Lessons for March 18, 2007 – Fourth Sunday in Lent

The first lesson

Joshua 5:9-12
 
    Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt." So that place has been called Gilgal to this day. 
    [10] While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month—the month that marked their exodus from Egypt. [11] The very next day they began to eat unleavened bread and roasted grain harvested from the land. [12] No manna appeared that day, and it was never seen again. So from that time on the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan.  (NLT)

 Psalm 32

L.  Oh, what joy for those whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! 
C.  Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin,
L.  whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
C.  When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. 
L.  Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
C.  My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
L.  Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them.
C.  I said to myself, "I will confess my rebellion to the Lord."
L.  And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
C.  Therefore, let all the godly confess their rebellion to you while there is time,
L.  that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. 
C.  For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble.
L.  You surround me with songs of victory.
C.  The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
L.  I will advise you and watch over you. 
C.  Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control."
L.  Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord. 
C.  So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
L.  Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!  (NLT)
 
The second lesson

2 Corinthians 5:16-21
 
    So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now! [17] What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! 
    [18] All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. [19] For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. [20] We are Christ's ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, "Be reconciled to God!" [21] For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.  (NLT)

The Gospel Lesson

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

    Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. [2] This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such despicable people—even eating with them! 
    [3] So Jesus used this illustration: [11b] "A man had two sons. [12] The younger son told his father, 'I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting until you die.' So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 
    [13] "A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money on wild living. [14] About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. [15] He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. [16] The boy became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. 
    [17] "When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, 'At home even the hired men have food enough to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! [18] I will go home to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, [19] and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man." ' 
    [20] "So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. [21] His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.' 
    [22] "But his father said to the servants, 'Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet. [23] And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast, [24] for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began. 
    [25] "Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, [26] and he asked one of the servants what was going on. [27] 'Your brother is back,' he was told, 'and your father has killed the calf we were fattening and has prepared a great feast. We are celebrating because of his safe return.' 
    [28] "The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him, [29] but he replied, 'All these years I've worked hard for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. [30] Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the finest calf we have.' 
    [31] "His father said to him, 'Look, dear son, you and I are very close, and everything I have is yours. [32] We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!' "  (NLT)