Salt, Light, Righteousness
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Series II, Cycle A Gospel Texts
Adoration And Praise
Invitation to the Celebration
Enter from the back of the sanctuary and scatter salt over the people as you come down the aisle. Ask ushers or others to assist so that every part of the congregation is covered. If you think this idea is too radical, take a powerful flashlight into the pulpit, and point it at the congregation, as you repeat again and again, "You are the light of the world." Then, did you folks know that you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, according, not to Garp, but to Jesus? Please raise your hand if you knew that. If you failed to know that, write your reason in your diary; or if you want to take a risk at the beginning of worship, tell us. We would like to know you better. And I promise you that I will make no judgment about your life. What I will do is affirm your courage. (Wait for one minute.)
Notice the promise in the pastor/ministers response:
P: Come on! Celebrate the God who is Creator, Liberator, Sustainer, Energizer of the ones who call themselves salt and light, the new creation.
M: We do come to celebrate our saltiness and light. We are God's people, new persons in the new creation, made possible not by our righteous efforts, but by the death and resurrection of the Christ. We come to affirm that the old has passed away, and behold, the new has come.
P: Christ is Lord; Christ is Author of salt and light.
M: And we are new persons through him. We offer the world our salt and light. As transformed, renewed, released people, we celebrate with praise and enthusiasm!
Response
"You are the Salt of the Earth" (Avery and Marsh, The Second Avery and Marsh Songbook. See Appendix I for the address).
Confession And Forgiveness
The Act of Recognizing Our Humanity
I'm going to read Matthew 5:19-20. I will read slowly and deliberately. Please note on paper your feelings and thoughts. Then, are any of you willing to share them with us? Yes, I know that it's risky; but remember that the liturgy is "the work of the people." (Wait a few more moments.) Take the risk of sharing your own feelings and thoughts. Present the hopelessness leading up to this corporate prayer: "Almighty God, We confess that we have done some awful things to others and to ourselves and to you. But they are our problems. We confess the awful things we have done in order once again to be able to look each other in the eye. We confess the awful things we have done, and ask for courage to face the consequences, as forgiven men and women who take forgiveness seriously. We confess that we have lived by the sweat of our brothers' and sisters' and children's (very young children's) brows. At times we have treated our fellow humans as dogs. We have presumed to tell other countries how they shall live, and for what they must die. And we do all of this, while at the same time, claiming to be your salt and light in a desperate world. Have mercy on us, Lord. We need it badly."1 (Give the people two minutes to digest the prayer.)
The Act of Receiving New Life
People of God, remember that salt and light are gifts from God. We do not earn them. They are gifts waiting for our reception of them. What do I need to say to you in this precious present moment to have you receive these gifts? Are you aware that God is waiting for you to receive them? If not, what is blocking you from receiving the greatest gift ever offered to this, or any, world?
Ministers' response: God, we open our hearts to you. We are ready to receive you and your gifts of salt and light. Thank you. And thank you for cleansing us from any and all self-righteousness that keeps us from being the salt and light which the world needs to see and experience. We are ready for your truth. We are ready to begin again.
Response
"A New Creature" (words and music by John F. Wilson, found in Folk Encounter. See Appendix I for address).
Listening And Proclaiming
Message with the Children of All Ages
Develop the message around salt and light, and what those can mean in the lives of children as they play, attend school, visit friends, and participate in their family.
Reading from the Newer Covenant
When you come to the part about light, turn the flashlight on the congregation. When you read verses 17 to 20, turn the light on yourself.
Proclamation of the Good News
From a Simeon Stylites article in the Christian Century magazine years ago, Simeon began this way: In the years preceding the formation of the United Church of Canada, a questionnaire was sent to clergy in western Canada asking about conditions there. One question was, "What are the chief obstacles to religion in your community?" One pastor replied, with much feeling, "The chief obstacles to true religion in our community are whisky and the Methodists." That probably could be said for other denominations as well.
Stewardship Challenge
1. Hand out the Epiphany stars only to those who have not yet received them.
2. Ask two people, in advance, to share their experience about the message on their stars.
Charge to the Congregation
As salt and light, a Christian is an affirmation of the Lordship of Christ; and a denier of the lordship of Caesar, no matter what form Caesar takes. A Christian, as salt and light, is a practitioner of human justice.
Meditation
"Christ is not valued at all unless Christ is valued above all" (Saint Augustine).
Music Possibilities In Addition To Those Already Suggested
Music for Preparation: Medley of Epiphany hymns or "Vision" by Rheinberger.
Hymn of Praise: "Praise the Lord, God's Glories Show," Henry Francis Lyte, 1834; alt. 1972.
Response to the Message with the Children: "I Am the Light of the World," Howard Thurman/Jim Strathdee, copyright 1969.
Response to the Proclamation: "Awake, My Heart," Jane M. Marshall.
Offertory: "Quiet Prelude," Jacobi.
Hymn of Commitment: "Be Thou My Vision," Traditional Irish Melody; trans. by Mary Byrne, 1905; versified by Eleason Hull, 1912; alt.
Response to the Benediction: Chorus only, "I Am the Light of the World." Invite the people to sing several times, and as they leave the sanctuary. (Found in New Wine, Songs for Celebration. See Appendix I for address.)
Music for Dismissal: Medley of Epiphany hymns.
____________
1. Written by Peter Fribley, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, slightly revised. Permission to use given by Peter Fribley, Presbyterian pastor, currently (May 1997) a Lecturer in Religious Studies with Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin.
