Best Of Storyshare For Proper 22 | Ordinary Time 27, Cycle B
Stories
Object:
Contents
A Note from John
A Story to Live By: "The Fruit of Forgiveness"
Shining Moments: "A Love Story"
Good Stories: "Till Death Do Us Part?" by Jo Perry-Sumwalt
Scrap Pile: World Communion Liturgy by Thom M. Shuman
An Invitation to Send Stories
A Note from John
I won't be preaching this Sunday. Our daughter Kati is getting married on October 4. As we prepare this edition on divorce, Jo and I are anticipating the joy of walking her down the aisle in the church where she sang in the choir, taught Sunday School, and babysat for half of the congregation. I'll never forget the day Kati played the theme from Schindler's List in a Good Friday service. She was so nervous, afraid she was going to miss a note. I was more nervous than she was, and I held my breath to the end. She played it perfectly. I feel the same kind of nervousness now as we prepare for her wedding. I am more nervous than I was before my own wedding 28 years ago. It is a good kind of nervous, eager, hopeful, expectant.... Maybe there will be a grandchild one day. Maybe he will pitch in the major leagues. The odds are better than average. Our son-in-law to be, Mark, is an even bigger baseball fan than I am. God is good.
If I were preaching this Sunday, I would probably open the sermon with one of my favorite jokes:
A woman accompanied her husband to the doctor for his physical. The doctor asked her for a private conversation before they left the office. "Your husband," the doctor said, "is under great stress and you must devote your life to sheltering him. Don't argue or disagree with him. Get up early each morning and fix his favorite breakfast. Spend the morning cleaning the house, but have a nice lunch ready at noon if he happens to come home. The afternoon you can spend outside on work, but make sure there is a special dinner waiting for him when he returns. The evening hours may be spent watching a game with him on TV, followed by romance should he be interested. This must be your schedule to help him through this." The wife left the office, picked up her husband, and drove him home. "Well," asked the husband, "what did the doctor say?" "He said," replied the wife, "that you are going to die."
Our special thanks this week to Thom Shuman for sharing one of his inspired liturgies for World Communion Sunday in this week's Scrap Pile.
A Story to Live By
The Fruit of Forgiveness
It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Hebrews 2:10
In What's So Amazing About Grace? Philip Yancey tells of a woman named Rebecca who was married to a well-known pastor who dabbled in pornography and solicited prostitutes. Eventually the pastor divorced Rebecca and married Julianne. It was painful for this pastor's wife to suffer this great humiliation. People treated her as if it were her fault. She agonized over this deep betrayal and withdrew from others, reluctant to trust anyone. As she prayed about her situation she began to have a sense that unless she forgave him,
"a hard lump of revenge would be passed on to their children. One night
Rebecca called her ex-husband and said, in a shaky voice, 'I want you to know
that I forgive you for what you have done to me. And I forgive Julianne too.' He
laughed off her apology, unwilling to admit he had done anything wrong. Despite
his rebuff, that conversation helped Rebecca get past her bitter feelings. A few
years later Rebecca got a hysterical phone call from Julianne.... Her husband
had been picked up for soliciting a prostitute.... Julianne was sobbing. 'I never
believed you,' she said. 'I kept telling myself that even if what you said was true,
he had changed.... I feel so ashamed, and hurt, and guilty. I have no one on
earth who can understand. Then I remembered the night when you said you
forgave us. I thought maybe you could understand what I am going through. It's
a terrible thing to ask, I know, but could I come talk to you?' Somehow Rebecca
found the courage to invite Julianne over that same evening. They sat in their
living room, cried together, shared stories of betrayal, and in the end prayed
together. Julianne now points to that night as the time when she became a
Christian."
(Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace? Zondervan, 1997, pp. 104-105)
Shining Moments
A Love Story
Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you.
Psalm 26:1-3
(Ann Landers shared this touching story many years ago from a woman in Fort Worth. It became one of her best-known columns.)
I am going to tell you about a love story I witness every time I go to the nursing home to see my husband, who has Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately, I know firsthand how this terrible illness affects family members, but I would like the world to know what love really is.
I see a man who I understand has spent the last eight years caring for his wife who has Alzheimer's. They have been married over 50 years. He cooks and feeds her every bite of food she eats. He has bathed her and dressed her every day all these years. They have no other family. She lost a baby at birth and they never had any more children.
