September 10, 2023
Lectionary Texts
Exodus 12.1-14 — Directions for the celebration of Israel’s liberation in the Passover meal.
Psalm 148 — A song of praise to God, sung by all of Creation as a single community.
Romans 13.8-14 — Love alone is the law of the Christian community. This requires radical forgiveness: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another.”
Matthew 18.15-20 — If someone sins against you, talk to them. Work it out in community. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Preaching Thoughts
The month of September is recognized as the Season of Creation. Click here for Creation Centered worship resources.
The lectionary texts are all about community. Exodus portrays us a community that remembers God’s grace in our lives. The Psalm sees us as a community that celebrates. Paul says we’re a community of love. Jesus says it’s in community that we work out our conflicts.
Jesus’ outline for conflict resolution is mostly about listening. If you’re in conflict with someone who won’t listen, the witnesses you engage should not be to bolster your side or intimidate the other, but to help the other one hear, and maybe even more to help you listen for what you might be missing.
“Let them be as a Gentile or a tax collector.” It sounds like an excuse to reject them—but how did Jesus treat them? By welcoming them, reaching out to them.
“What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.” Jesus isn’t giving us cosmic powers, but he is saying our judgments and attachments, our forgiveness and healing, have cosmic consequences. The resentments or forgiveness you enact you will carry around in your heart forever. So be forgiving.
“Where two are three are, there I am.” Jesus doesn’t need a big church; a little one will do. Even more to the point: Jesus is in relationships.
Call to Worship
1.
Leader: God of love, we come not by our initiative but by your invitation.
All: Together we worship, together we grow.
Loving Christ, in your grace you gather us into your Body.
Together we worship, together we grow.
Holy Spirit, you make us one with you, one with Christ,
and one in ministry to the world.
Together we worship, together we grow.
Together we praise you in harmony. Alleluia!
2. [Exodus]
Leader: God of Justice, you have set us free.
All: Alleluia! We thank you, and we worship you.
God of Justice, not all your people are free.
Lord, have mercy. We pray for them, and we turn to you.
God of Justice, you call us to set your people free.
Come, Holy Spirit; inflame us with gratitude and courage,
that we may resist evil, injustice and oppression,
and work to set all people free, in the name of Christ. Amen.
3.
Leader: Eternal God, you call us into being!
All: Risen Christ, you draw us up into life!
Holy Spirit, you radiate your grace in us.
We worship you. We praise you. We love you.
You make your church as one Being, a community of blessing, the Body of Christ.
Alleluia! Come, spirit of grace, and make us one;
in love and delight, make us yours. Alleluia!
4.
Leader: Christ, you have promised
that where two or three are gathered, you are among us.
All: We gather in your name, and in your presence.
Sit with us, pray with us, sing with us.
Listen to us, speak to us, worship with us.
5.
Leader: God of love, we are a community
that remembers your grace among us.
All: With gratitude ew thank you, that you have brought us through.
We are part of the whole community of Creation.
With all living things we praise you, that you make us one.
We are a community that learns together.
With humility we listen for your Word.
May we learn from one another,
and grow deepen in our love,
in the name and spirit of Christ, Amen.
6.
Leader: Loving God, you welcome us into the home of your heart.
All: We gladly enter your house, together with all your Beloved.
We find shelter in your love, and we feast upon your Word.
May we always know our true food and rest to be in you.
Bless us, that as we gather with one another, with all who follow Christ,
and with all who suffer, we may be inspired and strengthened
to offer your hospitality to others in your name.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, transform us by your grace. Alleluia!
Collect / Prayer of the Day
1.
God of all Creation, you gather us here in your Spirit as the Body of Christ. You call us to grow in love and faith. Open our ears to hear your Word. Open our eyes to see the path you call us to. Open our hearts to be changed and to grow, to blossom and to bear fruit, in the name of Christ. Speak, Holy One, for we are listening. Amen.
2.
God of gentle grace, we are caught up in nets of guilt and shame, traps of duty and obligation, and bondage to our fears and desires. Come to us, speak your liberating word to us, and set us free, with the Spirit and presence of Christ. Amen.
3.
God of grace, you have given us the gift of community. Bless us with humility, that we may receive the gifts of community. Bless us with open hearts, that we may receive your gifts through one another, and through your Word. By the grace of Christ’s presence with us, may we hear, and may we live, your Good News. Amen.
4.
Gracious God, source of all truth and wisdom, you have taught your community how to live. Speak your Word to us now, that we might grow in love and in faith, not just as individuals but as a community. Gather us and reshape us by your Word. We pray in the name of Christ, your Word made flesh. Amen.
Listening Prayer
(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)
O Christ,
where two or three are,
you are here.
In the being here,
in the love,
is your being here,
is your love.
