Supposing Him to be the Gardener

Sermons, from the Canon to the Ordinary in the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania and the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York. Why call it Supposing Him to be the Gardener? Because Mary Magdalene, on the first Easter, was so distracted by her pain that she failed to notice the Divine in her midst. So do I. All the time. This title helps me remember that the Divine is everywhere--in the midst of deep pain as well as in profound joy. And everywhere in between.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Easter at Holy Apostles' Perry, March 27, 2016

+I can’t think of Easter without considering how [the women, especially Mary Magdalene have felt as she hiked up to Jesus’ tomb. Hopeless? Exhausted? Grieved? Duped? Angry? Disappointed?
Perhaps all of the above?
After all, Mary had been with Jesus from early on. Most scholars agree that she was probably a wealthy widow from a family of silk merchants. Her wealth allowed her to fund a good portion of Jesus’ ministry, but, even with all that wealth in ancient times, a woman who struck out on her own, without the benefit of father, husband, brother or brother in law, was, at best, scoffed at, and at worst, a scandal.
In other words, Mary was just Jesus’ type!
So after spending the better part of three years with Jesus, trusting in his teachings, loving his spirit, hoping that he was indeed the promised messiah, how must she have felt after watching him arrested, beaten, killed and laid in a borrowed tomb?
She must have been struck to the very core, questioning all she had come to believe.
We’ve all been there, right? September 11th, Watergate and 1968…nothing colored my growing up like the 1960’s, especially 1968, the year my father cried.
I was 2 when JFK was killed and 7 when Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were killed. I’ll never forget that June night when Bobby was gunned down. For the first time in my life I saw my father full of utter despair as one more of his civic prophets were taken from him. It was the end of innocence and, for some, the end of hope.
...I bring this up because I want to consider----really consider----the weight on Mary’s shoulders that morning.
Remember where all the male disciples were—huddled in that upper room, behind locked doors. Mary and perhaps a few other women, were the brave ones, they were the ones determined, regardless of the risk, to give Jesus a proper burial. Maybe he wasn’t who they thought he was, maybe it was all a lie, maybe they had been fooled but still, they had loved him and he deserved a proper burial. So off Mary went, carrying the pack of spices, as well as the weight of the world, on her shoulders.
Mary risked-- she went, she believed, she didn’t give up, even when so very full of despair.
I have to say, I would have given up. I’m not proud of that, but the fact is, when faced with the “love everyone always no exception” theology of Jesus Christ, I would have, in the shadow of his utter and complete defeat, gone back to life as usual, to life of Empire and temple authorities holding on for dear life to the status quo, to business as usual; I would have been with the rest of the disciples, hiding in that upper room—not really expecting that Jesus would re-appear, but waiting, waiting until the hub bub had died down.
But not Mary. Mary swallowed her doubt, she pushed through her fear, she set aside her despair and forged ahead. …not because she thought she’d take center stage in the most amazing story of all time, but because she wanted her Lord, her teacher, her friend to be given a respectful burial.
Of course when she arrives it appears she is too late, the body is gone, the tomb is empty.
It’s at this part of the story when Mary’s stoicism, her hope, her strength, maybe even her faith…. Is shaken.
It’s this part of the story that takes me back to my childhood, to 1968, when Bobby Kennedy was killed. On that night, my father, a staunch democrat, a party loyalist, a faithful believer that MLK and RFK, just like JFK before them would bring our country more in line with the fundamental truth upon which it was founded, the fundamental truth of the great Abrahamic religions of this world---that all people, all people, are created equal—on that night my father in the early morning hours of June 6, 1968, my dad, like Mary Magdalene two thousand years before him, sat down and wept.
We’ve all been there, right?
We’ve believed so strongly in something or someone, only to be disappointed, heart broken.
Could you blame Mary and the other disciples if they had simply washed their hands of this man, of this misguided prophet who promised all sorts of crazy things only to be felled by the status quo? Would you blame them if they just returned to their lives as fishermen, silk merchants, tent makers? Would you blame them if they looked back on those three years as some type of youthful whimsy?
No, I don’t think any of us would blame them for that.
But thank God, thank God, they didn’t just “move on.”
Thank God Mary engaged those two angels in a conversation, thank God Mary wouldn’t rest until she laid eyes on her Lord’s body. Thank God, Mary didn’t dismiss “the gardener,” thank God Mary asked and listened and then in that glorious moment of recognition, saw the truth of our Easter message--no matter how dismal the circumstance, no matter how heart breaking the life, no matter how bitter the memory, our Lord, the same man who was arrested, beaten and died, will always bring us to that utterly happy morning where there are no longer tears, no longer bitterness, no longer loss, no longer anger, no longer despair, but life. Beautiful joyous, love and light filled life. The message of Easter morning isn’t that one must suffer before one can reach glory, the message is that no matter how hard the forces of darkness work, no matter how horrific their attempts to derail us are, Good Friday is always followed by Easter morn.
So join my father whose hopes and dreams were seemingly dashed by an assassin’s bullet not once, not twice, but three times in the course of five years, join Mary whose hopes and dreams were seemingly dashed by an Empire and a status quo unwilling to dream, or hope, or believe and enter into resurrection life, where we shout, Alleluia Alleluia, the Lord, Our Lord, Is Risen Indeed. Amen.

