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| Jordan River |
Please join us between 9:30 and 9:55 am via Zoom
Here is the Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155
phone-in for (audio only).
Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome and Theme: Welcome- Today is traditionally known as the Sunday we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. Jesus began his ministry through a public act of both courage and humility. As we reflect on the example of the Master Teacher, it can inspire us to be willing to step into our calling with courage and faith.
Opening Prayer and Song: Let Go of the Shore - Karen Drucker
https://youtu.be/HwWFZk4DI-w
Liturgy of the Word
Readings
First Reading: From Isaiah 55:1-11
“All you who are thirsty, come to the water!
You who have no money, come, buy food and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk, without money, without price!
Why spend your money for what is not bread, your wages for what fails to satisfy?
Heed me, and you will eat well, you will delight in rich fare; bend your ear and come to me, listen, that you may have life:
I will make an everlasting Covenant with you—in fulfillment of the blessings promised to David.
See, I have made of you to be a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the nations.
See, you will summon nations you never knew, and nations that never knew you will come hurrying to you—for the sake of YHWH, the Holy One of Israel, who will glorify you.
Seek me, YHWH, while I may still be found, call upon me while I am near!
Let the corrupt abandon their ways, the evil their thoughts.
Let them return to YHWH, and I will have mercy on them; return to God, for I will freely pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways, my ways,” says YHWH.
“As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts. For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the sower and bread for food, so will my word be that goes forth from my mouth:
it will not return to me empty, but will carry out my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.
These are the words from the prophet Isaiah, and the Community affirms them by saying AMEN.
A reading from Let Your Life Speak…
“…The people who plant the seeds of movements make a critical decision: they decide to live “divided no more.” They decide no longer to act on the outside in a way that contradicts some truth about themselves that they hold deeply on the inside. They decide to claim authentic selfhood and act it out- and their decisions ripple out to transform the society in which they live, serving the selfhood of millions of others.”
These are the prophetic words of Parker Palmer in Let Your Life Speak and the community affirms them by saying: AMEN.
Alleluia. Sung by Dennis
A reading from the Gospel of Mark from the Inclusive Bible:
In the course of his preaching, John said, “One more powerful than I is to come after me. I am not fit to stoop and untie his sandal straps. I have baptized you in water, but the One to come will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”
It was then that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan River by John. Immediately upon coming out of the water, Jesus saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
Then a voice came from the heavens: “You are my Beloved, my Own. On you my favor rests.”
These are words from the writing of Mark, and the community affirms them by saying: AMEN
Shared Homily
Deb: We find ourselves today, jumping from Christmas and the story of a child, to the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, and the story of an adult man. It could almost give us whiplash, but this is how we as Christians honor the cycle of Jesus’s short and impactful life. He gave us his very self, finding his way from beginning to end in a world that seems kind of familiar to us; a world of haves and have nots, legitimate citizens and immigrants, laws and consequences of not following the law, whether of the Jews or the Romans.
Jesus’s action of Baptism, his asking to be baptized, was a visible act of listening to the Creator, whom he knew loved him, and his demonstration of a life of service by example and story-telling drama. He knew how to create a scene; one that would connect everyone who was participating or watching from afar with individual and group meaning and effect.
Barbara Reid in her book of Sunday Reflections for Year B comments that “what empowers Jesus to go about “doing good” is the unshakeable knowledge and the experience deep within that God loves him utterly and takes great delight in him. This kind of love washes away sin [human imperfection] and its effects.” “The gospel invites us to recall those moments in our lives which we have sensed God’s powerful presence whispering in our ear: You are my beloved daughter/You are my beloved son; I am so delighted in you.”
Our own daily baptism happens when we listen for and hear the spirit whispering to us, and with water or spirit flow, we are made clean and given power to do good ourselves.
Thaeda: Have you all ever been to a children’s dance recital? I have. My youngest daughter decided to try dance when she was little. The recital was a very big “to do” with lots of costumes and dance numbers performed by each of the classes. Invariably, the most popular group that performed were the littlest ones- the 3 year-olds. Now 3 year-olds, on the whole, are not particularly skilled dancers. Some of them forget the steps and just stand there, mouth agape, tears forming as they shake in their tap shoes scared to be in front of all of those people. Some of them start the routine on the wrong foot and are doing the opposite of everyone else in the class. Some of them get distracted and wander around the stage making up the moves as they go along. Despite the lack of skill and failure to follow the routine, at the end of their song they always get a thunderous amount of applause with lots of “ooh’s”, “ahhs” and smiles in between. Why is that? Why do they get so much love when they don’t do much at all? Because they are ADORABLE. Because they are just so cute you cannot help but cheer for them and encourage them and smile at them, whether they know the routine or not. Do they provide “quality entertainment”? No. But you have to love them anyway just because they had the courage to show up and are impossible not to love.
