Today we remember the beautiful September morning when the sky became filled with soot, when terror robbed the joy of our neighbors.
The ones who relive trauma day after day from those scenes and the ones whose hearts still ache from their loss never live far from our minds.
May beautiful stories open for the children who never knew their parents and may the widows and widowers find the gentle rains of peace.
May the first responders who struggle with ongoing health issues find the healing they need, and may we remember the ones who died since that September day in 2001.
May we work with our neighbors of all faiths, races, perspectives, abilities, orientations, and identities to craft a world where Divine love reigns, where justice heals, and where mercy unites.
May we labor together to build a world where hate lives no more, where words of malice fall away, where actions of brutality dissipate, and where terrorism and genocide and oppression have no home.
May our country and every other nation find blessings, and may we be a blessing to those within our nation and our neighbors across this earth.
You sow new seeds in our world, and call us to harvest them when the time is right. You fill our world with new melodies, and ask us to sing them to change the air around us. You call us to use new wineskins for our wine. You ask us to try new delicacies, travel to new lands, and listen to the stories of our new neighbors. Let us embrace the Spirit of newness surrounding us, listening to your transforming call in our lives. Amen.
PRAYER OF RECONCILIATION One: Loving God, Divine Chef- We cling to the usual menu of life. We order the same food. We invite the same people. Yet what if you are calling us to order new cuisine and dine with a new group? All: Transform our minds to the adventure of newness. May the meal and the conversations we share open our hearts to new tastes, textures, and experiences. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF GRACE One: God serves us grace as we reflect on our past errors and hurtful actions. God sets us on a new path filled with mercy and wisdom. Let us rejoice as we embrace fresh beginnings! Amen!
BENEDICTION May we embrace the flavor of newness in the meals we eat this week. May the aroma of the unfamiliar draw us into new adventures. May the stories of strangers open our minds to new paths. And as the foreign becomes familiar, may the Spirit of God draw us into transforming this world with our new understandings. Amen.
(c) Rev. Michelle L. Torigian. Permission to use with attribution.
Divine Dawn of Redemption, as the tomb has opened, we peer into the future. Like in the garden long ago, so much around is still unknown. Yet you have refilled our souls with hope. Even when fear lingers, your peace-filled spirit surrounds us, bringing us the confidence to continue to move forward. May we embrace this new era of resurrection with steadfast faith, even when anxiety and amazement disorient us. Amen.
Blessing of the Gifts
Holy One, with gratitude, we celebrate all gifts we have been given and the gifts we share with the church and our community. May the treasures, talents, and time we share build a world in which all people experience resurrection and renewal. Amen.
Benediction
As we enter a world where resurrection is possible, Nudge us forward when the unknown is overwhelming. Empower us when anxiety and amazement seize our spirits. Allow our trembling voices to share Alleluias with a hurting world. Open our hearts to our neighbors yearning for rebirth. And allow us to see the empty tomb in each season of our lives.
Divine Love, in this week of contemplation, may we remember the presentation of your love through the Christ. As we share in the breaking of the bread, may we recall the beautiful unity of Christ’s table. May the mandate of this day, to love our neighbors as ourselves, be etched into our souls. Widen our minds to see our neighbors from a new angle. Widen our hearts to serve as Jesus the Christ once served. Amen.
Communion
The communion liturgy keeps in mind a hybrid approach to worship this year. Some people may be in our presence, and others experiencing worship at home. This was adapted from last year’s “sheltering in place” communion liturgy.
Christ gave us the mandate to love one another. Christ gave us the peace that we will never be left alone. Christ gave us the picture that we are connected as vine and branches. Christ gave us the assurance that no one will take away our joy.
God is with you! God is with us all! Open wide our hearts. We open them to new possibilities. From here tonight to dining room tables, this is the time to give God our thanks and praise.
Jesus the Christ has created a realm of love for each of us- one in which we will be reunited with loved ones, one full of sacred memories, one in which we are assured of God’s comfort.
It was a night filled with teachings and memories. Undoubtedly, tears were shed and laughs raised. This was the night before Jesus died. Jesus took bread. As he blessed it and broke it, he said to his friends Whenever you eat this bread, eat in remembrance of me.
Later, Jesus blessed a cup filled with fruit of the vine. Friends, this is the new covenant. Drink this to remember me. Drink to remember our time together.
Spirit of God, surround the bread. Surround the cup. Surround us – here and elsewhere. Bless us in our eating and drinking. Bless our connection – near and far. No matter if close or distant, our covenant with God will keep us together.
