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
Presider 1: Welcome/theme: Good morning and welcome. Central to our celebration of the Season of Creation is the idea of heaven in the here and now; earth as a holy paradise. Today, we follow the trail of two theologians to find early Christian artwork that makes obvious how Creation was a central focus of early Christian faith. Our gospel affirms in the words of Jesus, that nature is not just a pretty setting, not merely a sustaining feature of life, but a living, sacred offering of Divine peace inviting our co-creation and satisfying our thirst for all that is holy.
Presider 2:
Opening Prayer: Holy One, we are
grateful for all of creation. We ask that you help each one of us radiate your
peaceful and living presence. May we celebrate in the here and now the healing
power of Creation. Help us to honor in all ways, the Eden in which we live.
Amen.
Opening Song: Come to the Water by John Foley
https://youtu.be/QkoxkhwXjho?si=bMktxg5wF-fMjrUT
LITURGY
OF THE WORD
First Reading: An excerpt from the Prologue to Saving
Paradise
Reader 1:
We are accustomed to images of a Christ who died for the salvation of
our sins as the core of our faith. Yet, when we went looking for the earliest
Christian art in the catacombs beneath Rome, expecting images of the suffering
and crucified Jesus, we found none. Then we set out for Istanbul and Turkey to
investigate crumbling remains of ninth to eleventh century monastery churches
and from there we returned to Italy to find the mosaics in churches dating to
the fifth and sixth century.
Nowhere in the oldest artwork did we
find the crucifixion of Jesus that we are so accustomed to above our modern
Western altars. There were images of Christ as teacher, healer of the sick, the
one baptized in the Jordan river, but not one image of his martyred body given
up for the world.
Reader 2: Our
next pilgrimage was to the church of St. Giovanni in Rome which contains some
of the original artwork from the 4th to 6th centuries.
First, we saw the altar located far short of where it ought to be; not at the
furthest point from the first pews but where the nave and transept intersect;
and over this altar was a three paneled painting of the crucifixion. We had to
go behind this modern altar to find the original semicircle apse and altar
space where it had been located for centuries. It was closed off with red
velvet ropes. That didn’t stop us.
We jumped the ropes to see closely the
original altar artwork. A dignified bust of Jesus was surrounded by winged
seraphim and doves, water flowing from their beaks into the four rivers
mentioned in Genesis. Deer and sheep grazed around a scene of John baptizing
Jesus in the water. A small golden city nestled, protected by the rivers and
surrounded by palm trees and peacocks. Nearby stood a lush meadow of flowers
dotted with birds and pools of water where pairs of swans swam idly by.
We stood silently staring at this no
longer seen artwork and it came to us; we stood in paradise. We were back in
the garden of Eden.
Reader 3: We have since found more early church
interiors with sanctuaries depicting cosmos stars in midnight skies, sparkling
waters teeming with fish and verdant meadows filled with flowers and fruit
trees. Paradise was the dominant image
of early Christian worship, not as afterlife but as of this world on earth in
our time—sparkling mosaics showed experiences of life in a world created with
us and for us as good and delightful. Images of the crucified Jesus do not
appear in churches until the tenth century.
Nearly everything we had previously
understood about Christian theology and ritual began to shift…
These are the words of theologians Rita
Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker and
we acknowledge them with Amen.
Alleluia Acclamation: Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker
https://youtu.be/4cs8NDVM3Vk
Gospel Reading:
John: 4: 13-14
Jesus
spoke to the Samaritan woman: “If only you recognized God’s gift, and who it is
that is asking for a drink, you would have asked for a drink instead, and he
would have given you living water. Everyone who drinks water from this
well will be thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give them will
never be thirsty; no, the water I give will become fountains within them,
springing up to provide eternal life.
These are the words of the gospel author
known as John and we acknowledge them with Amen.
Pause
Shared
Homily and Reflections:
Presider 1: Today, we look back to the pre-empire
early Christians to find the roots of our love for the earth and creation. It
isn’t hard to imagine the first thousand years of Christians enjoying scenes of
Jesus and the apostles in a pastoral landscape as they worship. After all, they
lived in a largely agrarian society, close to the land, in unspoiled awe. For
them, the whole year might have been the season of Creation.
