Gathering Music

“God of Justice, Love and Mercy” – Edwin M. Willmington

God of justice, love, and mercy
Pour your wisdom on our souls;
By your all-sustaining power
Keep our spirits strong and whole.
Lift our eyes to see your vision
Of a world in urgent need;
Grant us courage, then, to follow.
Bringing comfort with each deed.

God of justice, love, and mercy
With compassion let us care;
As we come in humble weakness,
May your strength be ours to share.
Press our hearts to know the struggle
Of the ones we cannot see;
Friends and strangers, all who suffer,
May Your kindness set them free.

Call to Worship

Lan Wilson

Leader: Out of the depths we cry to you,
O God, hear our voice.
All: Let your ears be attentive to the voice
of our pleading.
Leader: If you mark our faults,
O God, who can stand?
All: But with you there is forgiveness,
and for that we revere you.
Leader: My soul waits for you, O God,
like those who watch for the morning.
All: As with those who watch for the morning,
we, your people, wait for you, O God.
Leader: For with you there is healing and forgiveness…
All: And you will deliver your people from all our sins.

Musical Offering

“My Faith Looks Up to Thee”

James Rufflin, soloist

Scripture Reading – Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

Brigid Dwyer

The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.

2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you ‘Violence!’
and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
4 So the law becomes slack
and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous—
therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

2I will stand at my watch-post,
and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what the Lord will say to me,
and what the Lord will answer concerning my complaint.
2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.
3 For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
4 Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.

Sermon

Dr. Kevin Newburg

Prayer of the Day

Isabella Novsima

Leader: God of hope and promise, we confess this day that it is often hard to wait upon you. To wait upon your justice when we see so much injustice around us. To wait upon you in expectation when all around us seems to be crumbling. We beg you to hear us and respond as we pray:
All: O God, help your people.

Leader: Help us to discern the hidden way of love so that we may build a visible community of peace, especially when peace seems so far away in a world full of war and violence.
All: O God, help your people.
Silent prayer.

Leader: Allow us to see you with the eyes of faith, even when we do not understand what we see. Show us the truth of what righteousness means as we stand on the ramparts. May your love be our guiding force, especially in the face of wrongdoing and injustice. Fill our eyes and hearts with visions of your future.
All: O God, help your people.
Silent prayer.

Leader: Speak to all hearts, calling us out of falsehood and into freedom. May your love be our guiding force, especially in the face of wrongdoing and injustice. Fill our hearts with visions of your future.
All: O God, help your people.
Silent prayer.

Leader: Renew those who feel empty and anxious with your grace. Hear our cries of “how long” and respond in your infinite mercy.
All: O God, help your people.
Silent prayer.

Leader: We offer you this prayer in faith as we wait and watch for you, O God, to bring healing and comfort.
All: Amen.

Blessing

Dr. Kevin Newburg

Sending Song

“God Has Work For Us to Do” – Words: Carl Daw, Music: Mark A. Miller

Worship Notes:

Chapel Musician: Hyerim Yu
Call to Worship based on Psalm 130, written by PhD student Ren Aguila.
Prayer of the Day adapted by Michelle Bodle, T’11 from Benedictine Daily Prayer: A Short Breviary – Second Edition. Ed. Maxwell E. Johnson, OSB and the Monks of Saint John’s Abby, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2015, Page 1119.