Tag: Year A

November 1, 2026

Common Lectionary Texts

Joshua 3.7-17 — The Israelites cross the Jordan river into the promised land.

Psalm 107 — God cares for the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, and for all the poor and hungry.

1 Thessalonians 2.9-13 — Paul defends his ministry, and commends the people for receiving his teaching.

Matthew 23. 1-12 — Jesus criticizes hypocritical religious authorities. “Do what the scribes say, but not what they do.” All who exalt themselves will be humbled and vice versa.

Narrative Lectionary. (NL108)

1 Kings 3:4-9, [10-15], 16-28 — Solomon’s wisdom with two women and a child
Matthew 6.9-10 — “Hallowed be your name; your kingdom come…”

Preaching Thoughts

              Narrative Lectionary

Solomon prayed for wisdom. Wisdom isn’t the same as common sense, though there’s some of that in it. The kind of wisdom we seek is an alternative to the “conventional wisdom” of what “everybody knows” but nobody questions. “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise” (I Cor. 1.27). The wisdom we seek is rooted not in human intelligence but in divine grace. The wisdom that is at home in God’s kingdom, whose primary goal is that God’s will be done, is a different kind of wisdom than what operates in the world. It’s the wisdom of love. Solomon knows that the wisdom of the world wants to possess, but the wisdom of love might lead a woman to choose to lose her child to save it from death.

Prayer
God of love, we pray for wisdom: not the craftiness to succeed, but the desire to do your will; not the intelligence to compete, but the grace to live in your Realm. We pray for the insight to see your grace in all things, to know your presence in every moment, to imagine your healing and your blessing. God, grant us the wisdom of love. Amen.

Suggested Songs:
Be Thou My Wisdom (Tune: Be Thou My Vision)
Wisdom (Original song)

Common Lectionary

Joshua
       In an echo of the Red Sea crossing, the waters of the river are parted. Despite all obstacles, God accompanies the community and enables them to go on to a new life. Of course some faith is required of us: the waters don’t part for us until we step in.

Matthew
       Jesus is not only criticizing religious authorities, he’s criticizing the idea of authority as superior power. For Jesus authority is rooted in authenticity, not power. He cautions against religious teaching that is based on guilt or detached from action. He’s also cautioning us against the thought that there might be experts in the faith. No one has “arrived;” we’re all beginners. We are all students, and God is our constant teacher. Faith requires humility. No human has more authority than another; God alone is our superior.

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: Love of God,
All: enfold us.
Delight of God,
draw us in.
Wisdom of God,
lead us.
Spirit of God,
make us yours.
Shape us by your love,
in the name of Christ. Amen.

2.
Leader: As the birds know to trust the air,
All: give us your wisdom, God.
As the rivers flow with your beauty,
give us your Spirit, God.
As the winds blow and embrace the earth,
guide us by your love, not our knowledge.
We are beginners God, learners in the school of love.
We wold not be masters of love,
but only its obedient servants.
Teach us and we will listen.
Show us, and we will follow. Amen.

3.
Leader: Creator God, you call us to cross the River Jordan
and enter into your Realm of Grace.
All: Grant us faith to step into the waters, trusting your mighty power.
We are not experts; we are only following those who love.
Teach us, and we will serve with joy.
Come, Holy Spirit, transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

4. [Ps. 107]
Leader: Creator God, maker of all Creation, we praise you!
All: You satisfy those who are thirsty, and fill the hungry with good things.
You turn deserts into pools of water, and parched land into flowing springs.
When we hunger, you feed us. When we are brought low, you raise us up.
So we want to draw close to you, not in words alone,
but in our hearts and in our lives.
Alleluia! Fill us with your spirit of life.
Come, Spirit of Life, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Eternal One, you who guide us in the ways of love, come and speak to us. No empty words, no hollow doctrines. Give us Jesus and his love. Give us light for the road. Give us courage and wisdom to serve this world with love and justice. We open ourselves to your Word, in the company of your Christ and the grace of your Spirit. Amen.

2.
God of love, we want to understand love. We want to master the faith. But love is beyond our grasping. So receive us as those who are growing. By your Spirit give us humility to learn of love, and to practice love, all our days, in the name of Christ. Amen.

3.
Gracious God, you led your people out of slavery, and they crossed the Red Sea. You led them into your Promised Land, and they crossed the Jordan River. Help us to cross over all the barriers that keep us from being free, that prevent us from proclaiming your love and establishing your justice in the world. Open our hearts to receive your grace and grow in trust. As the scriptures are read and your good news proclaimed, bless us that we may hear with joy what you are saying to us today. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

1.
Holy stillness, hold us.
Unspeakable beauty, cherish us.
Unfailing love, live in us.
In your grace we are not wise or foolish,
we are only beloved.
Grace of God, live in us.

2.
God of love, we do not know
how to pray as we ought.
We hunger and thirst for righteousness.
We are only beginning.
Help us to learn, to grow, to be changed.
Lead us, for we are your children.

Prayer of Confession

1.
Pastor: The grace of God be with you.
All: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
Gracious God, we confess our sin.
We are not conscious of your presence with perfect openness;
we are not mindful of one another with perfect love.
In our obliviousness we betray you, and we hurt one another.
We are sorry, and we turn to you.
Forgive us, heal us, and awaken us.
By the power of your Spirit present in us,
grant that we may be
deeply, courageously and lovingly present to the world
as the crucified and risen Body of Christ
for the sake of your healing of all Creation. Amen.
       [Silent prayer… The word of grace]

2.
God of love, we confess that we subject your love to human standards.
We think of faith as a human achievement.
We measure one against another
and think of ourselves as “better” or “not as good” as Christians.
Yet faith is a gift, and each moment we are receiving and learning.
Forgive our waywardness. Heal our fear.
Restore in us your humble desire to serve one another,
in the Spirit of Christ.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

       We believe in God, Creator of all that is and all that is to come, whose power is over all Creation and all human structures and systems.
       We trust in Jesus, the Light of the world and the pioneer of our faith, who shows us how to love, and who by his death and resurrection leads us out of slavery to sin and death, into the Realm of God.
       We live by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the grace of God’s holy Community, the Body of Christ. None of us is an expert: we are all learning to love. We believe the Spirit gives each of us gifts that we are called to share for the sake of the healing of the world. Knowing we are forgiven, with humility we forgive. Trusting the the power of resurrection, with humility we serve, by the power of the Spirit, in the name of Christ, and the joy of God. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page.)

God, I Surrender (Original song)

God, I surrender myself to you,
all that I have and all I do.
All my desires I give to you.
Take them from me and make me new.

God, I surrender myself to you,
all that I have and all I do.
Trusting you wholly I follow you
Take my life and make me new.

God, I surrender myself to you,
all that I have and all I do.
I am a seed that has died in you.
Raise me to serve and make me new.

I Am Open (Original song)

Dear gentle Jesus, I open to you
the deepest chambers of my soul.
My heart is open, wounded and broken.
Heal and forgive and make me whole.
     Open, I am open, open to your grace.

Beloved Jesus, my eyes are open;
your healing touch restores my sight.
Like open windows, they shine, and in flows
your glory filling me with light.
    Open, I am open, open to your grace.

My wounded Jesus. Your arms are open,
our hurt and dying to embrace.
When I would close them, hold my arms open,
to be so loving by your grace.
     Open, I am open, open to your grace.

Now risen Jesus, my life is open,
a flower unfolding in the sun:
by your light growing, and boldly showing
the love of God, as you have done.
     Open, I am open, open to your grace.

I Wait for Your Will (Original song)
{May be a dialogue between soloist and congregation;
or the congregation may sing all of it.]

Congregation:
I wait for your will.
I wait for your will.
I wait for your will, O God,
for your loving will,
your life-giving will.
I wait for your will, O God.

Cantor:
1. All I desire to control
I let go and place into your hands, my God.
2. Heal and protect and provide.
Hear me and stay by my side.
3. You are my wisdom and strength.
I will do your will alone, my God.
4. Help me to listen and wait,
trusting your Spirit to move, my God.

Your Will Be Done. (Original song)

Father, take my willfulness.
I surrender it to you grace alone.
Mother, be my willingness.
I can only ask: Your will be done.

Jesus, take my brokenness.
I surrender it to you grace alone.
Jesus, heal my brokenness.
I can only ask: Your will be done.

Spirit, take my empty hands.
I surrender them to you grace alone.
Spirit, with my empty hands
I can only ask: Your will be done.

November 8, 2026

Common Lectionary Texts

Joshua 24. 1-25 — Joshua recites the story of the exodus and invites the people to renew their commitment to God. “As for me and my household, we will serve the Holy One.”

Psalm 78 — recalls that history, giving thanks that although the people were rebellious, God still forgives and provides. (It’s long see an excerpt, adapted, below.)

1 Thessalonians 4. 13-18 — proclaims that at the final coming of Christ, those who have died will be raised to new life and join the living, to be with Christ.

Matthew 25. 1-13 —The parable of ten wedding attendants.

Narrative Lectionary (NL 109)

2 Kings 5:1-15a —Elisha heals Naaman
Matthew 8.2-3 —Jesus heals a leper

See resources here

Preaching Thoughts (Common Lectionary)

Joshua
       At Schechem Joshua gathers the people who have recently come into the Promised Land from their wilderness wanderings. His telling of the exodus story is a tale of God’s gracious and consistent care. But it’s couched in an ancient image of God that’s basically a great big human being, with human intentions, actions and feelings. You might want to help folks find a way to appreciate this image of God’s interventions (“I gave them over to you…It was not by your sword or by your bow”) as an expression of God’s faithfulness to us—without taking literally its more destructive dimensions (“I destroyed them before you…”). I hope we have grown beyond the archaic notion of God being “for us” by being against others, whoever they may be. Ancient Israelites saw both their victories and defeats as God’a actions. Maybe we can see that those military actions were human acts, not God’s, but God was present in all of it.
       What follows is an invitation to the renewal of the Covenant that’s rooted in Joshua’s own life. “You can do what you want, but as for me and my household…” That’s a pretty solid evangelistic approach. Don’t coerce people, just show them how it works. Joshua offers something that feels more like a final exam than an evangelistic pitch. “Are you sure you wan to do this?” Joshua asks, “because this is going to be really hard.” What if instead of proselytizing we warned people that obeying the Spirit is hard work, that following Jesus doesn’t always make your life easier or maybe even “better”—just more true and purposeful? Joshua’s “examination” of the people isn’t necessarily a deterrent to faith, but a warning that living a life of love and justice is hard, and it’s going to take commitment and discipline. And we’re going to need God, and each other.
       
1 Thessalonians
       As the flight attendants say, “We have begun our initial descent into the Reign of Christ.” The lectionary begins to point toward the coming of Christ. As it winds up the story of the escape from Egypt and entry into the Promised Land, it anticipates our entry into a different kind of Promised land at the second coming of Christ. But note: if you’re going to read a scripture like this in worship, sooner or later you need to talk about it. We don’t need to take the imagery literally—fodder for all those hokey “Rapture” movies in which people literally float up into the sky… and then what? Live where, the upper mesosphere? Maybe all the way out to the exosphere, dodging communication satellites? Our out in deep space? Let that go.
       Paul is using poetic imagery to suggest that we are liberated from the physical bounds we now know, not that we physically “meet the Lord in the air.” But with or without the part about being “caught up in the clouds,” the notion of an afterlife in which we get to meet loved ones who have died is truly comforting for a lot of people. So be careful how you deconstruct it. I think it’s important to be honest with your people: we actually don’t know anything about the afterlife, other than that it’s in God’s hands. So it’s got to be good. Even if we discard all our specific ideas about the afterlife, at the very least we can affirm that we are part of something greater than ourselves that even death can’t cancel. Our faith in resurrection isn’t certainty about what we, or life, will be like after we die, but that all of life, and even death, in in God’s loving hands. True faith is not having lots of comforting ideas about the future; it’s trusting God especially when the future is completely unknown.
        By the way, if you give yourself permission to fiddle with the lectionary, and you want to preach on the parable of the wedding attendants, you might pair it with next week’s Epistle reading, 1 Thessalonians 5.1-11, about belonging to the day instead of the night.

Matthew
       The usual interpretation of this story is: “Be prepared. Jesus is coming any minute, so be ready for the rapture.” So the theme is waiting, being ready. But wait. How does one prepare for the rapture? I can’t think of what that means, other than living your life the way God wants you to, whether the rapture is tomorrow or in the year 4046. (It seems just as likely that we should have to wait 2,023 years as the writers of the New testament should.) Liturgically it makes sense to focus on the imminent coming of Christ, since we’re we’re approaching Reign of Christ Sunday, and Advent. Jesus is coming. Be ready. So come to the marriage feast of the Lamb….
       But all of this is post-Jesus interpretation, arising in a community that had expected Jesus’ return, but after 50 years he still hadn’t. There was some anxiety about how long they had to wait. That’s Matthew’s concern, but not Jesus’. I don’t think he told parables about himself. Besides, if Jesus is the groom, we are not wedding attendants. We are the bride. So let’s find another angle to this story.
       Maybe it’s about how it’s easy to say you believe in God, but more important to actually live as if God is a part of your life. The foolish guests act like they don’t really expect the critical moment to come. How differently would we live if we actually expected Jesus to show up in our living room tomorrow?
       Maybe it’s saying: “Have faith, and keep the oil in your lamp of faith burning. (Again. How do you just up and “have faith?” Easier said than done. And, wait. If you are the light of the world, then you don’t need oil. You already shine. So what’s with that?) So maybe putting oil in your lamp is about feeding your soul. What do you need to do to fill your lamp? What helps you grow spiritually? What strengthens your love? That’s the oil. Maybe the story is saying: “Practice spiritual discipline so when you really need spiritual strength you have it.”
        Maybe it’s about the light we bring to the world instead of expecting the world to give us light. Maybe it’s about how your relationship with God isn’t dependent on anybody else’s. You can’t just borrow some faith from your neighbor like oil. You have to develop your own.
       If you want a “moral of the story” there are ideas like that. But there’s way more than that going on here. The parable isn’t just a fable, “a story with a moral.” It’s an experience in many dimensions with multiple layers, that can open our eyes or raise questions in many ways. Maybe it’s not trying to “tell” us anything, but inviting us to experience something that gives us a new perspective. For instance, this story ends up pretty sadly—the foolish ones being left out in the cold. Matthew would have been happy to make the story end like this: he thinks there are people in the church who should, at least in the Final Judgment, get kicked out. But that doesn’t sound like Jesus, who believed in radical inclusion. If “the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Mt. 21.32) then maybe foolish people are, too. Maybe Jesus isn’t telling us an idea, but inviting us to wonder. Maybe at the end of the story we sit with the foolish ones in the dark and wonder how our friends could be so cruel as not to share. And what about the partygoers inside? Are they really happy with half the guests missing? Maybe not. And the groom, saying “I don’t know you” to half of his friends? Just because they’re late—after making them wait all night!? Our sadness or disappointment, maybe even loneliness, might teach us something: I don’t like it like this. I would rather have all of us together. What if the “wise” ones had been wise enough to be prepared to share? That’s a story I’d like to be part of. I don’t need oil just for my lamp—I need oil for my neighbor’s lamp. Maybe Matthew thinks of it as a story about making sure we’re included, even if others are excluded, but Jesus uses it as motivation to share, and to include everybody. …. Or maybe this story evokes something else for you. Play with it.
       It’s easy to imagine the story is about certain people, or groups of people. But maybe all ten of the wedding attendants are me. Some of me is wise, some foolish. What are the foolish parts of me that get left out because I don’t admit the light of God? What are the parts of me that are prepared to welcome God into my consciousness, prepared to celebrate?