Good Friday at St John's Grace: I thirst

Jesus Thirsts. Mary Thirsts. We Thirst.

Mary: I’d say it’s too much to bear, but I know that is false. I can bear it. I don’t want to bear it but I can and I will.
*sigh*
Oh how I wish I couldn’t bear. If I would just die of heart break… I’d rather do that than watch my boy, this man, this teacher, this preacher, this God, suffer another moment. Mary Clopas, Mary Magdalene and John have tried to pull me away, telling me that no mother should witness this, telling me that I need to go home.
Ha.
Home. How can I ever go back home. I’ll never rest again without heartache, without, despair, without anger.

He’s thirsty. Please, please, you’ve done everything to him….stripped, flogged, spat upon, ridiculed, pierced, taunted, crucified. He’s thirsty. Give him something to drink.
He thirsts…for what? An end to this madness? Is he thirsting for relief? Or does his mission continue, even up there, humiliated, in excruciating pain? Perhaps he thirsts not for relief from his pain but from the pain of the world.
My God, My God why have you forsaken him? Me? Us?
Let him drink, for he thirsts.
He thirsts!

I thirst as well.
We all do.
It’s what started this whole thing.
Thirst.
A thirst for freedom.
A thirst for justice.
A thirst for peace.

I won’t speak for him. I couldn’t in life and I certainly won’t presume to as he nears his certain death. But I will speak.
Will you?
Thirst is quenched in many ways.
Through drink, through, speech, through thought, through action, through doing something.
They thirst.
The destitute.
The despised
The angry
The powerless
The hungry
The naked
The lonely.
They thirst.
And we, all of us, are called to quench that thirst.
By speaking out.
By speaking up.
By not looking away, but rather looking, seeing, remembering, telling.

Are you thirsty?
Are we thirsty?

If we’ve been paying any attention at all, we must be parched, thoroughly and utterly PARCHED.

This world, OUR WORLD, is a mess.
Horrors, perpetrated by our brother and sister humans, take lives indiscriminately. This makes us thirsty.
For awhile.
And then we move on, quenched. The thirst has seemingly been for naught.
Children were killed in their first grade classroom. In cold blood. 6 year olds. Sitting in school. Assassinated.
We certainly thirsted then, didn’t we?
And yet, life returned to normal. Life went on. And not much changed.
We were thirsty, parched at the horror.
And then we allowed ourselves to be quenched.
And a bit of our soul withered up and died.

Young African American men, walking across a park, or walking down a city street are detained by police officers who are overworked, under trained, terrified, angry or hate-filled and through a misguided rage, kill young men at an alarming rate.
Killed while being black.
We thirst, parched at the injustice.
And then we allow ourselves to be quenched.
And more of our soul withers up and dies.

A group of devout people gathered in community to study the Bible and pray, welcoming the stranger as Jesus commanded. When that stranger, washed in a love that just couldn’t penetrate his dark veil of evil, opened fire and shot those beloved children of God in cold blood,
we thirst, parched at the terror of it all.
And then we allow regular life to resume and our thirst is quenched.
And more of our soul withers up and dies.

Children graduating from high school illiterate and ill-prepared for life….
Women being forced to choose between healthcare for themselves and food for their children…
The elderly discarded like yesterday’s news, the wisdom of their years ignored, their perspective on the present denied, their lessons for the future, lost.
We hear the news reports, we read the statistics, we thirst for justice for all and then…
regular life resumes, our thirst is quenched and on we go.
While more of our soul withers up and dies.

We thirst. And then we don’t.