I cannot describe the tenderness and love that man shows for his wife. She is unable to recognize anyone, including him. The only things she shows interest in are two baby dolls. They are never out of her hands.
I observed him when I parked my car beside his the other day. He sat in his old pickup truck for a few minutes, then he patted down what little hair he had, straightened the threadbare collar of his shirt, and looked in the mirror for a final check before going in to see his wife. It was as if he were courting her. They have been partners all these years and have seen each other under all kinds of circumstances, yet he carefully groomed himself before he called on his wife, who wouldn't even know him.
Good Stories
Till Death Do Us Part?
by Jo Perry-Sumwalt
Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"
Mark 10:2
Max and Irene Peters were seen together all over town for years and years: never one without the other. When they retired in the small town on the lake, they had been married for over 40 years, and Irene was in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease. As her confusion and disability increased, Max was devoted to her, taking over more and more of her personal care.
He took her on daily rounds of the downtown stores, shops, restaurants, and especially the senior citizens' center. At first Irene could speak to answer questions and was able to feed herself if Max cut her food. Eventually he had to feed her as well as bathe her, dress her, fix her hair, and diaper her; but he never asked for help. Her moods changed from vacant silence one moment to babbling and shouting obscenities the next; and sometimes she struck out at Max when he was feeding her and knocked the spoon from his hand or the plate from the table, or fought him as he attempted to guide her on their way. He never got upset. He might scold Irene gently and tell her she mustn't cause a scene, but he never lost his temper. He'd just take her hand in his and shush her until she settled back into a docile state. Nothing came between them; they were always together.
Max began bringing Irene to Sunday services in the little community church about a year after the disease seriously affected her mind. Even there she might call out or rock and moan. Max could usually quiet her, but sometimes he had to take her out, so they always sat in the back pew, near the door. Most often he sat with his head bowed.
The congregation of the little church took a curious kind of pride in Max's devotion to Irene. Few people had known them when she was totally herself, and Max wasn't much of a conversationalist, though he seemed eager to exchange pleasantries if approached. But his gentleness and patience with Irene showed that theirs was a special relationship. Most husbands wouldn't have tried to care for a wife in that condition by themselves for so many years -- at home, let alone in public -- but he always brought Irene to church dinners, potlucks, and programs, as well as to worship. No one acknowledged the toll his constant attention to Irene was taking on Max. They only saw how well he coped, and praised him for his loving faithfulness.
But when the pastor called on him at home, Max shared his loneliness and confusion.
"I struggle with my conscience every day, Pastor, because I want it to be over. For years I prayed to God for a miracle, or a medical cure that would bring Irene back to me, the way she used to be. Now I just pray for an end to it. I used to talk to her all day long, just like I always had, in case she could hear me. It scared me to think she might know everything that's going on, but not be able to tell me. Then one day, I looked into her eyes while I was making some silly comment, and I just stopped, right in the middle of the sentence. Her eyes were totally empty. There was no life inside. When we got married we vowed it would be until death do us part, but I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. The days are so long, and I have to be there for her every minute. The doctors say she could go on this way for years. It's like she's dead, but I can't mourn her and go on with my life because she's still here. Does that make any sense? Some days I don't even want to get out of bed.
"I'm so lonely," he said. "I wish I had something to live for again."
There was a long, uncomfortable silence. The pastor didn't really know what to say. Finally he took Max's hand and suggested that they pray together for guidance.
Within six months, Max filed for a divorce and put Irene into the local nursing home. There were exclamations of shock and dismay at his actions from the church and community, until people began to notice the change in Max. He was smiling and laughing again. His hair and clothes were neater, he had a new lightness in his step, and he looked years younger. He began seeing a widow lady from out in the county who frequently came to the senior citizens' center. Evelyn, who had been mourning her late husband for several years, looked happier too. Max brought her to church for worship and dinners and programs. They joined a square dance group for seniors, and twice a week they spent the afternoon at the nursing home, sitting with Irene and helping to care for her. When the divorce was final, they went to the pastor to ask him to marry them.
