Sunday, December 15, 2019

Prayer As We Gather:  Countering the rancorous confusion of our times, Lord, we choose amidst Advent’s hopeful waiting to embrace prophet Isaiah’s joyful summons:  “Strengthen weak hands, support unsteady knees, say to those who are panicking: ‘Be strong! Don’t fear! God will come to save you.’ How we long to slip away on the carefree highway Isaiah promises, a holy way we sometimes glimpse in our dream-shattered sleep, a way through the thirsty desert, a way so certain “even fools won’t get lost on it.”  Grant us visionary hearts to imagine a day when grief is overwhelmed by joy.  Amen.* (Inspired by Isaiah 35 and the poetry of Gordon Lightfoot)

Call to Worship:

In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior,

Who has looked with favor on my low status as servant.

From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored,

Because the mighty one has done great things for me.

God has shown mercy from one generation to the next,

Scattering those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.

God has pulled the powerful down and lifted up the lowly,

Filling the hungry with good things, sending the rich away empty-handed.

God has come to the aid of his servant, remembering to be merciful,

Just as promised to our ancestors and their descendants forever. (from Mary’s Manifesto, Luke 1)

Morning Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for imprisoned baptizer John’s blunt demand to know, in the face of his pending state-sanctioned murder, whether Jesus was the real deal or not:  “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”  May we be at least that honest with our misgivings over who Jesus really is to us, in the dark nights of our soul when we doubt everything we profess, when we’re grimly gripping our pew perches “putting on the faces to meet the faces that we meet,” when our early faith’s saltiness has been rendered flavorless, when Sunday worship amounts to flatly going through the motions.  How blessed we are to be a part of UBC’s compassionate family, where all about us we see the healing, loving, forgiving Lord who taught us to pray, saying …*(Inspired by Matthew 11 and the wisdom of T.S. Eliot)

Prayer of Confession:  Forgive, Lord, our flagrant disregard of Jesus’ brother James’ reasoned counsel to wait patiently and without complaining for the coming of the Lord.  Heedless and unmindful of his warning that the judge is standing at the door, we neglect the sober insistence that “there is more to life than simply increasing its speed.”  No wonder we are such easy prey for Big Pharma’s chemically engineered false gods of sedation and pain reduction, held captive as we are by our addiction to instant data retrieval  and our obsessive need to be digitally connected, lest we forfeit the merciless monitoring of other people’s opinions.  We have long since lost interest in the prospect of Jesus’ return, not least because he’s not buying what we’re selling. Besides, we don’t have time to wait for him anyway.  Have mercy on our fevered inability to be fully present, we pray.  Amen.*(Inspired by James 5 and the keen insight of Mahatma Gandhi)

Assurance of Pardon:  Hear the good news!  There is still time for us to learn from James’ suggestion: “Consider the farmer who waits patiently for the coming of rain in the fall and spring, looking forward to the precious fruit of the earth.”  You and I are privileged to be the farmers/caregivers called to tend the delightful UBC garden of souls to whom God sends us as messengers of hope, peace, joy and love in this Advent season.  How blessed we have been, tending our Master’s vineyard at the corner of Franklin and Columbia as UBC has opened her arms to the whole precious range of people, cultures, races and ages.  Thanks be to God for leading us into a future in which we continue to follow Jesus as a people “who speak in the name of the Lord as an example of patient resolve and steadfastness.” (Inspired by James 5)

Thought for an Advent Sunday:  “Maybe hope is as basic as refusing to give up and sell out, even when the odds are against us.  Hope is openness to transformation, listening and  looking for signs of God’s action happening all round us, just like Jesus told John’s disciples to tell John.”