This is the difference between Jesus and us.
The difference between Mary and us.
The difference between God’s kingdom only in heaven versus reigning upon earth as well.

My friends,
We cannot stop thirsting.
We cannot be quenched until….
The hungry are fed
The naked are clothed
The hated are loved
Those who hate become those who love
The Lost become Found
The Other become us
The captives are free

We cannot stop thirsting until:
we beat our swords into ploughshares,
and our spears into pruning-hooks
until
nation shall no longer lift sword against nation,
or learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4)

Jesus thirsts.
Mary thirsts.
I thirst
You thirst.

We thirst, we quench and our souls lose more and more of their essence.

Will this be the year?
Will this be the moment in time when our thirst will guide us, when our thirst will lead us, when our thirst will compel us to not rest, to not get distracted, to not settle, to not ignore until everyone’s thirst, everywhere, always, no exceptions, is quenched.

God thirsts.
Jesus thirsts
Mary thirsts

I thirst, you thirst.

May the waters of righteousness, the springs of hope, the fountains of mercy, pour over us as we gaze upon our Savior nailed upon that tree and may the sight of that love, that trust, that pure unadulterated thirst for us, strengthen us to do the work we have been given to do:
To thirst thoroughly, to quench epically and to live in and through grace and truth and love.

He thirsts, I thirst, you thirst.
Until that glorious and wondrous day when we, once and for all and forever, will be quenched.

Amen.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Holy Week

One of my joys when I served as a parish priest, was the designing of liturgies. Most especially, I worked hard to design liturgies for Holy Week that would bring people through the week steadily and deliberately. We had services every night, below are the services I am most proud of and miss participating in this year.

These liturgies were adapted from other sources, as indicated, otherwise the words are mine. Any theological errors or other mistakes are mine. If you choose to use these liturgies, kindly let me know and make appropriate attribution.

The Liturgy of the Palms and the Sunday of the Passion

The Journey of Holy Week Begins

(Our service today is structured differently than most of our Sunday services. It is designed to move us through the Passion at a more prayerful pace)

Opening Acclamation

Presider: Come. Come seeking words.

All: Come to give your tongue praise.

Deacon: Come. Come to find your voice.

All: Come to hear the response.

Presider: Come. Come to open your ears.

All: Come to listen.

Deacon: Come. Come to be healed by the silence.

All: Come to stand together.

Presider: Come. Come to approach what words

cannot describe.

All: Come to find God.

Hymn

“No Tramp of Soldier’s Marching Feet”

The Presider continues:

Come. Come O Holy One.

Come through the streets.

Come into the house.

Come to find a space beside us at the table.

Come to challenge our answers about:

Why tragedy comes

Why poverty increases

Why we are afraid.

Come O Holy One.

Speak to us in the silence

With wisdom greater than ours

With love deeper than ours

With change wider than ours.

Shared Silence is observed

The Deacon continues:

Come O Holy One.

Fill in these stories

with your wisdom

with your love

with your change

so that we might rely on your answers.

Here and now. Amen.

The First Reader:

First Reading: The Palm Parade Mark 11:1-11

They were looking for answers. So, they went to Jerusalem. They gathered in the streets to make a way for peace. On the other side of the city, there was another procession. Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, rode into Jerusalem with an army of horses, armored soldiers and waving banners.

On the other side of the city, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus had sent two of his disciples to go into the village and find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. He instructed them, “If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.'" They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" They replied with the answer Jesus had given. “The Lord needs it,” they said.

Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and Jesus sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who needed answers, those who had come looking for peace, began shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

Presider: Come. Join in the parade, you who need answers, you who came looking for peace.

Blessing of the Palms

(adapted from The Church of the Province of New Zealand alternate liturgies)

Presider: The Lord is here.

All: God's Spirit is with us.

Presider: Let us give thanks to God.

All: It is right to offer thanks and praise.

Presider: It is right to praise you, Sovereign God, for the acts of love by which you have set us free. On this day Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly to suffer and to die and was greeted with branches of palm. Let these branches be for us symbols of martyrdom and majesty. May we who carry them follow Christ in the way of the cross which leads to life; through Christ who lives and reigns in glory with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

Deacon: Let us honor God’s love through Jesus.

All: Amen. We praise the name of Christ.

The palms are distributed. Please wave your palms with gusto as we sing!

Hymn

“All Glory Laud and Honor”

The Second Reader reads:

The Second Reading: The Anointing Mark 14:1-9

It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; for they said, "Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people."

