I know many people pass the time on Holy Saturday by holding a vigil and reading through scripture.
But the truth is, when the disciples where waiting on Saturday, they were doing nothing. Holed up in their house they were hiding from the Empire.
They were awaiting their own death. Probably wondering out loud why Jesus had to die, wondering why he had to die a heretic, laid upon a cross that meant your were destined for hell.
It was a room that smelled of fear and death. It was a place where the disciples took cold comfort with one another, no doubt trying to ignore Peter’s pleas that he didn’t meant to deny Jesus. No doubt wondering if they were supposed to steal the body.
Women were sent. They were thought to be harmless. Women prepared Jesus for the tomb with the wrappings and the spices to hide the bad smell. They moved him to the cavern in the garden, where the guards watched to make certain no mischief was done. They were the worthless, but essential workers of the day.
We are in a sort of Holy Saturday ourselves, waiting for the word for the all clear. Hearing stories of who has died, and the suffering they have undergone.
We are experiencing the interminable wait, the timeframe is unknown, the hope is thin, and the loneliness is impenetrable.
Families are worried and separated from one another. And the world is slowly falling apart. And the world is a dark and scary place.
We can see the cornerstones of our lives being deconstructed. The things we depend upon are changing: the routines are gone, the securities are unreliable: school, work, church are crumbling.
Holy Saturday is what happens under the waters of baptism, I wonder if that’s what happens when you say goodbye to a loved one who has died who you can no longer see on earth. I wonder if Holy Saturday is where we are as we wait for the second coming of Christ.
Holy Saturday is the gap in scripture, undefined by the stories, left wide open in the yawning space of time.
Holy Saturday is now. The time between sickness and the cure. It’s the time before the temple is rebuilt. It’s the time when the cracks in society are splitting apart. It’s the time when the gaps are made clear, for when the rebuilding needs to happen.
And we await the healing, sabbath, wholeness of Easter and the time we can be together.
You emptied your very Godself, and made room for creation and humanity. Like a mother making space in her womb, you found a space for us.
You then told Noah to build an empty ark, and filled an empty sky with rain, and when the world was empty you filled that emptiness with your promise; a rainbow.
You put Samuel in Hannah’s empty womb and Eli’s empty Temple.
You worked with Moses’ empty mouth–giving him a staff and Aaron to assist him upon the way, then you emptied the Red Sea for the Hebrews to cross, and finally put a song on Miriam’s lips to fill the moment.
You emptied Rahab’s house so she could hide the spies, and knocked down the walls of Jericho so that they no longer filled the space.
You told Elijah to build an empty pit, and to splash the pit with water, and then you filled that pit with light.
You sent Elisha to an empty widow, with a practically empty lamp and pantry–and somehow filled that space with hope.
Then you saw that humanity still felt empty, so you emptied yourself into a human baby, and named him Jesus.
Then you entered an humble–emptied–servant Mary, and you promised to empty the thrones, to empty out power, and to empty out pride, and to empty out the rich.
Jesus preached to the emptiness–starting in the desert, then to empty fields, houses and lakes.
Eventually he prayed in the empty garden of Gethsemane.
And then this, my God of emptiness, emptied himself on the cross.
And to prove the power of emptiness, God came to an empty tomb, to his empty disciples.
First to the women in the empty garden, who’s mouths hung empty of words in astonishment and fright,
(Then to two more on the empty road to Emmaus.
And then he showed them who he was by the breaking of bread and emptying the cup.)
I am not afraid of emptiness, for my God is the God of emptiness.
And as he empties out the churches and the organizations and the streets. As God empties out time itself, I trust that God is big enough to work with it.
Note: The apocalyptic nature of this reading gave me pause! The exegetes (esp NL Podcast) see this as referring to Jesus’ Passion as the space/place when God draws near to us. Our current times raise largely unanswerable questions about theodicy (why). While why is fascinating, more often what we really have to answer is “Given the situation, now what? What are we called to be and do?” I do have to confess to having a list of questions for God for when I get there. Don’t know if I’ll just know the answers; won’t feel the need to know anymore; or will have them answered. But I definitely have a list!