   - Celeste Kennel-Shank, health-care chaplain

Sunday, November 24, 2019

A Pastoral Gathering Prayer:  We assemble in this sacred room, Lord, your voice through prophet Jeremiah inspiring within us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow:   “I will  place over my people shepherds who care for them.  Then they will no longer be afraid or dread harm, for their shepherds will do what is just and right in the land.”  Thank you for the unmatched privilege of shepherding the beloved University Baptist Church family across three decades of covenant labor and hope, as together we have sought to do what is just and right. On this Christ the King Sunday, we echo the confessional cry of the early church:  “Jesus is Lord!”  Amen.*(Inspired by Jeremiah 23 and all the UBC saints present and past whose spirits inhabit this sanctuary)

Call to Worship:

Bless the Lord God of Israel, who has come to help and deliver God’s people.

God has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of servant David.

Just as God said through the holy prophets long ago,

God has shown mercy, remembering the holy covenant made to our ancestor Abraham.

God has rescued us from the power of our enemies so we could serve without fear.

God’s prophet will go before the Lord to prepare his way.

Because of God’s deep compassion, the dawn from heaven will break upon us,

To give light to those sitting in darkness and guide us on the path of peace.  (From Luke 1, The Common English Bible)

Morning Prayer:  Thank you, God , for the glimpse afforded us on Christ the King Sunday of Jesus’ cruciform agony, mirroring your suffering love for us. We reject the cynical crowd who taunted our writhing Galilean Lord on the cross, he who had come to them by the lakeside as one unknown, calling out then as now  “Follow me.”  Whether we be wise or simple, may we obey him as he reveals himself in the toils, conflicts and sufferings which we pass through in his fellowship.  Help us, as an unspeakable mystery, learn in our own experience who he is, for we pray as he taught us, saying … *(Inspired by Luke 23 and the wisdom of Albert Schweitzer)

Prayer of Confession:  Forgive us, Lord, for all the ways we disappoint you.  Sometimes we are little angels, sometimes little demons.  One minute we are the thief on the cross beside Jesus who taunted him by demanding “Aren’t you the Christ?  Save yourself and us!”  The next minute we’re the other criminal, pleading “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Most days, we’re a strange mixture of both:  “Please be the One you say you are, Jesus.  Remember and save us.”  Have mercy when we’re too confused to say anything at all.  Amen.*(Inspired by Luke 23)

Assurance of Pardon:  There is good news for anyone who admits to being “a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction, taking every wrong direction on your lonesome way back home.”   We are all deeply flawed, consistently prone toward inconsistency, a big ol’ mess of conflicted, enlightened self-interest.  No one understands that like Jesus, no one ever cared for us like Jesus, there’s no other friend so kind as he.  Better than that, no one else can offer what he offered the repentant thief:  “I assure you that today you will be with me in paradise.”   As for the unrepentant thief in all of us, Jesus has the final word:  “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.”  Thanks be to God for such a King!*(Inspired by Luke 23, the poetry of Kris Kristofferson and the lyrics of itinerant hymnist/evangelist Charles Weigle)

 Thought for a Christ the King Sunday:”How good it is to center down, to sit quietly and see one’s self pass by.  Something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment and the resting lull.”       -  Howard Thurman, pastor, college dean, civil rights activist

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Prayer as We Gather:  May this be the day, Creator God, when you begin crafting within our beloved UBC fellowship “a new heaven and a new earth, where past events won’t come to mind.”  Grant an unfolding future for this congregation exceeding anything we have even dared to dream, a fellowship known far and wide as a joy, a source of gladness.”  Amen.*(Inspired by Isaiah 65)

Call to Worship:

You will say on that day:  “I thank you, Lord. You are indeed my salvation.”

I will trust and won’t be afraid. The Lord is my strength and shield.

And you will say on that day:  “Call on God’s name, proclaim God’s deeds,

Sing to the Lord, who has done glorious things.”