"After our last talk, I thought long and hard about my life with Irene, and I prayed a lot," Max said. "We were together for 48 years: during the last six she didn't even know me. With every year that passed, I lost a little more hope ... a little more of myself. I decided that I couldn't go on taking care of her, because it was killing me. You know that I believe in the vows about being married until death do us part. I still love Irene, but she's not there anymore. She's dead. I figure maybe God will understand what I've done." He turned and smiled at his companion. "So, after I thought it out, I filed for a divorce and signed Irene into the nursing home. I've felt like a new man ever since. And then I met Evelyn."
"We would like to share what's left of our lives with one another," Evelyn said shyly. "Do you think that would be a bad thing?"
**************************************
This story of Max and Irene is based on a true story. Contrast it with the letter to Ann Landers above. Does the truth of one story belie the truth of the other?
Scrap Pile
World Communion Liturgy
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
Leader: Welcome to this place:
People: where children and seasoned seniors can sit side by side;
where heaven and earth embrace;
where God has been, is, and always will be.
Leader: Welcome to this place, gathered with God's people:
People: where we see God's steadfast love;
where we hear the tender voice of Jesus;
where we sing our thankful songs.
Leader: Welcome to this Table prepared by God:
People: where we can bring our hunger and be fed;
where we can bring our emptiness and be filled;
where we can bring our selves and be loved.
Prayer of the Day (and our Lord's Prayer)
We walk in faith towards you, Creator of the world:
struggling to keep in step with you,
not budging from the path you have leveled for us with your tenderness.
We walk in faith after you, Savior of the world:
as little children in need of a lap;
as gawky adolescents in need of a friend;
as the lonely yearning for a companionable heart.
We walk in faith with you, Sanctifier of the world:
turning our back on our past, and dancing to your Table,
where we join hands with all your children, here and in every place,
praying together the prayer Jesus taught us, saying,
Our Father ...
Call to Reconciliation
We have marginalized peace, but it is the horizon towards which we journey. We are divided from others, not so much by belief as by fear. On this special day of unity with our sisters and brothers throughout the world, let us confess how we have not been the children of God ...
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
We have not been your people, Source of Peace. Rather than seeing Jesus in others, we see people who frighten us, who might harm us. Instead of being makers of peace, we are breakers of promises, keepers of grudges, patrons of prejudice. We sin with lips that mock another's faith, with words that shatter another's heart, with jokes that harm another's heritage.
Redeem us, Lover of Peace, and be gracious to us. Melt our hardened hearts with your tender mercy. Touch us with your healing words, that we might find true shalom. Reshape us into little children, that we might receive the Kingdom our Brother, our Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ has brought into our midst.
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: The forgiveness of God is upon you;
the peace of Christ rests upon you;
the grace of the Holy Spirit is the gift given to you:
People: from this day to the end of eternity, we are God's children:
citizens of God's kingdom, brothers and sisters of the Prince of Peace.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Invitation to the Table
This is the Table where God's family gathers:
children who drop food on the floor,
and folks who dap the corners of their mouths with silk napkins.
This is the Table where all of God's children are welcome:
hose who never miss the Meal,
and those who have pushed themselves away from the Table.
This is the Table where God's people are embraced:
those who have forgotten whose they are,
and those who stumble as they follow Jesus.
This is the Table where God's people are fed:
refugees who bring new understandings of God,
and retirees who pass on the faith to children.
This is God's Table:
not the preacher's; not the church's.
And God is waiting to serve you.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Leader: My beloved sisters and brothers, may the Lord be with you,
People: and also with you.
Leader: My beloved brothers and sisters, lift up your hearts.
People: Our hearts are lifted high to God.
Leader: Beloved of God, let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: Thanksgiving is in our hearts, and praise is on our lips.
Leader: It is our heart's truest delight to praise and thank you, God of glory.
You shaped us in your image, that we might reflect your grace;
you breathed the Spirit into us, that we might live your hope;
but we were wiser than you and chose another path.
You spoke to our grandparents in the faith:
in a shrub burning with the cries of the captive;
in the thunder of reluctant prophets;
in the still small voice of a weeping mother.
Yet we persisted in our ingratitude, hardening our hearts towards you.
And so, you spoke to us once more:
in the borning cries of a Child amidst the squalor of a stable.