(referencing Isaiah 40:3-5, Mark 1:3, Matthew 3:3, Luke 3:4)
In the lonely places
The wilderness
Where we stand forlorn
Windswept and alone
Your voice calls out Prepare a way for the Lord
In the dark places
The shadows
Where we hide our fears
Embrace our tears
Your voice calls out Prepare a way for the Lord
God of hope, we come to you in the midst of a world fraught with troubles. Although the darkness is powerful, open our eyes, Lord, to the light of your presence. Give us faith to stand against the voices of division and violence. Through your Spirit remake us into hope-filled disciples, discovering lives attune to your wonder, and sparking in others a desire to know you more. In the name of the One who comes to us, we pray, Amen.
ere’s a prayer from Walter Brueggemann. It references Romans 8:18-25.
Waiting and Longing
God of the seasons,
God of the years,
God of the eons,
Alpha and Omega,
before us and after us.
You promise and we wait:
we wait with eager longing,
we wait amid doubt and anxiety,
we wait with patience thin
and then doubt,
and then we take life into our own hands.
We wait because you are the one and the only one.
We wait for your peace and your mercy,
for your justice and your good rule.
Give us your spirit that we may wait
obediently and with discernment,
caringly and without passivity,
trustingly and without cynicism
honestly and without utopianism,
Grant that our wait may be appropriate to your coming
soon and very soon,
soon and not late,
late but not too late.
Pecking away at our computers, sitting in a knot of traffic: we wait for you, God of all words, to speak to us.
Pacing the halls of a hospital, sitting outside the principal’s office: we wait for you, God of comfort, to fill us with hope.
In the silence of each night, beginning each day’s new journey: we wait for you, Steadfast Love, for you are our safe place.
Prayer of the Day
Keeper of every moment in eternity:
we come, not only to hear
those words which can transform us,
but to be filled with your grace and hope.
We have come, not out of habit,
but to respond to your call,
willing to be called away
from the familiar ways of our lives.
Walker of our journeys,
in the midst of our harried lives,
you call us to lay aside all that entangles us,
to follow you into service to others.
You invite us to step into
the waters of life and hope,
reaching out to draw others
to our side so, that together,
we might enter your kingdom
of laughter and joy.
Our Lord Jesus calls us to watch and pray, so let’s do that now,
responding to Lord, in your mercy with come and save your people.
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming in the flesh at Bethlehem, and for coming to us whenever we gather in your name. Keep us alert and watchful through the dark night of this world, and give us confidence as we wait for your coming in glory.
Lord, in your mercy… come and save your people.
We pray for your church—its people and pastors. Keep us alert and watchful in support of one another, guard us from everything false and untrue, and shine on us with the light of your holy word.
Lord, in your mercy… come and save your people.
We pray for the people of the world. Wake all people up to your just judgment and to your saving blood. Keep us alert and watchful as your witnesses in the world.
Lord, in your mercy… come and save your people.
We pray for the nations. Lift the eyes of those in authority to their duty to govern wisely and well, for the good of all. Curb all terror and replace it with peace. Keep us alert and watchful to serve you by giving good service to others on our daily lives.
Lord, in your mercy… come and save your people.
Thank you for providing us with everything we need for daily living. Bring relief to all those affected by drought, and poverty. Keep us alert and watchful to the needs of others, and move us to give generously to appeals at Christmas time.
Lord, in your mercy… come and save your people.
Lord, stand by those who wake or watch or weep. Rest those who are weary. Soothe those who suffer. Shield those who prosper. And come to those we know in particular need and whom we now name silently in our hearts… (brief silence)
Lord, in your mercy… come and save your people.
Lord Jesus, we do not know the day or the hour that you will come with great power and glory. Keep us always alert and watchful so we may welcome you with joy. For you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
~ posted on the Lutheran Church of Australia’s Worship Planning Page. http://www.lca.org.au/
Here’s a call to worship and opening prayer based on the scripture readings for Proper 8 B (Ordinary 13 B). They come from the Ministry Matters website.
Call to Worship
(based on Psalm 130)
Wait for the Lord, like those who hope in God’s mercy. God’s steadfast love endures forever.
Watch for God, like those who eagerly await the morning. We watch for God, whose power redeems us.
Hear God’s hopeful word, like those who long for pardon. Sing praise to God and rejoice in God’s love.
Opening Prayer
(inspired by Mark 5:21-43)
Loving God,
we are yours.
We come as we are,
with our cares and concerns.
We long to touch you
and find healing in your embrace.
Strengthen our faith
and heal our brokenness,
that we may worship you with joy. Amen.