Shout and sing for joy,

Because the holy one of Israel is great among you. (from Isaiah 12, The Common English Bible)

Morning Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for apostle Paul’s blunt insistence that being a disciple of Jesus means not only faithfully meeting with other Christians, but also staying away from those who lead undisciplined lives … including fellow church members who don’t have time to serve others or carry their share of the work load “because they are meddling in other people’s business.”  Thank you for the sweet spirit among those at UBC who “work quietly and don’t get discouraged in doing what is right,” following the good example set by a Galilean carpenter who taught us to pray, saying …*(Inspired by 2 Thessalonians 3)

Prayer of Confession:  Forgive us, God, our slipshod appropriation of Jesus’ name, our deliberate obfuscating of his claim upon our lives.  Pretty much everything he urges us not to do, we have merrily set about doing.  Perhaps worst of all, we have called our collective malfeasance “accepting Jesus as our personal Savior,” as though a hastily-muttered formula reducing him to mere talisman status could somehow save us from ourselves.  We have mischievously constructed theological creeds whose aim is to de-code the surpassing mystery of his grace, reducing his unbearable compassion to a labyrinth of signs and clues meant to unmask the afterlife’s puzzle, feverishly constructing scholastic defenses of our ignorance as we cheerily dismiss his parting counsel:  “Make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance.  I’ll give you words and wisdom none of your opponents will be able to contradict.”  We simply do not believe him. Have mercy. Amen.*(Inspired by Luke 21)

Assurance of Pardon:  Actually, Jesus’ warning gets worse before it gets better:  “Watch out that you aren’t deceived.  They will take you into custody and harass you because of your faith.  Your parents, relatives and friends will betray you, and you will be hated by all because of your allegiance to me.”  Not exactly a chirpy little Chamber of Commerce brochure pitch, is it?  No, it’s something far more powerfully elusive, a covenant promise straight from the lips of our risen Lord:  “By standing firm, you will win true life for yourselves.” Thanks be to God for an eternal hope greater than any mere earthly signs and wonders could ever offer.*(Inspired by Luke 21)

Thought for a Sabbath Day:  “As we see the gross misdeeds of our country’s highest elected official with the approval of many religious people, may we who are alive and remain Christ’s followers be found - as we await the Lord’s arrival - making a joyful noise before the Lord.”    - Kenyatta R. Gilbert, professor of homiletics, Howard University School of Divinity, Washington, D.C.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Prayer as We Gather:  May this be the day, Creator God, when you begin crafting within our beloved UBC fellowship “a new heaven and a new earth, where past events won’t come to mind.”  Grant an unfolding future for this congregation exceeding anything we have even dared to dream, a fellowship known far and wide as a joy, a source of gladness.”  Amen.*(Inspired by Isaiah 65)

Call to Worship:

You will say on that day:  “I thank you, Lord. You are indeed my salvation.”

I will trust and won’t be afraid. The Lord is my strength and shield.

And you will say on that day:  “Call on God’s name, proclaim God’s deeds,

Sing to the Lord, who has done glorious things.”

Shout and sing for joy,

Because the holy one of Israel is great among you. (from Isaiah 12, The Common English Bible)

Morning Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for apostle Paul’s blunt insistence that being a disciple of Jesus means not only faithfully meeting with other Christians, but also staying away from those who lead undisciplined lives … including fellow church members who don’t have time to serve others or carry their share of the work load “because they are meddling in other people’s business.”  Thank you for the sweet spirit among those at UBC who “work quietly and don’t get discouraged in doing what is right,” following the good example set by a Galilean carpenter who taught us to pray, saying …*(Inspired by 2 Thessalonians 3)Prayer of Confession:  Forgive us, God, our slipshod appropriation of Jesus’ name, our deliberate obfuscating of his claim upon our lives.  Pretty much everything he urges us not to do, we have merrily set about doing.  Perhaps worst of all, we have called our collective malfeasance “accepting Jesus as our personal Savior,” as though a hastily-muttered formula reducing him to mere talisman status could somehow save us from ourselves.  We have mischievously constructed theological creeds whose aim is to de-code the surpassing mystery of his grace, reducing his unbearable compassion to a labyrinth of signs and clues meant to unmask the afterlife’s puzzle, feverishly constructing scholastic defenses of our ignorance as we cheerily dismiss his parting counsel:  “Make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance.  I’ll give you words and wisdom none of your opponents will be able to contradict.”  We simply do not believe him. Have mercy. Amen.*(Inspired by Luke 21)

