Liturgy
It is dark inside the earth.
After weeks of living in this new normal,
our eyes have finally started to adjust.
Sometimes there are flickers of light,
or what we remember light to be.
We call out to you Lord, asking for you,
searching for you. Send us a guide.
It is dark behind our eyes. We are no longer
a people just scattered across the earth.
We are a people scattered within ourselves,
relearning and readapting every second.
Christ the God-Man, we look to you.
First born and the resurrected,
hold us close in our transformation.
Our visions have gone dark. The months
and days ahead that we had so preciously
counted for ourselves, are murky and bleak.
The future moves like a shadow,
untouchable and unknowable.
Holy Spirit be our advocate.
While we are searching for you,
we are searching for ourselves.
God of True Light, open our eyes.
Settle our hearts. Guide us into your presence.
We ask in the name
of the Father,
of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
(Naomi Jackson)
Scripture Reading
We invite you to hear from the reading of John 14: 15-21.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another
Advocate, to be with you forever.
17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him,
because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a
little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me;
because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know
that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
21 They who have my commandments and keep them are
those who love me; and those who love me will be loved
by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
The Good News of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!
The grass withers and the flower fades,
but the Word of the Lord endures forever. Amen.
Sermon and Reflection
Sermon Podcast 5.17.20 – Doorway to Presence
Are you present to what’s alive in you?
What practices can bring you back to the present moment this coming week?
Benediction
The distance inside of us is just as great
as the distance between us. May the Spirit
of God fill all spaces, big and small.
Vox Community, you who were pulled from
the earth; You are named, known, and loved
by the Divine. And still it goes, that we are
humble witnesses to the work of resurrection.
May we walk in the Love of God, free from the burden
of a future we cannot see. There is no day but today.
There is no love, but for the love of God. We lift up
our hearts, open to receive.
Be open this week to the transforming love of
God the Source,
God the Savior,
and God the Spirit,
Amen.
(Naomi Jackson)
Go in peace and live the church.
May you find safety and rest throughout the week.
[Photo by Gordon Hart @ Flickr]