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: God of love, we come with our hearts lit to meet you.
All: We rejoice at your love and faithfulness.
Loving Christ, we come to be part of your celebration.
We want to be part of your community of joy.
Holy Spirit, we want to reflect the radiance of your love.
May the light of your joy and love shine in us, in all we do. Alleluia!

2.
Leader: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
All: The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”
Let everyone who hears say, “Come!”
Let all who are thirsty come, for Christ will turn none away.
We come, O Love, to worship in your light, to feast upon your grace. Alleluia!

3.
Leader: God of love, we long for you. We search for you. We wait for you.
All: Light the lamps of our hope, so we may wait and watch with patience.
The world is often dark, and it feels late.
Light the lamps of our faith, so we may shine with your light.
There are still those who wait in darkness.
Light the lamps of our love, sp we may share your light with others.
God, we open the vessels of our hearts to you;
we hold the wick of our hearts to the flame of your love.
Fill us with your light. Amen.

4.
Leader: God of love, you provide everything for us.
All:Life is a banquet of beauty. We come to the feast!
God, you are faithful; your love is steadfast.
You have married the world. We come to celebrate!
And what of those who don’t have enough light?
We will share our light, so that all may come.
Fill our lamps with the oil of your love, God,
fill them to overflowing,
so that we may share your light with others. Amen.

5.
Leader: Light of our night, you rise among us.
Congregation: We waken to your glory, and we praise you.
Light of our lives, you illumine our way.
We follow your radiance, and we thank you.
Light of our souls, you shine within us.
Alleluia! We open our hearts to your presence, and we turn to you,
that we may follow your light, and walk in your way.
Come, Spirit of Life, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
God of faithful love, all of life is your wedding feast, celebrating your Covenant with us. We want to be part of your joy. Proclaim your love to us again, in word and in silence. Declare your faithfulness. We will be present for you, and listen in trust and enter into your joy. Let our whole lives be your praise. Amen.2.God of love, we wait for your coming; we long for your presence. We trim our lamps with the oil of hope, eager to celebrate with you. Come, O Lord; speak to us who wait; in your Word invite us into the hall of your light and warmth. Amen.

3.
Loving God, we look for you. We wait for you. Fill us with the oil of hope and attentiveness so that we may see you when you are near, and see to enter into your presence. Amen.

4.
Eternal God, we are like bridesmaids waiting for the groom to appear. Give us oil in our lamps, that we may be ready. Give us hope in our hearts, that we may be awake. Give us your Word, so that we might bear your love into the world, in the name and the spirit of Christ. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

1.
There is a wedding,
and the joy of love and faithfulness.
There is an invitation to enter,
to share in delight.
And there is oil in our lamps,
to see and to celebrate.
Love of God, welcome us in
and fill us with the light of your joy.

2.
God may the oil of your love
fill the lamp of my heart,
that I may share your light with joy.

Prayer of Confession

1.
Pastor: The grace of God be with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
God of love, we set before you all that we are,
all we have done, and all we have not done.
By your grace given to us in Christ,
we come to make peace with ourselves
and with you,
you who grant us your forgiveness and your peace.
       [Silent prayer … the word of grace]

2.
… Loving God, you call us to life,
but we have not fully entered in.
You shine your light in our lives,
but we have lived in darkness.
Open our eyes, forgive us,
and return us to the way of life. Amen.

Reading

     [from Psalm 78, adapted. Stanza breaks are appropriate places for sung responses.]

Listen, O people, to this teaching;
pay attention to these words of truth!
         We will tell a story that is rich with meaning,
         and utter sayings with truth hidden in them,
an ancient story that we have heard,
because it is a story about us.
         We will not hide these stories from our children,
         but tell them to the next generation:
         the glorious deeds of God, and God’s power,
         and the wonders that God has wrought.
God made this promise to us,
         so we would never forget God’s grace.

In the sight of our ancestors—
in your own memory—God worked miracles in Egypt.
         God divided the sea and led them through it,
         making the waters to stand like a heap.
God led them by a cloud in the daytime,
and all the night with a fiery light.
         God split the rocks in the wilderness,
         and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep,
         made streams to come out of the rock,
         and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

Yet they tested God in their hearts,
by demanding the food that they craved.
They spoke against God, saying:
         “Yes, God, you struck the rock
         so that water gushed out and torrents overflowed.
         But can you spread a table in the wilderness?
         Can you give bread, and provide meat for your people?”
Yet God commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven;
God rained down on them manna to eat,
and gave them the grain of heaven.
         With upright heart God tended them,
         and guided them with skillful hand.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
Jesus Christ, light of God, shine in us.
May the oil of your peace fill our hearts.
May the lamp of your grace lead our steps.
May the light of your love shine in our lives.
May we be a source of light for others
who wait for you in the dark.

2.
       We believe in God, maker of all that is and all that is to come.
       We follow Christ, the Light of God, who as our Bridegroom pledged God’s faithful love to us, who died and rose, and who leads us in grace into the celebration of life.
      We live by the grace of the Holy Spirit, God’s loving flame within us, whose warmth gives us life and whose light guides us. In prayerful listening we open ourselves to that inner guidance, in union with all the saints; that we might bear witness to God’s faithful love and the forgiveness of sin, and to the present reality of resurrection and the mystery of eternal life. By God’s grace, in the name of Christ, we vow to walk in the way of love.

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.) In gratitude we give you our lives, symbolized in these gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. Light the lamp of your love in us, and guide and sustain us in shining your light in the world, for the sake of the healing of all Creation, in the name of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

2.
… Send us out into the darkness to share your light. Strengthen us by your grace to share all that we have for the sake of the healing of the world, to increase your joy, in the name of Christ. Amen.

3.
… Gratefully we give you our gifts as symbols of our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace, and use them according to your will. Guide us by your light, shape us by your Word, and send us into the world to serve others for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)


Be Thou My Wisdom (Tune: SLANE —Be Thou My Vision )

Be thou my Wisdom and grant me your sight.
Help me to see by your love’s perfect light.
Love, be my compass, my balance, my Way:
guide from within what I choose day by day.

Grant me the wisdom to seek and to learn, to
pray for your leading and wait and discern.
Help me to listen with all of my heart,
listen for all of the Truth you impart.

Grant me your Wisdom: a heart that’s made pure,
courage to follow a love that is sure.
Led by your Spirit, listening still,
help me to know and to follow your will.


Fill Me, Love (Tune: Lead Me, Lord)

Fill me, Love, fill me with the oil of love,
may my lamp burn, burn long and bright.
For, Love, you fill me when my heart is empty,
so I may shine through the longest night.


Sharing the Light (Tune: Be Thou My Vision)

Bridegroom, Beloved, all life is your bride.
We come to celebrate here at your side.
Feasting and dancing long brighten the night.
Grateful we are for your love and your light.

See, though, beyond our small circle of light
those who are longing still, out in the night,
those who though seeking have no lamp or oil:
see how the bridegroom still loves them as well.

God who has loved us and filled us with grace
sends us in love to go out from this place,
sharing our own lamps, to bless and invite,
sharing our wealth, our abundance, our light.

This is the true feast, the love of our Lord:
sharing grace widely, for all are adored.
Sharing is how we will find true delight,
sharing the feast and the joy and the light.

Sleeper, Awake [Ephesians 5.14] (Original song)

Sleeper, awake,
come rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine upon you.

October 29, 2026

Common Lectionary Texts

Exodus 33.12-23 — Moses asks to see God. He does—but only from behind.

Psalm 99 — celebrates God’s might, remembers God’s mercy toward the Israelites in the wilderness, and gives thanks for Moses and Aaron, who led the people on their journey.

1 Thessalonians 1.1-10 — Paul commends the people of the church: “Despite persecution you became examples.”

Matthew 22.15-22 —To pay or not pay the tax to Caesar? Jesus’ wise (and convicting) answer.

Narrative Lectionary

Joshua 24:1-15 [16-26] — Joshua renews the Covenant
Matthew 4.8-10 — Jesus tells Satan: worship God alone

Preaching Thoughts

                  Narrative Lectionary
Faith isn’t a thing you have like money, or even a characteristic like courage. It’s a relationship with God. You can’t just sign the contract and be done: it’s ongoing, like a marriage. We have to sustain it every day. It sounds easy for Jesus to tell Satan to go to hell and be done with him…but Jesus has to wrestle with what it means to be faithful all the way up to the Garden of Gethsemane. God has established God’s Covenant with us: to be lovingly present, no matter what, forever. But our part of the relationship isn’t established. We have to keep renewing it every moment. We have to continually enter into it. In centering prayer we focus our attention on the loving presence of God.. which lasts for a few seconds, then our minds wander. And we catch ourselves and return to God. The important thing is not that we’re perfectly steadfast, but that we return. Over and over, we return. In our daily lives we’re drawn in a million directions by the satans around us: our own fears, desires and attachments, and all the world’s peer pressures. We have to continually return to God. Entering into God’s Covenant is never a once-and-done thing: it’s every day, every moment, every breath.

Prayer
God of Love, moment by moment, eon by eon, you are perfectly faithful to us. But our faithfulness is fickle. Open our hearts to your grace, that we might continually turn to you, that we might enter and re-enter your covenant day by day, breath by breath. Help us fall a little more in love with you. We pray in the name of Jesus, who is your love for us, and your unfailing faithfulness. Amen.

Affirmation

       God of love, only Source of our life and lone sustained of our souls, we give our hearts to you. You are our only security, our only salvation. We pledge allegiance to you, to you alone.
       Jesus Christ, grace of God made flesh, we give our hearts to you. We renounce the idol of success, the false god of looking good. We turn to you alone to guide us, to heal us, to lead us into life.
      Holy Spirit, energy of wholeness and blessing, we give our hearts to you. We confess the temptation of our fears, desires, and attachments, and turn away from them; for it is you alone who give us the grace to receive the gift of life, love abundantly, and to live beautifully. God of the Universe, we give you our hearts, our loyalty, and our love. Help us be faithful. Amen.

             Common Lectionary

Exodus
       We’re accustomed to Charlton Heston’s majestic portrayal of Moses but actually he’s kind of a hapless dude, pushed around by God, tormented by his people, utterly dependent on Arron, Joshua and Miriam, and often unsure of himself. Here his anxiety shows. Despite God’s consistent promise to be with Moses and the people, Moses asks God three times (in almost a whiny voice, I imagine) for God’s reassurance. I guess we’re like that.
       Moses is right: unless we go with God we go in vain. However, we usually want God to come with us on our way rather than promising that we will go with God on God’s way. Still, this promise is magnificent: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (I hear echoes of this when Jesus says “Take my yoke upon you and I will give you rest.”)
       “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” Mic drop. Oh, how we want to tell God who to be merciful to. But it’s God’s choice—it is God’s nature. This is akin to God’s declaration in the burning bush: “I am who I am,” or “I will be who I will be.” God says this right here, while talking about “proclaiming before you the name YWH,” because God’s mercy and graciousness is God’s name, God’s nature. Mercy is what God is.
       Moses only gets to see God from behind. This doesn’t mean Moses sees God’s butt instead of God’s face. It means we’re always a little behind. (The Hebrew actually implies “behind” in terms of time, not space.) We recognize God after the fact. Kind of like Jacob saying “God was in this place and I—I did not know it.”

Matthew
       Ooh, we love to see Jesus skewer the cynical authorities with their own swords. Jesus loves honest curiosity, but sabotages a trick question. Like this one. In Jewish law it’s illegal to honor Rome by paying the tax; in Roman law it’s illegal not to. So they can nail him either way, right? Well, says Jesus: if the coin has Caesar’s image on it it must belong to Caesar. Give it back. And likewise —here the Pharisees’ trap backfires!— give to God what is God’s, that is, what has God’s image on it, that is, yourself. Boom. Another mic drop. It’s not about taxes. It’s about our relationship with God.
       The important thing is not just that Jesus has a good answer, but that he doesn’t play games. Notice how often people who want to trap him do so by framing the question in terms of power and authority, right or wrong, included or excluded. But Jesus doesn’t step into the trap they’re already stuck in: he reframes the issue in terms of grace. This encounter points out not only the difference between a trick question and an honest question, it’s also the difference between operating in a sphere of human power and authority, and the realm of God’s grace. It’s a different dimension.
       What does your life look like when you really believe that you are not your own, but God’s? God does not really give your life to you, but to the world, placing it in your hands to give away, like the chef handing the waiter a delicious plate of food. How do you practice good stewardship of your life? What might it be like to live as if you have nothing to lose, because you know your life is God’s? If you are God’s coin, how might God want to spend you?

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: Eternal God, giver of life, you are our Creator; we are your creatures.
All: We come from you. We belong to you. We bear your image. Alleluia!
Loving Christ, sharer of life, you are our companion; we are your lovers.
You accompany us. You heal and forgive us. You lead us. Alleluia!
Holy Spirit, power of life, you are our breath; we are your vessels.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, sweep us way in your love, drown us in your grace,
and birth us anew in the waters of your womb.
Spirit of death and resurrection, baptize us in your life-giving grace. Alleluia!

2.
Leader: God you are our Creator, our Source; we are made in your image.
All: We belong to you, and we praise you.
Christ, you are our companion and our leader; we are your Body.
We belong to you, and we thank you.
Holy Spirit, you guide us and empower us; we are vessels of your grace.
We belong to you, and we serve you.
Holy God, in praise and devotion we worship you. Alleluia!

3.
Leader: Holy One, source of life!All: Divine Presence, blossoming of love!
Spirit of Unity, breathing among us!
We open the window of our hearts to your light.
We worship you in gratitude, in readiness, in peace. Alleluia!

4.
Leader: Eternal God, you create us in your image.
All: You are re-creating us even now.
We are yours. We belong to you.
It is you who give us to the world.
You give us in love, extravagant, generous love.
Alleluia! We give ourselves to you, so that you may give us to the world.
Come, Spirit of Life, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

5.
Leader: Loving God, as the colors in the trees sing your praise,
the goodness of your Holy Spirit in us shows forth your glory.
All: Transform us that we may glow with the beauty of your love.
Be present in us, that we may be present for one another.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

6.
Leader: Creator God, all that we have is yours.
All: We thank you for your abundant generosity.
All that we are is yours.
May our whole lives be your praise.
We are your precious coin. Stamp us with your image; spend us as you will.
We worship you now so that in all our living we may worship you, and serve you.

7.
Leader: Creator God, you have blessed us abundantly with gifts we cannot count.
All: You have placed in our hands lives that shine with your glory.
Come and claim the lives that are yours.
Take them and use them as you will.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Creator God, we come from you, spoken into being by your Word, made in your image. Speak to us now; re-shape us again by your Word of love, as a potter re-shaping a vessel. We belong to you. Make us as you desire, and use us as you wish. We pray in the name of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

2.
God of love, you hold our hearts in your hands.
God of love, you hold our lives in your light.
God of love, you hold our present in your care.
We are still, and we listen for your voice. Amen.