God of compassion, the way of the cross is as much a mystery to us as it was to the immediate followers of Jesus. But we have heard how your grace is exercised in the journey of suffering and rejection experienced by Jesus. Help us to hear with ears inspired, to see with eyes opened to your ways, and to respond with lives committed to your service.
God of our Lenten journey, we watch and walk with Jesus.
We repent O God. We cannot name our own cross even though we try. You must show us the cross you give us. Help us see. Give us the faith to respond and follow Jesus. We have heard that it is in losing our life for the sake of Gospel of Jesus that we find our life.
God of our Lenten journey, we watch and walk with Jesus.
— from The Prayers of Our Church, written by Bishop Telmor Sartison. Posted on the Worshipwebsite of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
The Path Ahead
(based on Mark 13: 24-37)
Watch out! Be alert!
Christ comes when you least expect it.
In the beggar on the street,
In the loved one at our table,
In the stranger in our pew,
In the refugee on our shores,
In the hour of birth.
In the hour of death.
With judgement and mercy, Christ comes.
Watch out! Be alert!
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
will
be with you now and always.
Amen!
— written by Bruce Prewer, and posted on Bruce Prewer’s Homepage. Visit his site for other wonderful lectionary-based worship resources.
Lord, we had the best laid plans. The teacher were teaching, the doctors were healing, the calendars were full. And we had everything set. But plans are ephemeral, the illusion of control. Now all our best laid plans fail. We cobble together new ones, but they are ragged and imperfect. We have no best laid plans. All we have is you, O God. Be with us we pray. (Silent confession) Amen.
Greek lectionary for vv. 1-8 What is the foundation of your life? And second, what is the destiny of life? Jesus as the cornerstone (cf. 12:10) and the days of fulfillment. The disciples actually ask, “Where are these stones from/What kind of stones are these?” (no adjective) http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2012/11/mark-131-8.html
The birthpangs of deliverance—and remaining ready. Parallels between the times Jesus says the master may return and the upcoming betrayals related to his Passion. Yet there is still hope even for the faithless disciples. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4239
Note: This passage raises questions about what Jesus means by noting the widow’s contribution. It is not clear whether he is commending her, condemning the authorities and/or both. We serve a congregation where we have many people living on fixed incomes in homes that are already paid for and who have very little, if any, “expendable” income, so caution and prayer are in order! For a discussion of the pitfalls of the passage, see
Includes https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2662, which notes that widow’s mite is tied to what comes before and, in addition to being about giving one’s all, it exposed the religious leaders for their hypocrisy. And, it may just expose us all!
https://www.workingpreacher.org/narrative_podcast.aspx?podcast_id=730 Podcast addressing the status of the poor widow and the most vulnerable and her living out the loving of neighbor of the great commandment in the context of the temple & Jesus’ interactions with the religious leaders of the day. vv. 35-44.
Here’s a closing commission and benediction based on Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Matthew 12:28-34. It was written by Nathan Nettleton.
Commission & Benediction
(inspired by Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Matthew 12:28-34)
Hear this: the Lord our God is the one and only Lord.
Therefore go out into the world
and love the Lord your God
with all your heart, soul, mind and strength,
and love others as you love yourself.
And may God give you justice and freedom;
May Christ Jesus set you free for love;
and may the Holy Spirit go where you go
……..and protect you on your way.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
…In the name of Christ. Amen.
Sing one song with which to love God and one about loving each other. Introduce each identifying its purpose. Two possibilities:
“For the Beauty of the Earth” for loving God
“Lord Help Us Accept Each Other” for loving each other
> Base the Prayer of Confession on the two great commandments. As you do, remember that children respond more to specifics than to generalities. So you may want to name the currently “in” sport rather than simply “our sports.” Read the commandments just before the congregation prays as follows
Lord God, we know that you are ONE and that you are the center of the whole universe
but we treat all sorts of things as if
they were more important than the one true God.
We say we give our hearts to you
but often our hearts are more devoted to
what we wear, to our sports, and to our friends.
We pour out our souls to you when we need you
but not when life is smooth and easy.
We mean to love you with all our minds
but our minds stray to what we want
and what others are saying.
We are more likely to use our strength to get what we need and want
than to get what you want for us and those around us.
We love the neighbors we choose to love
and only when they love us back.
Forgive us. Write your commands on our hearts and souls and in our minds. Work it into our muscles so that we may truly be your people.
