November 1 or 5, 2023
Lectionary Texts
Revelation 7.9-17— People from every nation and culture praise God., thankful for God’s presence, healing and providence.
Psalm 34 — “God has delivered me from all my fears.” God provides for all God’s beloved people. “O taste and see that the Lord is good!”
1 John 3.1-3— “See how much God loves us, that God calls us God’s own children!”
Matthew 5.1-12 — The Beatitudes
Preaching Thoughts
Revelation
The communion of saints that surrounds us includes not just those who have gone before but people in the present world, too. We are sustained in our faith by people of every tribe and nation and language. Our prayers are strengthened and our praise harmonized by people around the world that we know nothing of… but they’re there, serving and loving and praying and praising.
“The lamb will be the shepherd.” Here’s the mystery of God’s radical divine humility. We are led by the lamb who has been subject to us and our will and even our violence. Now that’s reconciliation.
“God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” We look forward to that, but it better not just be for ourselves. We might pray for the tears of those who suffer way more than we do.
1 John
Here is the heart of Christian faith: not that we hold certain orthodox opinions about God but that with God’s spirit working in us we seek to be perfectly loving like God. It is our hope that people say of us, “Yes, you have your Mother’s eyes.”
Matthew
This is what it is to be like Christ. The beatitudes are blessings that describe a spirituality of trust in God’s grace. Even when we are without worldly power, goods, or happiness, when we are gentle and devoted to God, God attends to us in love, and God’s infinite power and life flows through us for the healing of the world.
For more thoughts and resources on the Beatitudes see Year A, Fourth Sunday in Epiphany.
Call to Worship
1.
Leader: Loving God, the saints through all the ages praise you.
All: Your glory shines. Alleluia!
The saints in our lives have borne witness to you grace.
Your mercy raises us to new life. Alleluia!
Fill us with your spirit, that we may be your saints,
shining with your light in the darkness.
Your love shines in us; and we praise you and serve you. Alleluia!
2. [1 John 3.1-3 ] [Suitable also for the scripture reading, or an affirmation]
Leader: See what love Abba God has given us, that we should be children of God.
All: We are children of God. What we will be in the future has not yet been revealed.
But we know that when all is revealed, we will be like God, for we will see God as God truly is.
All who have this hope in God purify themselves, just as God is pure.
Loving One, in the companionship of Christ, by your Spirit in us, make us holy.
Make us loving. Make us pure, for your sake. Amen.
3. Revelation 7.9-17 [See below for a more extended reading]
Leader: I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice:
All: Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!
All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures,
and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God:
Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.
Collect / Prayer of the Day
1.
Loving God, we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, saints through the ages who have shone your light on our way. We are surrounded by saints who have gone before us in death, who have borne your grace in our lives. We are surrounded by the saints among us, who bless us, sustain us, teach us and pray for us. Speak your Word to us and sanctify us, that we may be made holy by your Spirit of love in us, through the grace of Jesus Christ, our Beloved, our Savior, and our hope. Amen.
2.
God of grace and mercy, we thank you for the saints who have accompanied us in this life, and gone on into the next. We listen for your Word, that we too may be made loving by your Spirit in us, that we may be your saints for those who follow. We pray in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.
3.
Gracious and tender God, we than you, that you have given us your saints who have shown us your love and taught us your ways, who have shone with your grace and radiated your presence. We open our hearts to your Word, that your light may fill us and your grace transform us, so that we, too, may be your saints, humble vessels of your grace in the name of Christ. Amen.
4.
Eternal God, we give thanks for those who have gone before us, who have passed on the faith, who have sustained the community of the Beloved. Bless us with your Word, that we too may be made holy by your grace, and put to your purposes by your Spirit, and that we may pass on your grace to generations, and to all Creation, in the name of Christ. Amen.
Listening Prayer
(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)
1. [Matthew 5.3-6]
Loving One, poor in spirit, we open to your grace.
Brokenhearted, we open to your healing.
In gentleness, we open to your strength.
Hungering and thirsting, we open to your love.
2. [1 John 3.1-3]
God, what love you have given us,
that we are your children!
Reveal your love to us,
That we may be like you.
Reading
Psalm 34.1-8, A paraphrase
Beloved, my heart pours into yours,
and every word I say is your praise.
You are the song, and I am your singing.
You are the hope of a heart stripped bare.
Our lives are a love song to you;
our love is your glory let loose.
I opened myself to you
and you received me.
You came between me and my fear.
I wonder, with grateful awareness:
how you radiate in me!
Mindful of you,
I am free from shame.
My smallest voice cried out
and you heard from within.
In my deepest trouble
you held me.
The arms of your presence enfold me;
they make my world.
O Beloved, all that I taste or see
is your goodness.
Living in you
is deep joy.
Response / Creed / Affirmation
[Revelation 7.9-17 — Suitable also for the scripture reading, or an affirmation]
Leader: I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice:
All: Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!
All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures,
and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God:
Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.
Then one of the elders addressed me:
Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?
Sir, you are the one that knows.