3.
Loving God, like Moses in the wilderness, we want to see you. We want assurance of your presence and your guidance. But we do not see your face. Instead we seek you in your mercy. We listen for you in scripture. We open our hearts to you in your Word proclaimed. We give thanks for your gracious, faithful presence in our hearts and among us. Bless us, as we listen for you. Amen.

4.
Gracious God, the trees bear gold, and the color of sun.
Each day we pass through the gates of heaven.
You are with us, and we rejoice.
You speak to us, and so we listen.
Re-create us by your Presence; shape us by your Word;
make us into your glory, by your grace;
mint us as your coins that you may spend for the world
as boldly and with as deep joy as the trees of the field. Amen.

5.
God of love, eternal creator, you have made us in your image. We are the evidence of your love. Speak your Word to us, shape us in your image, set your seal upon us, that we may be all you have created us to be. We pray in the company of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Loving God,
by the mystery of your grace
we are stamped with the image of your love.
Let your image shine in us now;
be our worth and our beauty.
Let us hear your love in us
speak your word. Amen.

Prayer of Confession

1.
The grace of God be with you.
And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you.
We have thought our lives our own.
We have spent them according to our desires
and protected them according tour fears.
And therefore we have not served you perfectly,
nor loved our neighbors as ourselves.
Forgive us,
reclaim us, and restore your image in us,
that we may faithfully love you and serve you. Amen.
                [Silent prayer… the word of grace]

2.
… God, we confess we have paid the tribute of our lives
to worldly authorities and not to you.
We have forgotten that we are made in your image,
and we are yours.
Receive us again, reclaim us, redeem us.
Forgive our sin, heal our fear,
and stamp us with grace
so you may give us freely to the world.

Poetry

More than enough

You,
more present than I can see or feel,
more gracious than I can understand,
more loving than makes sense.

I rest from needing to know,
I rest from having to believe,
I rest even from faith and from wisdom.

I see enough.
I receive enough.
You are here, more than enough,
pure goodness, more than enough.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
       We believe in God, eternal Creator, who makes us in God’s image, who creates all that is and all that is to be.
       We follow Jesus, God’s Christ, who embodied God’s love, teaching and healing, proclaiming grace and reconciling people. He gave himself fully in love, even to death, and God raised him to life again. He showed us how to live, and lives among us still, calling us to extravagant compassion.
       We live by the Holy Spirit, God’s presence alive in us, who makes us the coin of God’s realm, the image of God’s love. God’s Spirit us as one church, the Body of Christ, by whose grace we embody the forgiveness of sin, the power of resurrection and the gift of eternal life. In the Spirit’s power we give ourselves to God, that God may spend us lavishly for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.

2.
       Loving God, we are yours. We belong to you who creates all things, in whose image all people are made.
      Christ, we are yours. You have loved us, healed us, called us and anointed us with your Spirit. We belong to your death and resurrection and ministry.
       Holy Spirit, we are yours. By your grace we belong to the church, the Body of Christ. God gives us the gifts of forgiveness, resurrection and eternal life, and the gift of participating in the healing of the world. God, as your beloved, we devote ourselves to you and your will, wholly, joyfully and with the help of Christ. Amen.

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.) God of love, we are your precious coins, bearing your image, upheld by your worth. Spend us generously as you will for the purposes you desire, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ, and the power of your Spirit. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we give you our gifts as symbols of our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace, and use them according to your will. In our giving may we empty ourselves and be your humble servants. Send us into the world: awake, attentive, and present, to embody your grace, and to do justice in your name, so that in our generosity, mercy and justice others may see your presence and rejoice. Amen

3.
Living and true God, we return to you the things that are yours – our time, our skills, our possessions, ourselves. Bless us and these your gifts! Move us to works of faith and labors of love for the good of all people and the wholeness of all creations. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

All of the Gifts I Have (Tune: Fairest Lord Jesus)

All of the gifts I have, all that is within me,
you give to me, O God, with care;
all of my prayers and skills, passions and energies
you grant to me to freely share.

Here are my hopes and dreams, attitudes and deepest loves,
all of the treasure to which I cling.
I will not hold them in, stilling my ardent song,
but serving you I’ll freely sing.

In all I keep or give, may I do my very best
in everything I say and do,
in harmony with you, only to love and bless,
with joy, to serve and honor you.


I Belong to You     (Tune: The Water Is Wide – Gift of Love)

Beloved, I belong to you.
You give me birth; you make me new,
your image formed, by Spirit stirred.
You are the Song; I am your Word.

Whatever pains I may endure,
I still belong. Your love is sure.
Since I am yours, your will I do.
I trust and give myself to you.

I am your coin to richly spend,
so spend me, God, as you intend.
You bless my end; you hold my worth;
send me to love throughout the earth.

Beloved, I belong to you.
Do with me what your love will do.
Bear me, and I, through ease or strife
will find in you eternal life.


The Giving Song (Tune: DOVE OF PEACE -— “I Come with Joy”)

God, send me out into the world to share all I possess.
My generosity shall be the faith that I confess,
the faith that I confess

For you have given me such gifts, grace infinite and deep,
that I can only share them all. There’s nothing I will keep,
there’s nothing I will keep..

And let my giving change me, Lord, to make me more like you:
to let your blessing flow through me, creating me anew,
creating me anew.

My life will not be known by what I have, but how I share,
courageously, with trust in you, with love and joy and care,
with love and joy and care.

November 15, 2026

Common Lectionary Texts

Judges 4. 1-7 — Deborah, a judge of Israel, gives advice to Barak, a local military leader, about a conflict.

Psalm 123 —We look to God like a maid watches the hand of her mistress.
—or—
Psalm 76 — God overwhelms for forces of war and saves the oppressed.

1 Thessalonians 5.1-11 — Stay awake and be alert for the coming of Christ.

Matthew 25.14-30 — The parable of the talents.

Narrative Lectionary (NL110)

Micah [1:3-5]; 5:2-5a; 6:6-8 —Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God.
Matthew 9.13 —God wants mercy, not sacrifice

Resources for Micah here.

Preaching Thoughts

Narrative Lectionary

Matthew
“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” There are two religions in the world, two ways of living life. One, rooted in the ego, which is the heart of our individuality, I call The Religion of Being Right: you figure out the rules—whether it’s the laws of God or science or the market or society—and you do what you need to to get what you want. Succeed, and you’re rewarded; fail, and you’re punished. The thing is you have to get it right. The other, rooted in the soul, which is our connection with God, is The Religion of Being In Love. Life is such a gift, and God is so good, that you’re in love with God, and everything you do flows out of that love. God’s “laws” aren’t requirements, but simply what love looks like. God doesn’t punish or reward, but only loves. If you sin, it’s because you don’t have enough love in you, so God loves you, until it overflows and you become loving. In The Religion of Being Right God is a lawgiver; our relationship is obedience. In The Religion of Being in Love God is a life-giver; our relationship is to receive, and to pass it on. In The Religion of Being Right our salvation depends on how good we are; in the Religion of Being in Love it depends on how good God is.
       Both religions are everywhere, including in scripture, where God is both a law-giver (obey and be saved; disobey and be punished) and a life-giver (“God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex. 34.6-7, and many other places). But the two are incompatible. Either you will follow all the rules and eventually hurt someone, or you will love everybody and eventually break a rule. We are always choosing one or the other. Sometimes we choose the good out of love, sometimes out of necessity or duty. Jesus clearly favors The Religion of Being in Love, and quotes Hosea 6.6 twice in Matthew to make the choice clear: God doesn’t care if we get our religion right; God just wants us to love each other.
       This is Jesus’ entire message: he teaches no theology, no doctrine, but a way of living in love. We have encumbered his teachings with tons of doctrine, philosophy, theology and tradition—but his gospel is simple: trust God and be kind. Trust God to be kind—universally, unconditionally kind— and pass that kindness on to everyone else. Or, as Micah puts it: do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. That’s it.
        What would it be like if all our religion, all our doctrines, all our practices and traditions, were this simple and direct? We’re here to do justice, practice kindness, and humbly stay close to God. What would it be like if our church were this clear? I think we would shine.

Response
Let this be our faith, O God,:
to trust your love, and to receive it;
to live with kindness and with mercy;
to seek justice and to give ourselves
to the building of right relationships;
and to humbly stay near you
as you walk among us.
Let this be our faith:
to trust your love, and to receive it,
and to be kind.

Common Lectionary

Judges
       This is a glimpse into the period of the Judges before Israel was really a “nation” yet. But a pretty tiny glimpse. And it’s a paltry attempt to include a little (token?) spotlight on a woman in the history of Israel. It’s not very illuminating. I’d rather offer folks a fuller picture of woman’s leadership than this little snippet of Deborah’s military advice. Why not Tamar, or Rahab? Yes, those stories are “adult content,” but they show women as resourceful, wise, courageous and definitely part of God’s care for Israel.

1 Thessalonians
       As we ramp up toward the big climax of the liturgical year on Reign of Christ Sunday, we hear again about the Second Coming. Whether or not we anticipate an actual incident in our future we can label as the “Second Coming,” it’s clear that in this world torn by greed, violence, hate and oppression, we are clearly in need of divine intervention. As alarming as the images of “sudden destruction” are, that’s not the heart of Paul’s message. (After all, maybe the Second Coming is really gradual!) The message is twofold: the promise that the God of love and grace is not done with us yet, and the importance of “belonging to the day” instead of the night. When we focus on the image destruction our image of God’s judgment becomes destructive. But Paul is clear: “God has destined us for salvation.” The point is to live with God’s light, now, in this long night of evil and injustice. The point is not to separate ourselves into the saved and unsaved, but to “encourage one another and build up each other.”

Matthew
       It’s hard for us in our capitalist society to grasp the truth that nothing is ours, and hard to let go of the idol of personal possessions. The framers of the Declaration of Independence, perhaps influenced by John Locke, considered naming our inalienable rights as “life, liberty and property.” (Other contemporary declarations do.) Jesus knew better. This story suggests that everything that we think of as “ours”—our whole life— is actually God’s, given to us to steward. No matter how hard you think you worked for it, it’s not yours. (Besides, there’s always someone who’s worked harder than you, and they don’t have what you do.) Think of your whole life—your health, your skills and abilities, your possessions, your time, your income, your loves and cares and prayers, all of it—and imagine it’s a plate of fine food the chef has given you, as a waiter, to serve to some customers. It’s not yours, and not for you! It’s for you to share, to act as a steward. How would God spend your life? How might God want you to give away your time, your skills, your resources? A talent is a measure of weight (it works out to about 15 years’ wages), so even one talent, not even two or five, is what we might call “a ton of money.” So the one-talent worker doesn’t have much to complain about. “I was only given a measly million dollars to invest. Poor me.” How much do we have—what spiritual gifts—that we dismiss because others have more skill, fame, talent, charm or luck than we do? It’s all good. How do you focus on what you do have, not what you don’t, and share those gifts?

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: Loving God, you create us in your image and claim us as your children.
All: We give you our lives in thanksgiving and praise!
You give us gifts, each different, and bless us with your grace.
We give you our lives in thanksgiving and praise!
Fill us with your Spirit, that we may serve you with love and joy.
We give you our lives in thanksgiving and praise! Alleluia!

2.
Leader: Joy of heaven, you shower us with gifts!
All: Fountain of life, you bless us.
Spirit of abundance, you flower in us.
God of grace, we thank you. We worship you.
We give our lives to you in gratitude and praise. Alleluia!

3.
Leader: What light God has given us,
that we might shine in the world’s darkness!
All: What love Christ has give us,
that we might love with his love!
What gifts the Spirit has given us,
that we might be for the world the good news of God’s grace.
Alleluia! Come, Love, and inspire us
to be your gifts for the world. Amen.

4.
Leader: Creator God, eternal Love, we praise you!
All: You bless us with good things.
You surround us with Creation, and bless us with human community.
You give us your presence in Jesus.
You forgive our faults and encourage us in our weakness.
You give us spiritual gifts, and your grace shines in us.
Why then would we not trust you?
Why would we not be generous, as you are generous?
Alleluia! Fill us with your spirit of giving.
Come, Spirit of Life, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

5.
Leader: Abundant God, you have given us every good thing, and so we thank you.
All: Enrich in us our spirit of generosity.
You provide for us, so that we may share abundantly in every good work.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
God of love, you love this world, and you choose to accomplish that love through us. You have given us gifts with which to bless this world, to heal the hurting, to feed, the needy to encourage the downtrodden. Stir up those gifts in us, and give us love and courage to share them, by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit and the presence of your loving Jesus. Amen.

2.
God of abundant blessings, you give us the gift of Creation; you give us the gift of life; you give us the gifts of all that we possess. Everything is a gift from you. We turn to you now to receive the gift of your Word, so that we might be transformed by your grace and filled with your spirit of abundance. We listen for your Word, and we open our hearts to your presence. Amen.

3.
Gracious God, unending source of blessing, unceasing well of grace, we thank you for the abundance of your good gifts. You have laid the treasures of your goodness in our hands. Stir up your grace in us so that we may bear your love and trust gladly into the world, by the power of your Spirit working in us. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Generous God,
you have invested your prayers in us
for the sake of your gospel.
Let your prayers multiply in us
for the sake of the healing of the world.

Prayer of Confession

Pastor: The grace of God is with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, we confess our sin to God with one another.
God have mercy.
We recall those times when we have invested what you have given to us
in love of others, and we give thanks for your grace.… Silent prayer …
We recall those times when we have kept your riches to ourselves,
and we give thanks for your grace. … Silent prayer …
God, we have seen your love in Jesus Christ.
We give thanks for your mercy.
People of God, by the grace we have seen in Christ we are assured
that our sin is forgiven entirely.
We are forgiven, and set free to live by the power of the Holy Spirit,
to the glory of God. Amen.

Poetry

             One talent

Sunrise and its gold,
a single kiss,

the sea that never tires
throwing its beauty at you,

trees scattering jewels,
stars saying their prayers

by candlelight
in their little houses—

such loveliness,
such precious coins.

You can’t say what they’re worth,
there is no measuring them

any more than the one you are,
little star among millions,

generous, infinite Talent
unburied,

mere single radiant
sun.

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.) In gratitude we give you our lives, symbolized in our gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. You have given us each gifts with which to live your gospel and share your grace. Send us, each with our own way of blessing, and together as the Body of Christ, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ and the power of your Spirit. Amen.

2.
…. Having received abundantly, we offer ourselves abundantly. Send us into the world, transformed by your spirit of generosity, to invest ourselves in the mending of all Creation, in the name of Christ. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

All of the Gifts I Have (Tune: Fairest Lord Jesus)

All of the gifts I have, all that is within me,
you give to me, O God, with care;
all of my prayers and skills, passions and energies
you grant to me to freely share.

Here are my hopes and dreams, attitudes and deepest loves,
all of the treasure to which I cling.
I will not hold them in, stilling my ardent song,
but serving you I’ll freely sing.

