This is part of the worship series
"Are We Faking It?"
Introduction | Lent 1 | Lent 2 | Lent 3 | Lent 4 | Lent 5
FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT
Lent, Grace, and Gratitude
Call to Worship
Let us worship God
who has done great things.
We rejoice in our God
who had made a way through the desert of this world.
Let us worship God
who has caused streams of mercy to flow in the wasteland;
We are the people God has formed through Christ,
we worship him and we rejoice!
Let us worship God
in Spirit and in Truth.
We praise God for the grace that has saved us.
Alleluia! We rejoice!
—Adapted from Isaiah 43:16–21
Sermon Text
Philippians 3:4b–14
Sermon Ideas
Last week we considered a Nietzsche-like squinting at our virtues in order to recognize and then root out the sins that often cling to them. When our virtues spring from improper motives (like trying to make God love us or trying to gain public approval) they do not please God. We must recognize that we are saved by grace alone and that nothing we do will ever add to or detract from that perfect work.
But where does that leave the moral life and all the religious practices we've been considering this Lent? If living virtuously will not save us, then why be good at all? Paul's words in Philippians 3:4b-14 give us an interesting opportunity to explore this theme. Paul is at pains in this passage to make clear that in the light of Christ's ultimate sacrifice on the cross (a light that literally blinded Paul on the Damascus road) even our brightest efforts look like a 25-watt bulb on a sunlit beach. In fact, Paul claims, our moral efforts are not only dim, but are exposed as rubbish (and no one is saved by accumulating rubbish!).
But all is not lost: God's love is not earned but is freely given. Salvation is a gift. Paul states that earlier in his life he thought salvation was all about ow doing, but in Jesus he learned that it's all about Gods doing. Still, receiving this gift does not render us inactive. No sooner does Paul distance himself from his former life of legalism than he begins to talk about earnest striving, pressing on toward a goal, and, most incongruously, earning a prize. If salvation is a gift, why would Paul still focus on our strivings?
The answer has to do with the awesome power of God's grace—a power so mighty that it not only saves, it transforms. After baptism, we Christians start to become interested in matters in which we previously took no interest. Principally we become interested in Jesus and his resurrection power. "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection."
Nietzsche was convinced that there are never pure motives behind even the most virtuous of actions. We Christians know that having such pure motives is possible, but only through the Spirit. The only motive that is finally proper for living the moral life is that of gratitude. The person who is truly self-forgetful, who focuses on Jesus and on the glory of God, who does what is virtuous because this has become second nature to her—this is the one whose Christian life has the right focus.
As a Lenten message, this sermon climaxes our look at religious practice by focusing believers on the awesome love of God displayed in Holy Week. When we see the cross, our mouths drop open, our minds go numb, and we desire fervently to become better acquainted with the God who would go so far to save. We Christians confess that often we do have mixed motives, as Freud, Marx, and Nietzsche grimly suspected. But Lent and especially the upcoming Holy Week fill us with the proper motivation of gratitude and God-glorifying praise in the wake of Jesus' awesome sacrifice of love. Following Jesus down the way of the cross is our task as we strain by the Spirit toward that lofty goal of being Christlike in gratitude for all God has done. Such a life truly does worship God "in Spirit and in Truth."
Prayer
God of salvation,
in Christ you have done great things—
our hearts are filled with joy.
By your power you lifted us out of the wasteland of sin
and brought us with joy and laughter into your kingdom.
Salvation is your gift to us.
But we confess that often we try to replace your gift with our own efforts.
We try to complete what is already perfect;
we try to add to what is already full;
we try to earn what we already have.
Forgive us for our foolishness.
Help us to focus on your grace.
Help us to live grateful lives in return—
not so that we can go to heaven,
but because by grace you've brought us there already.
For Jesus' sake alone, Amen.
—Adapted from Psalm 126
Psalm and Hymn Suggestions
Opening Hymn
"Christ, the Life of All the Living" Homburg
Hymn of Confession
"And Can It Be" Wesley
Hymn of Preparation or Response
"Amazing Grace-How Sweet the Sound" Newton
"O Jesus, We Adore You" Russell
"O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" Arnulf, St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Revised Common Lectionary
Year C: Lent—Fifth Sunday in Lent
