Liturgy for November 17, 2013 (Proper 28/Ordinary 33/Pentecost 26/Trinity 25) - C

Texts:  Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19

Call to Worship
This day! This day we will give thanks to God,
who cradles us in the waters of baptism.
This day! This day we will trust in the One who has saved us,
who strengthens us.
This day! This day we dance to the fountain of life,
drinking deeply of salvation's goodness.
This day! This day we praise our God for every blessing;
telling everyone of God's amazing grace in our lives and in our world.
This day! This day we sing God's praises;
testifying to all creation of our God.
This day! This day our songs are filled with joy,
for God is with us, this day and in all the days to come!

Prayer of the Day
Creating God:
you grasp chaos
and shake it into
     new heavens brimming with light,
     new earth teeming with life.
You delight in your children so much that
     before we finish our sentences,
          you have heard our hearts;
     before we whisper our dreams,
          you fill our needs.

Word of God,
you shape our lips
and loosen our tongues
     that we might witness
     to your kingdom
          where enemies take naps together;
          where meat-eaters become vegetarians.

Spirit of Wisdom:
open us,
     that we might trust
          without fear;
fill us,
     that we might discern
          our call to faithfulness;
teach us,
     that we would make known
     our thanks to the farthest
          shores of the universe.

God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us, this day and every day,
as we pray as Jesus has taught us, saying,
Our Father . . .

Call to Reconciliation
God does not take our sins and stick them up on a shelf, in order to remember them - God forgets them! God does not hold them against us, but forgives us! Join me as we pray to the One who delights in us, as we say,

Unison Prayer of Confession
     We confess that our lives weaken us, Strengthening God. We do not exercise our faith as we should, and so fatigue easily. We see houses as investment property, not as homes built on love, hope, and dreams. We whimper our petty complaints about our friends and families, rather than shouting our hosannas to heaven for the gift of their lives.
     You are our hope, Tender God, so forgive us. Create in us new hearts, and fill us with new energy to serve our sisters and brothers, bringing them to the deep wells of salvation, where they can fill their parched souls, even as we have been led to them by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Silence is observed

Assurance of Pardon
Rather than remaining white hot, God's anger melts into streams of living water, washing us clean of our sins and refreshing our spirits with hope and joy.
This day! This day we give thanks to the God who is our strength and our salvation. Praise God! Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Behold, God is your salvation!
And also yours!
With joy, draw hope from our God.
We will fill our hearts with the grace of our God.
Say on this day, 'I will give thanks to God, who loves us."
Surely God is our song, and our salvation!

When nothingness seemed to stretch
into forever, you spoke, Mindful God,
and the days of creation sprang forth,
     throwing down all chaos,
     shaping all that is marvelous and new
          from its shattered pieces.
In our foolishness, we were led astray
     by temptation and sin's sweet words,
but the end did not follow immediately,
for you sent the prophets to sing your praises.
But though they spoke to us, we would not listen.
So you sent your Beloved Child,
rejoicing in him, so you could delight in your people.

So with busybodies and those who are never a burden,
with our sisters and brothers from every time and place,
we sing our songs of thanksgiving to you:

Holy, holy, holy is God who saves us.
All creation is glad and rejoices in your forever.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who makes your deeds known to all peoples.
Hosanna in the highest!

Surely you are the One who saves us, Holy God,
sending Jesus to become one of us, for us.
He did not remain idly by your side,
     but came so that we might
          no longer be children of calamity.
Betrayed by those who knew him,
he was placed upon the cross,
     but his opponents, sin and death,
     could not withstand the power of his love,
          or contradict his sacrifice on our behalf,
for by the endurance of his faith,
we gained our souls once again.

As we remember his death offered for us,
as we celebrate his life shared with us,
we speak of that mystery we know as faith:

Christ died, trusting in God completely,
Christ arose, drawing resurrection from the springs of salvation;
Christ will return, to create us as a joy.

Pour out your Spirit of grace and hope
upon the Table and its simple gifts of life,
and upon your people gathered in this place.
On this day, as we are fed by the Bread of life,
we will give thanks to you,
     even as we go to build houses for those who have none,
     to fed all who do not have enough to nourish them.
On this day, as we drink from the Cup
drawn from the springs of salvation,
we will remember your great deeds,
     by opening our ears to the sound of weeping
     in among our friends, and those we do not know,
          offering relief to those who cry with distress.

And when all days have come to an end,
and we discover that the Holy One is in our midst,
we will cry aloud, singing out our joy to you,
God in Community, Holy in One,
forever and ever. Amen.

© Thom M. Shuman