In all I keep or give, may I do my very best
in everything I say and do,
in harmony with you, only to love and bless,
with joy, to serve and honor you.


All That We Hold in Our Hands (Original song)

What do we hold in our hearts?
The hopes of a hungering people,
longing for you, and for bread,
and to truly be free.
What can we do, who are small?
The power is not ours at all:
God, you have hidden such grace
here in our hands.

What do we hold in our hands?
Nothing we have is unworthy.
An everyday gift you can use
in miraculous ways.
All that we hold in our hands
you’ll use if we give it to you.
Use what we hold in our hands
for what you will do.

What do we hold in our hands?
In it you’ve hidden the wondrous,
fishes and loaves you can use
to feed thousands with love.
All that we hold in our hands
we give in the name of your Son:
more than we ask or imagine,
may your will be done.

What do we hold in our hands?
Grace is abundant, not lacking.
Look now and see what we have
and find power and life.
All that we hold in our hands,
all that we have or can do,
all that we are by your grace
we give now to you.

All that we hold in our hands,
all that we have or can do,
all that we are by your grace
we give now to you.


Giving Heart (Tune: The Water is Wide- Gift of Love)

O God of grace, you set us free
and feed us all abundantly,
so help me trust the gifts you give,
with giving heart and hands to live.

Come, Spirit, come, and set me free
from all I cling to fearfully.
Come heal my heart, my fears relieve,
so I may give as I receive.

Your Bread of Life transforms us, Lord,
so we become your living Word.
Our lives no more are ours to hold,
but yours to share with all the world.


The Giving Song (Tune: DOVE OF PEACE — I Come with Joy)

God, send me out into the world to share all I possess.
My generosity shall be the faith that I confess,
the faith that I confess

For you have given me such gifts, grace infinite and deep,
that I can only share them all. There’s nothing I will keep,
there’s nothing I will keep..

And let my giving change me, Lord, to make me more like you:
to let your blessing flow through me, creating me anew,
creating me anew.

My life will not be known by what I have, but how I share,
courageously, with trust in you, with love and joy and care,
with love and joy and care.


God, We Give You All Our Gifts
(Tune: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, or Come Thou Long Expected Jesus)

God, we give you all our gifts, for they have come by grace from you.
Take them, bless them, use them for the work that you intend to do.
We are grateful for your blessings, grace you give a million ways.
May our gratitude resound through all our lives with joyous praise.

All that you entrust to us is meant for all the world to share;
we are stewards of your grace to scatter wide your loving care.
All our gifts are yours, not ours, and meant for us to humbly bear
to the world, in trust that in our grateful giving you are there.

Take our treasure, all our earnings, all our silver and our gold;
take in grace the things we cling to, those possessions that we hold.
In our giving may we find release from fear and trust in thee,
love for all, not just ourselves, for all the whole community.

Take our prayers, our loving presence; let compassion be our creed;
help us be there for each other and for those in greater need.
Take our many, varied, gifts, our works and service, God, employ;
let our lives bear witness to your grace, with thanks and boundless joy.


The Harvest of Your Grace (Original Song)
[2 Corinthians 9.6-15]

God scatters abroad, and gives to the poor, and fills the hungry with good things.
    Alleluia! O God, we rejoice in the harvest of your grace.
How blessed the poor, and all those that mourn. “You do to me as to them.”
     Alleluia! We offer our gifts for the harvest of your grace.
Now come to the Feast. Our cups overflow. With grateful hearts we remember.
    Alleluia! We come now to work in the harvest of your grace.
God’s grace will abound, in seed and in bread. In joy then sow as you reap.
   Alleluia! God, gather from us the harvest of your grace.
You will receive, so that you can give, and yield a harvest of good hearts.
   Alleluia! God send us to share in the harvest of your grace.

I Belong to You (Tune: Water is Wide / Gift of Love)

Beloved, I belong to you.
You give me birth; you make me new,
your image formed, by Spirit stirred.
You are the Song; I am your Word.

Whatever pains I may endure,
I still belong. Your love is sure.
Since I am yours, your will I do.
I trust and give myself to you.

I am your coin to richly spend,
so spend me, God, as you intend.
You bless my end; you hold my worth;
send me to love throughout the earth.

Beloved, I belong to you.
Do with me what your love will do.
Bear me, and I, through ease or strife
will find in you eternal life.

November 22, 2026

Common Lectionary Texts

Ezekiel 34.11-24 — God will shepherd us, rescue the lost, and save them from the fat, oppressive sheep.

Psalm 100 — We are God’s people, and the sheep of God’s pasture.

Ephesians 1.15-23 — “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened” that you may know the greatness of God’s power, which raised Christ from the dead to be head of the church and all things. (See my paraphrase of the book of Ephesians.)

Matthew 25.31-46 — The final judgment of sheep and goats. “What you have done to the least of these…”

Narrative Lectionary (NL111)

Isaiah 36:1-3, 13-20; 37:1-7; 2:1-4 —The Assyrian king mocks Israel’s God, but Isaiah says Jerusalem will be saved. Swords into plowshares.

Matthew 5.14 —You are light for the world, a city on a hill.

Preaching Thoughts

               Narrative Lectionary

Isaiah. Tracking prophets’ predictions can be tricky. The essence of prophecy isn’t telling the future, but speaking to the present moment (though future consequences are often involved!). The significant thing about Isaiah’s prophecy is not the prediction that Sennacherib’s assault of Jerusalem will be called off—disaster will come upon Judah soon enough—but that we can trust God. The prophets often have strategic suggestions for kings in tight spots, but most often the prophets are not directing a battle but calling us to rise above the battle. Beyond Isaiah’s understanding of what’s going to happen next on the battlefield is his more overarching vision of God’s will for Israel: that all nations beat their swords into plowshares. Business leaders talk about “the 30,00 foot view,” or “getting up on the catwalk,” or similar metaphors of detaching from the struggles of the moment and looking at the big picture. Jesus and Isaiah both invite us to rise above the days’ squabbles, no matter how profound they are, and see the big picture: we are light for the world, harbingers and bearers of God’s Totally Different World, the Realm of God, the place of peace Isaiah envisions. Being light for the world doesn’t dictate exactly what we ought to do next, but it does shape what action we choose and how we go about it. Regardless of the future you expect, Isaiah says, beat your swords into plowshares. Regardless of the complexities of your struggles, Jesus says, whatever they are, and whatever you do, remember that you are light, and be faithful to that. (Note: it’s not that we ought to be light, but that we are light.)
         This is Reign of Christ Sunday. We acknowledge that we do not live under the control of those little local gods of fear and possessiveness, the little kings of neighborhood or nation, culture or race. We do not bow to to algorithms or prejudices. We live under the sovereignty of Christ, ruler of the Universe. We live under the protection of Christ, the Word made flesh. We live under the Law of Love. We are not consumers,we are not This-ians or That-ites: we are light. Our citizenship is in the Reign of Grace

Response
Leader: The world about is is clamoring.
All: But we are a people of peace.
We hear the snarling of war; the claws of wrath glint in the sun.
But we beat our swords into plowshares.
We will sow life, and not death.
Darkness moves among us,
the shadow of fear, clouds of despair.
But we are light. Of light we’re made.
We will shine in the darkest places.
God, your grace changes the world,
as light changes darkness.
Shine in us, O Radiant One.
Be our peace, and our hope, and our light.

                  Common Lectionary

Ezekiel
       The promise of God’s grace doesn’t come in a vacuum, but in the context of a world of hurt, evil and injustice. So the tending of God’s vulnerable ones includes saving them from the ravages of the selfish ones. Viewed socially, it’s a political outlook. How do we support the weak and vulnerable, and hold the rich and powerful to account? The “Reign of Christ” isn’t just a religious idea; it’s a vision for the real world, the way God intends for us to live together. How do we shape our laws, policies, economy and social structures to reflect God’s care for the weak, the marginalized, the dehumanized, the silenced and the exploited? To fail to do this is to give license to the “fat sheep” and their various systems of privilege and exclusion, and the resulting oppression and exploitation.

Ephesians (Click here for my paraphrase of the book of Ephesians.)
       If you’re ever feeling blue, read Ephesians. It’s just one blessing after another. (One hint that it’s not Paul writing but a follower, is that it never lapses into legal arguments. Just blessings.) As is often the case, pretty much every phrase in this passage is the seed of a good sermon. Among the gems:
   • “May the eyes of your heart be enlightened.” May you see through the lens of God’s love.
   • “The hope to which God has called you.” Trust that God’s will for you is good.
   • The power God exercises toward us is the power that raised Christ from the dead. The spirit of resurrection. Strong stuff.
   • Christ is above all human hierarchies and power structures. Love is more powerful than governments.
   • Christ is the head and the Church is the body, which embodies the fullness of God’s love.

Matthew
       The kingdom of God is not the afterlife. Jesus was intently interested in this life. The Kingdom of God is the world as God intends it, and the image of Jesus as “king” or sovereign means Love reigns over this world, and is the greatest power, even as greed and fear exert their will. When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God it was s a real-world alternative to the Kingdom of Herod, the Lordship of Caesar, the Empire of Rome. “Jesus is Lord” is a political statement. Reign of Christ Sunday celebrates that Christ is as Ephesians says “far above all rule and authority.” Jesus is Sovereign over a real, actual, worldly Empire of Grace, a real-world alternative—subversive, treasonous, even—to consumerism, Christian nationalism, capitalism, white supremacy, and all our hierarchies and power structures.
       The parable of the great judgment lets us glimpse something of what that Empire is about: compassion is the law of the land. In the Realm of God everybody gets what they need to thrive as members of the Body. That means special attention to the folks who are most harmed by our systems of privilege and exclusion. So God takes the side of the poor and powerless and marginalized, and commands us to do the same. Honoring Jesus as our king means committing to obeying his command to care for the poor and hurting.
       The reign of Christ means that Jesus is sovereign not only over the powers of the universe, but also over us and our own inner worlds. To claim Jesus as ruler of our lives is to make him the center of our rule of life, our intentional discipline, our way of living. A piece of paper is aligned with the use of a ruler. If Jesus rules our lives, our lives are arranged and measured with Jesus as our template, the ruler that provides straight lines of justice and righteousness. For Jesus to reign over our lives means we are willing to suffer for the sake of love and justice, to be faithful to God and in harmony with God and God’s grace, no matter what. So it’s not just Christ’s demand over us but Christ’s rule within us us that leads us to care for the poor.
       For those who believe in a literal hell, this story in Matthew is one of two stories Jesus tells specifically imagining such a thing—the other is the rich man and Lazarus. In both cases, the way you end up hell is not based on your religion, your creed, your faith, or even your prayer life, but ignoring the poor. Our true Sovereign is not found among the trappings of power, but among the poor. God does not just care about the poor; God is among the poor. To obey the sovereign of the Empire of Grace, we share the ruler’s passion and compassion for the poor.

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: Eternal God, you are the light of the minds that know you.
All:You are the joy of the hearts that love you,
the strength of the wills that serve you
Grant us so to know you that we may truly love you,
And so to love you that we may gladly serve you,
now and always. Alleluia! Amen!

2.
Leader: Creator God, you reign over all the universe with love and justice.
All: Glory! We thank you with love.
Christ, you reign over all human history with mercy and grace.
Glory! We thank you with love.
Holy Spirit, you reign in our hearts with beauty and power.
Glory! We thank you with love. Alleluia!

3.
Leader: From the Spirit who was, the Rock who is,
and the Strong One yet to come, grace and peace to you!
All: To the Love that reigns over us, the love that walks beside us
and the love that guides us from within, be praise and thanksgiving!
We come before God with humble joy, that we may learn to obey
the Sovereign of Love, the Ruler of mercy.
Alleluia! Let us worship God.

4. [from Ephesians 1.15-23]
Leader: God, glorious Mother and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we praise you.
All: You raised Christ from the dead
and seated him at your right hand, at the heart of all things.
Christ is far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,
above any title that can be given,
not only in the world we see, but in the unseen as well.
You have made him sovereign over everything,
and made him the head of the church, which is his body.
God, we pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know you better.
Alleluia! May the eyes of our hearts be opened.
Come, Spirit of Life, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

5.
Leader: Creator God, we praise you!
All: Risen Christ, we greet you!
Christ, Divine presence, Living Word,
God has put you at God’s right hand,
and you rule in power above all things.
Rule over our hearts, and work your infinite power within us.
Raise us to life, and direct us by your Spirit.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Jesus Christ, you have taught us that what we do to each other, we do to you. Make us quick to help and slow to hurt, knowing that in our neighbor it is you who receive our love or our neglect. Shape us by your love, and fit us for your Realm of grace. Amen.

2.
O God of Love, you have put all things under the rule of Christ, the Lord of Love. Bring us under your sway, that we may be faithful citizens of your Empire of Grace, and obedient to the spirit of love you birth within us. Speak your Word to us, and make us yours, in the name of Christ, our friend and our Sovereign. Amen.

3.
Eternal God, you have set Christ to rule over all the earth. He reigns with mercy and grace. Under his glorious and gentle rule, help us as we read your scriptures and proclaim your good news, to listen with humble hearts and to devote our lives to your service. We pray in the name of Christ, our sovereign. Amen.

4.
Gentle and mighty God, we thank you, that you reign over the world with grace and compassion. You revealed your Realm in Jesus, who embodied your mercy and justice. He healed the sick, raised up the downtrodden, destroyed the powers of oppression, and proclaimed your Jubilee. In his death and resurrection you have brought us out of the realm of darkness and into the realm of your eternal light and life. Holy God, pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on all your church, that we may serve you faithfully in all that we do, in the name and the love of Christ. Amen.

5.
Gracious God, in this season of harvest and thanksgiving, we offer to you our gratitude and praise. For all that you have given us, we thank you. And we give you our hearts. Speak to us now, that we may hear your Word, and become your living Word by the Spirit of Christ living in us. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

1.
Holy Love,
you create, you rule, you give life.
Take charge of our hearts.
Bless us that we may be obedient
citizens of your Realm of Grace.

2.
God of love, Ruler of the Universe,
Gentle Christ, Sovereign of our hearts,
your love is supreme,
and we bow to your life-giving power.
May your love, and love alone,
rule our lives.

Prayer of Confession

1.
Pastor: The grace of God be with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you.
Though you have been our sovereign, we have not obeyed you.
We have not let you rule our hearts.
We have not let you direct our thoughts or command our actions.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
You who have power over us, forgive us.
Remake us according to your grace.
Guide us in every step we take.
May your presence be the power in our lives;
may your love control our hearts and minds.
Help us to follow your Way, in the name of Christ,
and by the power of your Spirit in us. Amen.
[Silent prayer… the word of grace ]

2.
… God of love, we bow to the power of your love.
Gentle Christ, we submit to your mercy.
May your compassion cast out our fear.
May your forgiveness overrule our guilt.
May your generosity banish our selfishness.
May your grace supplant our sin.
O Love, rule on our hearts.
Make us obedient to your love.

