for all those lost to us

we pray for an end to isolation.

Draw us always, Lord, closer to you.

You did not run from the abuse

you loved them despite themselves

as you love us even in our brokenness

you still offered your life for us all.

Draw us always, Lord, closer to you.

In the spinning out of control moments

Come near and abide with us.

When we cannot even pray to you

speak the prayers we cannot say.

When we feel as if we cannot continue

Lift us up and draw us to you.

Father and Mother of us all

restore us as children of the living God.

Jesus, Savior of the whole world

remake us into your people today.

Gentle Holy Spirit, who revives us

Breathe new life into our weary souls. Amen