Assurance of Pardon:  Actually, Jesus’ warning gets worse before it gets better:  “Watch out that you aren’t deceived.  They will take you into custody and harass you because of your faith.  Your parents, relatives and friends will betray you, and you will be hated by all because of your allegiance to me.”  Not exactly a chirpy little Chamber of Commerce brochure pitch, is it?  No, it’s something far more powerfully elusive, a covenant promise straight from the lips of our risen Lord:  “By standing firm, you will win true life for yourselves.” Thanks be to God for an eternal hope greater than any mere earthly signs and wonders could ever offer.*(Inspired by Luke 21)

Thought for a Sabbath Day:  “As we see the gross misdeeds of our country’s highest elected official with the approval of many religious people, may we who are alive and remain Christ’s followers be found - as we await the Lord’s arrival - making a joyful noise before the Lord.”    - Kenyatta R. Gilbert, professor of homiletics, Howard University School of Divinity, Washington, D.C.

All Saints Sunday, November 3, 2019

Prayer as We Gather:  We consecrate this sacred space, Lord, the air thick around us with spirits of saints who met before us in this very room to offer you praise and lean on your Spirit. We join their heavenly chorus, the hymnist’s urgent “Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone” invoking a prophet’s fearless response to unsettling visions of national turmoil.  We note Daniel’s ironic first impulse, looking not to royal interpreters but a lowly servant for the dream’s meaning: True security comes not from tyrannical kings, but from the holy ones of the Most High God.  It remains true that the signs and words of the prophets are written on subway walls and tenement halls, echoing in the sounds of silence. Amen.*(Inspired by Daniel 7 and the poetry of Philip Bliss and Paul Simon)

Call to Worship:

Sing to the Lord a new song;

Sing God’s praise in the assembly of the faithful.

Let God’s children rejoice in their king,

Because God will beautify the poor with saving help.

Let the faithful celebrate with glory,

Let them shout for joy.

Let the high praise of God be in their mouths.

That will be an honor for all God’s faithful people! (from Psalm 149, The Common English Bible)

Morning Prayer:  Lord, in the deepening gloom of our national chaos, we welcome apostle Paul’s reminder that  you accomplish everything according to your design.  How comforting is Paul’s notion, as we await that design’s “final reveal,” of the peculiar spiritual economics that names Jesus our unshakeable inheritance and Holy Spirit our mysterious down payment on that inheritance. Such trust prompts us to give thanks whenever we remember the saints past and present whose wise compassion continues to make your love known to us daily.  May the eyes of our hearts have sufficient light to maintain a laser focus on your hope-laden call, as most eloquently articulated through the Galilean carpenter who taught us to pray, saying …*(Inspired by Ephesians 1)

Prayer of Confession:  Forgive us, Lord, but when it comes to Jesus’ idea of happiness, we’d just as soon pass if it’s all the same to you.  Surely he was kidding about how we’d be a lot happier if we were poor or hungry or weeping or hated or rejected or insulted or considered evil, or any other bad things that came our way just because we followed you.  What kind of church growth recruiting tool is that?  To heck with his promise of a great reward in heaven, couldn’t you just show us the money now?  Have mercy, for the very things Jesus listed as terrible are the things we most want to be:  Rich, comfortable, laughing, complimented.  Why can’t it be easier to follow Jesus?  Amen.*(Inspired by Luke 6)