Readings

Ephesians 1.15-23 — a paraphrase

I pray that the God of our Sovereign Jesus Christ,
the Father and Mother of glory,
who in Jesus has embodied among us
the love that creates and orders our lives
and makes them good and beautiful,
may awaken in you deep awareness
of God’s presence and love.
With the eyes of your heart enlightened
may you have the hope God has for you;
may you live in wonder and trust
of the gifts we all receive as God’s Beloved;
may you come more deeply to trust
the immeasurable power of God’s love.
It is love that raised Christ from the dead.
Christ’s love is the power that orders the universe,
that rules over all human dominion
and all realms before and after humans,
in the visible world and the unseen.
All things are subject to the sovereignty of Love.
And we, the church, are the Body of that love,
love that fills everything, and contains everything.
Everything.
Alleluia.

[See all of Ephesians paraphrased, here.]

Poetry

                The least of these
      
         Whatever you did to the least of these
                  you did to me.
                           —Matthew 25.40


This is not a simile.
         The poor are not an allegory.
                  God is the poor.

God is not observing them, but in them,
         the lonely and the rejected.
                  God takes the lowest place.

God is the powerless one,
         the misunderstood one,
                  the crucified one.

Under the bridge,
         in the nursing home,
                  in solitary,

this is the throne of the Sovereign,
         the Ruler of the universe:
                  the cross.

Until you see the glory of the divine
         in the street gang, the wheelchair,
                  the power of the heavens in the lifer,

you do not believe.
         Don’t go elsewhere to worship in ease.
                  Bow down, and serve, and know.



         The great judgment

“Lord, when did we see you
shot dead in the street and not cry out?
When did we see you walking in the desert
and not leave water for you?
When did we see you deported
or carted off to prison and not protest?
When did we see you homeless, and not reach out?
When did we see you struggling in the ICU,
or the nursing home, or on the locked ward,
and did not come to you?”

And he will answer…


         

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
       We believe in God, Creator of all, who is beyond all and in all, whose love and power is unsearchable and yet mysteriously present.
       We place our trust in Jesus, and not in any earthly authority; for Jesus fully embodies the loving presence of God: he taught and healed, and performed prophetic acts of mercy and justice. In his life, death and resurrection he released God’s infinite power for life and healing: grace that is eternal, free from all human authority, power or expectation.
       We live our lives by the grace of the Holy Spirit, God’s loving presence within and among us, which makes us the church, the Body of Christ. We live by the grace of forgiveness, the mystery of resurrection and the gift of eternal life. We rejoice that we are under no human authority, but under the grace of God; we are beholden to no earthly powers, but to the power of love. Therefore we devote ourselves to lives of worship through fearlessly giving the gifts God has given us, and loving and serving others in the spirit of Christ, for the sake of the blessing of the world, to the glory of God. Amen.

2. [Ephesians 1.15-23]
       We believe in God, the glorious Mother and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
       We rejoice that God has put immeasurably great power to work in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at God’s right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every title that can be named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. God has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of Christ who fills everything in every way.
       We pray that God may grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, and that we may come to know God more deeply. We pray that the eyes of our hearts may be opened, that we may know the hope to which God has called us, and that we may know the riches of God’s glorious inheritance among the saints, and the immeasurable greatness of God’s power for us who believe. As we give thanks for one another and remember each other in our prayers, may God deepen our faith, and our love for all the saints. Amen.

3. [Corinthians 15.1, 3-4, Ephesians 1.20-23]
       Leader: Sisters and brothers, remember the good news
that has been proclaimed to you, in which you stand.
       All: We gladly proclaim what we have received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,
that he was buried, and that God raised him from the dead;
and God seated him at God’s right hand in the heavenly places,
above all rule and authority and power and dominion,
and has put all things under his feet.
In Christ all things hold together.
God has made him the head over all things for the church,
which is his body, by which he fills everything with his presence.
We, the Body of Christ, are given the ministry of grace,
that by the power of the Holy Spirit
we may bear witness to the Reign of Christ over all things,
now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) In gratitude we give you our lives, symbolized in our gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. By your Spirit in us form us as citizens of your Realm, obedient to your law of grace, eager to work for justice in this world, in the name of Christ. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

Bread and Justice (Tune: Amazing Grace)
[This can be found in Table Songs, a collection of communion songs.]

Dear Jesus, when we break our bread
with those who are in need,
we then by grace commune with God,
and it is you we feed.

When we sit down and eat with those
who hunger and who thirst,
we know that we are also poor,
and you have fed us first.

So call us to your table, Lord,
your grateful children, call:
where we receive your grace, unearned,
and turn to share with all.

Christ, Ruler of All Things (Tune: ST. ELIZABETH – Fairest Lord Jesus)

Christ, Ruler of all things, what is seen and unseen,
your love reigns; your grace is sure.
Beneath our fear and strife, death fails to conquer life:
your tender mercy still endures.

Christ, Ruler of our hearts, come and reign within us.
Make us comrades, siblings, friends.
Your love be our life, our only power,
that gives us life that never ends.

Christ, Ruler of the earth, bring your gentle justice:
your Realm come, your will be done.
Heal all oppression; fill us with mercy,
as faithful as the rising sun.

Christ, Ruler of all things, of what is and is to come,
Risen One, our song we raise.
Rule in our living; guide us with tender love.
Your grace in us will be your praise.

Love Is Enthroned     (Tune: Finlandia)

O, risen Christ, who once appeared among us,
you have ascended! Loud we sing your praise.
Though we may see no shadow of your nearness,
you have not gone; your loving presence stays.
You are no longer in one time or place,
but in all things, to radiate your grace.

Christ has ascended, reigning now above.
Love is enthroned at the Creator’s side.
All powers on earth are subject to Christ’s love,
who is our history’s unseen, gentle guide.
Though evil try to make this world its home,
Love is its Lord, and love shall overcome.

Go in the peace of Christ who is our Lord,
and gently heal, amid the fear and strife.
For we who eat and drink the living Word
are now Christ’s Body, and Christ’s earthly life.
We may not see the journey or the end,
but Christ still reigns, our ruler and our friend.

O Jesus, Wounded Sovereign     (Tune: O Sacred Head Now Wounded)

Dear Jesus, you who suffer and walk among the poor
whose hearts and lives are broken, whose faith is still unsure:
despised, accused and battered, you do not say a word.
So powerless, yet loving!— you are my Sovereign Lord.

You bear no arms but loving, no threats nor flags unfurled.
You wear no kingly robes, but the sorrows of the world.
Yet your forgiveness conquers each worldly rule and reign,
and rises, whole, undaunted, from evil, death and pain.

While emperors abuse you, and people shrug or stare,
and dark injustice troubles the ones for whom you care,
your mighty grace arises, and hidden from our sight,
enfolds all living beings in your triumphant light.

O Jesus, wounded Sovereign, I pray, give me the nerve
without this world’s armor to love and bless and serve.
My master and companion, rule all eternity
with grace and deep compassion, and, Love, begin with me.


O Sovereign Love
(Tune: O God, Our Help In Ages Past, or Amazing Grace)

Beloved, you who guard and guide and give for every need,
reign in my heart, O Sovereign Christ; direct each thought and deed.

O Sovereign Love, my root, my sun, my purpose and my peace,
I spurn the world’s vain, anxious rule, and trust your Law of Grace.

The Empire of your justice, God, with mercy’s clear command
shall be my home; my loyalty is to no lesser land.

In humble and obedient thanks I pledge my life to you,
to join your work of justice, God, to make the world anew.

Reign in my heart, O Christ, my Rule. In faith I am compelled
to serve you, who by love alone have conquered all the world.

June 14, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Genesis 18. 1-15. Three visitors to Abraham and Sarah tell them that they will have a son—news so preposterous that Sarah laughs.

Psalm 116. A song of thanks to God: “When I was brought low God saved me.”

Romans 5. 1-8. Since we are justified, we have peace with God. Suffering leads to hope because God’s love has been poured into us. While we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly.

Matthew 9.35 – 10.8 Jesus goes about healing. The harvest is plentiful; the laborers are few. The sending of the twelve.

Preaching Thoughts

Genesis
      Like a TV series that ends each episode with a cliff-hanger leading you on to the next episode, Genesis gives us a cliff-hanger in each generation: will God fulfill the covenant to give Abraham descendants? Here’s the first. Abraham and Sarah are old, and—dun dun dun—still no children. The visitors announce otherwise. What angels announce hope in your world? Who are the visitors we might host and “entertain angels unawares?” What signs do you see that God continues to uphold a covenant of mercy despite how messed up the world is? Sarah laughing reminds me of the family of the dead girl who laugh at Jesus before he raises her. What good news might we tend to laugh at that maybe we should take seriously?

Romans
     Watch out for the old Puritan notion that suffering is good. Suffering is not inherently good—but like everything it is a locus of grace. Paul invites us to look beyond our immediate pain to the greater story we’re part of, and trust it even when we’re in the middle of a hard chapter. Remember, hope isn’t wishing, not belief that “everything will be OK, “ but trust in the Goodness of God, “the love that’s been poured into our hearts,” regardless of how things turn out for us. It’s the big picture of God’s love that is our hope, and that doesn’t disappoint us. Jesus makes that love for us accessible to us, in that he dies for us even though we might think of ourselves as “unworthy.” When we let this grace sink in it allows us to restore our trust in God. This trust sustains us even through suffering.
      “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” God’s hope is not that we will become Christian, but that we will know we are loved. That’s what it means to be “justified.” To save us from the tyranny of our anxious, selfish ego, Jesus dies for us, destroying the notion of being”worthy” or “unworthy, and from being afraid of “the wrath of God.” We’re not saved from God, but from our own fear of unworthiness.

Matthew
       The lectionary continues the theme of our calling into ministry. Jesus’ healing tour looks very different from a “crusade” trying to get people to become Christian. We are sent (the word “apostle” means “sent”) to be the good news of the Reign of God, to cure the sick (heal what is broken), raise the dead (embody resurrection, empower the powerless and bring hope where there is despair), cleanse lepers (embrace outcasts) and cast out demons (confront injustice). It’s for the sake of the healing of the world, not the stuffing of the church. The “harvest” we’re sent out to labor in is not dragging people into the church, but participating in God’s harvest of the gifts God has planted in each person, gifts made fruitful by the Spirit, with our encouragement. Who are the “lost sheep” we’re sent to?
     By the way, don’t think we’re any less lost than those sheep. Jesus inclines us toward humility and dependence. “You received without pay, give without pay.” In verses 9-15, omitted from the lectionary reading, Jesus gives us an image of humble dependency. Take no gold, stay with the people, give them your blessing, accept it when they don’t return the blessing. He also goes on to warn us of the resistance we’ll meet. Working for the mending of the world, working for justice, is no privileged position, but a vulnerable one. But be of good courage; the Spirit will sustain you.

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: God, you are in this world with love and grace.
All: You heal us when we are broken and cleanse us of our shame.
You cast out the demons of injustice and embrace the outcast.
You raise the dead, giving power to the powerless and hope to the despairing.
You have called disciples, and sent them into the world in love.
You call us now to come close, and we come. Alleluia!

2.
Leader: Eternal God, Spirit of Love, we worship you.
All: Creating God, Renewing God, we worship you.
Transforming God, Bewildering God, we worship you.
Disorienting, Re-orienting God, we worship you.
Come, upset our ways and reshape us according to your Spirit. Amen.

3.
Leader: God of love, we seek healing: wholeness for our bodies.
All: Come to us, enfold us in your grace, and send us forth, renewed.
We seek hope: fruitfulness for our lives.
Come to us, enfold us in your grace, and send us forth, renewed.
We seek courage: power to carry your grace into the world.
Come to us, enfold us in your grace, and send us forth, renewed. Amen.

4.
Leader: Holy One, you claim us as your own and call us to serve you.
All: Beloved, receive us with love.
Living Christ, you send us out to share your grace.
Beloved, transform us with love.
Holy Spirit, you empower us with gifts for healing.
Beloved, send us with love.
The world awaits. May it be for us according to your word. Amen.

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1. (Genesis)
God of grace and mystery, you hold us faithfully your Covenant. Your love upholds us, your grace moves ahead of us, your mercy comes to us in surprising ways. Open our hearts to welcome the message of your promise, and to trust your blessing. We pray in the name and the Spirit of Jesus. Amen.

2.
(Romans)
Loving God, our deep distrust separates us from you, but you reach out to us in our fear with love and grace. You forgive us; you heal us; you bless us. We open our hearts to your Spirit, that the good news of your love might sink in and change us. Creator God, make us new. Loving Christ, come and speak to us. Holy Spirit, give us new life. Amen.

3. (Matthew)
God of love, you who called disciples and sent them: gather us now, equip us for your service, and send us in your name for the sake of the healing of the world, in the loving presence and the healing spirit of Christ. Amen.

4. (Matthew)
Eternal God, Jesus gathered his disciples, blessed them with his teachings, and sent them out to join in his work of the blessing of the world. Gather us now and transform us by your Word, so that we will be ready to go out into the world to serve you, in the grace of the Hoy Spirit and in the name of Christ. Amen

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

As the strange visitors
who bring promise to Sarai and Abram,
you come to us.
We welcome you.
Sit with us,
bring us news from God.

Readings

Psalm 86 – a paraphrase [1-7, 8-13, 14-17]

Sung Response:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.

Listen to me, God, and speak to me,
         not according to my worthiness but according to your love.
I trust you to give me life.
         It is you my heart longs for all day long.
Give me joy, as I enter into your joy.
         I give you my soul.
For you are good and forgiving,
         abounding in steadfast love.
Hear the secrets of my heart, God,
         the unspoken longings of my soul.
When I am troubled, I turn to you,
         and you are there.                   …Response

O God, you are great, and do wondrous things.
You alone are God.
Teach me your way, O God,
that I may walk in your truth.
Give me an undivided heart,
to be mindful of your presence.
I give thanks to you, God, with my whole heart.
I will live as your glory all my life.
For great is your steady love toward me:
you have saved my soul from its dreary death.     …Response

O God, arrogance rises up in me;
 self-centeredness threatens to take over my life.
But you are merciful and gracious,
         slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give me strength to faithfully serve you.
Show me a sign of your favor,
         to put my doubts to rest—
         for always you have helped me and comforted me.     …Response

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
         [based on Romans 5.1-8]
Leader: As children of God we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
All: Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God
through the Beloved, Jesus Christ,
who shows us God’s great love for us,
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
We give thanks, and we give God our lives,
that we may live in peace with God and with all people,
in the name of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2.
         We love and trust God, Eternal Creator, the Source of all Being and the giver of the laws of life, whose word of love is unchanging, though our understanding is imperfect and incomplete.
         We follow Jesus, God’s Christ, who embodied God’s love, who taught and healed, who enacted God’s law of love in new and radical ways. He gave himself completely in love; he was crucified; yet God raised him from death, transforming the law, and even life and death. He sets us free and leads us in lives of radical self-giving.
         We live by the Holy Spirit, the living breath of God in us, who empowers us to live lives of grace and compassion, trusting in the power of forgiveness, the blessing of community, the reality of resurrection and the coming of God’s Reign of mercy and justice. In all, we give God thanks, and we give God our lives. 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.]

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 faithful love.
You create us in your image, promise to be with us in love,
and deliver us from all that enslaves us.
When we least expect it you send us signs of your mercy,
angels who remind us of your promise.
You come among us with healing and redemption.
Therefore in gratitude, 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,
who healed and taught, who cast out injustice,
who embodied the Realm of your grace among us.
Opposed by the powers of injustice, he was crucified
but you raised him from the dead, still to be with us in mercy.

