Proper 6/Ordinary 11/Pentecost 4/Trinity 3

1 Kings 21 1-10, (11-14), 15-21a; Psalm 5:1-8; Galatians 2:15-21; Luke 7:36 - 8:3

Call to Worship
In the morning, God hears our voices as we lift our prayers and songs.
In the morning, God whispers to us
in the gentle breezes stirring the world.
In the morning, we look for God alive and active around us.
In the morning, we find God playing hopscotch
with the kids on the corner.
In the morning we come together to worship our God.
In the morning, God gathers us up to lead us
down the streets of justice and faithfulness.

Prayer of the Day and our Lord's Prayer
In the morning,
Listening God,
     you break open your heart
          to pour your love upon us;
     you bathe our tired and sore souls
          with your healing tears;
     you dry our weeping
          with the caress of your gentle Spirit.

In the afternoon,
Hospitable Jesus,
even knowing we are sinners,
     you invite us to lunch,
         so we can be nourished
          with your hope and peace.
No matter how deep in debt
we are to sin,
     you pay off the entire amount.

In the evening,
Spirit of our sighs,
     you kiss us and call us
          your Beloved,
     as you tuck us into bed
          to keep watch over us
          while we sleep.

In every moment,
God in Community, Holy in One,
you are present with us,
even as we lift the prayer Jesus has taught us,
Our Father . . .

Call to Reconciliation
Too often, we believe our identity is shaped by our job, our status, our good deeds. God would give us a new identity, grounded in Jesus Christ. Let us confess our reluctance to lose who we believe we  are, so God can shape us into who we can be, as we pray together saying,

Unison Prayer of Confession
     We must admit, God our Parent, how much we are like children. We become resentful over the fact that you do not do what we think you should do. We pout when a friend decides to spend more time with someone else. We can turn sullen when our loved ones refuse to let us have our way.
     You could bring disaster upon us, Loving God, but you choose to give us what we don't deserve - the grace and mercy of your heart. Pour out your tenderness upon us, so Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, might live in us, and we might offer our lives in service to others.
Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
God not only listens to the cries on our lips, but also pays attention to the groaning of our hearts. God restores us to wholeness, and invites us to a new way of living.
We are welcomed, we are loved, we are given new life, we are filled with peace. Thanks be to God, we are forgiven! Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the God of grace be with you.
And also with you.
Lift your hearts to the One who feeds you at this Table.
We bring them to God, who anoints us with grace and life.
Sing to the One who hears you in every moment.
We offer our songs, and our sighs to God, who promises to listen to us.

In the morning you rose,
Graceful and grace-shaping God,
wandering through time and space
sprinkling viriditas* throughout creation,
so that we might live in your wonder:
     stars rustling in the night,
          settling down to watch over us;
     leaves breathing in and out
          with gentle sighs to lullaby us to sleep.
You planted Eden's vineyard near your heart
so we might be close to you forever,
     but we turned our faces away,
     listening to those two scoundrels,
          sin and death, who cursed you,
          urging us not to eat of your joy.
Each morning, you heard the sighs
of those who longed for you,
so you sent the prophets ,
but we continued to sell ourselves to evil.
So, in grace and hope, you sent Jesus,
to love us and give himself for us.

As we come to your house, invited by you;
as we take are places at the Table you have set,
we sing in awe and wonder to you:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God who does not delight in wickedness.
All creation calls to you in every moment.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who forgives our sin.
Hosanna in the highest!

You are holy, God who spreads a feast for us,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, our Savior, our host.
When we lay on our beds,
turning our faces to the shadows around us,
     he came to throw open the shutters,
          that we might see your grace pouring in upon us.
When we were bone weary
from wandering the streets of hopelessness and fear,
     he bathed our feet with your tears.
When we had torn down
all the bridges back to you,
     he rebuilt them, using the stones of the empty tomb,
          so we might follow him home.

As we gather at this Table of grace,
as we celebrate that we are crucified with Christ,
we speak of the mystery we know as faith:

Christ died, that those two scoundrels,
     death and sin, might be defeated;
Christ arose, so he might live in us;
Christ will come, to anoint us with the abundant oil of resurrection.

Through the abundance of your Holy Spirit,
which you pour out upon us
and the gifts of the bread and cup,
we come to the feast you have prepared.
Enter our lives, that as we eat
of the Bread which makes us whole,
we might feel your kiss of grace,
     taking it out into all the world,
     never to stop in sharing it
     with everyone we meet until
          the whole creation is at peace.
Enter our hearts, that as we drink
deeply of the cup, we might be
filled with living waters of hope,
     taking them to anoint all who
          live in despair and loss.

And when that last morning comes,
when we go to your house, taking our places
at your Table, next to our sisters and brothers
from every time and from every place,
we will sing our glad songs to you,
God in Community, Holy in One, forever. Amen.

* - Hildegard of Bingen uses this word to imagine the greening power of God

© Thom M. Shuman