Assurance of Pardon:  Don’t give up, dispirited sojourners, for Jesus included a not-so-secret code for how to be truly, profoundly happy:  “Love your enemies.  Do good to those who hate you.  Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you.  Treat people in the same way you want them to treat you.”  Thanks be to God for a Savior who never said following him would be easy, only worth it. Any questions?  Take them to the Lord in prayer.*(Inspired by Luke 6)

Thought for All Saints Sabbath:  “Any system that works against human flourishing by America’s working poor is necessarily sinful and at worst evil, and no person of means escapes such a system with clean hands.”   - Kenyatta R. Gilbert, professor of homiletics, Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Prayer as We Gather:  Thank you, Lord, for your rallying cry ringing across the generations from prophet Haggai:  “Be strong, work, don’t fear, for my spirit stands in your midst.”  We, like the people of his day, often succumb to nostalgia’s distorted image of an earlier time “in its former glory.”  Help us regain perspective and hope, comforted by your promise to fill our spiritual house with a joy “more glorious than its predecessor.” Amen.*(Inspired by Haggai 1)

Call to Worship:

God, my true king, I will lift you up high.

I will bless your name every day, forever and always.

The Lord is great and worthy of praise!

God’s greatness can’t be grasped.

The Lord is righteous and faithful in all ways,

Close to everyone who calls out sincerely.

My mouth will proclaim the Lord’s praise,

Every living thing will bless God’s holy name forever and always.  (from Psalm 145, The Common English Bible)

Morning Prayer:  Lord, as our nation groans with uncertainty and mistrust of those in high places, we take comfort in Paul’s assurance to the first Christians, hemmed in like us by Caesar’s lunacy:  “The lawless person, opponent of every object of worship and promoting himself over them, displaying himself to show that he is God, is headed for destruction.  So then, stand firm, and hold on to the traditions of the faith.”   Help us stand strong, Lord, trusting Paul’s promise that you will encourage our hearts and give us strength in every good thing we do or say, for we pray as Jesus taught us, saying …*(Inspired by 2 Thessalonians 2)

Prayer of Confession:  Have mercy, Lord, when we major on the minor, indulging ourselves in theological minutiae’s flights of fancy like the religious zealots of Jesus’ day.  In their laborious description of a woman widowed seven times who married seven brothers in succession, they cynically attempt to trap Jesus by demanding to know “Whose wife will she be in the resurrection?”  We still waste your time with the very sort of inquisitions Jesus refused to answer, trivializing scripture and making the church look petty in the process, as we squabble like children over things Jesus never mentioned. Forgive us, we pray.  Amen.*(Inspired by Luke 20)

Assurance of Pardon:   I have good news! Jesus has a great sense of humor, even if many who claim to follow him obviously do not.  Unwilling to be compromised by small-minded twits upon whom his subtle nuance was lost, Jesus moved beyond their arbitrary categories of life and death by declaring that “God is not the God of the dead but of the living, because to God they are all alive.”  Thanks be to God for coming to us through a Palestinian Jew whose dark, laughing eyes sparkled with heavenly mirth, even (and especially) when surrounded by fundamentalism’s mundane dullness and the humorless restrictions of joy-challenged true believers, aggressively ignorant and proud of it.*(Inspired by Luke 20)

Thought for a Sabbath Day:  “What resurrection symbolizes is that only a God who raises life from death stands outside the expectation, prediction and horizon of human control.”   - Kenyatta R. Gilbert, professor of homiletics, Howard University, Washington, D.C.  

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Prayer as We Gather:  Thank you, Lord, for keeping the promise you made to prophet Joel, of a coming day when your Spirit would be poured out on daughters as well as sons, old as well as young, enslaved and free females as well as males.  In this holy hour, help us recognize all around us the signs of entrenched power being supplanted by audacious young voices clamoring for change.  We join our own voices to those who will be delivered simply because they called on your name.  Amen.*(Inspired by Joel 2:23-32)

Call to Worship: 

To you, O God, even silence is praise.