May we spend this time remembering: The ones who can’t be at the table. The ones who are no longer at the table. And the one Christ who created this sacramental table experience. Amen.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Loving God, Great Provider-
After this time together, near and far, we give thanks for the opportunity to commune with the Christ and our neighbor. May the love that was experienced tonight through bread and cup open our hearts to the beauty, pain, and joy across our world. May this sacrament move us to offer our neighbors our love. And may our time at the table remind us of the ones who are forever in our hearts. Amen.
Blessing of the Gifts and Benediction
As we are not having a “collection” time during our service, our congregants are dropping them in boxes on the way out of the sanctuary, mailing them into church, or giving online. We have combined the two together.
Holy One-Your gifts build a world of love, filled with memories of your presence in our lives. May we use our gifts to continue to create a world of care, living into your mandate to love one another as you love us. Amen.
We walk into the dusk knowing the journey of Jesus. May we remember his steps to the cross. May we embrace his profound love. And may we share this grace each and everyday, leading our world to resurrection.
Amen.
(c) Rev. Michelle L. Torigian 2021. Liturgy may be used with attribution.
As we gaze into your lakes and rivers, we honor the waters you designed on this earth.
Your seashores remind us of your design of this planet and all the gifts to allow us to flourish.
Bless the tides and oceans. Bless the rains that dance upon the dirt. Fill our jars with clean water.
May your stream continue to flow, gifting clean water to all neighbors. May this water be easily attained by people in all cities and countries. Keep all of your children hydrated and refreshed.
Invitation God is with you! And God is with us all. Open wide your hearts. We open them completely to the Spirit of God. May God’s love nurture your wandering spirits each day. May God’s light sustain your souls each night.
Prayer of Communion This is a season of wilderness- The season we grasp to understand the Divine just a little more. This is the time for us to reach inwards to find the self that God sees. This is the chance for us to gaze outwards, caring for the Christ in our midst.
The Lenten roads are long Yet full of gifts. The Lenten paths often seem chilly Yet warm with the winds of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is the light that leads us in the hushed nights. The Christ is our companion on the journey in the intense sunlight of day. We remember his time in the wilderness- The struggles. The hunger. The peace.
And as we seek the Divine in our midst, On this journey, we crave the bread of life. On our desert roads, we thirst for the fruit of the vine, the cup of blessings.
Through Jesus the Christ’s story, we remember the night before his arrest, The night of serenity, solemnity, and love. Jesus took in his hands bread from the table. He broke it and blessed it. Eat in remembrance of me, he said.
And after supper, As the night grew long, Jesus took a cup, and filled it with the fruit of the vine. As he blessed it, he spoke aloud to them Take and drink and always remember me.
May the Spirit who traveled with Christ in the wilderness And fills us with the hope of God Surround these elements. May the Spirit speak to us in this season of wilderness Becoming our strength on this journey And filling our lives with love. Amen.
Prayer of Thanksgiving Divine Light of Our Journey- In a spirit of gratitude we give thanks for this time at your Holy Meal. This time at the Table filled us with strength, Knowing that as we continue on this Lenten journey, We will find your peace surrounding us. Amen.
I took one class in college that one may classify as a “blow-off” class: Television and Society.
Now, my intentions for taking it were not because it appeared easy. Along with my two concentrations of public relations and professional writing under my degree in English, I was hoping that the stars would align, the classes would be available, and I could fulfill the requirements for a minor in Communications. (I was one class shy.) This class was an elective for the minor. (Admittedly, taking a class such as this helped out when I had to leave school for a week when my grandmother was dying. But that’s another story for another time.)
In any case, this class featured television from various eras and styles, taking account the time period in which the show was featured. As we looked back on the 1950’s, television was drastically different than in the 1990’s.
And today, over 25 years after taking the class, television is drastically different.
No longer do we need to catch a television show when it airs or set our VCRs to catch the show. Now, everything is On Demand. If my DVR doesn’t record a program, it will be on Hulu the next day. Furthermore, this gives the viewer the opportunity to binge watch television shows – from just one episode to a whole season in one night.
Needing to stay inside this year has given people the opportunity to watch shows at their own convenience, enjoying an evening’s worth of programming based upon the time and audience. I’ve had the chance to watch shows that had just fully completed their run (Schitt’s Creek) and new seasons of other programs (The Crown and others).
Not only has our style of watching shows changed, but the content itself. Just recently, I read an NPR article on why Grey’s Anatomy decided to include the Covid-19 pandemic into the show.
