Liturgy
Lord, how freeing it is
for you to speak to us in stories, with the objects of our lives,
and not in propositions of fact.
Following you does not mean assenting to a list
of right beliefs:
we can live and move and find our being
in your story instead.
Our ideas of your kingdom can be so small,
and lack breath.
You designed us to breathe and sleep and grow
as living beings do,
but we expect ourselves and the work of our hands
to run seamless as machines.
We repent of this view, this pace,
these expectations
that distance us from loving others fully,
from seeing ourselves rightly,
from your very self.
We see with blinkered vision;
expand our sight.
God of our hearts, teach us the rhythms of your life:
how to grieve,
love,
weep,
find joy,
and serve others as you do.
We worship you from the wilderness of our beings,
the ever-shifting landscapes of our souls,
looking to you for the fullness of our life.
Jesus, make your home in us.
We pray this in the name of our good God,
our storytelling Christ,
and the Holy Spirit, who animates the kingdom.
Amen.
(Vox Prayer Team)
Scripture
We invite you to hear from the Gospel according to Matthew 13:31-34
31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” 33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with[a] three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” 34Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!
The grass withers and the flower fades,
but the Word of the Lord endures forever. Amen.
Homily and Reflection
Podcast: The Beauty in Tension
How often have you seen yourself as a vital part of the church body versus as a recipient of church services?
How does the concept of tensegrity shift the way you think about the Vox value of participation?
Do you see Vox as part of a new imagination or new movement of the church? And if so, what does this energize you toward?
Benediction
Dearly beloved,
Let us enter into this new week
liberated from the burden of believing
that anything depends upon us and on our work.
As Paul said, it is God who makes the seed grow.
Let this truth make us bold.
May it free us to serve whatever souls we encounter this week,
creatively and with great mercy.
May it free us to inch out on necessary limbs,
make fools of ourselves for grace’s sake,
confess wrongdoing, offer forgiveness,
reach out to the beloved in this place who we do not yet know.
In this story, we are only bit players
in a lovelier vision than we can understand.
Let us fall in love with it deeper always,
work toward it with our whole might,
and trust the Spirit for the rest.
In the name of God, the author of the church,
Christ, its body,
and the Holy Spirit, its breath,
Amen.
(Vox Prayer Team, adapted from Every Moment Holy)
[Photo by Croissant]