Worship Words-A Sermon on Psalm 13

My best friend died of colon cancer three years ago today. She was 39 years old. Each year I make an extra effort to honor her memory on her birthday and the anniversary of her death. Today for the  worship words I am sharing the sermon I preached about my reaction to her diagnosis and the gift of lament found in the Psalms. This sermon was originally preached on June 26, 2011 at St. Giles Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina and is shared today in loving memory of my buddy, Kristi.

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 Remember Me

To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain* in my soul,
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 and my enemy will say, ‘I have prevailed’;
my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.

How do we pray when our hearts are broken? Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel recounts this incident from his experience at Auschwitz: “Inside the kingdom of night I witnessed a strange trial. Three rabbis, all erudite and pious men, indict God for having allowed his children to be massacred. An awesome conclave, particularly in view of the fact that it was held in a concentration camp. But what happened next is to me even more awesome still. After the trial at which God had been found guilty as charged, one of the rabbis looked at the watch which he had somehow managed to preserve in the kingdom of night and said, ‘Ah, it is time for prayers.’ And with that the three rabbis, all erudite and pious men, all bowed their heads and prayed.”

How do we pray when our hearts are breaking? When I got a call last month that my dear friend, Rev. Kristi Foster, had stage 4 colon cancer at the age of 38, I prayed and cried and questioned God. This has been especially hard for me because Kristi devotes her life to helping others, does whatever she can to stay healthy-exercise, vegetarian, etc-and should be in better healthy than most of us. In the following weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time praying while gardening. This isn’t new for me. What has changed is the tone of my prayer. Somedays I pray why Kristi and God how could you let this happen. Woe, to the weeds in my garden on those days. And other days, I’m able to pray for her healing, thank God for her life and mine, and feel blessed by the trips we’ve taken together and the adventures we’ve had and am hopeful that we might have more time together.

I share my story not because it is unique. I share it because we have all had pain in our lives. We have all had the opportunity to pray while our hearts are breaking. We have all had tragedy, loss, sadness-times where we ask God, how long? [Read more…]

Worship Words-Benediction for Palm Sunday

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As I was writing, I keep moving from a joyful Palm Sunday benediction to a benediction that attempted to convey the variety of emotions present on Passion Sunday. I wanted to stay with Palm Sunday and focus on the gospel lesson. On Palm Sunday, I like to wave a palm, join in a procession of palm brach wavers, and be joyful. I am not against Passion Sunday where the whole Holy Week story is read. It just wasn’t what I wanted as the focus for this benediction.

This is a responsive benediction with palm waving!

One-Blessed in the One who comes in the name of the Lord!

All-Hosanna! (wave palms).

One-Blessed are all God’s children.

All-Hosanna! (wave palms).

One-Blessed are we to hear God’s word and share God’s love with each other.

All-Hosanna! (wave palms).

One-Blessed are we as we journey through Holy Week.

All-Hosanna! (wave palms).

One-Feel and know the love of God this week as we walk with Jesus and experience the Holy Spirit moving among us.

All-Hosanna! (wave palms).

One-Amen!

Worship Words-A Prayer using Psalm 51

This prayer uses our Psalm for this Sunday, Psalm 51.  The words in italics are from the Psalm and the other words are mine. Pray with me.

Loving God, when we cannot find the right words to say, it is okay to say what others have said. The psalmist provides us with words that work no matter what we are feeling. We are thankful for the words of the psalmist and we turn to you with these ancient words. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. Forgiving God, there are days when we are overwhelmed with our lives. It seems like we cannot make a good decision. We cannot love others as you love us. We cannot find the good in your world as we only see sadness and grief and greed. In these moments, we cry out to you asking for forgiveness for ourselves and for all your children. [Read more…]

Worship Words-A Prayer

In Sunday’s Scripture from Numbers, we meet the Israelites at a point where they are beyond frustrated, and so they complain. This Scripture might have hit me a little too close to home. For all those times I have been frustrated about things that really didn’t matter and overlooked things and people who did matter and need my attention, I ask forgiveness. If any of this applies to you too, please pray with me.

Faithful God,

Just like our ancestors in the faith, we are impatient. They did not want to wander in the wilderness. We do not want to wait in traffic. Help us to turn our impatience into action. Focus our frustrations on the things that need to be changed. God, we do not want to wait any longer for an end to war. We do not want to wait any longer for an end to homelessness and hunger. We do not want to wait any longer for everyone to have enough. Kindle our righteous anger, O God, and move us toward acts of justice, so all may experience the saving love of your Son, our Savior. Amen.
Published on liturgy link on March 4, 2015.

Worship Words-Call to Worship (10 Commandments)

One of Sunday’s Scriptures is the 10 commandments from Exodus. If you haven’t read them in awhile, it might be a good time to read them again.

