Reformation Day
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook, Series IV, Cycle C
Soul Motion
Object:
Who is this king
that forms another king out of the ground,
who for the sake of two beggars
makes himself a beggar?
Who is this with his hand out
saying, Please, give just a little
so I can give you a kingdom.
He heals. He enlivens.
He tells the water to boil
and the steam to fade into the air.
He makes this dying world eternal ...
He gives the soul a house ...
He descends into dirt
and makes it majesty.
Be silent now.
Say fewer and fewer praise poems.
Let yourself become living poetry.
-- Rumi, "Soul Houses," Bridge to the Soul
Call To Worship
Leader: It's Sunday again! As before, we gather here because we believe that truth sets us free. We are followers of Jesus and children of God.
People: In Christ, we are set free from the power of sin.
Leader: The Holy One promises to write divine law in our hearts and to be our God.
People: We will be forgiven and freed from guilt.
Leader: This is cause for rejoicing! Let us sing beautiful words, praising God!
Thanksgiving Prayer (Leader)
Living God -- what a day! Autumn is everywhere! And we are aware that winter chill and dormancy are sliding into our days and nights. We are grateful for the multiple aspects of your creativity. We are aware, too, that we humans create things, changing what we think and how we know, what we eat and where we sleep. Made in your image, we are cocreators with you. In these moments of quiet, we acknowledge your presence and we open ourselves to your love. We speak and sing our gratitude. Amen.
Community Confession
Leader: It is good to be still and to be aware of what we have done well and where we might have behaved or thought differently. In these moments we confess generalities; then silently, make your conversation with God personal and let the Spirit free you from shame.
All: From time to time, God of the Mountains, we neglect to behave as your children. Now and then we are hurtful to the earth, to humankind, and to other creatures. Reset our attitudes; refocus our minds on compassion and peace, and lift our spirits from despair. Amen.
Silence
Assurance Of Grace (Leader)
All of us sin. All of us seek relief from guilt and shame. All of us are freed when we recognize the attitudes and behaviors that block divine affirmation. God offers us the gift of forgiveness. Receive this gift and be at peace with yourself and your neighbors.
Congregational Response
Behold The Goodness Of Our God (Psalm 133), tune: CRIMOND
Behold the goodness of our God; How blest it is to be
A company of God's beloved, In holy unity.
Sermon Idea
Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, and others intentionally set about to make the church a more orderly and a more up-to-date social and religious institution. Each one had specific ideas he emphasized hoping to make city and society open to being God's kingdom on earth. As scholars, they gave society a fresh look at Jewish/Christian heritage. Men of the scholastic and enlightenment eras, they used the prevalent power patterns and explored alternative ways to be the church and to honor God. As with all paradigm shifts, as change agents, they were criticized for one thing or another. Reformation Sunday offers an opportunity to recognize heroes in our past and to consider how we can keep the Reformation alive and vital for today's seekers after Holy Presence. Thirteenth-century Jelaluddin Rumi suggests that words and rituals don't quite suffice in any era; instead, the self must be the poem and the action. John Spong, a twenty-first-century change agent, speaks of bringing our God-concepts into sync with science; Bart Ehrman talks of acknowledging the thousands of manuscripts of scriptures and the biases with which they are translated. The church is continually being reformed! We might even say that we are experiencing quantum spirituality along with quantum physics and quantum mechanics!
Contemporary Affirmation (Unison)
We believe the Holy Presence surrounds us, creating this whole planet; this has always been true.
We think God dwells in us, using our minds to care for the earth and all its creatures in ways consistent with current information.
We feel Christ urging us to be neighborly, feeding the hungry, caring for the ill, and crafting peace.
We acknowledge Holy Spirit in us and in others; our lives are the poems and the perfumes that make grace tangible in this world.
Intercessory Prayers (Leader or Readers)
(This could be time to name members of the congregation who have died the past year. A bell, chime, or short arpeggio can be used to emphasize and separate spoken names.)
God of Reformers -- thank you for the women and men who through the centuries have articulated your presence. We are grateful for their insights and diligence that have urged society to learn compassion and kindness. We are glad they struggled for justice. We're glad, too, that we are not bound and boxed by their perceptions, for we hear you calling us to fresh experiences of hospitality, fairness, and equality. We remember those we loved who have joined you in eternity: (names of deceased members).
