5 October 2023 – Chapel – Drew Theo Chapel

Gathering Music

“Come, All You People (Uyai Mose)” – Words & Music: Alexander Gondo

Come, all you people
(U-ya-i mo-se)
Come and praise your Maker
(Ti-na-ma-te Mwa-ri)

Come now and worship the Lord
(U-ya-i mo-se zvi-no)

“Open the Eyes of My Heart” – Words & Music: Paul Joseph Baloche

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You

To see You high and lifted up
Shinin’ in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing holy, holy, holy

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You

To see You high and lifted up
Shinin’ in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing holy, holy, holy

Holy, holy, holy
We cry holy, holy, holy
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to see you

Call to Worship

Daekyung Ko

Leader: Lord, we come before you this day as part of the human family.
All: Inspire us, O God; open our hearts.
Leader: We come in our diversity to catch your vision of unity.
All: Inspire us, O God; open our eyes.
Leader: We come to hear your challenging word of truth.
All: Inspire us, O God; open our ears.
Leader: We come to thank you for your gifts of beauty, joy, and hope.
All: O God of love, vision, and truth, we praise your blessed name.
Taken from John E. Skoglund and Nancy E. Hall, A New Manual of Worship: New Edition, Judson Press, 1993.

Opening Song

“Open My Eyes, That I May See” – Words & Music: Clara H. Scott

Open my eyes, that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me;
place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!
Open my ears, that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear;
and while the wavenotes fall on my ear,
everything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine!
Open my mouth, and let me bear
gladly the warm truth everywhere;
open my heart and let me prepare
love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my heart, illumine me, Spirit divine!

Opening Prayer

Jong Min Ahn

Lord, we come before your seat of grace this morning. We pray you open our hearts to open our hearts and ears to one another as we continue to search and wonder the meaning of unity that resembles your divine union. Please help us to be attentive to those people that may be different from us. May we stand united in solidarity with people of all races, genders, cultures, and religions. May you help us in our collective fight for social justice in the world embracing all people and fighting for their causes. Help us in our quest to draw the circle wide! In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Scripture Reading – Judges 11:34-40 34

Cody Beckett

Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah, and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.” 36 She said to him, “My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has given you vengeance against your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: grant me two months, so that I may go and wander[a] on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my companions and I.” 38 “Go,” he said, and he sent her away for two months. So she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. 39 At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to the vow he had made. She had never slept with a man. So there arose an Israelite custom that 40 for four days every year the daughters of Israel would go out to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.

Seminary Choir

“Over My Head” – Traditional Spiritual / Arr. Adam and Matt Podd

Over my head
I see trouble in the air
Over my head
I see trouble in the air
Over my head
I see trouble in the air
There must be a God somewhere

Over my head
I hear music in the air
Over my head
I hear music in the air
Over my head
I hear music in the air
There must be a God somewhere

Over my head
I hear singing everywhere
Over my head
I hear singing everywhere
Over my head
I hear singing everywhere
There must be a God somewhere

Over my head
I see freedom in the air
Over my head
I see freedom in the air
Over my head
I see freedom in the air
There must be a God somewhere

Over my head
I hear music in the air
Over my head
I hear singing everywhere
Over my head
I see trouble in the air
There must be a God somewhere

Sermon

Dr. Dong Sung Kim

“Moving Together in Pluriformity” (Judges 11:34-40)

강강술래 Gaang Gaang Sulae – 이동주(李東柱, Lee Dong-ju)

여울에 몰린 은어(銀魚)떼.
Gather like a school of silverfish in the rapids,
삐비꽃 손들이 둘레를 짜면
Our hands are interlocked in the shape of a beep flower,
달무리가 비잉빙 돈다.
The moon is spinning and spinning.

가아응, 가아응 수우월레에
Gaang Gaang Suwolae.
목을 빼면 설움이 솟고……
Sorrows are gushing out of our throat.

[…]

뛰자 뛰자 뛰어나 보자
Run, run, let us run in a circle.
강강술래.
Gaang Gaang Sulae

뇌누리에 테이프가 감긴다.
Ribbons are all around my head,
열두 발 상모가 마구 돈다.
Twelve heads are spiraling,
달빛이 배이면 술보다 독한 것.
The soaking moonlight is stronger than wine.

기폭(旗幅)이 찢어진다.
Banners are ripping apart,
갈대가 스러진다.
Reeds are collapsing,

강강술래.
Gaang Gaang Sulae
강강술래.
Gaang Gaang Sulae

Musical Response

“A Place at the Table” – Words: Shirley Erena Murray, Music: Lori True

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,

Refrain 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!

3 For young and for old, a place at the table,
a voice to be heard, a part in the song,
the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled,
for young and for old, the right to belong, (refrain)

5 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, (refrain)

Sacrament of Holy Communion

Dr. Dong Sung Kim

(adapted from Presbyterian Mission, PCUSA)
God be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you praise, O God. You created the world and all that is in it. The startling diversity of the Earth and its creatures were made by you and pronounced good.

Called into life-giving partnership with each other and you, we chose instead, to seek dominance and bring about division. We have betrayed each other and denied your image, which is present in every person.

But in each place of shadow and pain and in every divisive moment you have sought us out again, to reconcile us to one another and to you. Therefore with our parents in faith, from every time and place, we sing the fullness of your witness to your world saying:

Holy holy holy Lord, God of power and might
God of meekness and service
Heaven and Earth are full of your glory, your presence, and your pain
Our very bones cry out Hosanna, Hosanna, Blest is the one who comes in the name of the Lord

Holy are you, God of Grace, and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Choosing to leave the shelter of heaven, he comes to gather us into a new family.

Your Son Jesus came as a servant to wash away our pride and feed us with the bread of life. We praise you for inviting us to serve one another without pride, to forgive one another as we have been forgiven, and to feast at his table as members of one household.
God of mystery: send your Holy Spirit upon us and on these gifts of bread and cup. Prepare us to receive your presence and to know your grace. May this one bread nourish our bodies and may It nourish the fullness of our lives. May this cup that we share wet our parched and silent throats and may It quench our deep and yearning thirst. Here at this table, may we remember the table in the Upper Room, tables of abundance many of us enjoy at home, the empty tables of the poor and hungry, and the banquet table in the Life to come. Let this meal reshape our every meal, so that the justice and mercy known here will become our way of life. May we become a people for
whom the hunger pangs of the poorest child will disrupt the feasting of the satisfied. There is enough food for all, enough peace for all, enough love for all, enough hope for all, enough grace for all. In this truth and in this hope we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

Christ has died
Christ is risen
Christ will come again

Until you appear again among us, we ask your Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance in a broken world grasping for wholeness. May the church yearn to proclaim the good news of a world made new and a mercy wider than imaginations can span.

O God, pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of
bread and cup. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his love. By your Spirit make us one with
Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world. Through your child Jesus Christ, with your Holy Spirit in your Holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty God, now and forever. Amen.

Blessing

Dr. Dong Sung Kim

Sending Song

“God Has Work for Us to Do” – Carl Daw / Mark Miller

V1
‘Til all the jails are empty
And all the bellies filled
‘Til no one hurts or steals or lies
And no more blood is spilled

Chorus
God has work for us to do
God has work for us to do
‘Til God’s will is done
And all things are made new
God has work for us to do
Work for us to do

V2
‘Til age and race and gender
No longer separate
‘Til pulpit, press, and politics
Are free of greed and hate

Chorus

V3
By praying through our doing
And singing though we fear
By trusting that the seed we sow
Will bring God’s harvest near

Chorus