Therefore, we join our voices,
with sisters and brothers in every place,
with our ancestors of every time,
singing songs of thanksgiving to your heart:
Sanctus
We bless you in this congregation, Holy God, and bless your Son, Jesus our Lord.
Stamped with your image, he walked among us, that we might see who we could become.
There was no sin on his lips as he spoke your powerful Word of hope.
Offered the easy way out of suffering by accommodation to the powers of his time,
he persisted in his integrity and walked the road to Calvary,
where he tasted death, that we might feast on life.
We remember, and in remembering, we would tell of your wonderful deeds,
including that mystery we call faith:
Memorial Acclamation
Pour out the Spirit of the Prince of Peace and these gifts of the bread and the cup,
not only on us, but also on your children throughout the world:
who gather around war-scarred tables and at the tailgates of humvees
to pass the Bread of Life from hand to hand
until all are fed;
who stand on both sides of walls built by fear
and dare to share the Cup of Salvation with those labeled as "the enemy"
until all are graced.
Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy church,
all honor and glory are yours, Great God our peace,
now and forever. Amen.
Blessing
Leader: The peace of the Creator of the world be with you;
People: the peace of God above all peace.
Leader: The peace of the Savior of the world be with you;
People: the peace of Christ above all peace.
Leader: The peace of the Sanctifier of the World be with you;
People: the peace of the Spirit above all peace.
Leader: Not only in this moment and on this day,
People: but in all the moments, and all the days to come. Amen.
I usually write a prayer/poem to be printed on the back of the bulletin. This is my offering for World Communion.
we will not find
the justice we need
with our apathy;
we will not find
the unity which eludes us
with our quarreling;
we will not find
the wholeness we yearn for
with our doctrines;
we will not find
the love we have misplaced
with our hating;
we will not find
the rest we crave
with our exhausting schedules;
we will not find
the peace we seek
with our silence;
but
we will find you
in the brokenness of the Bread
and in the breaking of our hearts;
we will find you
when we empty the Cup,
refill it with our gifts,
and offer it to a little child;
we will find you
when we make room at the Table
for all your people.
Thom Shuman has just begun his 14th year as pastor of Greenhills (Presbyterian) Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.
**********************************************
StoryShare, October 5, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503
A Note from John
A Story to Live By: "The Fruit of Forgiveness"
Shining Moments: "A Love Story"
Good Stories: "Till Death Do Us Part?" by Jo Perry-Sumwalt
Scrap Pile: World Communion Liturgy by Thom M. Shuman
An Invitation to Send Stories
A Note from John
I won't be preaching this Sunday. Our daughter Kati is getting married on October 4. As we prepare this edition on divorce, Jo and I are anticipating the joy of walking her down the aisle in the church where she sang in the choir, taught Sunday School, and babysat for half of the congregation. I'll never forget the day Kati played the theme from Schindler's List in a Good Friday service. She was so nervous, afraid she was going to miss a note. I was more nervous than she was, and I held my breath to the end. She played it perfectly. I feel the same kind of nervousness now as we prepare for her wedding. I am more nervous than I was before my own wedding 28 years ago. It is a good kind of nervous, eager, hopeful, expectant.... Maybe there will be a grandchild one day. Maybe he will pitch in the major leagues. The odds are better than average. Our son-in-law to be, Mark, is an even bigger baseball fan than I am. God is good.
If I were preaching this Sunday, I would probably open the sermon with one of my favorite jokes:
A woman accompanied her husband to the doctor for his physical. The doctor asked her for a private conversation before they left the office. "Your husband," the doctor said, "is under great stress and you must devote your life to sheltering him. Don't argue or disagree with him. Get up early each morning and fix his favorite breakfast. Spend the morning cleaning the house, but have a nice lunch ready at noon if he happens to come home. The afternoon you can spend outside on work, but make sure there is a special dinner waiting for him when he returns. The evening hours may be spent watching a game with him on TV, followed by romance should he be interested. This must be your schedule to help him through this." The wife left the office, picked up her husband, and drove him home. "Well," asked the husband, "what did the doctor say?" "He said," replied the wife, "that you are going to die."
Our special thanks this week to Thom Shuman for sharing one of his inspired liturgies for World Communion Sunday in this week's Scrap Pile.