The mystery that is harder to imagine is
how Eden-like artwork above church altars was ultimately replaced by Jesus’
suffering on the cross. Like archeologists, Brock and Parker travelled from
Italy to Turkey and back to piece together how artwork reflects theology.
The oldest crucifix art dates to 975 in
the areas of conquest by
Charlemagne. Brock and Purdy believe the
violence of the times - the carnage of war - displaced the love of nature. We do
know that by 1095, crusaders were promised a place in Paradise after death when
they joined the holy pilgrimages to slay Muslims and Jews. Brock and Parker identify
a “piety of suffering” that honored the hardship of this world in exchange for
eternal life in heaven. Thus, heaven was postponed.
Theories of purgatory and atonement were
developed at this time with the effect of making even wider the distance
between earth and heaven. Reaching heaven required sacrifice as well as the
mercy and grace of God. Jesus would eventually be seen to ransom us from sin
through crucifixion and death. Visuals of Jesus as healer and teacher in a
landscape of beauty were replaced by Jesus on the cross, suffering for us.
Gratitude and reverence for the God of creation took second place to a God of
salvation, deserving of obedience and penance.
We of the Upper Room and many other
Christians are reclaiming the beauty of Creation and the gratitude to God in
the here and now. We insist on the theology of the early church and not the
violent, dark vision of the medieval church. We reclaim Jesus as so much more
than martyr; we reclaim this life of ours as more than hardship and our earth
as more valuable than an environment to be plundered for power and riches.
Terri: I love the beautiful image of the
Church of St. Giovanni in Rome in the first reading. The view beyond the altar
depicts what I imagine the Garden of Eden to look like. As I look beyond the
altars of the traditional Churches of my early life, I do not see that wondrous
view of Creation.
And then the well-known story of the
Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well. I at first thought
literally of the thirsty soil of this summer. I think about how many around the
world are thirsty. Digging deeper I wonder what, other than water, am I/are we
thirsty for? Peace, justice, integrity, healing, belonging, joy?
When Jesus says, ‘If only you recognized
God’s gift…you would have asked for a drink, and he would have given you living
water.”, Jesus is offering more than satisfaction of physical need. In gifting
us the living water, is the Holy One telling us that we may just be living
fountains? If, in the immense love of the Creator, we are, as part of creation,
instilled with living water, that changes everything.
As fountains of living water, we have
the ability and perhaps the obligation to share that gift with all of creation.
If we are infused with the living water, we have the power to quench the
world’s thirst. If we are fountains of living water, we have the extraordinary
gift and the responsibility to honor and grow the Garden of Eden, here and now,
in this room, in our homes, our communities and our earth. May it be so!
Please share your thoughts. What living
water are you thirsty for?
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.
Prayers
and Intentions of the Community:
Presider 2:
As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to this friendship table our
blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your concerns
beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
We
pray for these, and all the unspoken blessings, cares, and concerns held in the
silence of our hearts. AMEN
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Presider
2: Let us raise
our hands in prayer with open hearts:
All: We are amazed at our universe and our
planet Earth which sustains our lives in glorious beauty. We are blessed by the
lights of the heavens, the sun, moon and stars; we are blessed by knowing ours
is but one galaxy among many. The very size of creation suggests to us the
immense love of the Creator. We are blessed also by darkness in the evenings
which eases us into contemplation and rootedness and the healing balm of sleep.
We are
blessed by oceans with exotic looking marine life, raucous waves and the cliffs
and shores which envelop them. Streams and rivers, snow, sleet and rain
complete the blessing of water that sustains us, calms us and gives us
playgrounds in which to frolic.
Forests and
mountains are a further blessing of solitude and summit, of cooling shade and
distant horizons. The silence they offer is a sacred reminder to stay in the
quiet beauty of each blessed moment in time.
Plant life,
both decorative and life sustaining are our living companions, sharing in the
sun, wind and rain. Animal life in all its extravagant variety shares with us
the glory of creation. They deserve our vigilant protection and loving care in
this earth garden gifted to all forms of life.