     (The Blessing and Covenant)
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves 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 Spirit on us, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
sent into the world to heal the broken,
to confront the demons of injustice,
and to show through our lives
the coming of your Realm of grace and love,
for the sake of the mending of the world.

     [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.) Gracious God, we thank you for this mystery in which you have given yourself to us. May this meal call us to mindfulness of your presence, attentiveness to your Word, and readiness to serve you. Send us into the world to bless, to heal, and to proclaim your good news, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

2.
God of love, you gifted Sarah and Abraham with a child to bring into the world. You have given us spiritual gifts to share. As Jesus gave his disciples authority to heal, to proclaim your grace and to confront the demons of injustice, you call us to bear our gifts for the sake of the healing of the world. Send us in the power of your Spirit and the company of Christ., who is with s always Amen.

3.
The gift of God’s promise be within you,
growing and vibrant as a child.
The grace of God’s gifts be within you,
the power to heal and to bless.
The authority of the Word be within you,
the courage to love and to do justice.
The Spirit of God be within you,
the strength to make you serve,
and the joy to make you laugh. Amen

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

Three Strangers       (Tune: DOVE OF PEACE – I Come with Joy)

Three strangers came to Abraham and Sarah in their age,
and told them God had plans for them, a promise to engage,
a promise to engage.

So Sarah laughed and Abraham, he knit his furrowed brow:
“How could this come to us?” he said, “How could this happen now?
How could this happen now?”

So God appears and promises new life for us as well,
and gives us joy so that we laugh. Such happy news to tell!
Such happy news to tell!

God promises new life in us, and love and joy to bear,
and gives us gifts and blessings dear, the grace of God to share,
the grace of God to share.

June 21, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Genesis 21.8-21. Abraham and Sarah, unable to conceive an heir, have used Sarah’s servant Hagar as a concubine to produce a child, a son named Ishmael. But once Sarah has a son of her own she comes to resent Hagar and Ishmael, and has Abraham send them away. But God cares for them.

Psalm 86. We rejoice in God’s steadfast love and pray for an “undivided heart:” for singular mindfulness of God’s presence, undistracted by other things. We seek to walk in God’s ways.
       —or:
Psalm 17. The psalm cries out, as Hagar might have, for God’s compassion.

Romans 6.1-11. We were buried with Christ by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of God, so we also might walk in newness of life. We are dead to sin and alive to God.

Matthew 10.24-39. The disciple is like the teacher. They malign me, and so they will you. Have no fear of them. What you hear in the dark, proclaim in the light. Fear not those who kill the body, but the soul. Not a sparrow falls outside God’s attention. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than sparrows. I have come to bring not peace but a sword. Find you life and lose it; lose your life and find it.

Preaching Thoughts

Genesis        
      Here’s the ugly side of our culture and even of our faith: we exclude, or even
use and discard people for our own benefit, and attribute it to God, or at least to “the way it ought to be.” We perpetuate a triple evil: we use people selfishly and exclude them and cause them suffering; we blame it all on them as if it is all their choice, their wrongdoing; and we attribute it all to God’s will! From a self-serving stance we might claim this story is about God continuing to preserve Abraham’s genetic line—but that’s exactly the sin we should confess: pretending that God wills other people’s suffering for our sake. It’s the shadow side of the notion of “election,” that God has chosen Israel for a specific purpose in human history. “Election” is not “preference.” Israel is not chosen because they’re better or more important than other nations but because God has a specific task for them, which is for the world to be blessed by them (Genesis 12.3). Our error—our temptation—is to believe our mission or survival is more important to the world and to God than other people’s. It taps into the basic human sin of “pride”— thinking it’s all about us. It gives rise to unjust systems of privilege and exclusion. It’s the thinking that justifies slavery and war and rape and unfettered capitalism and all kids of evil.
        Delores Williams points out in her book Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk that Hagar’s experience matches that of black enslaved women in America. She writes, “Hagar’s predicament involved slavery, poverty, ethnicity, sexual and economic exploitation, surrogacy, rape, domestic violence, homelessness, motherhood, single-parenting and radical encounters with God” (p.4). Of course such experiences are familiar to contemporary Black women in America.More broadly, Hagar is everyone who is used and abused, who is discarded, judged, excluded or looked down upon, who is blamed for her troubles: victims of domestic abuse, the working poor, immigrants and refugees…. It takes some moral numbness to avoid seeing the image of Hagar and Ishmael wasting away in refugee camps, o rin the desert trying to cross the US border. Where are the Hagars in your world?
      From Sarah’s perspective the story ends with Hagar and Ishmael disappearing into the desert. But that’s not how the story ends, does it? God accompanies them, hears them, tends to them, and promises the same thing that God promises Abraham: to make a great nation of them. As Delores Williams points out, God does not enact liberation for Hagar, but God does offer survival and quality of life. How might God be calling us to join in God’s promise and help care for the Hagars and Ishmaels of our world, to accompany the desert wanderers, to be the ones who hear and have compassion, who encourage and equip people to become great?
      This story isn’t exactly about domestic violence but it brings it up. It’s a story about a household that is not safe. It’s about one person’s will dominating another’s well-being.
       Click here for Domestic Violence worship resources.

Romans
      “Should we continue to sin?” Believe it or not, I’ve actually been asked, “Since everybody is saved, why be good?” Seriously? Why be bad? The thing is, God’s love changes us. When we know how deeply we are loved we don’t want to sin. God’s grace is so life-giving we want to live in harmony with it. We want to be loving.
        When I really absorb God’s love it changes me. Like when you take a cup of hot water and add tea, it’s no longer water; it’s tea. When God’s love is poured into me, it’s as if my old self-centered self becomes a new love-centered self. The old one dies (buried with Christ by baptism into death), and a new, different one is resurrected instead.
       Baptism is an invitation to that change. Baptism doesn’t magically change us, but it reminds us of God’s promise to give us new life when we give God our old ones. Baptism symbolizes the life-cycle of faith: our little self-enclosed self drowns in God’s love, and God gives us a new self made out of pure love. Resurrection isn’t just the after-life, it’s the now-life, the new-life: when we surrender our lives to God in love, God gives them back to us as a gift. This death-and-resurrection cycle isn’t a one-time thing: we go through it every day, every moment, continually giving our life to God and receiving life anew. Like breathing. (This doesn’t call for re-baptism, but renewal of our baptismal vows. God has already claimed us. We’re the ones who need to renew our faithfulness, breath by breath.)

Matthew
       Jesus warns us that if we imitate him the people who criticize him will also criticize us: “How much more will they malign those of his household!” (But remember, it’s not about us.) The sword Jesus brings certainly isn’t physical violence: he’s talking about controversy and opposition. I think of Hebrews 4.12: “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart..” It’s the sword of discerning truth from falsehood, love from fear. It’s not a weapon of aggression, or even polarization, but the sword of refusing to “go along to get along,” standing for what we stand for even when others oppose us. In fact the sword might even be our radical insistence that we are one despite other people’s desire to polarize!
       If we boldly take the side of truth and love and mercy, others, even those close to us, will oppose us. Never mind them, Jesus says. Stay true. God, who cares for even the birds, will watch over us. Don’t worry about people who threaten you. Worry about what can bring death to your soul. If we are willing to let go of our place in society—if we take up our cross—if we lose that form of “life”—we will be given even deeper life. Having died and risen, as Paul suggests, we are free from fear for our physical or social well being, and have the courage to do justice, love radically, and serve boldly. We’re really alive.

Call to Worship

1. [Matthew]
Leader: In this world of struggle and conflict we turn to God.
All: God of love, we need you.
Friends, not a sparrow suffers without God knowing,
and you, beloved, are worth more than many sparrows.
God of love, we trust you.
Those who cling to their life will lose it,
and those who lose their life for Christ’s sake will find it.
God of love, we give ourselves to you.
Receive us, transform us, and fit us for your service,
in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

2. [Genesis]
Leader: Glory be to you, God of all people,
you who have made us as siblings in one family.
All: Thanks be to you, Christ of compassion:
when we were lonely and cast out, you claimed us as your own.
Praise be to you, Spirit, for when we were in danger you saved us.
Come again, and make us your own.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

3. [Matthew]
Leader: Creator God, we praise you!
All: Risen Christ, we greet you!
Holy Spirit, we are one body by your grace.
Alleluia! Christ, you call us to follow,
through difficult times and choices.
Grant us faith and courage. Alleluia!

4. [Psalm 86]
Leader: Listen, O God, for we are poor and needy.
All: Save us, for we rely on you.
We open our souls to you. Give us joy.
For you are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who turn to you.
Be gracious to us and give us your strength.
For you are merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Alleluia.

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Gracious God, giver of life , lover of all beings, we live within your embrace, and our hearts are filled with wonder at your presence. We set aside this gentle time to listen to you, and to rest in your care. Speak to us, and shape our hearts by the power of your Word. Amen.

2.
Loving God, you have baptized us into Christ’s death and resurrection, so that we may live new lives. Death no longer has dominion over us. Remind us again. As we tell the story of your love, let us die to sin so that we may freely and fully live for your sake, not for our own ease. As we worship, speak your good news to us, so that we may follow Jesus with faith and courage, in the power of your Spirit. Amen.

3.
God of love, may your grace give us faithfulness.
Christ, may your love give us courage.
Holy Spirit, may your presence give us trust.
Loving God, in a world that is afraid of love,
help us to be loving. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Like Hagar under a tree in the wilderness,
in solitude and need,
I sit with the infant of my hopes.
Hear the voice of my heart
and speak to me.
Lead me to the well of your love.

Prayer of Confession

Most merciful God, we confess our sin
we have not been the people you created us to be.
We have suppressed wonder and gratitude;
we have withheld love;
we have lived by fear.
Receive us, forgive us, and heal us,
that we may truly be your children,
and truly be sisters and brothers of all people,
in the name and the Spirit of Christ.
Amen.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
       We trust in God, the maker of all things, source of all life and Mother of all children. Our life is in God, and in God we are one with all beings.
        We follow Jesus, the Christ, the Revealer of God, who taught us to love, who gave us courage to trust God’s grace, and who bid us to take up our cross and follow him. In his life and ministry and his death and resurrection, he has shown us that in losing our lives we find them. He who was crucified is the Ruler of the Universe.
        We rely upon the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, the communion of saints, the unity of the church, the forgiveness of sin, the resurrection of the body, and the reality of eternal life.
        Therefore we devote ourselves to disciplined practice of the Way of Jesus in our daily lives, so that we may grow in faithfulness, and serve God in humble, confident love for the sake of the healing of the world. Amen.

2.
         We love and trust God, Creator of all things, heavenly father and mother, of infinite love, wisdom and power, ruler of all that is and all that is to come.
        We follow Christ, God’s chosen one, who loved and served humbly, who chose to die rather than kill for the sake of the healing of all Creation, and who was raised by God to new life. We believe that he calls us to humbly follow him and obediently serve him for the sake of proclaiming God’s grace. We trust that he accompanies us and will help, guide, heal and defend us through all difficulty and suffering.
        We believe the Holy Spirit guides us, empowers us and sustains us as servants of God’s grace. We live as the body of Christ, in the power of forgiveness and the reality of resurrection, and the light of eternal life. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page.)

             Songs addressing domestic violence:

For Households
(Tune: Blest Be the Tie that Binds…
downloadable file also includes a version set to
DETRIOT, Forgive Our Sins As We Forgive.)

For homes where love is shared we give you thanks, O Lord,
where all your children hear your grace and know they are adored.

We pray for homes where fear and hurt and loneliness stay.
For those abused, unsure, not free, your blessing, God, we pray.

As when from Egypt slaves escaped and crossed the Sea,
God, make a way and go with those who are becoming free.

God, give us hearts to speak, to break the silent shield
that covers the hurt, protecting the sin: so violence may be healed.

God help your church to be a home, a healing place,
where all are free and whole and blest and honored in your grace.

When Fear Lives Close      (Tune: GIFT OF LOVE / The Water Is Wide)


We pray for those who live in fear,
where secret hurt and shame live near,
that they may know your loving grace,
and find their way to freedom’s space.

And God of love, we pray for those
whose inner darkness overflows,
that those who wound, control or use
may be healed, too, their demons lose.

We pray, O God, that we may be
your gentle ones who set them free,
with deep respect, with love and prayer,
create a world of gentle care.

June 28, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Genesis 22.1-14. Abraham sets out to sacrifice his son Isaac, but offers a ram instead.

Psalm 13 is a cry for help: “how long must I suffer pain in my soul?”— that soon turns to a song of trust: “I will sing to the Lord, who has dealt bountifully with me.”

Romans 6.12-23. Present yourselves as instruments of righteousness. We are no longer slaves of sin, but slaves of righteousness. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ.

Matthew 10.40-42. Whoever receives your receives the One who sent me. One who gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones will have their reward.

Preaching Thoughts

Fourth of July
      It’s increasingly important to craft worship around the 4^th of July that evokes gratitude for our nation, which is appropriate, without veering off into American nationalism, which is anti-Christian. God is the God of all nations, not just one. The Kingdom of God is not, nor is it even like, any earthly nation, government, state, system or power structure. The “God and country” slope is slippery. God is not American, and does not favor one nation over another (even Israel). Nor is America a “Christian” nation. Neither our country nor our policies are shaped by or reflect any of Jesus’ teachings. Would that they did! What would our economic, health care and legal system be like if it were founded on healing, forgiveness, generosity, non-violence, welcome of the stranger and care for the poor? This may not be the Sunday to launch into that… but the best we can do sometimes is to avoid promoting the old nationalist religion. (Bear in mind last week’s Gospel, about trusting God amid controversy and opposition.)
      If you really want to face the idolatry of nationalism head on, consider Abraham’s intention to sacrifice Isaac. It may be not just a story about an individual but the story of a cultural change of heart. (See more detail below.) Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac is a pretty good image of our willingness to sacrifice our young people for the god of war. Maybe God is suggesting an alternative, no?

Genesis
      God had given Abraham and Sarah a son in their old age; Isaac meant not only love and joy for them, but an heir and the continuation of their family line. So Isaac also meant the means of the fulfillment of God’s promise to give them great descendants. Now God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac! What will Abraham do? What will God do?…
       It’s hard not to see this story through our modern lens of horror at the thought of murdering one’s child. But in the context of the story in Genesis, it’s not about Isaac; it’s about Abraham, and whether he’s willing to give up what is most precious to him to serve God. What do you hold back? What are you more attached to than God?
      Tread carefully here, for a couple of reasons. One, what Abraham is asked to sacrifice isn’t just his: it’s the life of someone else. It’s Issac who’s really making the sacrifice. Abraham thinks of sacrificing someone or something else, but not himself. But when God asks us to sacrifice something it’s something of ours, not someone else’s. Further, I don’t think God asks us to sacrifice anything just for the sake of proving our faithfulness to God. In fact often what we care most about is a sign of what God wants. But there are things we need to let go of, even sometimes things we think we can’t live without. This is the experience of letting go of something we’re addicted to. It can feel as wrenching as child sacrifice. But it is for life, not death. What do we actually need to let go of to be more faithful tp God?
      A traditional interpretation here is that God is testing Abraham, and plans to stop the sacrifice of Isaac at the last moment. (Another is that God intends it to go forward, but Abraham’s faith converts God at the last minute.) But another is this: maybe Abraham has it wrong from the beginning. God never did want him to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham just thought that’s what he heard. Maybe, more often than we think, we’re wrong in our certainty about what God asks of us, and God has to interrupt us before we do something harmful. What are the Isaacs we set out to sacrifice—and how do we listen for God to re-direct our sacrificing?
      I think it’s likely this is not the story not of an individual event but a narrative of a culture, personified in Abraham, coming to reject the child sacrifice it used to accept, and change its ways of worship. What night this story say about our lives—personal, religious and political: what God is asking us to change?

