P: And also with you.
L: Children of God, lift up your hearts.
P: We lift them to the One who sets us free
for lives of service and hope.
L: God's children: let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
P: We will sing our songs of freedom
to the One who calls us to new life.
Starry nights that stretch across the sky,
waves of every grain shimmering in the sun:
these are the gift you gave to us,
God of wonder and joy.
Mountains tower above plains
overflowing with abundant fruit,
land stretching from sea to sea
where we could live with you.
Freely, you offered the abundance
of all that is good and beautiful to us,
but we mocked your hopes,
choosing to be deceived by sin.
you appointed prophets, sending them
to every town and place we lived,
sharing your peace with us through them.
But we would not welcome them
into our homes, or into our hearts.
Then you sent Jesus to us,
to share with us that freedom
which calls us to follow in obedience.
As we sing of those who have gone before us,
as we remember how they lived as
sisters and brothers as you called them to live,
we proclaim our thanks to you:
Sanctus
The One who could heal our brokenness,
the One who could teach us self-control,
the One who could lead us out
of all the places our feet have strayed,
Jesus came to live among us,
leaving the starry band of glory behind.
Loving your mercy for us
more than his own life,
he willingly chose to go to the cross,
that we might receive your gracious gift
of life forever with you.
As we remember the freedom he offered to all,
as we celebrate the gift of life which comes to us
here at this Table of love, we speak of that mystery called faith:
Memorial Acclamation
As you pour out your Spirit
upon this Table abundant with the gifts
of the Bread and of the Cup,
shed your grace upon your children
gathered in this place.
Gorged on the moldy meals
offered to us by sin and death,
we forget those who hunger for freedom.
But eating the Bread of life,
we can go, carrying a harvest of hope to them.
Intoxicated on the world's sour grapes,
we forget the injustices imposed
upon our siblings throughout the world.
But drinking from the Cup of grace,
we can go where you intend to go,
inviting everyone we meet to join us
in your new creation of peace, mercy, and wonder.
And when all that holds us back is gone,
when the freedom of your eternity is given to us,
we will gather with our extended siblings
in faith of every time and place,
who have been crowned with your goodness and love,
forever singing your praises,
God in Community, Holy in One. Amen.
(c) Thom M. Shuman
