Texts: Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67; Psalm 45:10-17; Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Call to Worship
L: Come to our
God,
all who hunger for life:
P: for it is God who nourishes
us
at the Table of Grace
L: Come to our God,
all who
are worn out by life:
P: for it is God who provides
the rest we
need.
L: Come to our God,
all who are weighed down:
P:
for it is our God who carries
our burdens with us.
Prayer of
the Day
Eternal God:
you sing a song
of silence
to our noisy
hearts,
inviting us to still
our fidgeting souls,
and find our
peace
in your cupped hands
which cradle us.
Jesus
Christ,
Wanderer of the kingdom:
you are called
to reveal God to
us
and do so in
the tenderness of your touch,
the gentleness of
your words,
the goodness of your heart,
the peace of your shared
yoke.
Spirit of Rest:
your childlike presence
opens our eyes
to
the wonders of the world.
As we hand you
our anger, our hurt, our
sin,
may our burdens
become our songs of joy.
May we find our rest,
our hope, in you,
God in Community, Holy in One
even as we pray as Jesus
taught us, saying,
(The Lord's Prayer
Call to
Reconciliation
Fretful, agitated, longing for more and more
of this and
that, we spend our lives in a
never-ending, never-fulfilled search for
that
which satisfies. But Christ knows that we
will only find the end of
our journey in God,
and so invites us to that peaceful place known
as
God's heart. Let us let go of our burdens
of anger, hurt and sin so we can
find our rest.
Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
We are so skilled at
being in control, at taking
charge, Sabbath-Taking God, that we are not
very
good at resting. We think we have to be constantly
busy, so we have
no time for you. We are trained
to be extremely productive, and so create
our harried,
stress-filled lives.
Forgive us, Shalom Giving God. Help
us to let go
of our distractions, so you can act in us; calm
our
creaturely activity, so you can re-create us; help us
to follow Jesus,
not only into discipleship, but into
our rest with you.
Silence is
kept
Assurance of Pardon
L: It sounds so simple, we think it is too
simple.
But which is the burden you would choose:
hate or love;
anger or forgiveness; pain or peace?
God invites us to receive the gifts
which make it
possible to have lives of faithful obedience.
P: This
is the good news: God forgives us and
takes our burdens from us. We
would let go
of them and welcome hope, joy, grace into our
lives.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
L; The Lord
be with you.
P: and also with you.
L: People of God, lift up your
hearts.
P: We lift them to the One who invites us
to rest in
the heart of the Trinity.
L: People of God, give thanks to the
One
who offers you rest.
P: We sing our thanksgiving to
God,
who sings to us of peace.
With hearts filled with
joy,
we bring our praise to you,
God of Rest.
On the first morning of
creation,
you whispered of peace,
and the cacophony of chaos
was
stilled.
You walked softly
through the grasses of the earth
and all
creation
sang of your goodness.
Created to find our peace with you,
our
fretful desire to be in control
led us into a nomadic existence
of
rebellion against you.
Prophets spoke and angels sang
to invite us
home,
but our stubborn pride
only grew stronger.
When the burden of our
sin
became too great for your heart,
you sent Jesus to carry it for
us.
With those who have found their rest in you,
with those who long
for their burdens to be lifted,
we join in singing your praise:
P:
Holy, holy, holy are you, God of the weary.
All creation celebrates your
name in all generations.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is
the One who yokes himself to us.
Hosanna in the highest!
Holy are
you, God of our footloose hearts,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, your
Son,
our Lord and Savior.
Watching our restless striving
for more and
more,
he modeled the life
of self-denial and service;
seeing us weighed
down
with the burdens of sin and death,
he picked up his cross,
carried
it to Calvary,
where he died to give us life.
As we remember his life
and his rest in you,
as we celebrate the good news of lightened
burdens,
we speak of that mystery we call faith:
P: Christ came, that
we may have life;
Christ died, so that the burden of death
might
be lifted from us;
Christ was raised to new life,
so grace might
be revealed to every generation;
Christ
will return, to yoke us to God through
all eternity.
Pour
out your Spirit of rest and shalom
upon this bread and this cup,
that
these gifts might nourish us.
As we find our rest in you,
may we become
restless
in service to your children;
as we engage with you
in
solitude,
may we build a community
of justice and righteousness;
as we
listen to your silence,
may we speak out
for all whose voices
are
ignored by the world.
Then, when we gather with all
who have found
their rest with you
at the Table of the Lamb,
we will sing our praise for
all eternity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
God in Community, Holy in
One. Amen.
© 2014 Thom M. Shuman