God of Change Agents -- sometimes we are weary of being change agents in our cities; our culture seems to thrive on power-gathering, vulgarities, and media sound-bites; our voices seem so quiet. Still, we pray for the determination and insights to relieve oppression and poverty, homelessness and hunger. We want this global village to have contented people, abundant clear air, sparkling waters, and fertile land. We are frightened as we hear of planetary warming and desertification, of inadequate and impure food sources, of predatory money lending, and schemes to rob people of their livelihood. Like poets and prophets before us, we pray for leaders whose vision is big enough for the big problems of humankind. We pray for divine wisdom and safety.
God of Peace-makers -- the terror of war is such a maiming way to deal with boundaries and religious differences! We, and our children, never quite recover from the spiritual and psychological wounds. So we pray for peace. Let it begin in our homes and in our country, among different ethnic groups, among restless youth, among adults who speak with barbed words. Let words mediate conflict without hurtful actions. Where the past has set up patterns of violence and disrespect, let compassion and hope overwhelm political ineptitude so goodness has a chance.
God of Wholeness -- all your people seek a sense of being close to you. We all want to be pain and disease free. We all want to enter eternity easily. But that is not the way the world is designed. So we pray for strength and courage to live the life that comes to us. We pray for minds that are open to your healing grace. We pray for souls that grow gentle and full as the calendar counts our years. And we pray for the next generation. Protect our children from evil ways; keep them from harm; help them to learn information and to be wise citizens of this world and the life beyond this one. Amen.
Benediction (Leader)
May the dreams of the reformers inspire you;
may God who empowers men and women in each generation touch you;
may Jesus be your teacher;
may the Holy Spirit encourage you day by day.
And until we meet again,
may your life be a lively song, a thoughtful poem, a joyful dance -- a colorful piece of art!
Music
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
Words: Walter Chalmers Smith, 1867, alt.
Music: Welsh folk melody
ST. DENIO
Let Us Talents And Tongues Employ
Words: Fred Kaan, 1975
Music: Jamaican folk melody; adapt. Doreen Potter, 1975
LINSTEAD
Holy Spirit, Truth Divine
Words: Samuel Longfellow, 1864, alt. 1987
Music: Orlando Gibbons, 1623, alt.
SONG 13
that forms another king out of the ground,
who for the sake of two beggars
makes himself a beggar?
Who is this with his hand out
saying, Please, give just a little
so I can give you a kingdom.
He heals. He enlivens.
He tells the water to boil
and the steam to fade into the air.
He makes this dying world eternal ...
He gives the soul a house ...
He descends into dirt
and makes it majesty.
Be silent now.
Say fewer and fewer praise poems.
Let yourself become living poetry.
-- Rumi, "Soul Houses," Bridge to the Soul
Call To Worship
Leader: It's Sunday again! As before, we gather here because we believe that truth sets us free. We are followers of Jesus and children of God.
People: In Christ, we are set free from the power of sin.
Leader: The Holy One promises to write divine law in our hearts and to be our God.
People: We will be forgiven and freed from guilt.
Leader: This is cause for rejoicing! Let us sing beautiful words, praising God!
Thanksgiving Prayer (Leader)
Living God -- what a day! Autumn is everywhere! And we are aware that winter chill and dormancy are sliding into our days and nights. We are grateful for the multiple aspects of your creativity. We are aware, too, that we humans create things, changing what we think and how we know, what we eat and where we sleep. Made in your image, we are cocreators with you. In these moments of quiet, we acknowledge your presence and we open ourselves to your love. We speak and sing our gratitude. Amen.
Community Confession
Leader: It is good to be still and to be aware of what we have done well and where we might have behaved or thought differently. In these moments we confess generalities; then silently, make your conversation with God personal and let the Spirit free you from shame.
All: From time to time, God of the Mountains, we neglect to behave as your children. Now and then we are hurtful to the earth, to humankind, and to other creatures. Reset our attitudes; refocus our minds on compassion and peace, and lift our spirits from despair. Amen.
Silence
Assurance Of Grace (Leader)
All of us sin. All of us seek relief from guilt and shame. All of us are freed when we recognize the attitudes and behaviors that block divine affirmation. God offers us the gift of forgiveness. Receive this gift and be at peace with yourself and your neighbors.
Congregational Response
Behold The Goodness Of Our God (Psalm 133), tune: CRIMOND
Behold the goodness of our God; How blest it is to be
A company of God's beloved, In holy unity.