Promises made to you are kept.

When wrongdoings become too much for me,

You forgive my sins.

How happy is the one you choose to bring close,

The one who lives in your courtyards!

You answer us, God of our deliverance,

You visit the earth and make it abundant,

You crown the year with your goodness;

Your pastures, meadows and valleys break out in song! (from Psalm 65, The Common English Bible)

Morning Prayer:  Lord, like apostle Paul we are privileged to be poured out as a sacrifice for you, mindful that our heroes of the faith never promised following Jesus would be easy.  Help us find our voice in these chaotic days of national dissolution, when from the highest corridors of power lies are spewed more glibly than truth.  May we mirror German reformer Martin Luther’s courage in standing alone against the combined fury of church and state, confident  that you will rescue us from “the Prince of Darkness grim, whose rage we can endure.”  Grant us the will to ”let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also,” assured that your truth abides and your kingdom is forever, for we trust the Galilean who taught us to pray, saying …*(Inspired by 2 Timothy 4 and the poetry of Martin Luther)  

Prayer of Confession:  Forgive us, Lord, when our comfortable cultural captivity reduces us to a caricature, like the religious leader in Jesus’ short story whose loud, proud parody of prayer in the temple was little more than a haughty soliloquy about himself:  “I thank you, God, that I’m not like everyone else!”  Sadly, we are too often exactly like everyone else, in our tireless search for acceptance and recognition among our peers.  How pathetically empty must our resume-enhancing desperation appear to you, who shaped us in our mother’s womb and knew us before we had a name.  Have mercy on us when even our tithing is calculated to impress others, not serve you.  Amen.*(Inspired by Luke 18)

Assurance of Pardon:  I have good news:  Nestled within the same short story where Jesus crafts for us an example of how not to behave , he also provides a classic, compassionate portrait of exactly what true servant-hood humility would look like, issuing forth from arguably the most despised profession of Jesus’ day, a lowly tax collector:  “God, show mercy to me, a sinner.”  Now that’s what genuine, repentant prayer should sound like, heart-broken and pleading.  Thanks be to God, such prayer is still the proper place to start, still possible for any who truly long to follow Jesus.*(Inspired by Luke 18)

Thought for a Sabbath Day:  “The fact that allegiance to family, faith and national pride – the holy trinity of American traditionalism – is in precipitous decline tells us something important about the evolution of the American identity.”       - Derek Thompson, American writer

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Prayer As We Gather:  We huddle in this holy hour, Lord, seeking a more robust notion of prayer than the tepid “Mother, May I?” model of subservient cajoling often practiced in mainline churches.  Help us supplant that spiritual anemia with a gutsy, in-your-face persistence like the widow in Jesus’ short story.  As she refused to be dissuaded by a callous, dismissive judge who finally relented to “give this widow justice because she keeps bothering me, coming here and embarrassing me,”  so too may we be among those God provides justice because we stubbornly “cry out to God day and night.” Jesus promised such adamant advocacy on behalf of the powerless would be quickly with justice, Lord.  May it be so.  Amen.*(Inspired by Luke 18)

Call to Worship:

I love your Instruction, Lord!

Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies.

I have greater insight, more understanding because I guard your precepts,

I haven’t set my feet on any evil path.

You are the one who has taught me,

Your word is so pleasing, sweeter than honey in my mouth!  (from Psalm 119, The Common English Bible)

Morning Prayer:  It’s about time, Lord, and always has been.  When prophet Jeremiah, speaking on your behalf, urged “The time is coming when I will build, plant, watch over my people, make a new covenant with them and engrave my Instructions on their hearts,” he was offering us a hint for how to properly tell time.  Help us interpret our times correctly, in sync with your impeccable timing.  Deliver us from sour-grapes laments which blame our failings on the missteps of our parents and grandparents.  It’s time we grow up, Lord, time to accept responsibility for our own sins, time to plant your words deep within, time to rejoice that you are our God and we are your people, for we pray as Jesus taught us, saying …*(Inspired by Jeremiah 31)