These are they who have come out of the great ordeal;
they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship God day and night within God’s temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
and will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Eucharistic Prayer
[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]
1. [Matthew 5.1-12]
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Realm of God.
We are poor beggars, O God. Feed us with your grace.
Blessed are the broken-hearted, for God holds them close.
In this broken bread, hold us and comfort us.
Blessed are the gentle, for you give them all of Life.
Nourish us with Christ’s tender love, that we, too may be gentle.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for deeper love.
Satisfy us with your love; and deepen our hunger and thirst for you.
Blessed are they who are merciful, for you shower them with mercy.
We give thanks for your mercy, that we too may live lives of mercy.
Blessed are those who are pure in love, for they shall see God.
In this meal fill us with the love of Christ for all the world.
Blessed are those who bring reconciliation, for they are God’s beloved children.
In this meal we are one, all of us saints and sinners,
at peace with you and with one another.
Blessed are those whom the world scorns, for God is present with them.
Sharing this meal, we are one with the outcast of this world,
as Jesus was an outcast.
Strengthen us with courage to bear witness to love and to work for justice,
to devote our lives to nonviolence and the mending of the world,
despite the world’s resistance, to be your saints in the name of Christ.
[The Blessing and Covenant…]
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
blessed to be a blessing by your Spirit in us,
in the name and the company of Christ.
[Spoken or sung]
Amen.
___________________
2.
God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.
We thank you God, for your infinite love.
You have created us in your image, called us as your Beloved children,
and made Covenant to be our God.
You have judged the forces of oppression and injustice,
and set us free from all that diminishes life.
You have sent us your saints, women and children and men rooted in your grace,
who have shone the light of your love in our world.
And you have sent us Christ, who gathers us at your table.
We come in joy and thanksgiving, and with all your saints we sing your praise.
[Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
Hosanna in the highest.
[or alternate version]
Blessed are all who come in your name, and blessed is Jesus, your Christ.
Jesus lived in your love, trusted your grace, and flowed freely with your mercy;
he gathered a community built on your grace, open to all.
[The Blessing and Covenant…]
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
As often as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection until he comes again.
Remembering these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving
as a living and holy sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
[Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
—or—
Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
Christ will come again in glory.
[or alternative]
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
made holy by your grace, and made witnesses to that grace
by your Spirit in us, in the name and the company of Christ.
[Spoken or sung]
Amen.
__________________
3.
God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.
God, what love you have given us!
For we are your children.
You create us in love, claim us with delight,
and Covenant with us in faithful compassion.
You guide us, accompany us, and bless us.
Even when we sin you respond with love,
and surround us with loving people to show us the way.
So we gather with the communion of saints to sing your praise.
[Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
Hosanna in the highest.
[or alternate version]
Blessed are all who come in your name, and blessed is Jesus, your Christ.
Jesus lived your love, showed us how to love,
and created a community of love.
The world did not know him, because it did not know love.
He died in love for us, and you raised him in love.
[The Blessing and Covenant…]
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
As often as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection until he comes again.
Remembering these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving
as a living and holy sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
[Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
—or—
Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
Christ will come again in glory.
[or alternative]
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ.
What shall be has not yet been revealed, but when all is revealed
we will see you as you are, and be like you.
Purify in us this hope, as you are pure love.
Purify our love, that we may be more like you.
[Spoken or sung]
Amen.
____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]
On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion
[Adapt as needed.]
1.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) Sanctify us by your grace in us, that we may shine with the light of your grace, for the sake of the world, in the name and the company of Christ, to your glory. Amen.
2.
… You have made us your saints, set apart for your purposes, holy and radiant with your presence. Send us into the world to humbly serve, trusting in your grace, in the name of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
3.
… Sanctify us by your Spirit and send us into the world as representatives of Christ, to love, to serve, and to show others the Way of Life. May we be your saints in this life until we join the communion of saints in the next life, by your grace. Amen.
Suggested Songs
(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)
Blessed (Original song)
Dear God, receive me anew, mourning and poor in my soul,
hungry for what makes me whole.
Bless me by making me simple like you.
Refrain: Blessed are the ones who have nothing but God,
for God and God alone shall fill their lives.
Mercy please grant me anew. Make my heart pure by your grace,
humble, that I may see your face.
Bless me by making me gentle like you. Refrain
Courage please give me anew, peace in the world to make,
and to suffer for your Gospel’s sake.
Bless me by making me faithful to you. Refrain
We Are Your Body (Tune: Be Thou My Vision)
[Matthew 5.3-12]
God of all holiness, baptized in you,
we are your Body: your presence shines through.
We, poor in spirit, are blessed with your own.
May our lives shine forth with your grace alone
We who with Jesus do mourn with the world
shall see your banners of deep joy unfurled.
We who are hungry for love freely shared
feast at the banquet that you have prepared
May we be merciful and pure in heart,
your gentle peacemakers, doing our part.
Dying and rising, we fear no great loss,
sealed with your Spirit and marked with your cross.
Bles-sed, beloved and baptized to serve,
we are your Body and you are our nerve.
Not by our effort, but by your pure grace,
may we be your hands and your human face.