Psalm
      The psalm gives voice to our feeling of being abandoned by God, yet trusts in God’s grace. As in all lament psalms, our complaint gives way to gratitude before we have even received the blessings we yearn for. Hope is not wishing for positive outcomes. It’s trusting in God’s grace no matter what the outcome.

Romans
      Paul speaks of choosing to live as “slaves of righteousness” instead of “slaves of sin.” That might grate against our modern (“woke”) sensibilities: we shouldn’t be slaves to anything, should we? Well, in fact we are slaves. In our natural, unenlightened state we are pushed and pulled about by all sorts of unconscious fears, desires, attachments, habits, beliefs and emotional reactions. We’re not actually freely choosing our behavior: we’re slaves of our unconscious garbage. And we fool ourselves if we think we can just be free to choose whatever we piously choose. Then we’re slaves to the illusion of our independence, strength, wisdom, and self-governance. It’s our own ego. And we’ll still be controlled by our own inner agendas, and unable to free ourselves. It feels like a huge sacrifice (think of Abraham) to give up our illusion of self-control. But that’s the way out. The 12 steps of AA describe the it: “1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol [or sin]— that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.”

When we give ourselves over to God we let God’s grace be the determining factor in our choices. We acknowledge we can’t live righteously on our own: we submit our selves to a higher power. A recovering alcoholic chooses to be a slave of sobriety. A Christian chooses to be a slave of grace. That’s actual freedom.

Matthew
      It’s not about you. When people reject you for being loving they’re not actually rejecting you, they’re rejecting love. When people receive you they’re receiving God. It’s still not about you. So “whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones” isn’t just being kind to a neighbor, they’re being kind to God. “Whatever you do to the least of these…”

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: Christ says, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me.”
All: God you welcome us into your loving presence and offer us grace.
A cup of cold water.
God, in our need you give gifts to us.
In many hidden ways you bless us.
A cup of cld water given to these, my little ones.
In our thirst for your grace, refresh us once again.
A cup of cold water, given in the name of a disciple.
We drink of your grace; we rest in your presence;
we worship you in humble gratitude.
Make of us your faithful disciples, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

2.
Leader: God of All Creation, we worship you.
All: God of this day, we thank you.
God, who dwells in all people, we greet you.
God of the present moment, we open our hearts to you.
We worship in your Spirit, in the name and the company of Christ. Alleluia!

3.
Leader: This is the day which God is creating
All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Holy One, as this moment unfolds, your hand is in it.
We open our hearts to your presence. We open our souls to your Word.
We listen and wait.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

4.
Leader: God of all the earth, we worship you.
All: God of all peoples, we thank you.
You create all people in your image, and you bless every land.
God of all peoples, we thank you.
You provide for us, and give us all to each other, for our mutual blessing.
God of all peoples, we thank you. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
God of love, you walk with us each moment. Speak to us now, in scripture, in thoughts, in imagination, in silence. Open our eyes and ears to your wisdom . Amen. 2.Eternal God, you who call us to hear and obey, we still our hearts to listen for your voice, coming to us now, coming to us new, to give us life and set us free. Speak to us, for we are ready. Amen.

3.
Gracious God, Abraham heard your call to sacrifice his son. But then he heard again, and did not. Help us to hear again, to listen continually for your voice. Now help us, as your scripture is read and your good news proclaimed, to hear your Word and change our lives. Help us always, by the grace of your Spirit, to listen. Amen.

4.
God, you called Abraham to sacrifice what was dearest to him to be faithful to you. By your grace help us to let go of everything that holds us back from you. Help us let go, trusting your grace, and cling only to you, in the promise and the presence of Christ. Amen.

5.
God of mercy, you led Abraham and he listened to you. Because he listened, he was bold to do things that took great courage and sacrifice. Because he heard, he acted in harmony with your will, and he was a blessing. By the grace of your Spirit, help us to listen to you now, so that as the scriptures are read and your good news proclaimed, we may gladly hear what you are saying to us today, and follow faithfully. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Tender God,
we stand on the mountain of our solitude,
with the Isaac of our loves and attachments in our hands.
We release them to you. We let go,
so that we may truly worship you
by listening for your new word.
Speak, for even with knives in our hands
we are listening.

Prayer of Confession

1.
Gentle, loving God,
we confess that without knowing,
we have tried to live apart from you,
by our own judgment rather than by your grace.
We are sorry, and we repent of our sin.
By the grace of your Spirit within us,
return us to you, forgive us,
and restore in us the mind of Christ.

2.
Gentle, Life-giving God, we confess our sin:
for although we have had the right in our minds,
we have not done your will; we have not heeded your voice.
Speak to us again. Call us to the truth.
Forgive us, open our hearts to your Word,
and set us in your ways, that we may truly do your will,
for the sake of Christ, who died and has risen
so that we may be free. Amen.

Readings

Psalm 13 —A paraphrase

God, have you forgotten me forever?
         Do I even matter to you?
         Why are you so hard to find?
How long will I argue with myself about you,
         this dark pit in my heart all day long?
How long will this dark adversary
         loom over me?
Give me an answer, God—any answer.
         Let there be light in my eyes,
         not this sleep, this death.
I can hear my adversary now: ” I win.”
         I can see them gloat over my lifeless soul.
But I trust your kindness like the earth itself.
         You rescue me, and I rejoice.
I will sing to you, Beloved,
         because you always so lovingly pick me up.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
        We live in you, God, maker of all things. You continually create the universe moment by moment, and you give us life and breath.
         We follow Christ, your love embodied in humanity. He gathered a community and taught them, telling parables of grace; he performed prophetic acts of justice and healing; in love he gave his life; and in grace you raised him to new life. He lives among us still by the mystery of his Spirit in us, so that we ourselves may be parables of his love.
        We live by the power of the Holy Spirit, your life in us, in which we are one, the Church, the Body of Christ. By your Spirit we trust in the power of forgiveness, the reality of resurrection and the mystery of eternal life. Mindful of your presence and your grace, we devote ourselves to lives of gratitude and trust, love and justice, in the name of Christ, for the sake of the healing of the world. Amen.

2.
       We trust in God, creator of all things, ruler of al that is and all that is to come. God is transforming the world into the place of God’s justice and mercy.
       We follow Jesus, who taught and healed, who died and rose, revealing God’s abundant grace. He sent disciples out into the world to proclaim the good news of your grace, to heal, and to participate in the Reign of God in all that we do. He reigns in love over all Creation, and holds all accountable to their faithfulness to God’s rule of grace.
       We rely upon the unfailing grace of God, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we devote ourselves to lives of daily prayer, study, service and reflection, following Jesus as our Master, for the sake of the transformation of the world by the grace of God.

3.
       We believe in God, Creator of all things, heavenly father and mother, of infinite love, wisdom and power, ruler of all that is and all that is to come.
       We follow Christ, God’s chosen one, who loved and served humbly, who chose to die rather than kill for the sake of the healing of all Creation, and who was raised by God to new life. We believe that he calls us to humbly follow him and obediently serve him for the sake of proclaiming God’s grace. We trust that he accompanies us and will help, guide, heal and defend us through all difficulty and suffering.
       We believe the Holy Spirit guides us, empowers us and sustains us as servants of God’s grace. We live as the body of Christ, in the power of forgiveness and the reality of resurrection, and the light of eternal life. 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.]

[…mindful of the 4^th of July…]

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 praise you and thank you, God of all Creation.
You create the earth, one living being, without nations or boundaries.
You create your people, one living family.
This feast comes from the earth, the whole earth giving praise.
This gathering is your people, without division or privilege.
You invite us all, from every people and nation, to gather at your one table.
So with all Creation, with one voice, we praise you and thank you.

[Sanctus]Blessed are all who come in your name, and blessed is Jesus, your Christ.
He loved and taught, he healed and fed the people,
without distinction: Jew and gentile, slave and free.
He established a new nation: the Kingdom of Grace, the Nation of God,
made not by laws or armies but by love.
The empire of his love threatened the powers of this world;
therefore he was crucified. But you raised him from the dead.
He lives among us, inviting us to this table, establishing again your Realm of 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]

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,
citizens of a single kingdom, the Realm of your love:
one nation, under your grace, with liberty and justice for all.
[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.) Our ways of worship and service are always imperfect. But you speak to us in our hearts. May we listen, listen always for your word, to lead us, correct us, guide us, and set us free, for loving service, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, you have saved us from the flood of our own sin. You have brought us through the troubling waters to a broad and generous land. In gratitude we give you our lives, symbolized in these gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace, and use them according to your will. Send us into the world to extend to others the same holy hospitality of heart that you offer to us. Send us to reach out to those who suffer, who wander, who are without a home for their spirits. Bless us in the Spirit of Christ, and send us in the name of Christ, to do your will. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)


God of Mystery    (Abraham’s Song)   (Tune: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence)

God of mystery, always calling,
in my heart your love has stirred,
calling me to follow humbly,
and obey the voice I’ve heard,
giving you my all, my treasure,
trusting in your gracious Word.

God of mystery, still creating,
move my spirit as I pray.
Give me faith to change my living,
paths I’ve followed all my days.
Stay my hand from ill, providing
grace to walk in blessed new ways.

God of mystery, now redeeming,
still is Isaac bound in me?—
dear, yet sacrificed to duty?
Speak your Word and set me free.
Give this child your life, your blessing,
freedom for eternity.

July 5, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Genesis 24.34-38, 42-49, 58-67. — Abraham’s servant finds Rebecca as a wife for Isaac.

Psalm 45. A royal wedding psalm, blessing the couple.

Romans 7. 14-25. I do not do the thing I want, but the very thing I hate. It’s as if sin lives in me and makes choices for me.

Matthew 11.16-19, 25-30. People criticize Jesus for eating and drinking, yet criticize John the Baptist for fasting. Sheesh. He says, “Come to me, you who are weary, take my yoke…

Preaching Thoughts

Romans
       The tricky thing about sin is that it’s always an accident. We’re not trying to sin. In the battle between good and evil we think we’re on the right side, but it doesn’t seem to help. We can never actually be good enough. We mean to be playing for the right team but we keep accidentally scoring for the opposition. Sin seems to be more than our own choice. It’s as if sin lives in us and makes choices for us.
       Maybe a good modern synonym for “sin” is the psychological term of “ego.” My ego is the part of me that’s focused on me, establishing and protecting my identity, my safety and survival. It’s naturally, inherently, selfish. It has been challenged, so it’s wounded and afraid. And it thinks I’m a separate individual, like a rock floating in space, not a member of the Body of Christ. My ego nudges me to make choices I don’t even realize I’m making. It’s especially obvious when I’m hungry or afraid, but it’s always at work, bending my desires self-ward. Trying harder does not free me from this battle; only God’s grace does. Rather than helping me be good enough, God removes me from the battle. There’s no such thing as “good enough!” We’re just loved.
       Consider the experience of addiction. Paul pretty clearly anticipates the Twelve Steps: “1. We admitted we were powerless over [sin]— that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.”

Matthew
       “We piped and you didn’t dance; we wailed and you didn’t mourn.” Some people won’t answer God’s call no matter how it comes. Sometimes joy is God’s call to us… sometimes it’s sorrow or outrage. The Spirit may be moving in gratitude or in longing. It’s often a very gentle nudge, a barely perceptible invitation. Where, deep down, is the Spirit moving in you? Faith means opening our hearts to God. What are the ways we resist God’s grace, avoid God’s call, ignore God’s nudging, tune out God’s song, refuse God’s gifts?
       “Come to me…” This passage is what I think it means to “believe in Jesus.” It’s not about your doctrinal opinion. It’s about being in a trusting, intimate, sharing relationship with Jesus. When we share in his compassion for the world, we are yoked with him—like married partners. But this is not a burden; it is rest for our souls. The paradox is that to come to Jesus is to receive both rest and also work: a yoke. I like to take full advantage of the quirk in English that “my burden is light” can mean both “the load is not heavy” and also “what I bear is pure light.” Light, it turns out, is not heavy. What an easy burden, to bear the light of God!

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: Holy One, Heart of Heaven, you create us; you call to us.
All: In love we come. In love we come.
Loving Christ, Hands of Heaven, you hold a place for us.
In love we come. In love we come.
Holy Spirit, Breath of Heaven, you move in us to labor with you.
In love we come. In love we come. In love we are here.

2..
Leader: Loving God, we come to you because you invite us.
All: Gentle God, we come to you weary.
We are carrying heavy burdens— of work and family,
of world news and a struggling planet.
Jesus, give us rest.
You are gentle and humble in heart.
In you we find rest for our souls.
Set your yoke of love upon us, Jesus.
Yoke us to your heart, for your yoke is easy,
and your burden is light. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Holy Mystery, there are empty spaces in our hearts that only you can fill; there is a longing that is only for you. And you long for us. Speak to us and let us hear your voice, the voice of love that speaks our name. Let us hear your call, and come. Amen.

2.
God of love, as you provided Rebecca as a wife for Isaac, so you provide love for us. You include us in the household of your grace. You invite us to come; and you offer rest for our souls. And so we come. Give us your holy rest, that we may go forth yoked with Christ in love. Amen.

3.
God of grace, Jesus calls us to take on his yoke. Bless us that we may find rest for our souls as we worship. Yoke us together in companionship with Christ and each other. Lay upon us the yoke of ministry to all for the sake of your Good News, in the name of Christ. Amen.

4.
God of grace, God of mystery, there is so much of our lives, so much in the world, that we do not know, that is beyond our understanding. We come to you in humility and trust, surrendering our desire to judge and to control. Bless us that now in our worship, and in all our lives, we may devote ourselves to your will and your wisdom alone. We pray in the name and the spirit of Jesus. Amen.

5. [Mt. 11.28-30]
Leader: Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary…”
All: We are tired. We bring our weariness.
“You who are carrying heavy burdens…”
Here, we lay our burdens down, lay them down.
“I will give you rest.”
We rest in you. We are not striving, but simply being here.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;.”
We would learn your ways, learn to trust and love and live.
“For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
For your gentleness we give thanks.
For our rest we give you ourselves.
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Set your yoke of love upon us, O Christ,
and give us the burden of your light.

More Prayers

1.
God, we come to you, weary.
We lay down our heavy burdens.
You who are gentle and humble in heart,
give us rest for our souls.
Yoke our hearts to Jesus,
that we may learn the ways of love,
that we may live with courage and peace. Amen.

