Call to worship
Lord our God, on this Lenten journey, help us see as you see and love as you love.
StF 409 – Let us build a house
Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live, a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive. Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace; here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true, where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew. Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace; here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
Chorus
Let us build a house where love is found, in water, wine and wheat: a banquet hall on holy ground where peace and justice meet. Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space; as we share in Christ the feast that frees us:
Chorus
Let us build a house where hands can reach beyond the wood and stone to heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known. Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face;
let us bring an end to fear and danger:
Chorus
Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word. Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace, let this house proclaim from floor to rafter: Chorus
Prayers:
Gracious God, we ask you to teach us your way- to open our hearts and minds to your presence among us. Help us to understand more clearly the nature of your kingdom. Equip us to respond to you, committing ourselves wholeheartedly to discipleship and doing what ever we can to share the good news of your love.
Gracious God we pray for your world, beautiful and wondrous, but damaged and broken by the wars of humans. We lament our collective greed and anger. Help us to be part of repairing and restoring, healing and reconciling. We appreciate your forgiveness and love for us.
Amen
The Lord's Prayer
Please use the version that you prefer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
And deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours
Now and for ever.
Amen.
Bible Readings
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Samuel anoints David
16 The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.’
2 But Samuel said, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.’
The Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.” 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.’
4 Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, ‘Do you come in peace?’
5 Samuel replied, ‘Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.’ Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.’
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, ‘The Lord has not chosen this one either.’ 9 Jesse then made Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, ‘Nor has the Lord chosen this one.’ 10 Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, ‘The Lord has not chosen these.’ 11 So he asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have?’
‘There is still the youngest,’ Jesse answered. ‘He is tending the sheep.’
Samuel said, ‘Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.’
12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; this is the one.’
13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.
John 9
Jesus heals a man born blind
9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’
3 ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’
6 After saying this, he spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 ‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (this word means ‘Sent’). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
8 His neighbours and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, ‘Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?’ 9 Some claimed that he was.
Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’
But he himself insisted, ‘I am the man.’
10 ‘How then were your eyes opened?’ they asked.
11 He replied, ‘The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.’
12 ‘Where is this man?’ they asked him.
‘I don’t know,’ he said.
The Pharisees investigate the healing
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. ‘He put mud on my eyes,’ the man replied, ‘and I washed, and now I see.’
16 Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’
But others asked, ‘How can a sinner perform such signs?’ So they were divided.
17 Then they turned again to the blind man, ‘What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’
The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’
18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 ‘Is this your son?’ they asked. ‘Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?’
20 ‘We know he is our son,’ the parents answered, ‘and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.’ 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. ‘Give glory to God by telling the truth,’ they said. ‘We know this man is a sinner.’
25 He replied, ‘Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!’
26 Then they asked him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’
27 He answered, ‘I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?’
28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, ‘You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.’
30 The man answered, ‘Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’
34 To this they replied, ‘You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!’ And they threw him out.
Spiritual blindness
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’
36 ‘Who is he, sir?’ the man asked. ‘Tell me so that I may believe in him.’
37 Jesus said, ‘You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.’
38 Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshipped him.
39 Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’
41 Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
Reflection
This week’s lectionary readings invite us to reflect on how we perceive others, and how easily we can misjudge what God is doing based on outward appearances. The mindset shift at the heart of these texts is simple but profound: we need to move from judging people by appearances to recognising dignity. In John 9, the disciples begin with a question that reflects a common assumption: “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” The man’s blindness is seen as a sign of moral failure. Meanwhile, the Pharisees appear to be righteous. But Jesus disrupts this framework. He sees the man not as a sinner to be blamed, but as someone through whom God’s works will be revealed. As the story unfolds, the man grows in spiritual awareness and courage, while the Pharisees resist the truth. The one who was dismissed becomes a witness to grace; the ones who were revered are revealed to be spiritually closed.
In 1 Samuel 16, Samuel is sent to anoint a new king. He is drawn to Eliab, who looks the part: tall, strong, kingly. But God intervenes: “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature… for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (v. 7) David, the youngest and least likely, is chosen. The text notes that David has ‘beautiful eyes’ – a detail that may hint at his capacity to perceive, to be sensitive to God’s call. His outward beauty is not the reason for his selection, but perhaps a poetic echo of his inner attentiveness. Together, these readings challenge us to reconsider how we ‘see’ others. Who do we overlook because they don’t fit our expectations? Who do we elevate because they appear successful, holy or powerful? Lent is a season of reorientation, a time to ask God to help us see with compassion, to recognise the dignity in every person and to be sensitive to the presence of God in unexpected places.
I wonder where we might be tempted to judge others by their outward appearance. Or can we challenge assumptions about who is worthy, beautiful, acceptable. Have you felt dismissed, overlooked or misunderstood?
Every person carries the image of God within them and we are invited to look beyond appearances and assumptions to recognise the dignity in others and in ourselves. God sees your heart and loves you through and through.
Prayers:
Holy God, everything we have and are we owe to your amazing generosity and each step we have taken is surrounded by your grace. There is nothing and no one with whom you share your glory. Father day by day you open our eyes to your goodness and around every corner of our lives we see signs of your compassion. Until we allowed you to walk into our lives, it was as if we were walking in darkness and it is your holy presence that removes the cloudiness of sin from our eyes. Help us to listen to you and enable us to share your love with others.
Amen
StF 530 – To be in your presence
To be in your presence, to sit at your feet, where your love surrounds me and makes me complete:
This is my desire, O Lord, this is my desire. This is my desire, O Lord, this is my desire.
To rest in your presence, not rushing away, to cherish each moment – here I would stay.
Chorus
Prayer of blessing
May the God who sees the heart open your soul to compassion. May you recognise dignity in every face, including your own.
Amen