They were looking for their own answers. They thought they knew how the world worked. While they worried, Jesus sat at the table in the house of Simon the leper. A woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.

But some were there who said to one another in anger, "Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." And they scolded her. She did not reply. She continued with her task. She did what she could; she anointed his body beforehand for its burial. Jesus spoke, where she did not. “Truly I tell you,” he said. “Wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Deacon: Come. Kneel beside her.

Do not speak but remember what your hands have done to proclaim the good news.

Silence

The third reader reads:

The Third Reading: The Last Supper Mark 14:10-25

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

They didn’t understand his way. They didn’t understand all that he taught but when it came time to share in the Passover feast, they turned to Jesus. On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples asked, "Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?"

So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." The disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, "Surely, not I?" He said to them, those looking for answers, those who came looking for peace, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born."

While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

Presider: Come. Find your place at this table,

you who need answers, you who came looking for peace.

The Homily The Rev’d Cathy Dempesy-Sims

The Peace

Presider: The Peace of the Lord be with you .

All: And Also with You

The people exchange a sign of peace with one another.

No announcements today

Offertory Sentence:

God of mercy and compassion,
your Word calls us home to faith and love.

accept all we offer you this day.

HYMN

“Ride on Jesus Ride On”

The Great Thanksgiving

Presider: God be with you.

All: And also with you.

Presider: Lift up your hearts.

All: We lift them up to God.

Presider: Let us give thanks for the peace of God.

All: It is right to give God thanks and praise.

Presider continues:

In the streets,

In our homes,

Here beside this table,

We give you thanks,

O Holy One.

We give you thanks for giving us a story.

Even when we do not understand its meaning,

Even when we doubt it happened this way,

Even when we want to rush ahead to the end,

We know that you have given us this story

in which to live and move and have our being.

We remember that your story did not begin with this parade,

but began when you came to move over the waters of creation.

We remember the tragedies that came to your people.

And we know that you were not silent.

You gave your people a story.

You gave your people a rainbow.

You gave your people peace and

You gave your people a song:

SANCTUS

Gathered here with us now, O Holy One,

Speak to us through this bread and this cup.

Remind us of all the stories we’ve ever heard about you.

Imbue these symbols with your peace

So that we might find your peace within ourselves.

On the night before he was killed by those who feared both him and you,

Jesus ate a Passover meal with his friends.

Remembering your power, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to his friends, and said,

"Take this and eat it. This is my Body, and ours, to be shared. Whenever you eat it, remember me."

After supper he took wine, blessed it, gave it to them, and said, "Drink this. This is my Blood, and ours, the source of our life. Whenever you drink it, remember me."

Remembering Jesus and the power of your love revealed through him, we ask you, Source of all Life and Love, to bless this bread and wine, making them for us the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, your Body and ours.

Bless us, that we may be for you Jesus Christ's Body in the world, people in love with you and your creation.

All this we ask in your holy name, that with Christ and in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may live forever as your people,

O gentle God of power and grace.

AMEN

The Lord’s Prayer

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to sing:

The Fraction and Invitation to Holy Communion

Presider: Come and find your place at this table.

Deacon: Come without answers.

Presider Come without knowing peace.

Deacon Come without preparation.

Presider Come. Come to find a place here.

Deacon This is the table Christ prepares for us.

Presider This is the feast God imagines –

where peace can be found in a simple meal. Receive this feast, come and be fed.

All who feel drawn to the altar are invited to receive communion. There is no requirement beyond a desire to receive. If you would prefer a blessing just cross your arms over your chest to indicate that desire.

The Story Continues….

The fourth reader reads:

The Garden Mark 14:32-40

They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And said to them, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake." And going a little farther, Jesus threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, "Abba, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want." He came and found them sleeping; and Jesus said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. They had no answers.

Deacon: Come. Rest in the garden,

you who are weary, you who don’t have any answers.

Silence

The fifth reader reads:

The Betrayal Mark 14:43-50

Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. He was confident in his own answer. He thought he knew how this must end. So, he had told the chief priests, the scribes and the elders, “Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard." When he came, he went up to Jesus at once and said, "Rabbi!" and kissed him. Then they laid hands on him and arrested him.

But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. They had come looking for answers. They had come looking for peace. This wasn’t the way. They didn’t understand. And so, they deserted him and fled.

Presider: Come. Run into your fears,

you who need answers, you who came looking for peace.

Silence

The Presider reads:

The Arrest Mark 14:53-65

They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. There did not have one answer. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.'" But even on this point their testimony did not agree. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?" But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?"