We are present together
for each other.
Readings
[Matthew 18.15-20, a paraphrase]
If someone in your community hurts you,
go to them and name the hurt.
If they hear you, you’ve restored the relationship.
If they can’t hear, take one or two others along
so more listeners can draw out the truth.
If they still won’t hear,
discern among the whole community.
And if they refuse to listen,
care for them as one who is just beginning.
What you bind will really be bound;
what you set loose will really be loosened.
If two of you are in one spirit in seeking something,
God will tend to it.
wherever two or three are gathered in my love,
there am I, in their love.
Response / Creed / Affirmation
1. An affirmation of community
[Jn. 15.5; Eph. 4.4-16, 2.19-22; 1 Cor. 12.21,27; Mt. 18.20; Heb. 10.24-25]
Leader: Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches.”
All: Apart from the vine, we can do nothing.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Savior, one faith, one baptism, one God and Life-Giver of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
Speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into the one who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
We are no longer strangers and aliens, but citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God. In Christ the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom we are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
We are the body of Christ and individually members of it. There are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
“Wherever two or three are gathered in my mercy, “ Jesus said, “there I am among them.”
So let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, but encouraging one another.
2.
God of love, we pray for our life as a community.
We pray for the gift of forgiveness.
We pray for the gift of discernment,
of deep listening for you among each other.
We pray that we may live in your peace,
bonded together in your grace,
for the sake of your love.
Jesus promises to be among us;
grant that we may trust him and seek him,
that we may listen for him and follow.
These things we ask in the name of Jesus
and the power of your Spirit. Amen.
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. [Community]
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, we give you thanks, for you create this world
as one living being, a community of life and beauty.
You set us free from what imprisons us.
You make us a community, siblings in your care,
neighbors in your realm of mercy.
You give us freedom, and invite us to this table as one,
a community of love, all redeemed by your grace.
Therefore with one voice with all Creation 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.
He loved and taught, he healed the broken and lifted up the lowly.
He confronted our divisions and gathered the outcast;
he created a community of freedom and love.
Even when we fell into conflict, even when we failed him,
he gathered us as a family, and invited us to eat together.
He gave us this meal as a sign of your faithfulness and our unity,
as a sign that whenever we gather he is here among us.
[ …The Blessing and Covenant…]
Therefore in remembrance of 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]
God of love, pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts,
that they may be for us the Body and Blood of our Beloved Jesus Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
listening with grace, forgiving with love,
and working for healing and reconciliation.
We are one with each other, one with you,
and one in ministry to all the world.
May we truly love one another as you have loved us,
and love our neighbor as ourselves,
by the grace of the Beloved, Jesus Christ.
[Spoken or sung:]
Amen.
_______________
2. [Exodus, justice]
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 of love, Creator of all that is, and all that shall be,
we give you thanks, for in the beginning you brought light out of darkness.
You created us in your image and made covenant with us
to be our God, and called us as your people.
When we were slaves in Egypt you set us free;
death and oppression passed over us.
You established this feast for us to remember our freedom,
and to pray for those who still long to be set free.
When we were dead in our sin you came to us with love in Christ and set us free.
You established this feast for us to enter into our freedom,
and to break bread with all who long for freedom.
Therefore with all Creation 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.
He loved and taught, he healed the broken and lifted up the lowly.
He confronted our divisions and gathered the outcast;
he created a community of freedom and love.
[ …The Blessing and Covenant…]
Therefore in remembrance of 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]
God of love, pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts,
that they may be for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ.
At this table may we know our unity
with all who are free and all who are under oppression.
Grateful for our freedom in Christ,
may we resist evil, injustice and oppression.
In gratitude, we remember your grace for all people. Amen.
In solidarity, we pray for healing for the world. Amen.
In humility, we offer ourselves to your call. Amen.
In freedom, we work for reconciliation and peace,
looking for your Realm of mercy and justice,
according to your promise.
[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.) By your grace we have passed through many troubles; in your suffering you have accompanied us and saved us. Lead us now into lives of glad obedience for the sake of all those who are not yet free, in the name of Christ. Amen.
2.
… You have given us the gift of one another, your beloved community, in which to serve, to grow, and to learn the grace of forgiveness. Bless us that we may bear your good news to one another and to all the world, in the name of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Suggested Songs
(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)
Freedom Feast (Tune: Let Us Break Bread Together)
God, we thank you, for you have set us free. (2x)
When we come to this feast, from the greatest to the least,
Oh, God, you set your people free.
God, where there is injustice, set them free. (2x)
When we come to this feast, from the greatest to the least,
Oh, God, you set your people free.
God, now use us to set your people free. (2x)
When we come to this feast, from the greatest to the least,
Oh, God, you set your people free.