Texts: 1 Kings 17:8-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:24-28;
Mark 12:38-44
Call to Worship
We
gather to praise our God.
The One who created
everything;
the One who keeps faith
with us.
We
gather to follow Jesus.
Who comes to build
justice on the ruins of despair;
who comes to set us
free from our fears.
We
gather to listen to the Holy Spirit.
Who teaches us to care
for the most vulnerable;
who shows us how to see
the forgotten in our midst.
Prayer of the Day
In
your kingdom of surprise,
God
of all people,
it
is the broken who bring healing,
the
lonely who reshape communities,
the
vulnerable who will feed us,
the
shoved-aside who come to rescue us.
In
your kingdom of unexpected grace,
Jesus
who watches those we don’t,
it
is not those with million-dollar smiles
and
$5000 suits who share the gospel,
but
the little child with her smile,
the
wisdom-wrinkled grandparents’ stories,
the
trust of those who give from their scarcity.
In
your kingdom of amazing wonder,
Spirit
who calls us not to be afraid,
it
is not those who seek the limelight
or
go around on book tours who teach us,
but
those whose hope is offered freely,
whose
joy never runs empty,
whose
welcome is never taken away.
In
the topsy-turvy kingdom you bring,
God
in Community, Holy in One,
we
find life, hope, peace, freedom,
and
so we pray as we are taught,
(The Lord’s Prayer)
Call to Reconciliation
We
always seem to notice the rich, the powerful, thinking those are the people we
should emulate. But we find you in those
who are broken, we find you in those who sacrifice, we find you in those who
care deeply for others. Hear us, as we
confess how we have noticed the wrong people, and longed after the wrong
values. Join me, as we pray together
saying,
Unison Prayer for
Forgiveness
In these moments, we must confess that we
have listened more to the politicians, the wealthy, the celebrities than to you,
Faithful God. We have failed to keep
faith with those around us. We have let
others become captive to the angry words that have no life. We have pushed aside those around us in our
eagerness to follow those whose words offer only empty air and broken promises.
Forgive us, Merciful God, for not noticing all
who give from their scarcity, when we have so much. Forgive us for watching out more for
ourselves than keeping an eye on families who suffer. Forgive us for caring more about ourselves
than for those who are more vulnerable.
Forgive us and strengthen us to follow Jesus Christ, our Lord and
Savior.
Silence is kept
Assurance of Pardon
Despite
our foolishness and poor choices, our God remains faithful in this and every
moment. The One who created everything,
continues to renew us, to restore us, and to forgive us with love.
Thanks be to God. God’s
hope never fails us, God grace continues to fill our emptiness, and God mercy
continues to make us new. We are
forgiven. Amen.
Prayer of
Dedication/Offering
Whether
out of our scarcity, or from our abundance, we pray that these gifts might
offer life instead of despair, hope instead of grief, grace instead of fear to
our sisters and brothers around us. This
we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Great Prayer of
Thanksgiving
God
welcomes you to this Table.
Our God invites you as
well.
Here,
when we think our hearts are hollow and lifeless,
our
God fills them with love and grace.
And so, we lift our hearts
to our God.
Here,
in the silence and scriptures, in the word and the wonder,
we
are called to praise our God.
And so, we join our
voices in songs of thanksgiving to our God.
Then,
God spoke, ‘go now,’
and
creation rushed forth
into
the emptiness of chaos, as
beauty was brushed on butterflies’ wings,
goodness was poured into tumbling waters,
joy tumbled through desert lands,
hope graced the sunrises with glory.
All
this and so, so much more
was
offered to those shaped in your image,
God
of love, hope, and peace,
but we wanted the adulation sin offered,
and longed to put on death’s garments.
You
whispered to men and women, ‘go now,’
so
prophets and poets came with your words
of
welcome to call us back to you,
but we were too eager to embrace
foolishness,
and pushed them aside.
So
that we might know of your hopes and love for us,
you
whispered to your Child, ‘go now,’
so
that glory might transfigure into grace.
With
those who picked us up when we had fallen,
with
those who seek to keep faith with you,
we
join in offering our praise:
Holy, holy, holy are
you, God who overturns the world.
All creation trusts you
and offers exultant praise.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who was
eager to be with us.
Hosanna in the highest!
Though
holy as you, Eternal God,
Jesus
set it to one side, so we might know of your hope.
Born
into economic scarcity,
he offers us the abundance of your grace;
living
among people oppressed by power,
he builds the foundation of justice for all;
knowing
what it is like to be rejected,
he offers a welcome to all outsiders;
experiencing
the hunger pangs of loneliness,
he calls each of us ‘sister’ and ‘brother’;
Daring
to challenge sin’s power,
he is placed in death’s cold cell,
where your resurrection power sets him free,
as the same promise is made to us.
As
we seek to live as he did, watching and learning
from
those too easily dismissed by our society,
we
declare that mystery we call faith:
Jesus died, trusting
God in that moment;
Jesus has been raised,
and will never die again;
Jesus will come,
opening our eyes to your resurrection love.
‘Come
now,’ you invite us, God of the feast,
as
you pour out your Spirit on us
and
the bread and the cup.
All
we need is a morsel of the broken bread
to
strengthen us and send us
to feed the hungry and build justice,
to open the eyes of those who never notice
suffering,
to lift others back to their feet.
All
we need is a sip of the cup’s grace
to
be willing and empowered to go out
to set free all the captives of cruelty,
to offer a warm heart to those who know only
cold shoulders,
to share hope, love, and peace to everyone
we meet.
And
when all time and history has come to an end
and
you gather us from all generations
around
that Table of life and grace,
we
will sing our praises to you,
God
in Community, Holy in One. Amen.
Sending
‘Go
now,’ God says to us in this moment.
And so, we will go to
share from our abundance
with all who live in
scarcity’s shadows.
‘Go
now to serve,’ Jesus challenges us in this moment.
And so, we will join in
building neighborhoods of justice,
in keeping faith with
all who have been forgotten.
‘Go
now to understand,’ the Spirit urges us in this moment.
And so, we will go to
watch (and learn from)
those who welcome outsiders
into their lives.
©
2018 Thom M. Shuman