The chief priests, the elders and the scribes knew their answer. They thought they knew the ways of God. They thought they knew all that God could do. There was nothing that could convince them otherwise. They spit on him and blindfolded him. They beat him for the words he said.

Deacon: Come. Listen to what God might be saying.

Listen to what God might be doing

that doesn’t fit with everything that you have been taught about this world.

Listen for God to speak.

Silence

The Deacon reads:

The Denial Mark 14:66-72

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by.

When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, "You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth." He answered, "I do not know or understand what you are talking about."

Then the cock crowed. And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, "This man is one of them." But again he denied it.

Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, "Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean." But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, "I do not know this man you are talking about." At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." And he broke down and wept.

Presider: Come. Join those who wander through courtyards, court rooms, streets and gardens.

Join the crowds who have come looking for answers,

looking for peace.

The Remainder of the Passion (Mark 15) is read at this time. Those gathered are encouraged to listen if they wish, pray if they can, and weep if they need.

At the end of the reading, all are invited to kneel as able for a period of prayer.

Benediction

Presider: Go into the world to find your voice.

Listening to what God will do.

Go into the world to find each other.

Reaching out when you need support.

Go into the world be amazed.

Knowing that God is always with us. Amen.

Closing Hymn

“A Beggar King Comes Riding”

*Today’s service is adapted from: “No Answer: Service Prayers for Palm/Passion Sunday” written by

the Rev. Elsa A. Peters. The Eucharistic Prayer is adapted from the above cited source and St. Clare’s Episcopal Mission in Brevard, NC
Rite 5 - Occasional Fourth or Fifth Sunday of Each Month, from theworshipwell.org

Holy Tuesday: Healing from the Grief that Bind Us

A Word of Welcome and Explanation

Holy Week is an emotional week. We are confronted with our utter human-ness, including the darkness of this world. Those of us who are carrying grief in our hearts and souls may find this emotional week too much to bear.

This service will give us the chance to express the grief, fears, anger,

and confusion that are a normal part of living and loving but that, when ignored or put aside or stuffed deep within, can cause us and those we love much pain.

In worship, we will ask God for healing, and become again, ever-so-gently, ready to face a future sustained by hope and grace.

Or service is divided into four parts

Part 1

We offer to God the mistakes we’ve made, the hurt we’ve caused others and the hurt we’ve caused God by things we have done and left undone.

Part 2

We offer to God our grief over those people and those things we have lost.

Part 3

We remember the works of Jesus Christ in this world, how he, even when felled by hate and intolerance, never lost His way and how He, in dying, defeated death forever.

Part 4

Having been fed with the spiritual food of salvation, we’ll offer prayers of healing, the laying on of hands and anointing for that grief and sadness that simply persists. We will also offer paper and pencils to write down that grief and sadness that linger. We invite you to place those upon the altar where we will hold them until the Vigil where they will be added to the new fire.

We will then go out into the world, knowing that we are, always and forever, loved by a God who shares our grief, weeps with us in loss and longs to carry our burdens.

You’re invited to participate in the service as much or as little as you wish

So please sit, remain silent, weep, or even pace,

as you feel the need throughout this worship service.

The Opening

Priest: Open yourself to the healing grace of the Holy and Undivided Trinity: One God.

People: God’s loving mercy is in this place

All are invited to sing as they wish.

Opening Hymn

“We Come to You for Healing”

Deacon: We grieve for many things, that which we have done, that which we have left undone

Priest: We grieve for hopes dashed and plans unfulfilled

Deacon: For love never fulfilled and for love lost

Priest: For illness. For death. For loneliness and anguish.

Deacon: And for those things not mentioned, those things lurking in our hearts, those things hidden in our souls

Priest: We lay all of this, gracious and loving God, on your altar of hope, your altar of forgiveness, your altar of solace, your altar of Love. Amen.

Prayer of Gathering and Focus

Your grief, O God, is as eternal as your love. You, yourself, weep for us in our sadness. The sorrow in our lives is felt in your own heart, as you always reach towards us in compassion. Reach for us now, and be our very present help in this time of sadness, loss and grief. Speak to us, God; comfort, heal, and restore us. Amen.

Healing from Mistakes

A Reading from Psalms 6 and 34

adapted

Have pity on me, Lord, for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are wracked.

My spirit shakes with terror; how long, O Lord, how long?

I grow weary because of my groaning;

every night I drench my bed with tears.