One-Let us be called to worship. God has given us the ten best ways to live.

All-It is hard to live as God commands.

One-God’s ways bring fullness of life.

All-We know we should follow God’s commands.

One-We are all God’s beloved. God’s commandments help us treat each other as beloved.

All-We are ready to hear God’s word and work together to follow our God.

 

 

 

Worship Words-Commission and Benediction

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For forty years, my Dad served in full-time ordained ministry in churches around the Midwest. He retired last June. Today’s worship words are his words. This is how he ended worship each Sunday as he sent the congregation out into God’s world. Thank you, Dad, for letting me share your words.

 

We have gathered today in God’s house to hear again God’s good news, to share in God’s presence, and to share with one another. Now let us go forth from this place to take all that we have heard and done here and offer it up to others, so they too can know of our God and seek to follow.

And now may the God who created us, the Christ who has saved us, and the Holy Spirit who guides and protects us each day, bless, preserve, and keep us for this day and forevermore. Amen.

Worship Words-A Prayer in the Night

Holy One, While many are asleep because it is nighttime, many of your children are awake. And so we pray. We pray for those who are restfully sleeping. We pray for parents who wish they were sleeping and instead find themselves rocking infants or caring for sick children. Gracious God, we give thanks for all those working the night shift. They are keeping us safe, keeping our stores open, keeping our heat on and lights working, keeping our roads clear of snow and ice, and doing so many other jobs we don’t even understand. We remember those who find it difficult to sleep at night because of pain or loss or other changes in life. In the cold of winter, we lift up to you everyone who does not have a safe and warm place to sleep at night. Watch over all your children, we pray. For all who are awake worrying, send your peace. And for those who are awake because they love the nighttime, we give thanks. In the dark of night, we give thanks for the diversity of gifts present in your children. Thank you for the night owls and early birds and everyone in between. Thank you for creating all of us in your image. Thank you for the gift of sleep whenever it comes to us. Amen.

Worship Words-Prayer of Illumination

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In this Sunday’s readings there is a theme of staying with one you respect and staying where things are amazing. Instead of allowing us to always stay, sometimes God calls us away. Sometimes away is off the mountaintop back to our ordinary lives. Sometimes away means saying good-bye to a mentor or friends or our plans for how things should be. Our prayer for illumination before reading Scriptures is a time for us to open ourselves to where God is calling us and where God might be leading us away from where we’d prefer to be. Let us pray.

Holy One, We make great plans, and you surprise us with different plans. We turn to your Word expecting to hear what we’ve always heard, and you urge us to open our ears to new possibilities. We will try. Speak to us through the words of your Holy Scripture, and we will try to listen as if for the first time. Amen.

Words for Worship-Five Finger Prayer

file000846384716The Five Finger Prayer is not my creation. I’m sharing it because I believe praying is important and I know most of can use reminders to pray more often. This is a different and fun way to do it. I like it because it works for all ages. Why not give it a try and if it is new to you, share this idea with someone else.

Start by looking at your hand. You’ll be using your hand to remind you of those in need of prayer.

Your Thumb-Your thumb is closest to you and reminds you to pray for those who are closest to you. Pray for and give thanks for your family and friends.

Your Pointer-Pray for those who point you in the right direction. Who leads you? Who are the ones to whom you listen? Pray for those who guide and direct you and pray that you’ll be open to hearing and listening to their words.

Your Tallest Finger-Pray for those in positions of power. Pray for our government and all our leaders. Pray for those with whom you agree and disagree.

Your Ring Finger-This finger is your weakest finger. Pray for those who are seen as the weakest or lacking in power. Remember in your prayers those who are ill, hungry, living with violence or war, homeless, or lonely.

Your Pinky-Finally, you can pray for yourself.

I’ve recently been reflecting on how often our Scriptures remind us that Jesus prayed. In this coming Sunday’s gospel reading, we’ll hear, “In the morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed” (Mark 1: 35). If the five finger prayer can enhance your prayer life, I hope you’ll use it. And if it doesn’t work for you, that’s okay too.

 

 

 

Worship Words-A Winter Prayer

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God of All Seasons, We find ourselves in the midst of winter again. Snow may soon be swirling around us. Help us not to be too jealous of people who get more snow or people who live in Florida. Keep us and all your children safe during winter weather. We pray for those who do not have safe and warm shelter and all those who are working to provide food and shelter to those in need. If we find ourselves inside our homes for longer than we’d like, calm us down so we can enjoy a cup of tea and a good book. If we find ourselves inside with small children, give us the creativity to keep them busy. No matter how long it feel like winter lasts, Loving God, we know that Spring is coming. We know that new life is growing now even though we cannot see it. Help us to see the beauty in all the seasons. Amen.

Today’s picture was taken at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.