We pray in the name of Jesus who poured out his heart and soul and mind and strength for us and forgives us when we turn on him. Amen.
Prayer of Confession: Lord we confess that we do not understand your upsidedown world of grace. How can you let everyone in? How can we let everyone in? Help us to give you the power and the glory forever we pray.
Prayer of Confession: Lord please stoop down and whisper in my ear, for I confess I am needy, be gracious to me. I am crying for you all the day long, listen to my prayer. Comfort me I pray.
Prayer of Confession: Lord, my heart is divided. Reverence of you is out of reach. I have forgotten your ways. Teach me so I might walk in your truth I pray.
Assurance of Pardon: The Lord is good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call out to God. We can know the good news In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of Dedication/Prayer of the Day: Lord please gladden the soul of your servant. I lift up my soul. In the day of trouble I call on you, for you will answer. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. Give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
Communion Prayer: Lord, you stooped kneeling into the fully human Jesus, as Christ himself, speaking our language, eating our food, teaching our children. And when the world seemed to be ending and Jesus was betrayed and again when he ascended into heaven he promised to send his Holy Spirit to be present among us, blessing us, inspiring us and encouraging us. Send that Holy Spirit here today so we can taste and see your way we pray. Amen
With Children: Play Mother May I (Let everyone win), Have a Feast/Party: Let everyone take part in waves, Do a puzzle note how it doesn’t matter what order the pieces come as long as they are all there; or create a puzzle or color different pieces of the same picture and put them together
Hymns: Jesus the Very Thought of Thee, Come Down O Love Divine, Open My Eyes that I May See, Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine, Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, If I Had a Thousand Tongues to Sing
The heavens tell of the glory of God, the very firmament proclaims God’s handiwork
The Lord is my rock and my redeemer
The sun in all of its courses is radiant, set in the heavens, touching upon the whole earth
Come let us praise God’s Holy Name
Call to Worship
God celebrate us, always running towards us!
Tracking us like the sun moves across the heaven!
Creating heaven and earth as reflections of God’s glory.
Come let us run to praise the Lord
Prayer of Confession; As I contemplate the makings of the universe, pulling apart each piece of how things are made. I continue to be flummoxed and confused by their intricacies. I confess that when you take things apart it scares me. When you die, all of my sins weigh heavily upon me. Forgive me I pray.
Prayer of Confession: Clear me from my hidden faults Lord, do not let them have dominion over me. Who else can detect my errors? Find them and clear them so I may be blameless and innocent of great transgression I pray.
Assurance of Pardon: The Lord is our Redeemer, we do not need to fear! In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of Dedication/Day: Let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
Communion Prayer; Lord you are the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last word. The first word you gave to us was creation, and the last word you give us has been and will always be grace. Send your Holy Spirit here, now. Remind us of your sweet ordinances, dripping with golden grace, sweeter than honey, help us to taste them on our tongue with the blood and body of Jesus Christ, we pray.
Hymns: Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord I Want to Be a Christian in My Heart, Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door, O Love How Deep, How Broad, How High, Jesu, Jesu Fill Us With Your Love, Seek Ye First, He is King of Kings
He is First and Last
With Children: Taste Honey, discuss why the laws are sweet & freeing. Make an Almsgiving/Prayer/Fasting Commitment (emphasize the life affirming aspects of living Lent like it’s the end of your life). Play duck, duck Goose, Play Musical Chairs, Play Mother May I, after whichever game discuss the importance of Ordering. Have Last-Shall-Be-First Nominations: everyone nominates the person next to them to be first (and goes to the back of the line after) for a positive reason. Read the Goblin’s Chair: discuss the importance of leaving room for the unseen,
Jesus went with the disciples teaching them, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”
And the Disciples Kept silent.
Prayer of Confession: Lord we confess that we do not understand, fully, why it is you had to die. We do not understand why you were betrayed by human hands, and we do not understand how it is you rose again. But we do know while we kept silent our bodies wasted away and we groaned all day long.
Taize Option: Lord here my Prayer, Hymn Option: What Wondrous Love is This v. 1
Help us to live with our lacks and to lean into why you came: to teach, to heal, to die and to forgive our sins. Help us live fully with who we are.
(Write down what Jesus has taught you, who you are, what you want to hang onto)
Taize Option: Bless the Lord My Soul Hymn Option: What Wondrous Love is This v 2.