Humbled and
grateful for the many blessings of Creation, we sing for joy…
Holy, Holy, Holy: by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/uXyu57tR2gk
When
heartbreak or despair make us hard-hearted, when the world’s pain seems
unreconciled, our appreciation of Creation can dwindle or lapse. The urgency of
reversing climate change is not always a priority; valuing Creation is
sometimes an afterthought.
May our
recognition of Earth as Eden fill us with gratitude. May the grace of the
Divine, and the healing of Jesus fill us with wholeness and wisdom enough to
save ourselves and the world.
Presider
2: Please extend
your hands in blessing.
We are
grateful for the bread and wine that call us to be renewed with the love of the
Holy One. Divinity lives and breathes in every plant, land and sea animal and
all people across Earth.
We are
grateful for this bread and wine which join us with Jesus and the Last Supper
companions. Together through history people of good intention stand with the
broken and wounded of the world as Jesus did. As we value the garden of Earth,
we acknowledge that climate change most severely impacts the impoverished and
marginalized peoples of the world.
On the night
before he faced betrayal and death, Jesus shared supper with his companions. He
reminded them of all they had learned together in years of nomadic ministry. To
underscore the importance of humble service, he bent down and washed their
feet.
Returning to the table, he lifted the bread, spoke a
blessing, broke the bread and offered it to all present saying,
Take and eat, go and share my love
with
all whose lives you
touch.
Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke a blessing and
offered it to all present saying,
Take and drink of the covenant.
Whenever you
remember me like this, I am
among you.
Presider 2:
Please receive the bread with the phrase, You are the living water. (For those
in the room – If you wish to, please come to the friendship table to share the
cup)
Communion Song: Flowers of the Forest by Mike Oldfield
https://youtu.be/gC-vTJUzft0?si=wj4pqoH8zziG4DC7
Prayer
after communion:
Bread
and wine are transformed by your Spirit and we are transformed as we open our
hears to Your Spirit. 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.
Jesus
prayer for the Season of Creation:
All: Generous Creator, the intricate and
elegant biodiversity of our world is your hallowed autograph on our lives, our
souls and our hearts.
We yearn for
the wholeness of being inharmony with Your will and with all living things. Each
day, we draw on your life-giving energy with awe when we find nourishment in
seed and field, river and forest.
We
acknowledge our shortcomings, especially our feelings of powerlessness in the
face of climate change, and injustice. We seek to be reconciled with those we
have hurt and we resolve to do better.
With your
unfailing wisdom and the wind of your Spirit, inspire us to reach out and love
one another and care for the world, our home. Strengthen us to work for local
and global justice.
May we one
day reap a harvest of equality and fairness as if they were wildflowers,
propagating spontaneously, unerringly and in surprising abundance. Amen
Lynn
Kinlan
BLESSING
All: May we drink of the living water
promised by Jesus.
May it nudge us to respect the earth
and all the animals and
plants that are our companions here.
May we be agents of environmental
justice that brings peace to all peoples.
May we act as though the future
depends on it. Because it does. Amen.
Closing Song: Woodstock Lyrics for Back to the Garden by Crosby,
Stills and Nash
https://youtu.be/g25DlXOWmMo?si=yYU7m4gF63yTU_b0
Sources:
Brock, Rita
Nakashima and Rebecca Ann Parker. Saving Grace. Beacon Press, 2008.
Rita
Nakashima Brock (born
April 1950 in Fukuoka, Japan) is an American feminist
scholar, Protestant theologian, activist, and non-profit organization leader.
She is an independent scholar and a Commissioned Minister in the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ).Brock
has authored one book, co-authored four books, co-edited five books, and
published many essays primarily on moral injury, theology and culture, feminist
theology, sexuality and religion.
Rev. Dr.
Rebecca Parker
received a bachelor's degree from the University of Puget Sound in 1975, a
Doctorate of Ministry from Claremont
School of Theology in
1979, and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Northwest Theological Union.[She was ordained a United
Methodist minister
in 1992 and holds dual fellowship with the Unitarian
Universalist Association.
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