2.
Most merciful God, we confess
that we have separated ourselves from you,
that we have not been mindful of your presence
or lived in your Spirit;
and in our isolation we have lived hurtfully.
We are sorry, and we repent.
Forgive our sin, heal our hearts,
and restore us in your grace. Amen.

3.
Leader: Jesus says, “Come to me,
all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens.”
All: Jesus, we lay before you the burdens we bear,
and all that wearies us.
          …Silence…
“I am gentle and humble in heart.”
Jesus, you are so lovingly present for us;
we open our hearts to yours tender care.
          …Silence…
“ I will give you rest for your souls. “
Jesus, just for this moment, we rest in you.
We release all our duties and responsibilities.
We are simply being and not doing.
We rest in you.
          …Silence…
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.”
Jesus, show us what we might learn, working alongside you.
          …Silence…
“For my yoke is easy.”
Jesus, lay the yoke of your grace upon our shoulders,
that we may always serve alongside you.
          …Silence…
“And my burden is light.”
Jesus, place the burden of your love in our harts,
that we may love with your love.
May the burden we bear into the world in your name
be light, pure light.
          …Silence…
Amen.

Readings

Romans 7.14-25, a paraphrase

God, you love me purely, but I don’t trust that.
I’ve been brainwashed by self-centered fear.
It’s an instinct, a reflex, an addiction. I can’t stop it.
I act in ways I don’t understand.
I believe the right things, but I don’t live them.
I don’t do the good I mean to; I do the evil I hate.
I’m not even choosing; my fear is.
I’m on the right side in good versus evil,
but I keep scoring for the other team!
In my mind I think I’m faithful to your love,
but in reality I’m being controlled by my sin.
I’ve been kidnapped. My heart has been hijacked.
I can’t get out of this. Trying harder doesn’t work.
I’m trapped. I’m doomed.
What a wretched person I am! Who will rescue me? 

Thanks be to God: it’s the Beloved, Jesus Christ.

Poetry

           Ox

If I were an ox
and You my driver,
would I mind?

If love were my yoke,
would I balk?
If I walked a path
whose way I could not see,
whose end I could not know,
would I complain?

If I pulled a cart laden
with riches beyond my knowing,
bound for strangers,
would I refuse?

Oh, Driver, Brother, You
who set me free,
crack your whip of light.
Let’s walk this joyful road.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
We love and trust you, God, eternal creator,
present in all times and places.

We come to you, Christ, for you are here beside us.
We are weary and carrying heavy burdens.
Give us your rest.
Place your yoke upon us, that we may learn from you;
for you are humble and gentle,
and you give us rest for our souls.
We follow you, Christ, for your yoke is easy,
and your burden is light.

We rely upon you, holy Spirit of God.
By your presence within us
keep us, guide us and sustain us
in lives of love for the sake of the world. Amen.

2.
Leader: Jesus, we hear you call, and we answer:
All: Christ, we are weary and carrying heavy loads.
we come to you,
We lay down our burdens, and empty our hands.
We take your yoke upon us: your love,
your oneness with all beings, your call to justice.
We learn from you: the grace of God,
the Way of Love, life in your Spirit.
We take your yoke upon us.
You are gentle, and humble in heart, and we find rest and life in you.
We thank you, and we join with you.
Your yoke is easy. Your burden is light.
We accept your yoke. We bear your light into the world.
You will be with us.
Jesus, Living Love, we yoke our hearts to yours. [ Silence….]

3.
God, we admit we are powerless over sin.
Our lives have become unmanageable.
But we believe that you can restore us to wellness.
And so by the grace of your Spirit in us
we turn our will and our lives over to your care.
Set your yoke upon us, give us rest for our souls,
and let us learn from you.
        [Silence…]

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.]

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 grace.
You create us, claim us, and continually set us free.
In our struggles and our weariness you accompany us in Jesus,
saying, “Come to me, you who are weary,
and I will give you rest for your souls.”
We come, and lay down our burdens, and we are renewed.
In humble gratitude we sing your praise with all Creation.

            [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, the Lamb of God.
He taught and healed, he included the outcast,
he fed the hungry and forgave the guilty.
He was gentle and humble in heart, and we learned from him.
We come to him weary, and he lays his yoke of love upon us,
and we find rest for our souls and strength for the labors of love.

     (The Blessing and Covenant)
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves 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 Spirit on us, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
yoked with Jesus, bearing the burden of light
for the sake of the healing of the world.
     [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.) In gratitude we give you our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. Yoke us together with Christ in love and service for the sake of the healing of the world, in the power of your Holy Spirit.
2.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) You have given us a sign of your faithfulness and yoked us together as the Body of Christ. Send us into the world to serve others on behalf of Christ, and to give rest to those who are weary with heavy burdens, 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)

Drawing Me         (Original song)

Holy One, Mystery, how will you keep drawing me
nearer to the heart within the heart?
Nearer still falling in, closer to the heart within,
draw me God. I fall into your love.

Holy One, you are calling, you are drawing,
I am falling into you in love.

Deep in me there’s a voice, there’s a hunger, there’s a choice,
seeking something vital that is you.
By your grace drawing me, may I fall eternally,
nearer to my center deep in you.

Holy One, you are calling, you are drawing,
I am falling into you in love.


I Am Open (Original song)

Dear gentle Jesus, I open to you
the deepest chambers of my soul.
My heart is open, wounded and broken.
Heal and forgive and make me whole.
     Open, I am open, open to your grace.

Beloved Jesus, my eyes are open;
your healing touch restores my sight.
Like open windows, they shine, and in flows
your glory filling me with light.
     Open, I am open, open to your grace.

My wounded Jesus. Your arms are open,
our hurt and dying to embrace.
When I would close them, hold my arms open,
to be so loving by your grace.
     Open, I am open, open to your grace.

Now risen Jesus, my life is open,
a flower unfolding in the sun:
by your light growing, and boldly showing
the love of God, as you have done.
     Open, I am open, open to your grace.

July 12, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Genesis 25.19-35. The rivalry of Jacob and Esau; Esau sells his birthright.

Psalm 25. A prayer for God’s support, guidance, forgiveness and love.

Romans 8.1-11. Life in the flesh, and life in the Spirit.

Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23. The parable of the sower.

Preaching Thoughts

Genesis
       People who want to get “back to the Biblical ideal of family” need to read the Bible. Most families in the Bible are dysfunctional, and Jacob’s is blatantly so. In this story, and following tales we’ll see conflict, distrust, deception and betrayal. And grace. It seems the biblical idea is that family is where we work out our crap. Or, as Robert Frost says in “The Death of the Hired Man,” “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, / They have to take you in.” I mean look at all the biblical families: Cain and Abel, Joseph and his brothers, David and Bathsheba and Absalom. Sheesh. Family is where you work out your crap.
       Esau doesn’t seem to value his birthright. Well, same with us. In what ways do we deny who we are, repudiate our belovedness, abandon our place of belonging in God’s family? What stresses and anxieties lead us to betray our divine birthright?
       It’s easy to judge Esau for a foolish, impulsive move, but maybe he wasn’t just hungry one afternoon. Maybe he was actually, as he says, starving. We can imagine the brother’s conflicts were long and deep, to the point that Esau is actually driven into deep poverty. In that state, he’s right: what good is a future legal matter when he’s about to die? All of the Patriarchs at times do risky things in order to survive. And consider that the stories in Genesis aren’t only about certain individuals; they also represent whole peoples. Jacob represents a whole community that has pushed another community into poverty. What might a people do to sustain their survival? And how might a dominant community defraud a weaker one, or pretend to aid them, for their own benefit? Be slow to judge Esau. I think of how readily we judge the poor for how they spend their money, and how unaware we are of the pressures on poor people for day to day survival.
        But notice who we tend to criticize in this story, and who we let off the hook. The worst travesty is the obvious — that Jacob doesn’t care for his brother, but is willing to cheat him out of his inheritance. And we are heirs of that injustice. We Americans live on stolen land, in a nation built by slaves, with an economy supported by the labor of the poor, fueled by oil that spills on somebody else’s land. It would seem our moral compass isn’t worth a bowl of stew. Boy, do we ever need to pray for God’s guidance. Hence Psalm 25.

Romans
       “There is no condemnation; we are set free from the law of sin and death.” Our attempts to be good people, to live “by the law,” can’t actually heal our relationship with God or others, but God’s grace does. God comes and lives among us as one of us and so overcomes our separation from God—which is our sin. Instead of judging us for our sin God “condemns sin,” that is, does away with our separation from God. God fulfills the law for us!“
       According to the flesh… according to the Spirit.” We’ve interpreted this notion dualistically, as if there’s physical and there’s spiritual, and physical is bad and spiritual is good. That’s not what Paul means. There’s nothing bad or sinful about your body or its needs and desires. But here’s the thing.We have this very strong illusion that we’re separate, unrelated individuals, and our “self” is contained in, limited to and defined by our bodies. Pointing to my body I think this 163-lb sack of flesh and bones is “me,” and everything else is “you, “ or at least not me. But that’s not true. We are actually all fingers of the same hand, members of the Body of Christ, all one in the Spirit of God, all of us cells of one living organism. None of us is “alive” separate from the whole body, any more than one of your cells or tissues could be “alive” separate from your body. We are one in the Spirit, even though we seem to have separate bodies.
        What Paul calls life “in the flesh” is self-centered life, life controlled by our egos, controlled by our our self-serving anxieties and desires. Life “in the Spirit” is life as one with the whole Body of Christ, one in the Spirit, led and sustained by God. Paul is not contrasting flesh and spirit. He’s contrasting individualistic life and connected life. (Notice that when Paul talks about our individualistic ego-defined self he usually calls it “flesh.” When he talks about our oneness in a single life he usually calls it “body.”)
       And the cool thing is that since we are one with Christ, Christ’s resurrection is also ours. We are raised up out of our own death, out of the sinful control of our egos, by being part of the Body of Christ. Paul says “the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Righteousness doesn’t mean religious correctness, it means relatedness. We’re in relationship with God because (in Christ) God relates to us. Because we participate in Christ’s life we participate in Christ’s resurrection. So all our attempts to fulfill the law are for naught. By being in us, God fulfills the law in us.

Matthew
       Beware of any “explanation” of a parable—even Jesus’. No good comedian explains their jokes. No good storyteller explains their stories. The explanation was likely added, maybe by Matthew, and is unlikely to have come from Jesus. His parables are not allegories, in which each part “equals” some particular thing. They’re way more open to various interpretations. Maybe the seed is the Word planted in us. Maybe it’s us planted in the world. Maybe it’s about our love planted in the lives of others…. This is a story about receptivity and resistance. It’s about patience (failure, failure, failure, success…) It’s about acceptance (Of course so much of the seed is wasted. That’s how you plant a field.) … It’s about the triumph of grace over everything..

Call to Worship

1. (Matthew)
Leader: God of truth, sow the seed of your Word in our hearts.
All: We receive your grace with glad and generous hearts.
Loving Christ, sow the seeds of healing and growth in our bodies and souls.
We receive your grace with glad and generous hearts.
Holy Spirit, sow the seeds of your love in our lives.
We receive your grace with glad and generous hearts. Alleluia!

2. (Genesis)
Leader: Creator God, we praise you!
All: Risen Christ, we greet you!
You gather us into a family of grace, a household of love.
You make Covenant to be our God, and call us to be your people.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1. (Matthew)
God of truth, you sow the seed of your Word among us. Soften the soil of our hearts to receive your grace, that it may flourish in us. Amen.

2. (Matthew)
O good and generous God, you have sown the seed of your Word in our hearts. Nourish that Word by our worship today, so that it may grow and flourish in us, and so that in all our lives we may bear the fruit of your love. Amen.

3. (Genesis)
God of love, we are siblings to Jacob and Esau, caught up in their rivalry, ready to compete. But we are all your children, all of us beloved family. Remind us who and whose we are. Speak to us anew of our inheritance from you, of grace and belovedness. In the spirit of Christ, we are listening. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

O Sower of Love,
we are ready soil.
Plant your word in us;
nourish it in the sun of your grace
and the rain of your love.
May it bear fruit
by the power of your Spirit. Amen.

Prayer of Confession

1.
Most merciful God, we confess
that we have separated ourselves from you,
that we have not been mindful of your presence
or lived in your Spirit;
and in our isolation we have lived hurtfully.
We are sorry, and we repent.
Forgive our sin, heal our hearts,
and restore us in your grace. Amen.

2.
Loving God,we confess
we have lived wrapped up inside ourselves,
not joined with you, led by your Spirit.
Rejoin us to you.
Forgive our sin, heal our fear,
and renew in us your spirit of love. Amen.

Readings

1.
Romans 8.1-11 —a paraphrase
         God has no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the controlling power of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the controlling power of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, in the hands of our weak flesh, could not do: the Only Begotten took on sinful flesh, eliminating our sin, our separation from God. By being in us God fulfilled the just requirement of the law in us. So we walk not as if we are contained and defined by our individual flesh but knowing we are defined by the one Spirit. For those who see themselves as isolated individuals set their minds on self-centered anxieties, but those who know they are part of God’s Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
          To set the mind on the isolated self is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the individual self is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s will—indeed it cannot; and those who are absorbed in self cannot please God. But you are not an isolated individual; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.
          Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, though your isolated body is dead, being disconnected from God, the Spirit is life because of the gift of God’s presence. If the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then the One who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through God’s Spirit that dwells in you.

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.) May the seeds of grace you have planted in our hearts bear fruit in love and faith and service, for the sake of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we give you our gifts as symbols of our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace, and use them according to your will. Send us into the world to share your love with all people, to extend the kinship of your grace even in conflict, to meet even our enemies as siblings, and above all to hold all in the light of your grace, in the name of Christ. Amen.

3.
Loving and generous God, you have sown your grace in our hearts. We thank you for your blessings, and in gratitude we offer to you our gifts, and our very lives. Bless us that we may be your fruitful wheat planted by your hand, bread for the world in the name and spirit of Christ. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

Love-Sowing God (Tune: Gift of Love / The Water Is Wide)

Love-sowing God, sow love in me,
your seeds of grace abundantly.
My soul be soil where love may root
and grow and bear your precious fruit.

Where habit’s feet and wheels have tracked,
my anxious work the soil has packed,
soften my soul with bliss or pain,
so love may enter in again.

My angry thorns, my selfish weeds,
God, clear away, and sow your seeds.
Despite the hungry, wanting bird,
Love, plant in me your living Word.

Love-sowing God, your labors done,
help me to trust the rain and sun,
receive your grace and faithfully
bear forth your love that grows in me.


O Faithful God       (Tune: Finlandia)

O faithful God, whose steadfast love is sure,
O Loving Father, Mother kind and strong:
your Covenant forever will endure;
you bind us to your heart our whole life long.
No matter how rebellious is your child,
in you we are brought home and reconciled.

We have been loved and held when we would run.
We are to all a sister or a brother;
though we would flee, you join us all as one.
Our deepest wounds come from our deepest love,
and so our highest hope for life above

So teach us God, to bravely love each other,
for all belong within your house of grace,
to give our enemy, who is our brother,
our steadfast mercy, and a wide embrace;
for in our love, though we be right or wrong,
we know the grace to which we all belong.