Gathering Music

“Mambo Sawa”

Call to Worship

Esther Inuwa

(adapted from Katherine Hawker, Liturgy Outside)

Leader: Happy are we
All: when our treasures cannot be quantified.
Leader: Happy are we
All: when our knowledge is tempered by mystery.
Leader: Happy are we
All: when our pain is held in the balm of love.
Leader: Happy are we
All: when our delight comes from beyond ourselves.

Opening Song

“For Everyone Born”

1. For everyone born, a place at the table,
for everyone born, clean water and bread,
a shelter, a space, a safe place for growing
for everyone born, a star overhead.

And God will delight when we are creators
of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
yes, God will delight when we are creators
of justice, justice and joy!

4. For everyone born, a place at the table,
to live without fear, and simply to be,
to work, to speak out to witness and worship,
for everyone born, the right to be free.

And God will delight when we are creators of justice
And joy, compassion and peace:
Yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice,
Justice and joy.

Opening Prayer

Vincent Yohanna

(adapted from Thom M. Shuman)

Leader: Give me, O God, this day:
humility,
so i can see you in the
most vulnerable;

     a cup 

to catch the tears
of all who weep;

     an arm 

for the long-suffering to
cling to as they walk
through life;

     a broken heart 

which can heal those
who have harmed me;

     guilelessness 

which looks at the other
and sees your beloved;

     friendship 

which embraces those
we are taught to fear;

     hospitality 

which welcomes those
who are ridiculed as
they shadow you;

     words 

of hope, of comfort, of grace
whispered in the ears
of all who are slandered
for your name.

All: Amen.

Scripture Reading – Matthew 5:1-12

5:1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Sermon

“Blessed Be”

Dean Tanya Bennett

Seminary Choir

“Mourning Into Dancing” – Tommy Walker

Sacrament of Holy Communion

Dean Tanya Bennett

(Liturgy: Tanya Linn Bennett, 2017)

Prayer of Mourning and Hope
Leader: Loving God, full of grace, you call us not only to mourn, to witness, to embody the kindom, but to move in hope and resiliency–a boldness modeled by Jesus. Hearing a story, we become part of the story.
Silence
Empower us to continue on a path of boldness — even when the threat of violence is near. Undergird our willingness to fight for others even when we are unsure if others will fight for us.
Silence
Give us the strength to live in the daily courage it takes to be a person of color, a person of poverty, a person of mourning, a victim of violence.
Silence
When one lonely voice dares to contradict the “accepted truth,” we ask that you help us join our voices, even when we feel there are no words.
Silence.

Sung Lord’s Prayer
Our God, in heaven, holy is your name,
your reign come, your will done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread, and help us forgive, as we have been forgiven.
In the time of trial lead us into light,
for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Our God, in heaven, holy is your name, holy is your name.

Service of Communion
Leader: When God’s voice was ignored in the land, God brought the closing argument, maybe the last resort. God welded, molded, spun Truth into a divine human being and set Jesus on the ground. A freedom fighter. A voice to speak realness to power. A voice to speak justice to empire. A voice for the most unheard, the most abused, the most maligned. The Voice…holy and relentless and persistent and raging with compassion and peace and love.
This God, our God, offers such immense acts of generosity and goodness that we simply cannot understand. So we simply join in the angels’ song:

Leader: The empire arrested Jesus while the religious officials looked on in silence and then assent. As He prepared to be taken away, Jesus gathered the faithful around a table. In priestly disobedience and liturgical disruption, he took the food that was to be the Passover meal, blessed in the name of Yahweh. He broke the bread and called on God and the Spirit to enter in. He lifted the cup and called on God and the Holy Spirit to fill it up. And the meal became an act of thanksgiving for a new way, a transgression from the old into new.

Without fear or hatred, Jesus shared it with his friends, reminding them always to do this and remember…to remember that the fierce, forgiving, forever love of God will always be with us.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come. Pour into these simple gifts and make them mighty for our sustenance. Come, Holy Spirit, Come. Pour into us simple people and make us righteous for the journey.

Invitation to the Table & Sharing of the Elements

Prayer of Thanksgiving
All: Blessed are we when we are rejected and persecuted and maligned if we dare to tell God’s truth and share Christ’s witness. Let us rejoice and be glad, warriors for the kin-dom, bringing forth the beloved community, standing in solidarity with the prophets persecuted before–as they, in the same way, brought the justice and love and peace of God to the people. May it be so.

Blessing

Dean Tanya Bennett

Sending Song

“All My Days” – Words: Laurie Zelman, Music: Mark A. Miller

You know my words, before they’re said.
You know my need and I am fed.
You give me life. You know my ways,
my strength, my path, for all my days,
my strength, my path, for all my days.

If I should fly beyond the dawn,
the [nighttime] will not overcome.
If I lie down in deepest night,
still you are there, my Lord, my light,
still you are there, my Lord, my light.

Our every thought, each word we say,
the whole of time, the present day,
are held within your mighty hand,
too wonderful to comprehend,
too wonderful to comprehend.

O mend my heart and free my voice.
From sin released, I will rejoice.
O search me, Lord, my spirit cries,
and let my song of praise arise,
and let my song of praise arise!