Invitation to the Celebration
Enter from the back of the sanctuary and scatter salt over the people as you come down the aisle. Ask ushers or others to assist so that every part of the congregation is covered. If you think this idea is too radical, take a powerful flashlight into the pulpit, and point it at the congregation, as you repeat again and again, "You are the light of the world." Then, did you folks know that you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, according, not to Garp, but to Jesus? Please raise your hand if you knew that. If you failed to know that, write your reason in your diary; or if you want to take a risk at the beginning of worship, tell us. We would like to know you better. And I promise you that I will make no judgment about your life. What I will do is affirm your courage. (Wait for one minute.)
Notice the promise in the pastor/ministers response:
P: Come on! Celebrate the God who is Creator, Liberator, Sustainer, Energizer of the ones who call themselves salt and light, the new creation.
M: We do come to celebrate our saltiness and light. We are God's people, new persons in the new creation, made possible not by our righteous efforts, but by the death and resurrection of the Christ. We come to affirm that the old has passed away, and behold, the new has come.
P: Christ is Lord; Christ is Author of salt and light.
M: And we are new persons through him. We offer the world our salt and light. As transformed, renewed, released people, we celebrate with praise and enthusiasm!
Response
"You are the Salt of the Earth" (Avery and Marsh, The Second Avery and Marsh Songbook. See Appendix I for the address).
Confession And Forgiveness
The Act of Recognizing Our Humanity
I'm going to read Matthew 5:19-20. I will read slowly and deliberately. Please note on paper your feelings and thoughts. Then, are any of you willing to share them with us? Yes, I know that it's risky; but remember that the liturgy is "the work of the people." (Wait a few more moments.) Take the risk of sharing your own feelings and thoughts. Present the hopelessness leading up to this corporate prayer: "Almighty God, We confess that we have done some awful things to others and to ourselves and to you. But they are our problems. We confess the awful things we have done in order once again to be able to look each other in the eye. We confess the awful things we have done, and ask for courage to face the consequences, as forgiven men and women who take forgiveness seriously. We confess that we have lived by the sweat of our brothers' and sisters' and children's (very young children's) brows. At times we have treated our fellow humans as dogs. We have presumed to tell other countries how they shall live, and for what they must die. And we do all of this, while at the same time, claiming to be your salt and light in a desperate world. Have mercy on us, Lord. We need it badly."1 (Give the people two minutes to digest the prayer.)
The Act of Receiving New Life
People of God, remember that salt and light are gifts from God. We do not earn them. They are gifts waiting for our reception of them. What do I need to say to you in this precious present moment to have you receive these gifts? Are you aware that God is waiting for you to receive them? If not, what is blocking you from receiving the greatest gift ever offered to this, or any, world?
Ministers' response: God, we open our hearts to you. We are ready to receive you and your gifts of salt and light. Thank you. And thank you for cleansing us from any and all self-righteousness that keeps us from being the salt and light which the world needs to see and experience. We are ready for your truth. We are ready to begin again.
Response
"A New Creature" (words and music by John F. Wilson, found in Folk Encounter. See Appendix I for address).
Listening And Proclaiming
Message with the Children of All Ages
Develop the message around salt and light, and what those can mean in the lives of children as they play, attend school, visit friends, and participate in their family.
Reading from the Newer Covenant
When you come to the part about light, turn the flashlight on the congregation. When you read verses 17 to 20, turn the light on yourself.
Proclamation of the Good News
From a Simeon Stylites article in the Christian Century magazine years ago, Simeon began this way: In the years preceding the formation of the United Church of Canada, a questionnaire was sent to clergy in western Canada asking about conditions there. One question was, "What are the chief obstacles to religion in your community?" One pastor replied, with much feeling, "The chief obstacles to true religion in our community are whisky and the Methodists." That probably could be said for other denominations as well.
Stewardship Challenge
1. Hand out the Epiphany stars only to those who have not yet received them.
2. Ask two people, in advance, to share their experience about the message on their stars.
Charge to the Congregation
As salt and light, a Christian is an affirmation of the Lordship of Christ; and a denier of the lordship of Caesar, no matter what form Caesar takes. A Christian, as salt and light, is a practitioner of human justice.
Meditation
"Christ is not valued at all unless Christ is valued above all" (Saint Augustine).
Music Possibilities In Addition To Those Already Suggested
Music for Preparation: Medley of Epiphany hymns or "Vision" by Rheinberger.
Hymn of Praise: "Praise the Lord, God's Glories Show," Henry Francis Lyte, 1834; alt. 1972.
Response to the Message with the Children: "I Am the Light of the World," Howard Thurman/Jim Strathdee, copyright 1969.
Response to the Proclamation: "Awake, My Heart," Jane M. Marshall.
Offertory: "Quiet Prelude," Jacobi.
Hymn of Commitment: "Be Thou My Vision," Traditional Irish Melody; trans. by Mary Byrne, 1905; versified by Eleason Hull, 1912; alt.
Response to the Benediction: Chorus only, "I Am the Light of the World." Invite the people to sing several times, and as they leave the sanctuary. (Found in New Wine, Songs for Celebration. See Appendix I for address.)
Music for Dismissal: Medley of Epiphany hymns.
____________
1. Written by Peter Fribley, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, slightly revised. Permission to use given by Peter Fribley, Presbyterian pastor, currently (May 1997) a Lecturer in Religious Studies with Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin.
