Texts: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm
118:1-2, 19-29; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 21:1-11
Call to Worship
Give thanks!
God’s love is constant and devoted
to us.
Let us say over and over:
God’s hope is unfailing in
caring for us,
through health care workers and
researchers,
through teachers offering online
lessons,
and therapists available around
the clock.
Give thanks, O give thanks!
Justice is the gate God opens to
all.
Let us say over and over:
God hears the cries of those who
are forgotten:
those who sleep rough in emptied
streets,
those who are most vulnerable
around us,
those who have no family to care
for them.
Give thanks, O give thanks, people
of God!
God comes to bring us new life.
Let us say this over and over:
God takes the stone tossed aside
by us
to build the foundation of
salvation,
a foundation made out of grace’s
gravel,
the sand of hope shaken out of
Jesus’ shoes,
and mixed with the waters of
life.
Prayer of the Day
When we are so weary
we cannot seem to put
one foot in front of the other,
you take us by the hand,
Steadfast Love,
so we can join you
on a morning walk
to hear the songbirds.
When we would rather
stuff our ears with cotton
than listen to one more
whine, one more argument,
Word of hope for all,
you teach us how to listen
to the hearts which are ignored
by everyone, everywhere.
When we long to run away
from all the worries, the fears,
the insults flung in our faces,
Peace of the weary,
you model for us
how to be willing to care
for those who suffer injustices
which we cannot begin to imagine.
Steadfast Love, Word of hope,
Spirit of peace,
God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us as we lift our prayer to
you,
(The Lord’s Prayer)
Call to Reconciliation
Wearied by our poor choices, worn
down by our foolish words, we struggle to be faithful followers of
Jesus. Yet, it is precisely in such moments that God comes, with
that love which never gives up, that grace which is always offered freely to
us. So, let us come with our prayers, to the gate of God’s heart, so
we may enter forgiveness and life anew. Let us pray together,
saying,
Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
We are so busy
thinking about ourselves, God of constant love, that we cannot begin to ponder
what was in Jesus’ mind. We shout for joy on a day like this,
smiling as we remember waving our palms, yet quickly toss them aside as we go
out into the world. We harden our faces, not in discipleship, but to
turn away those who come looking for help from us.
Yet, because
he was fully human like us, God of unfailing compassion, we too can be more
like Jesus. So, as we begin our journey through Holy Week and
beyond, may we choose humility over pride, weakness over strength, compassion
over bully, and seek to do whatever we are called to do, without any promise of
reward. We pray this in the name of our Teacher,
Jesus. Amen.
Silence is kept
Assurance of Pardon
God dares us to think like Jesus,
knowing that if we do, we will discover the gifts we can offer, the words of
hope we can share, the grace we can use to bless those around us.
God hears our prayers, listens
to our hearts, fills us with forgiveness, and walks with us in these moments
and in all the ones to come. Thanks be to God for such incredible
mercy! Amen.
Prayer of Dedication/Offering
We are pretty sure we have nothing
to offer to others, but when we begin to think like Jesus, we see the blessings
we have, and the opportunities we are given to be your grace, your hope, your
love in the lives of those around us, as we care for all your children in these
days. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the God who opens the gates of
justice be with you.
May God be with you as well.
Let us empty ourselves of our pride
and power,
so that God can fill our hearts
with humility.
Let us learn the songs of praise
God would teach us,
so that we rejoice in God’s
steadfast love morning by morning.
You sent Word and Spirit to gather
up chaos,
as they said, “God has need of it,”
as you transformed it into
creation,
colts to carry kings
and servants,
palms to sway in
breezes and wave in hands,
stones to be used as
foundations for homes,
as well
as for kin-doms.
You shaped humanity in your image,
inviting us to enter through the
gate of love,
but we longed to be
filled with power and privilege,
and so blessed sin and
death as they came to us.
Those women and men we call
prophets
came morning to awaken us to your
call
to be sustained by your love,
yet we continued to
give new names
to the temptations
which delighted us.
So, you sent Jesus to us,
not in power and wealth,
but as one who was simply a Teacher
of steadfast love and unfailing
hope.
With those who put down their
hearts in welcome,
with those who clutch doubts behind
their backs,
we join in songs of praise:
Holy, holy, holy are you,
Stonemason of salvation.
All creation joins in recognizing
this moment of grace.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who is peace
and glory for us.
Hosanna in the highest!
Setting aside privilege and power, Holy God,
your Child, our Brother, chose to
be made
in our image, so we might see you
face to face.
He could have bossed us around,
telling us what to do,
but chose to teach us
compassion
because that was what
was in his heart.
He could have turned his back on
us,
or kept his earbuds lodged in
tight,
but chose to listen to
our stories,
to listen to our
hearts breaking.
He could have hardened his face
in judgment for our foolish
choices,
but turned it towards
what awaited him
in that place where
people would reject him,
friends would betray
and deny him,
the powers would
condemn him, and
death would claim
victory over him
until you raised him to
resurrection life.
As we seek to follow in the coming
days,
as we remember all he said and did,
we proclaim that mystery we call
faith:
Jesus died, willing to suffer for others;
Jesus was raised, exalted by God
for his faithfulness;
Jesus will come, so we may once
again cry,
‘blessed is the One
who comes in peace and glory!’
Here at this Table, the weary are sustained,
the broken are offered healing,
the ignored are welcomed as family,
and the simple gifts of the bread
and cup
are transformed into the treasures
of your heart
as you pour out your Spirit in
these moments.
As the bread whose brokenness
reminds us
of the One who was willing to
suffer for all,
may we be reminded that the Lord
needs us
to worship with the
outcast as well as the privileged,
to work with the
hopeless as well as the arrogant,
in every place we can,
we every word we speak.
As the cup of grace is offered to
us, may we remember
the One emptied himself for those
around him,
and that he needs us to do
everything we are asked,
as we bend our knees to reach down
to seek justice for
the oppressed,
to cradle the
heart-broken
to hear the stories of
80-year-olds
who are
reliving their childhoods.
And when we are gathered by the One
who will come in peace and glory
to bring us to the Table of grace,
we will sing of that name above all
other names,
forever praising you for your
steadfast love,
God in Community, Holy in
One. Amen.
Sending
Now we will set aside our palm
branches,
to go and serve at God’s side
in a broken and fearful world.
Now we will pick up our cloaks
and follow Jesus wherever he leads,
to learn from those the world
ignores,
to be touched by the grace
within them.
Now we will sing songs of wonder,
as we work alongside the Spirit,
sustaining the weary with peace
and hope.
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