Prayer of Confession:  Forgive, Lord, our Biblical illiteracy.  What apostle Paul took for granted in nudging his young protégé Timothy to “continue with the things you have learned since childhood, the holy scriptures that help you be wise,” we can no longer assume.  We cannot continue what we never began.  Paul saw it coming, “a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching but will turn their back on the truth, collecting teachers who say what they want to hear because they are self-centered.”  The only thing worse than our current societal ignorance of scripture is the shallow, piety-spewing cultural Christianity many of us imbibed like mother’s milk, cloaking our racism and anti-Semitism beneath blithely misapplied words from the Bible.  Have mercy, we pray. Amen.*(Inspired by 2 Timothy 3)

Assurance of Pardon:  Take heart, for tucked away within Paul’s cautionary candor is his hope-filled reminder of scripture’s efficacy:  “Every scripture is inspired by God, useful for teaching, showing mistakes and training character.”    Thanks be to God for the opportunities inherent in a sturdy scriptural grounding:  Bringing God’s word to life whether it is convenient or inconvenient, correcting, confronting, encouraging with patient instruction.  What a privilege, what a joy, to heed Paul’s counsel:  “Keep control of yourself in all circumstances, endure suffering, and carry out your service fully.”   *(Inspired by 2 Timothy 3)

Thought for a Sabbath Day: “The reduction of God’s good news in Jesus to a magic salvation formula allows a consumer approach to salvation.  Instead of requiring everything, the Salvation-Industrial Complex requires nothing.”   - Pastor Ken Wytsma, Beaverton, Oregon                                                                                                                                            

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Prayer As We Gather:  Just when we want to run away, Lord, emotional fatigue fueled by political chaos nibbling at our sanity and weakening our resolve, our weary spirits longing  to flee the tasks to which you have set us, prophet Jeremiah’s sobering demand for resilience jolts us back to our vocation as your children:  “Cultivate your gardens, establish families, pray, promote the welfare of the city where I have sent you.”  May this holy hour find us honing the tools required to tend your garden, so we might bloom where we are planted.  Amen.*(Inspired by Jeremiah 29)

Call to Worship:

Shout joyfully, sing praises to God’s glory!

Come and see God’s awesome deeds.

God rules with power forever,

Keeps a good eye on the nations.

But you, God, have tested us, refined us like silver,

Trapped us in a net, laid burdens on our backs,

Let other people run right over our heads.

But you brought us out to freedom! (from Psalm 66, The Common English Bible)

Morning Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for common criminal Paul, imprisoned-but-unbowed apostle enduring everything for the sake of lonely pilgrims yet unborn, wayfaring strangers such as we, longing for deliverance through Jesus’ cruciform incarnation of your unconditional love.  As our nation groans under relentless assaults upon human freedom, the rule of law and the dignity your immigrant children, we take heart in Paul’s defiant cry:  “God’s word cannot be imprisoned; if we endure, we will also prevail together, so present yourself to God as a tried-and-true worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, but interprets the message of truth correctly.”  So here we are, Lord, present and accounted for, ready to enlist in service to the Galilean who taught us to pray, saying …*(Inspired by 2 Timothy 2)

Prayer of Confession:  Forgive us, Lord, for morphing Jesus’ ministry-action summons – the Way -  into a sedentary spectator destination we call church.  We long for low-demand miracles, citing Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers, neglecting the unsettling truth that they were cleansed on their way to the priests, not as the result of any priestly religious ritual.  We conveniently ignore the uncomfortable fact that only one of the ten, a despised Samaritan considered a half-breed by his Jewish fellow lepers, returned to offer thankful praise, prompting Jesus’ stinging retort: “No one returned to praise God except this foreigner?”  We marvel at the obvious appreciative joy so often displayed by immigrants earning subsistence wages, even as we whine at our minor daily inconveniences.  Have mercy on our  passive, consumerist distortions of the Gospel.  Amen.  (Inspired by Luke 17)