One of the medical consultants, Dr. Nasar Alazari said this:
“The disease is our zeitgeist” is a very important point every industry and corner of our society needs to embrace. We will never be the same because of this time. Television needs to reflect it.
And so does the church.
Television and Society class taught me that as times change, the content of television and our viewing habits change. This year has taught me that as times change, the content of church and our participation habits change. I would say that this is another “Video Killed the Radio Star” moment; nothing stays the same, and we are called to adapt.
Covid-19 is our zeitgeist, which the Oxford Languages defines zeitgeist as “the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.” Just as WWII was the major backdrop of the early 1940’s, this virus is the backdrop for 2020. The tension of the Babylonian Exile was a major zeitgeist of the writings in the Hebrew Bible. We can’t escape this backdrop.
Of course, this means content of services, including sermons, reflect this tension in a way that is real but hopeful. It’s a part of our landscape. A medical show can’t escape storylines on the virus because it’s a major part of medicine now. Likewise, we can’t disregard this because it’s part of who we are now.
Furthermore, the structure of faith communities have changed forever. Do people need to watch church at 9:30am on Sunday mornings? No. Church is becoming On Demand. We can watch it whenever it is convenient. I now think this will be a permanent part of church life. What we must do is pair that with the commitment to stay connected with our congregants. To our faith community, the work of connecting to people has transformed, and I think this level of working to connect has changed the way we do church. This has brought us closer together at a time when we feel physically distant.
Like with television, this time has permanently changed all of us – and every corner of society. The Church is permanently changed. And that one sort of “blow off” class I took in 1994 helped me see that whatever the zeitgeist, we will keep surviving and keep adapting.
Oh how could we be here! How can our neighbors care so little about us, focusing on freedom instead of compassion?
Despair and resentment grow within my heart. At some point I’ll reflect on forgiveness, but right now I rage.
It was more important for some to hold big parties which created more cases instead of imagining how their actions would ripple into the world.
It was more important for some people to make a point of not wearing masks for the sake of their “freedom” instead of embracing the beauty of connection and sacrifice for the greater good.
It was more important for people to defy recommendations based on ideology instead of seeking science and reason.
And so our medical professionals worry each day if they are next. Because some wanted to out to dinner, our schools must close. Because of ego, gatherings commence when they should be placed on hold.
Dear God, I’m angry. I’m furious because our loved ones can’t gather with us for holidays. Some are sick. Others are dying. I’m angry at our fierce independence because it creates barriers to achieve a healthy society.
I’m angry because they don’t care about my health.
So with my neighbors, we scream in anger at where we are today, knowing that some turn their backs on justice and mercy, on interconnectedness and love.
I’m not ready to forgive. I’m not ready to forget.
As we stop to ponder the past, we recall the ones who placed their lives on pause to risk, to strengthen and nurture the spirit of our country.
With gratitude today, we remember our veterans. For many, the wars aren’t over. For many, trauma is relived day after day. For many the pain in their bodies and their missing limbs remind them of the horrors of war.
Can we thank them enough? Can we create a world in which war is rare? Can we ensure their post-war care is strong and fruitful?
For their risks, for their sacrifices, we honor them. For the veterans who are now our saints, we celebrate their memories with love.
May peace abide in their hearts. May comfort claim their souls. May we see that our lives are connected to their efforts, and their care is essential to the Body of Christ being whole.
Invocation Divine Ocean of Love, As we peer into the horizon of the unknown And dreams dwindle, May your source of peace connect us with you. Allow us to soak in rays of hope as we seek your presence in tumultuous times. Focus our hearts on our neighbors- The ones like us and the ones very different, The ones who love us and those who despise us. For when we remember the great connection between you and our neighbors, loving God, We will thrive. All of us together will endure trials triumphantly. And we will feel less alone as we walk through patches of shadows. Amen.
Blessing on Gifts Through the Great Commandment, we seek ways to share love more boldly. Through the Great Commandment, we listen more intently to our Divine Source of Love. We ask our God of Love to bless our giving- From the money we share to the time we spend caring. Through our gifts, may our neighbors experience your presence surrounding them. Amen.
Benediction Boldly we face the world. Yet we know that we are not alone. The God of Love walks before us, The Spirit of Hope walks behind us, The Christ our Neighbor walks next to us, Encouraging us to share Divine love with one another. Amen.
(c) Rev. Michelle L. Torigian – permission to use with attribution
