Liturgy with communion for September 2, 2018 (Pentecost 15/Trinity 14/Proper 17/Ordinary 22 - B)

Texts:  Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Call to Worship

Here, our Beloved speaks to us;

the voice of our Beloved sounds in our hearts:

calling us to generous acts, to share the gifts we have been given.

Now, our Beloved speaks to us;

the voice of our Beloved sounds in our land:

calling us to generous acts, to open our hearts to all in need.

In every place, in every moment, our Beloved speaks to us;

the voice of our Beloved sounds in all creation:

calling us to generous acts, to stand with God's people:
the least, the lost, the little, the last.

Prayer of the Day

Light-giving God:

our praises spring up

like flowers on a spring day;

our songs of joy are lifted to you;

our hearts overflow with

your kindness and generosity.

Jesus, Beloved Child:

you look through the lattice of the world

at our lives, our hearts, our souls.

You speak to us with tenderness and strength,

calling us to come away from rigid legalism

to lives of grace and hope.

Truth-speaking Spirit:

we look in a mirror

and see God's child;

we walk away

and forget whose we are.

Move within us and reshape us

into God's beloved children,

living within that circle of blessing

called the kingdom.

God in Community, Holy in One,

hear us as we pray together,

as Jesus taught us, saying,

(The Lord's Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation

Do we honor God only with our lips, while keeping our hearts from the Holy One?  Do we deceive ourselves, thinking we are religious rather than living faithful lives?  Let us confess to God our sin, trusting in the One who seeks to make us whole.

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
   Holy One of leaders and little children, we hear your words every day, but rarely live them out.  Our anger roars like a flooded creek, but our forgiveness drips like a rusty faucet.  Our impetuous tongues rush to judgment, while our words of hope sound like a sluggish soundtrack.  We listen with impatient ears to the cries of the poor.
   Father of Lights, may your mercy fall on us like a summer shower on parched grass; may your hope overflow our hearts; may your Beloved Child, Jesus Christ, speak to us and call us to life.

Silence is kept 

Assurance of Pardon

Listen and understand - the voice of the Beloved speaks to us, implanting the word of hope, the word of grace, and the word of forgiveness into our hearts.

We listen and understand.  Every gift comes from God, especially the gifts of mercy and love.  Thanks be to God, we are forgiven.  Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/offering

Let us be slow in our yearning to hang on to our blessings, and quick to share them with the hungry, the lonely, the forgotten, and the hurting of our world, that our gifts might become a kind of first fruits for those whose lives are so empty.  This we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

Beloved, may God be with you!

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts, Beloved of God.

We lift them to the One who loves us beyond all expectations.

God's Beloved, let us offer our thanks and praise to the Lord our God.

Our voices unite in joy and thanks to the One who brings us hope and healing.

Our hearts overflow with praise and thanksgiving,

God, our God!

Your Beloved's voice spoke to chaos,

calling forth the flowers of grace

which bloom in our hearts.

Because you love righteousness,

you would anoint us

with the oil of joy

and clothe us in the robes

of mercy and goodness.

But we break your heart by embracing

the very wickedness you hate,

staining our lives with sin and death.

Still, you love us and seek us out,

for in Christ your grace has defeated sin

and the Risen Lord has opened the way

to life in your kingdom

So, we lift our voices in joy and hope,

singing with the choirs of angels in heaven,

and with all the faithful of every place and time,

singing of your glory forever

Holy, holy, holy are you, Lover of righteousness

All creation overflows with praise for you.

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is your Beloved who anoints us with unexpected grace.

Hosanna in the highest!

Look, he comes!

Your Beloved Child,

Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, our Companion,

the joy of your Heart.

Gazing into our souls,

he sees our emptiness

and fills us with your grace;

listening to our pain,

he is quick to speak

healing and hope to us;

the perfect gift of life,

he declares that sin is past,

death is over and gone,

and resurrection blossoms

in our hearts forever.

As you have called him Beloved at his baptism,

and as you raised him from death to give us life,

so we give ourselves to live for him in grateful praise and service:

Christ was born, hearing your morning song.

Christ died, doing your will even in the moments of his despair.

Christ was raised, in fulfillment of your own purpose.

Christ will come, the first fruits of our resurrection.

 

Generous God, pour out your Holy Spirit

upon those who gather around your Table,

and upon the gifts of the Bread and Cup.

As they are the body of your Servant

and the Spirit of your compassion,

may we become the healing and hope

the world longs for in our time.

As you touch our lips with your life,

may we be quick to speak of justice;

as you pour grace into our hearts,

may we be the doers of your Word,

those whose hands are stained

by generous acts of kindness:

feeding the hungry,

clothing the naked,

lifting the fallen to their feet,

comforting all who are broken.

Then, when your Spirit

unites us at your Table in heaven,

as we clasp hands with all your beloved,

we will sing your glory for all eternity:

God in Community, Holy in One.

Sending

Arise, and let us go forth as God's people.

Look!  God sends us forth with songs of love on our lips.

Arise, and let us go forth to serve beside Jesus.

Look!  He stands, waiting for us to help tear down the barriers of injustice.

Arise, and let us go forth to join the generous Spirit.

Look! We will be doers as well as givers with our gifts.

(c) Thom M. Shuman