As we gather, we recognize that we live, work, pray, and play
in the traditional, unceded lands
of the Cowichan Tribes and Coast Salish People. 
We continue to commit ourselves
to the work of reconciliation and relationship-building
with our First Nations neighbours.

Call to Worship:

I will arise and go to my father,
and I will say to him:  
Father I have sinned
against heaven and before you. 

Luke 15.18

O Come. Let Us Worship. 

Gathering

Almighty God:
To you all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from you no secrets are hidden.
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Trisagion

Holy God,
Holy and mighty,
Holy Immortal One,
Have mercy upon us.

Collect for Today 

Gracious Father, 
whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came from heaven 
to be the true bread which gives life to the world, 
evermore give us this bread, 
that he may live in us, and we in him, 
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, 
one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

The Proclamation of the Gospel:

Luke 13. 1-9

May the words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to You, O Lord.  Amen.

A Pilgrimage with Through Lent:
"Discovering Divine Grace"

Last week my title was 'A Pilgrimage for Lent: Discovering Divine Mercy.' 

This week my title is changed by one word: 'Discovering Divine Grace.' 

Choosing the word grace, I thought, "What is the difference between Mercy and Grace?"
    
And so, off to Google I went.

Mercy:
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

(Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV)

God’s plan stems from His merciful love for His people.

Knowing there was nothing we could do to earn our way into His presence, He made a way, through the crucifixion of Christ. Defeating death then, Jesus opened up access to God for us.

Through prayer, God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit living in us, each day brings fresh new mercy. Every morning, God is faithful, even though every day, we fall short. 

Mercy is God’s gift to the repentant heart. 

Grace: --- according to the Bible, is God’s unmerited love and favour.
It is the voluntary and loving favour given to those He saves, allowing forgiveness, reconciliation, and promise of eternal life to those who believe in Him. 

The Biblical understanding of grace then extends beyond mere favour or kindness. It is a precious gift from God, freely given and not earned. 
    
So, today we have great examples of God’s grace in three of our four lessons.

Grace is difficult! Grace is different. Grace is different because it is often hard for us to accept.     

In 1 Corinthians 15.10 we get some understanding or some assistance in understanding more about grace. It is one of my favourite pieces of Scripture. 

“But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.
No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

    
So, in Joshua today we have this great moment for the Israelites arriving in the promised land. We have this opening verse:

'The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.'

The closest translation for Gilgal in English would be “wheel”, hence the reference to this place in the land where God rolled away the disgrace of the people living in Egypt.
    
In a few weeks we are going to witness God rolling away another “disgrace” from the world.
    
With the rolling away of the disgrace of Egypt, the people are no longer dependent on some meager food raining down from heaven, but now they are able to enjoy produce from the land. 
    
Thus, throughout history God has brought people out of distress and into a land of plenty.

I once worked in a community where the majority of citizens had come to Canada to be free of oppression. When some of their elders shared with me their history of paying taxes—not as a burden, rather as a thank offering for freedom.
    
This leads us directly to 2 Corinthians in which we encounter the mystery and ministry of reconciliation. Consider these words:

(2 Corinthians 5:16-19)

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
-Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
 -All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
-that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

By these words Biblical scholars, understand these words are to remind the 1st Century Christian and us, the 21st Century Christian, that we are all called to be ambassadors of reconciliation.

By our baptism we are empowered to be ambassadors. We are to be the presence of Christ in the world. We are to be the ones dispensing grace to the world. 

Let us first agree. It is not always easy to do. 

I think of the latest adopted phrase in Canada, “elbows up”.

When I first heard this, I was reminded (being as old as I am) of one of the great hockey legends, Gordie Howe, who is reported to have had the 'sharpest elbows' of all time in the game of hockey. 

At the same time, we, Christians, are called to be the image of Christ in the world. This parable today is possibly the most loved and most referenced in the world, that gives us some guidance.

First, Jesus shows us one of the greatest gifts a parent can give a child--to have enough love to let go.

The father does not argue with the son. He simply gives him his portion of the inheritance and releases him with a blessing. As a parent, think about this for a moment. It is one example of grace in this parable.

Then there is a second.
In this moment, we encounter a parent who is willing to wait for the son to one day reconcile, within himself, his own mistake and return.

This is a different form of grace.

For any parent it would be hard not to run behind wanting to pick up the pieces along the way. 
    
The third form of grace comes when the son decides his choices are few—and so, he decides he must beg forgiveness and return to the family.

The son has practiced his plea-bargain, but little did he know that his parents were waiting all this time for him to return.

Before he could finish his confession, the father interrupts, kisses him, welcomes him with open arms and says to his servants: "Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him..." 

The robe was a symbol of honor. 

"Put a ring on his hand..." 

The ring was a symbol of authority.

"Put shoes on his feet..."
      
For Christians, the greatest allegory in relation to God’s grace. as exemplified in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, comes to us in the form of Holy Communion.

Regardless of our time away, God is waiting to welcome us home to this table—no questions asked. 
    
If it were possible, he would even dress us up in a fancy robe and put a ring on our finger and shoes on our feet. Shoes are important because, in Biblical times, shoes were an indication you are no longer a slave but a part of the family— a member of the household of God. 

Yes, we are on a journey, and on that journey, may we all discover the divine grace of our Lord.

Amen.

Let Us Pray

Led by the Spirit, let us turn to God in prayer for the church, the world, and all in need.
(Silence)

God of faithful promise:
Make your Church a new creation in Christ as you reconcile us to yourself, guide us also in our way of reconciliation, that through the confession and forgiveness, repentance and reparations, your church may bear witness to your love. 
God of mercy, receive our prayer.

God of new beginnings, restore balance to the earth.
Send rain in places of drought, and sunshine in places of flooding that the produce of the land may again support us.
God of mercy, receive our prayer.

God of prodigal grace,
unite the nations as fellow members of the human family. Give leaders the courage to put aside pride and ego, to cease squandering lives and time, and to work for the wellbeing of all. 
God of mercy, receive our prayer.

God of boundless love,
receive with open arms any in need of compassion. Embrace all who are far from home or estranged from loved ones and all who live with regret. Embolden your people to offer and to see forgiveness. 
In our parish we continue to pray for: Sheila, for Geoff, and for John, and those on our hearts.
God of mercy, receive our prayer.

God of radical inclusion,
widen human circles to welcome all who are excluded.
Bless the work of Disability Ministries, ministries by and with neurodivergent people, and multicultural and ethnic-specific ministries that the welcome of Jesus be extended to all
God in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of resurrection life, welcome home all who have died.
We  thank you for their lives and entrust them to your keeping where true reconciliation and eternal peace are found.
God in your mercy, receive our prayer.

Receive these our prayers, Gracious God, drawing all things together in your love, in the name of Jesus who leads us from death to life.  Amen.

And your people faithfully pray:

Our Father,
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread. 
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us.
And lead us  not into temptation,
but deliver us fom evil.  
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power and the glory,
forever and ever.  Amen.

And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be with you, and remain with you, always.  
Amen.

Let us go out  into the world to love and serve our Lord.

Amen.