Sermon Idea
Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, and others intentionally set about to make the church a more orderly and a more up-to-date social and religious institution. Each one had specific ideas he emphasized hoping to make city and society open to being God's kingdom on earth. As scholars, they gave society a fresh look at Jewish/Christian heritage. Men of the scholastic and enlightenment eras, they used the prevalent power patterns and explored alternative ways to be the church and to honor God. As with all paradigm shifts, as change agents, they were criticized for one thing or another. Reformation Sunday offers an opportunity to recognize heroes in our past and to consider how we can keep the Reformation alive and vital for today's seekers after Holy Presence. Thirteenth-century Jelaluddin Rumi suggests that words and rituals don't quite suffice in any era; instead, the self must be the poem and the action. John Spong, a twenty-first-century change agent, speaks of bringing our God-concepts into sync with science; Bart Ehrman talks of acknowledging the thousands of manuscripts of scriptures and the biases with which they are translated. The church is continually being reformed! We might even say that we are experiencing quantum spirituality along with quantum physics and quantum mechanics!
Contemporary Affirmation (Unison)
We believe the Holy Presence surrounds us, creating this whole planet; this has always been true.
We think God dwells in us, using our minds to care for the earth and all its creatures in ways consistent with current information.
We feel Christ urging us to be neighborly, feeding the hungry, caring for the ill, and crafting peace.
We acknowledge Holy Spirit in us and in others; our lives are the poems and the perfumes that make grace tangible in this world.
Intercessory Prayers (Leader or Readers)
(This could be time to name members of the congregation who have died the past year. A bell, chime, or short arpeggio can be used to emphasize and separate spoken names.)
God of Reformers -- thank you for the women and men who through the centuries have articulated your presence. We are grateful for their insights and diligence that have urged society to learn compassion and kindness. We are glad they struggled for justice. We're glad, too, that we are not bound and boxed by their perceptions, for we hear you calling us to fresh experiences of hospitality, fairness, and equality. We remember those we loved who have joined you in eternity: (names of deceased members).
God of Change Agents -- sometimes we are weary of being change agents in our cities; our culture seems to thrive on power-gathering, vulgarities, and media sound-bites; our voices seem so quiet. Still, we pray for the determination and insights to relieve oppression and poverty, homelessness and hunger. We want this global village to have contented people, abundant clear air, sparkling waters, and fertile land. We are frightened as we hear of planetary warming and desertification, of inadequate and impure food sources, of predatory money lending, and schemes to rob people of their livelihood. Like poets and prophets before us, we pray for leaders whose vision is big enough for the big problems of humankind. We pray for divine wisdom and safety.
God of Peace-makers -- the terror of war is such a maiming way to deal with boundaries and religious differences! We, and our children, never quite recover from the spiritual and psychological wounds. So we pray for peace. Let it begin in our homes and in our country, among different ethnic groups, among restless youth, among adults who speak with barbed words. Let words mediate conflict without hurtful actions. Where the past has set up patterns of violence and disrespect, let compassion and hope overwhelm political ineptitude so goodness has a chance.
God of Wholeness -- all your people seek a sense of being close to you. We all want to be pain and disease free. We all want to enter eternity easily. But that is not the way the world is designed. So we pray for strength and courage to live the life that comes to us. We pray for minds that are open to your healing grace. We pray for souls that grow gentle and full as the calendar counts our years. And we pray for the next generation. Protect our children from evil ways; keep them from harm; help them to learn information and to be wise citizens of this world and the life beyond this one. Amen.
Benediction (Leader)
May the dreams of the reformers inspire you;
may God who empowers men and women in each generation touch you;
may Jesus be your teacher;
may the Holy Spirit encourage you day by day.
And until we meet again,
may your life be a lively song, a thoughtful poem, a joyful dance -- a colorful piece of art!
Music
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
Words: Walter Chalmers Smith, 1867, alt.
Music: Welsh folk melody
ST. DENIO
Let Us Talents And Tongues Employ
Words: Fred Kaan, 1975
Music: Jamaican folk melody; adapt. Doreen Potter, 1975
LINSTEAD
Holy Spirit, Truth Divine
Words: Samuel Longfellow, 1864, alt. 1987
Music: Orlando Gibbons, 1623, alt.
SONG 13