My eyes are wasted with grief .

I sought the Lord, and the Lord answered me and delivered me out of my loss, my loneliness and my want.

Look upon God and be radiant, and let not your faces be ashamed.

I called in my affliction and the Lord heard me

and saved me from all my troubles.

The angel of the Lord encompasses those who love God,

and God will deliver them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are they who trust in the Lord!

The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and the Lord’s ears are open to their cry.

The righteous cry, and the Lord hears them

and delivers them from all their troubles.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

and will save those whose spirits are crushed.

Many are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver them.

We now sing an ancient song of mercy.

"There Is a Balm in Gilead"

A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you.

Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters. Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

For I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my beloved people.

Hear What the Spirit is Saying to God’s People

Thanks be to God

Priest: We have made mistakes, we have lost our way, we have hurt those closest to us. Ours is a Loving and forgiving God . Embrace this God and be Forgiven, Healed and Renewed in the name of the Creator, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

Hymn

“Peace is Flowing Like a River”

While the hymn is being sung, the priest will walk through the congregation, sprinkling all present with Holy Cleansing Water. Let the water wipe away your guilt and your remorse

Healing from Loss

Deacon:

God of all consolation, be with all who mourn those they’ve lost. Comfort them in their sorrow, give them Your faith and courage to bear what they must bear and endure what they must endure. At the last may their souls find comfort in your never-ending compassion. We pray this in the name of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

All recite the

Twenty-Third Psalm

adapted by Nan Merrill

O my Beloved, you are my shepherd,

I shall not want;

You bring me to green pastures for rest

and lead me beside still waters

renewing my spirit,

You restore my soul.

You lead me in the path of goodness

to follow Love's way.

Even though I walk through the valley

of the shadow and of death,

I am not afraid;

for you are with me forever;

your rod and your staff they guide me,

they give me strength and comfort.

You prepare a table before me

in teh presence of all my fears;

you bless me with oil, my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me

all the days of my life;

and I shall dwell in the heart of the Beloved

forever.

Jesus Wept.

Excerpts from the 11^th Chapter of John

Taken from the Common English Bible

Jesus’ dear friend Lazarus, was ill. His sisters, also Jesus’ friends, sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, the one whom you love is ill.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days, for he had died. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary remained in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Even now I know that whatever you ask God, God will give you.”

Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, the one who is coming into the world.”

After she said this, she went and spoke to Mary, saying, “The teacher is here and he’s calling for you.”

When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”

When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled. He asked, “Where have you laid him?”

They replied, “Lord, come and see.”

And then, even though he knew that we all will, though the Love of God, live forever, even though he knew that on that very day he would resurrect Lazarus, our Lord cried.

Jesus wept.

Hymn

“Within our Darkest Night”

The very love we have for each other in Christ brings deep sorrow when we are parted by death. Jesus himself wept at the grave of his friend. So, while we rejoice that one we love has entered into the nearer presence of our Lord, we sorrow in sympathy with those who mourn. Please take this time during the singing of the hymn to come forward and light a candle in memory of those who have died.

After everyone has had an opportunity to light one candle the hymn will end and we will offer prayers of intercession for the many and varied ways we carry our grief.

The Prayers

Compassionate God, you know our deepest longings and sorrows. Hear our sorrow and let our cry come to you.

Stand near in the darkness, O God.

We are broken by our loss and afraid of our future, overwhelmed by all we cannot understand.

Stand near in the darkness, O God.

We are heavy with sadness and grief, sick with despair, aching with emptiness;

Stand near in the darkness, O God.

We are confused and enraged at what feels unjust. We are frightened to find ourselves doubting your love;

Stand near in the darkness, O God.

Turn your heart towards us, healing God. We have lost our way and feel alone in our sorrow.

Turn your heart towards us and let mercy flow.

Help us to grieve honestly and bravely, allowing our tears to fall freely.

Turn your heart towards us and let mercy flow.

Teach us to trust you with all that we feel and for all that we need.

Turn your heart towards us and let mercy flow.

Release us from blame towards others or ourselves. Forgive us our failures at love.

Turn your heart towards us and let mercy flow.

Heal us of shame and guilt; save us from regret.

Turn your heart towards us and let mercy flow.

Give us grace to endure, and the courage of love in all that we do.

Turn your heart towards us and let mercy flow.

Save and restore us, Good Lord, by your love. Only you can heal us.

Send your life-giving Spirit to renew our broken hearts.