Readings
Isaiah 5:1-7: A metaphorical prophecy of judgement against Israel and Judah, pictured as God’s vineyard, for their lack of justice.
OR Jeremiah 23:23-29: A prophecy against false prophets who make up lies in God’s name, compared to God’s true word which burns like fire and smashes rock like a hammer.
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19: A Psalm of repentance for abandoning God, and praying for God to once again tend and protect God’s people as a vineyard that is well cared for.
OR Psalm 82: This Psalm, picturing a ‘council of the gods’, has God speaking judgement over the gods of nations who oppress the poor and allow injustice to continue unchecked.
Hebrews 11:29-12:2: A reminder of the “great cloud of witnesses” – people of faith who suffered for their message and stayed committed to God through great trial and heartache – who surround us. They encourage us to stay firm, and follow Christ – the one who endured the cross – faithfully.
Luke 12:49-56: Jesus grieves his coming suffering, recognising the conflict that will arise over his message, and challenging people to discern the true nature of the time they live in, in the same way that they interpret the weather.
(Bible readings summaries by John van de Laar, Sacredise)
Resources
Church of Scotland
Textweek
Singing from the Lectionary
Sacredise
Call to Worship
The One who commands the clouds
calls us to be poured out for others.
We can, by faith, be the waters of peace
which quench the fires of hatred.
The One who creates mercy and hope,
longs for a world of fair play and grace.
We can, by faith, let righteousness and
justice be our constant companions.
The One who is with us in every moment
composes a love-song for our hearts.
We can, by faith, teach this song
to everyone we meet.
(Source: Thom Shuman, Lectionary Liturgies)
A prayer of thanksgiving
Loving God, thank you for this place of worship, built in the name of your love. Thank you for holding the space for us to gather together as your church community, and for accepting us as we come and go from this sacred place. Thank you God for your abundant love and your faith and trust which you have in us, and for the cloud of witnesses who inspire our faith. Thank you for Christ’s caring example, which has woven us into a supportive and loving community of faith. Thank you God for providing us with the building blocks with which we have built our church community of unconditional love, peace and acceptance.
In gratitude for you we pray, Amen
(Source: National Youth Assembly Worship Team, Church of Scotland)
Prayer of Thanksgiving
O Lord our God,
We thank you for the many people throughout the ages
Who have followed your way of life joyfully:
For the many saints and martyrs, men and women,
Who have offered up their very lives, so that your life abundant may become manifest.
For your love and faithfulness we will at all times praise you.
O Lord, we thank you for those who chose the way of Jesus Christ.
In the midst of trial, they held out hope,
In the midst of hatred, they kindled love;
In the midst of persecutions, they witnessed to your power;
In the midst of despair, they clung to your promise.
For your love and faithfulness we will at all times praise you.
O Lord, we thank you for the truth they passed on to us:
That it is by giving that we receive;
It is by becoming weak that we shall be strong;
It is by loving others that we shall be loved;
It is by offering ourselves that your kingdom shall unfold;
It is by dying that we shall inherit life everlasting.
Lord, give us courage to follow your way of life.
For your love and faithfulness we will at all times praise you
(Source: Consider Your Call)
Reflection
“Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” Luke 12.51
Not us-versus-them. Not good people on one side
and everybody else on the other. Not you against neighbors.
But you, distinct from what others want of you.
You, not what will please them.
The real you, true and unmodified,
standing for what you know and care for,
regardless of how others baulk and resist and criticize
and cajole and manipulate and persecute and crucify.
Beware: those whose hearts are unwhole
will try to draw you in to complete them;
but you cannot be them for them. This is the great division.
You must be yourself, and let their incompleteness go,
without ceasing to love them. Let them press against you
even as you stand for them.
Jesus prays for strength for you to stand as self,
to stand without pleasing, without apologizing.
Stand with hope and trust, though you be alone—
for, standing alone, you find your true companions,
bound not by opinion but by the Whole, What Is,
given, not made, the Body of Christ.
(Source: Steve Garnaas-Holmes, Unfolding Light)
Prayer of commitment (relates to Hebrews reading)
God of Jesus and our God,
mindful of all those choice souls who have gone on ahead of us,
teach us, and each twenty-first century disciple of every race and place,
to follow their example to the best of our ability:
to feed the poor in body or spirit,
to support and comfort the mourners and the repentant,
to encourage the meek and stand with them in crises,
to affirm those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
to cherish and learn from the merciful,
to be humbled by, and stand with, the peacemakers.
Let us clearly recognise what it means
to be called the children of God,
and to know we are to be your saints
neither by our own inclination nor
in our own strength
but simply by the call
and the healing holiness of Christ Jesus our Saviour. Amen!
(Source: Bruce Prewer)
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