A Story to Live By
The Fruit of Forgiveness
It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Hebrews 2:10
In What's So Amazing About Grace? Philip Yancey tells of a woman named Rebecca who was married to a well-known pastor who dabbled in pornography and solicited prostitutes. Eventually the pastor divorced Rebecca and married Julianne. It was painful for this pastor's wife to suffer this great humiliation. People treated her as if it were her fault. She agonized over this deep betrayal and withdrew from others, reluctant to trust anyone. As she prayed about her situation she began to have a sense that unless she forgave him,
"a hard lump of revenge would be passed on to their children. One night
Rebecca called her ex-husband and said, in a shaky voice, 'I want you to know
that I forgive you for what you have done to me. And I forgive Julianne too.' He
laughed off her apology, unwilling to admit he had done anything wrong. Despite
his rebuff, that conversation helped Rebecca get past her bitter feelings. A few
years later Rebecca got a hysterical phone call from Julianne.... Her husband
had been picked up for soliciting a prostitute.... Julianne was sobbing. 'I never
believed you,' she said. 'I kept telling myself that even if what you said was true,
he had changed.... I feel so ashamed, and hurt, and guilty. I have no one on
earth who can understand. Then I remembered the night when you said you
forgave us. I thought maybe you could understand what I am going through. It's
a terrible thing to ask, I know, but could I come talk to you?' Somehow Rebecca
found the courage to invite Julianne over that same evening. They sat in their
living room, cried together, shared stories of betrayal, and in the end prayed
together. Julianne now points to that night as the time when she became a
Christian."
(Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace? Zondervan, 1997, pp. 104-105)
Shining Moments
A Love Story
Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you.
Psalm 26:1-3
(Ann Landers shared this touching story many years ago from a woman in Fort Worth. It became one of her best-known columns.)
I am going to tell you about a love story I witness every time I go to the nursing home to see my husband, who has Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately, I know firsthand how this terrible illness affects family members, but I would like the world to know what love really is.
I see a man who I understand has spent the last eight years caring for his wife who has Alzheimer's. They have been married over 50 years. He cooks and feeds her every bite of food she eats. He has bathed her and dressed her every day all these years. They have no other family. She lost a baby at birth and they never had any more children.
I cannot describe the tenderness and love that man shows for his wife. She is unable to recognize anyone, including him. The only things she shows interest in are two baby dolls. They are never out of her hands.
I observed him when I parked my car beside his the other day. He sat in his old pickup truck for a few minutes, then he patted down what little hair he had, straightened the threadbare collar of his shirt, and looked in the mirror for a final check before going in to see his wife. It was as if he were courting her. They have been partners all these years and have seen each other under all kinds of circumstances, yet he carefully groomed himself before he called on his wife, who wouldn't even know him.
Good Stories
Till Death Do Us Part?
by Jo Perry-Sumwalt
Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"
Mark 10:2
Max and Irene Peters were seen together all over town for years and years: never one without the other. When they retired in the small town on the lake, they had been married for over 40 years, and Irene was in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease. As her confusion and disability increased, Max was devoted to her, taking over more and more of her personal care.
He took her on daily rounds of the downtown stores, shops, restaurants, and especially the senior citizens' center. At first Irene could speak to answer questions and was able to feed herself if Max cut her food. Eventually he had to feed her as well as bathe her, dress her, fix her hair, and diaper her; but he never asked for help. Her moods changed from vacant silence one moment to babbling and shouting obscenities the next; and sometimes she struck out at Max when he was feeding her and knocked the spoon from his hand or the plate from the table, or fought him as he attempted to guide her on their way. He never got upset. He might scold Irene gently and tell her she mustn't cause a scene, but he never lost his temper. He'd just take her hand in his and shush her until she settled back into a docile state. Nothing came between them; they were always together.
Max began bringing Irene to Sunday services in the little community church about a year after the disease seriously affected her mind. Even there she might call out or rock and moan. Max could usually quiet her, but sometimes he had to take her out, so they always sat in the back pew, near the door. Most often he sat with his head bowed.