And let us once again confess our full selves to you so they may once again be forgiven.
Writing down Confession of sin on another piece of paper
Taize Option: Jesus Remember Me Hymn Option: What Wondrous Love is This v. 3
(Collect to trash, burn, rip up)
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Selah
While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
Selah
Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’, and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Selah
Let us know the truth, as short and imperfect as life is. Remember that you are always and forgiven. Thanks be to God.
Holy Communion
The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom should I be afraid?
Only you God, are worthy of praise, let us praise the Lord.
Prayer of Confession Lord, I am so fixated on making my life profitable. I want to be famous, or rich, or well liked. I do not want to take up my cross and follow, the world’s easy ways tempt me. Remind me of your kingdom and power forever I pray. Amen
Prayer of Confession: God I don’t want to know that you are going to die for me. It makes me feel weak, worthless, angry and sad all at the same time. Who am I that you are going to die for me. Remind me who I am in your eyes I pray.
Prayer of Confession: (unison) Help us to wait for you, O Lord. Be strong and take heart, you say. Give us the courage as we wait for the Lord. Send us forth believing that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: God gave us his beloved son so we might hear and know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Assurance of Pardon: God is our shelter from sin, his grace covers me so I know the truth. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: One thing I ask, O Lord, that I may live in your house all the days of my life. Shelter me so that I might live in the shadow of your love today and everyday I pray. Amen
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: Help us to wait for you, O Lord. Be strong and take heart, you say. Give us the courage as we wait for the Lord we pray. Amen.
Hymns: Lift High the Cross, I want To Be a Christian in My Heart, Somebody’s Knocking at your Door, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, Lift Up the Gates Eternal, Called to Partners in Christ’s Service, God is My Strong Salvation, Take My Life, Jesus on the Mountain Peak, O Wondrous Sight, O Vision Fair, Be Thou My Vision
With Children: Books Red, I Don’t Want to be a Frog, Transmorgificaion (Calvin and Hobbes box have them walk thru to be more themselves, Play with White Clay (Talk about how clay is always clay but dry/fired clay is different than wet clay)
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you accept all worship, no matter how imperfect, as long as it is sincere
Write your love on my lips and my head and my heart
That I might reflect it back to you in praise
Call to Worship
Symbols of worship are well and good, but Lord open my heart so that I might be filled with your Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit Come! Inspire us to Praise, Encourage us to Praise, Counsel us about who your are!
Lord create in us a new heart for you, for you are holy
Come Let us Praise the Lord
Prayer for Confession: Have mercy on me, O God. My sins itch in my soul. Soothe them away with your love. The jarring of my wrongs disturb the harmonies of my life. Sing them away with your grace. Comfort me, that I can still come into your perfect presence, and teach me your ways Lord.
Prayer of Confession: I am but a bag of crushed bones, weighed down by sins. I feel stuck. Deliver me God, so that I can once again sing of your deliverance I pray.
Assurance of Pardon: God promises to never ever leave us. As reliable as the mountains, as varied as the rainbow, as cyclical as a garden, God’s love never fails us. Therefore know the Truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Assurance of Pardon: God will restore our salvation again and again, sustaining in us a willing spirit. Know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Assurance ofPardon: Hear the good news Jesus has already come, restoring us to salvation. Know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Eucharist Prayer: God is love incarnate. When words and stars and rainbows and columns of burning fire and even covenants written in stone failed to impart the magnitude of God’s love to us, God embodied love for us in the boundary breaking, truth telling, justice fighting person of Jesus Christ. And I will tell us that Christ was born for us, Christ dies for us, Christ reigns in his Kingdom for us and Christ promises to return. We await that return with baited breath. Practicing the Kingdom meal over and over again, until the act of tasting a single crumb of bread and a single drop of the cup will serve help us to realize that heaven is home. We are practicing this here and now, Jesus, so please send your Holy Spirit here to embody, encourage, embolden and counsel us in all the ways we need to be coaxed into the kingdom. Lead us there today and throughout our day, year and life we pray.
Prayer of Dedication/Prayer of the Day: Holy God, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Grant us the echoes of grace we need to sustain our life, our hope, our faith we pray.
Hymns: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, Create in Me a Clean Heart, If I had thousand Tongues to Sing, Amazing Grace, O God in a Mysterious Way
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