Headstone at Dryburgh Abbey

The Collect

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your power to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

¶ The Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: Genesis 2.15-17; 3.1-7

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’ Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.”’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Psalm 32

Refrain: Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord.

Happy the one whose transgression is forgiven, *and whose sin is covered.
Happy the one to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, *and in whose spirit there is no guile.
For I held my tongue; *my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long.
Your hand was heavy upon me day and night; * my moisture was dried up like the drought in summer. R
Then I acknowledged my sin to you * and my iniquity I did not hide.
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ * and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Therefore let all the faithful make their prayers to you in time of trouble; * in the great water flood, it shall not reach them.
You are a place for me to hide in; you preserve me from trouble; * you surround me with songs of deliverance. R
‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go; * I will guide you with my eye.
‘Be not like horse and mule which have no understanding; * whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle, or else they will not stay near you.’
Great tribulations remain for 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.

Refrain: Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord.

Second Reading: Romans 5.12-19

Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned – sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. 16And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so the act of righteousness of one leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one person’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 4.1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’ Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”’ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Prayers of Intercession

¶The Church of Christ

Lord, forgive the weaknesses and failures of those who call ourselves your followers. So often between the prayer and the reality, between the intention and the act, falls the shadow. Between the plan and the execution, between the emotion and the response, falls the shadow. Between the germ of a good idea for the furtherance of your kingdom, and its passage through the weight of administrative detail, falls the shadow. In this period of Lent, strengthen the Church in your service so that we lose not sight of the goal.

Lift our burdens from our shoulders, for the yoke of your love is light: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

¶Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority

Lord, for all the seasons of creation, throughout the space and time of the evolving universe, help us to discover the fullness of the knowledge of right and wrong. As we move into Lent, help us to tread ever more lightly on this your earth. Help us to follow you into the desert, and with you to pare our lives down to the essentials. Accept our Lenten disciplines, and when we fall by our weakness, raise us up by your unfailing mercy.

Lift our burdens from our shoulders, for the yoke of your love is light: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

¶The local community

Lord our God, shepherd of Israel, in these forty days you lead us into the desert of repentance so that in this pilgrimage of prayer we might learn to be your people once more. In fasting and service, you bring us back to your heart. You open our eyes to your presence in the world and you free our hands to lead others to the radiant splendour of your mercy. Be with us on these journey days, for without you we are lost and will perish. To you alone be dominion and glory, for ever and ever. *

Lift our burdens from our shoulders, for the yoke of your love is light: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

¶Those who suffer

Lord of compassion, we pray for those whose lives become festering pools because of unrecognised and undeclared wrongdoing. Even in times of overwhelming distress, with the thunder and force of waters in flood, your grace is for us like a temple of rock, standing firm in the face of the storm, ordering the discord and chaos within. Warm the frozen places of our fears, irrigate the deserts of our apathy, dismantle the wall around our pain and love, and lift the burdens of our past, that we may be free to live in the joy of your presence.

Lift our burdens from our shoulders, for the yoke of your love is light: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

¶The communion of saints

Lord, we thank you for the saints of all ages; for those who, in times of darkness, kept the lamp of faith burning; for the multitude of quiet and gracious souls, and for those we knew and loved who have passed from this earthly fellowship into the fuller light of life with you.

Lift our burdens from our shoulders, for the yoke of your love is light: in your mercy, hear our prayer.

*’Praise God in Song’ by G I A Publications Inc, Chicago, 1979

^{Copyright acknowledgement (where not already indicated above): Some material included in this service is copyright: © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA Some material included in this service is copyright: © The Archbishops’ Council 2000 Invitation to Confession (Lent) © The Archbishops’ Council 2002 Collect (1st of Lent) © The Crown/Cambridge University Press: The Book of Common Prayer (1662)}