The congregation of the little church took a curious kind of pride in Max's devotion to Irene. Few people had known them when she was totally herself, and Max wasn't much of a conversationalist, though he seemed eager to exchange pleasantries if approached. But his gentleness and patience with Irene showed that theirs was a special relationship. Most husbands wouldn't have tried to care for a wife in that condition by themselves for so many years -- at home, let alone in public -- but he always brought Irene to church dinners, potlucks, and programs, as well as to worship. No one acknowledged the toll his constant attention to Irene was taking on Max. They only saw how well he coped, and praised him for his loving faithfulness.
But when the pastor called on him at home, Max shared his loneliness and confusion.
"I struggle with my conscience every day, Pastor, because I want it to be over. For years I prayed to God for a miracle, or a medical cure that would bring Irene back to me, the way she used to be. Now I just pray for an end to it. I used to talk to her all day long, just like I always had, in case she could hear me. It scared me to think she might know everything that's going on, but not be able to tell me. Then one day, I looked into her eyes while I was making some silly comment, and I just stopped, right in the middle of the sentence. Her eyes were totally empty. There was no life inside. When we got married we vowed it would be until death do us part, but I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. The days are so long, and I have to be there for her every minute. The doctors say she could go on this way for years. It's like she's dead, but I can't mourn her and go on with my life because she's still here. Does that make any sense? Some days I don't even want to get out of bed.
"I'm so lonely," he said. "I wish I had something to live for again."
There was a long, uncomfortable silence. The pastor didn't really know what to say. Finally he took Max's hand and suggested that they pray together for guidance.
Within six months, Max filed for a divorce and put Irene into the local nursing home. There were exclamations of shock and dismay at his actions from the church and community, until people began to notice the change in Max. He was smiling and laughing again. His hair and clothes were neater, he had a new lightness in his step, and he looked years younger. He began seeing a widow lady from out in the county who frequently came to the senior citizens' center. Evelyn, who had been mourning her late husband for several years, looked happier too. Max brought her to church for worship and dinners and programs. They joined a square dance group for seniors, and twice a week they spent the afternoon at the nursing home, sitting with Irene and helping to care for her. When the divorce was final, they went to the pastor to ask him to marry them.
"After our last talk, I thought long and hard about my life with Irene, and I prayed a lot," Max said. "We were together for 48 years: during the last six she didn't even know me. With every year that passed, I lost a little more hope ... a little more of myself. I decided that I couldn't go on taking care of her, because it was killing me. You know that I believe in the vows about being married until death do us part. I still love Irene, but she's not there anymore. She's dead. I figure maybe God will understand what I've done." He turned and smiled at his companion. "So, after I thought it out, I filed for a divorce and signed Irene into the nursing home. I've felt like a new man ever since. And then I met Evelyn."
"We would like to share what's left of our lives with one another," Evelyn said shyly. "Do you think that would be a bad thing?"
**************************************
This story of Max and Irene is based on a true story. Contrast it with the letter to Ann Landers above. Does the truth of one story belie the truth of the other?
Scrap Pile
World Communion Liturgy
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
Leader: Welcome to this place:
People: where children and seasoned seniors can sit side by side;
where heaven and earth embrace;
where God has been, is, and always will be.
Leader: Welcome to this place, gathered with God's people:
People: where we see God's steadfast love;
where we hear the tender voice of Jesus;
where we sing our thankful songs.
Leader: Welcome to this Table prepared by God:
People: where we can bring our hunger and be fed;
where we can bring our emptiness and be filled;
where we can bring our selves and be loved.
Prayer of the Day (and our Lord's Prayer)
We walk in faith towards you, Creator of the world:
struggling to keep in step with you,
not budging from the path you have leveled for us with your tenderness.
We walk in faith after you, Savior of the world:
as little children in need of a lap;
as gawky adolescents in need of a friend;
as the lonely yearning for a companionable heart.
We walk in faith with you, Sanctifier of the world:
turning our back on our past, and dancing to your Table,
where we join hands with all your children, here and in every place,
praying together the prayer Jesus taught us, saying,
Our Father ...
Call to Reconciliation
We have marginalized peace, but it is the horizon towards which we journey. We are divided from others, not so much by belief as by fear. On this special day of unity with our sisters and brothers throughout the world, let us confess how we have not been the children of God ...