We are like those 3 year-olds on the stage at the recital. We forget why we are here. We forget how to take the next steps and sometimes find ourselves wandering around awhile until some loving soul guides us back to our group. Sometimes we perform spectacularly, doing the hand motions and steps as we should- but still, we are only 3 so we could not exactly be called “pros”, right? We are limited in our humanity, doing the best we can one day at a time. In today’s Gospel reading, God expresses delight in Jesus before he even started his ministry. I am encouraged by the thought that God has loved me before I did anything that could be called important and continues to love me no matter how well or poorly I am performing. I hope you find encouragement in those thoughts, too.
Statement of Faith
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
(Written by Jay Murnane)
As we prepare for this sacred meal we are aware of our call to serve, and just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our prayers for the community.
Prayers for the community.
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Presider: Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together.
Blessed are you, Holy One, source of all creation. Through your goodness you made this world and called us to be Your co-creators. We give thanks for the diversity and beauty of life around us and within us.
We open our awareness to the goodness of all of creation and we remember our responsibility to serve. You invite us to build the earth into a community of love rooted in justice. You placed confidence in us, for you made us and you know that we are good.
In joy and in thanksgiving we join with all the faithful servants who have gone before us and we sing:
Here in this place
We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, and revealing us as one with you and all of creation.
He lived among us to show us who we are and challenged us to know you. He taught us the strength of compassionate love.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are grateful for your Spirit at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for supper with the people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet, so that they would re-member him.
All lift their plates and pray the following:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
(pause)
All lift their cups and pray the following:
Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
(pause)
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives. As we share communion, we become Communion both love’s nourishment and love’s challenge.
You are called, consecrated and chosen to serve.
Please receive Communion.
Communion Meditation/Song
Breathe On Me - John Michael Talbot
Prayer after communion:
Holy One, we are willing to do everything Jesus did, to re-create the living presence of a love that does justice, of a compassion that heals and liberates, of a joy that generates hope, of a light that illumines people and confronts the darkness of every injustice and inequity.
We trust you to continue to share with us your own spirit, the spirit that animated Jesus, for it is through his life and teaching, all honor and glory is yours, O Holy One, forever and ever. Amen.
All: Amen.
Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Holy One, you are within, around and among us.
We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done,
unfolding from the depths within us.
Each day you give us all that we need.
You remind us of our limits and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us,
now and forever, Amen.
Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
Blessing
Presider: Let us raise our hands in blessing pray together:
May we continue to be the face of God to each other. May we call each other to extravagant generosity! May we walk with an awareness of our Call as companions on the journey, knowing we are not alone. May we, like Jesus, be a shining light and a blessing in our time!
Amen.
Closing Song: Hallelujah, by MaMuse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7KQ4_-kVyg
Every time I feel this way
this old familiar sinking
I will lay my troubles down by the water
where the river will never run dry
Hallelujah
I'm gonna let myself be lifted
Hallelujah
I'm gonna let myself be lifted
Hallelujah
I'm gonna let myself be lifted
by and by
I will lay my troubles down by the water
where the river will never run dry
It's been said and I do believe
as you ask
so shall you receive
so take from me these troubles
bring me sweet release
where the river will never run dry
Hallelujah
I'm gonna let myself be lifted
Hallelujah
I'm gonna let myself be lifted
Hallelujah
I'm gonna let myself be lifted
by and by
I will lay my troubles down by the water
where the river will never run dry
There is a river in this heart of hearts
with a knowingness
of my highest good
I am willing
I will do my part
where the river will never run dry
Hallelujah
I'm gonna let myself be lifted
Hallelujah
I'm gonna let myself be lifted
Hallelujah
I'm gonna let myself be lifted
by and by
I will lay my troubles down by the water
where the river will never run dry
where the river will never run dry
this river will never run dry
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