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Intercessions for Third Sunday of Lent Year A – 23 March 2014

'Come Thirsty' by Mark Wiggin courtesy of Veritasse

The Collect

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; 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.

¶ The Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: Exodus 17.1-7

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 quarrelled 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 quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’

Psalm 95

Refrain: Come, let us worship and bow down.

O come, let us sing to the Lord; *let us heartily rejoice in the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving *and be glad in him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God *and a great king above all gods. R
In his hand are the depths of the earth *and the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it, *and his hands have moulded the dry land.
Come, let us worship and bow down *and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God; *we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. R
O that today you would listen to his voice: *‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, on that day at Massah in the wilderness,
‘When your forebears tested me, and put me to the proof, *though they had seen my works.
‘Forty years long I detested that generation and said, *“This people are wayward in their hearts; they do not know my ways.”
‘So I swore in my wrath, *“They shall not enter into my rest.”’

Refrain: Come, let us worship and bow down.

 

Second Reading: Romans 5.1-11

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Gospel Reading: John 4.5-42

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 Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews 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 sons 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 him, ‘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 him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped 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 Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him 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, ‘I am he, 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 a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city and were on their way to him.  Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘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 of him who sent me and to complete his work. 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 labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’ 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 he stayed there for 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 Saviour of the world.’

Prayers of Intercession

¶The Church of Christ

Lord, at times your Church seems like the woman at the well whose faith is based on the coming of the Messiah at a safe distance in the future. Create in us, we pray, such a thirst for you as can only be quenched by the reality of your presence in the here and now, offering us the water of life. Give us the power, we pray, to drink deeply from this eternal source so that we may in turn be diffusers of your light and truth in the world.

Lord, give us to drink from the spring of the water of life: in your mercy, hear our prayer

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

Lord, to the beauty and bounty of your creation and grace, we have responded with desecration and greed. We have presumed upon the constant renewal of your gifts. Give us penitent hearts and the will to cherish the earth, that we may know you again as our redeeming Creator, bringing good from our wastes and sorrows. For indeed you are God and we are your people, crafted by the skill of your hands. *

Lord, give us to drink from the spring of the water of life: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶The local community

Lord, we pray for all those community institutions which are going through a period of testing and dryness, or feel drained of energy and resources. While we are grateful for the structures that have existed to foster community spirit over many years, help us to guard against stagnation and ossification in our life together. As we approach spring, and the sap is rising, pour a little of the water from your heavenly well on our communal lives and activities, that they may be renewed and strengthened in your name.

Lord, give us to drink from the spring of the water of life: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶Those who suffer

Lord, look with compassion on those who know too well the pains of bodily thirst. Strike through the hardness of our hearts, that we may work for relief in areas of drought and famine. Be with those who need the strength of your grace, grant patience to those troubled in their anxieties, and in the peace of knowledge of forgiveness lift their hearts in joy and thanksgiving.

Lord, give us to drink from the spring of the water of life: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶The communion of saints

Lord, we remember before you those who will no longer know physical thirst but but can drink the water of life for all eternity from the well of heaven. The water that you have given them has become  a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Lord, give us also to drink from the spring of the water of life: in your mercy, hear our prayer

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 Post Communion (3rd of Lent) © The Crown/Cambridge University Press: The Book of Common Prayer (1662)

* From the commentary on psalm 95 by Jim Cotter and Paul Payton in Out of Silence.


I am indebted to Veritasse, who is the source of this and many other wonderful images.

Come thirsty by Mark Wiggin

The verse on the back of the greetings card reads, “Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.”   John 4:13

“This picture has been developed through a long, prayerful and creative process. It captures something of John 4:4-14, the Trinity, and Revelation 22:17 .” Mark Wiggin.

4 comments on this post:

Iris Taylor said...
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Thank you for your inspirational intercessions. They help me to focus on what I shall be praying about at my intercessions on Sunday. I try to link with the gospel reading and this week there is an obvious theme. As our Lent Charity is Water Aid that will also get a mention.
Greetings from across the pond in South west Wales.

Lay Anglicana said...
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Thank-you Iris. I am writing from Hampshire so we are on the same side of what people usually call the pond, unless you mean the Bristol Channel? :>)

21 March 2014 20:43
21 March 2014 20:03
Neil Patton said...
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Thank you so much for including the video for my piano piece, Water of Life in this beautiful meditation. I am humbled to see it used in the manner I intended: the worship of our Creator and Savior. The passage from John 4 is exactly the passage I had in mind when giving it this title. Many blessings in Christ to you.

Laura Sykes said...
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Thank-you so much for this, Neil. I am truly touched. It was such a serendipitous moment when I found your music, having been searching for a while for the right illustration of the text. A celestial nudge led me to you, I think :>)

03 April 2014 06:42
03 April 2014 05:45

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