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
We have not been your people, Source of Peace. Rather than seeing Jesus in others, we see people who frighten us, who might harm us. Instead of being makers of peace, we are breakers of promises, keepers of grudges, patrons of prejudice. We sin with lips that mock another's faith, with words that shatter another's heart, with jokes that harm another's heritage.
Redeem us, Lover of Peace, and be gracious to us. Melt our hardened hearts with your tender mercy. Touch us with your healing words, that we might find true shalom. Reshape us into little children, that we might receive the Kingdom our Brother, our Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ has brought into our midst.
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: The forgiveness of God is upon you;
the peace of Christ rests upon you;
the grace of the Holy Spirit is the gift given to you:
People: from this day to the end of eternity, we are God's children:
citizens of God's kingdom, brothers and sisters of the Prince of Peace.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Invitation to the Table
This is the Table where God's family gathers:
children who drop food on the floor,
and folks who dap the corners of their mouths with silk napkins.
This is the Table where all of God's children are welcome:
hose who never miss the Meal,
and those who have pushed themselves away from the Table.
This is the Table where God's people are embraced:
those who have forgotten whose they are,
and those who stumble as they follow Jesus.
This is the Table where God's people are fed:
refugees who bring new understandings of God,
and retirees who pass on the faith to children.
This is God's Table:
not the preacher's; not the church's.
And God is waiting to serve you.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Leader: My beloved sisters and brothers, may the Lord be with you,
People: and also with you.
Leader: My beloved brothers and sisters, lift up your hearts.
People: Our hearts are lifted high to God.
Leader: Beloved of God, let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: Thanksgiving is in our hearts, and praise is on our lips.
Leader: It is our heart's truest delight to praise and thank you, God of glory.
You shaped us in your image, that we might reflect your grace;
you breathed the Spirit into us, that we might live your hope;
but we were wiser than you and chose another path.
You spoke to our grandparents in the faith:
in a shrub burning with the cries of the captive;
in the thunder of reluctant prophets;
in the still small voice of a weeping mother.
Yet we persisted in our ingratitude, hardening our hearts towards you.
And so, you spoke to us once more:
in the borning cries of a Child amidst the squalor of a stable.
Therefore, we join our voices,
with sisters and brothers in every place,
with our ancestors of every time,
singing songs of thanksgiving to your heart:
Sanctus
We bless you in this congregation, Holy God, and bless your Son, Jesus our Lord.
Stamped with your image, he walked among us, that we might see who we could become.
There was no sin on his lips as he spoke your powerful Word of hope.
Offered the easy way out of suffering by accommodation to the powers of his time,
he persisted in his integrity and walked the road to Calvary,
where he tasted death, that we might feast on life.
We remember, and in remembering, we would tell of your wonderful deeds,
including that mystery we call faith:
Memorial Acclamation
Pour out the Spirit of the Prince of Peace and these gifts of the bread and the cup,
not only on us, but also on your children throughout the world:
who gather around war-scarred tables and at the tailgates of humvees
to pass the Bread of Life from hand to hand
until all are fed;
who stand on both sides of walls built by fear
and dare to share the Cup of Salvation with those labeled as "the enemy"
until all are graced.
Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy church,
all honor and glory are yours, Great God our peace,
now and forever. Amen.
Blessing
Leader: The peace of the Creator of the world be with you;
People: the peace of God above all peace.
Leader: The peace of the Savior of the world be with you;
People: the peace of Christ above all peace.
Leader: The peace of the Sanctifier of the World be with you;
People: the peace of the Spirit above all peace.
Leader: Not only in this moment and on this day,
People: but in all the moments, and all the days to come. Amen.
I usually write a prayer/poem to be printed on the back of the bulletin. This is my offering for World Communion.
we will not find
the justice we need
with our apathy;
we will not find
the unity which eludes us
with our quarreling;
we will not find
the wholeness we yearn for
with our doctrines;
we will not find
the love we have misplaced
with our hating;
we will not find
the rest we crave
with our exhausting schedules;
we will not find
the peace we seek
with our silence;
but
we will find you
in the brokenness of the Bread
and in the breaking of our hearts;
we will find you
when we empty the Cup,
refill it with our gifts,
and offer it to a little child;
we will find you
when we make room at the Table
for all your people.
Thom Shuman has just begun his 14th year as pastor of Greenhills (Presbyterian) Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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StoryShare, October 5, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503