Assurance of Pardon:  Take heart, for Jesus is still showing mercy, even in the face of our jaded, second-hand faith that reduces worship’s mystery  to mere religious entertainment and quasi-magic God talk.  Jesus offers us the same whimsical entreaty – “Go!” – he extended to the lepers, then patiently waits to see if we show obedience and gratitude for the healing he offers our split, splintered selves.  Thanks be to God for the weekly Sabbath witness to Jesus’ offer of restoration to wholeness, available to any who are willing to act upon his basic invitation and receive his commendation: “Your faith has healed you.” *(Inspired by Luke 17)

Thought for a Sabbath Day: “Jesus has always been at the borders, at the threshold.  Where are we?  Is God calling us to cross a boundary in order to bring healing?”       -  Dennis Sanders, Disciples of Christ pastor, St. Paul, Minnesota

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Prayer as We Gather:  May we be as recklessly faithful, Lord, as willing to wager our uneasy present on your sure future as was imprisoned Jeremiah, when he purchased a field in territory currently occupied by an invading army.  Make us crazy like Jeremiah, willing to risk everything for the privilege of standing on your promises instead of just sitting on the premises at church every Sunday morning.  Surprise us this holy hour with the guts to follow Jesus, no matter what.  Amen.*(Inspired by Jeremiah 32)

Call to Worship: 

Living in the Most High’s shelter,

Camping in the Almighty’s shade,

I say to the Lord, “You are my refuge, my stronghold!

You are my God – the one I trust!”

God will save you from the hunter’s trap;

You’ll find refuge under God’s wings.

God’s faithfulness is a protective shield.

Don’t be afraid of terrors at night.

God says “I’ll rescue you, I’ll be with you in troubling times,

I’ll save you, glorify you and fill you full with old age.”*(from Psalm 91, The Common English Bible)

Morning Prayer:  Thank you, Lord!  It’s all there, fresh from the pen of apostle Paul, every word we need to escape cultural captivity before it’s too late:  “Be happy with what you already have, be happy with food and clothing, because the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  Tell people who are rich at this time not to become egotistical and place their hope on their finances, which are uncertain.  Instead, hope in God, who richly provides everything for our enjoyment.  Be generous, share with others, take hold of what is truly life.”  But what might such a life look like, God?  Oh, that’s right, it would look like the Galilean who taught us to pray, saying …*(Inspired by 1 Timothy 6)

Prayer of Confession:  Forgive us, Lord, for constructing shaky theology on flimsy foundations.  We have been distracted by medieval afterlife images of fiery hell and harp-playing angels, ignoring Jesus’ radical call to ministry “among the least”  - right now, in the present moment.  Help us hear, in Jesus’ short story about “a certain rich man and a poor man named Lazarus,” his warning against a magical approach toward faith which ignores scripture’s ancient witness, its honest plea for authentic change in our hearts and lives, genuine repentance not premised upon ghostly appeals from beyond the grave.  Amen.*(Inspired by Luke 16)

Assurance of Pardon:  I have good news!  The punch line of Jesus’ short story was his candid prediction of what was about to unfold among the very folks hearing him speak:  “If people will not listen to Moses and the Prophets, then neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.”  Sure enough, when Jesus rose from the dead, the crowd was more dazzled by the mystery than persuaded toward obedient discipleship. Thanks be to God that Jesus  doesn’t want admirers, he wants followers.*(Inspired by Luke 16)

Thought for a Sabbath Day:  “The rich man is judged harshly not because he had acquired immense wealth, but because he lacked compassion, trivialized the plight of the suffering poor, and ignored mercy extended to him while living.”  -  Kenyatta R. Gilbert, Homiletics Professor, Howard University Divinity School