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Moment of Peace:
Welcome: We gather today as a community nurtured and empowered by the Spirit as we celebrate the feast of Pentecost. We also celebrate the birthday of the Upper Room. Let us remember as we break open the Word today, that we are called to speak, not necessarily in other languages, but definitely in the language of Love. Let the Spirit pour forth upon us and enkindle in us the power of love, compassion and peace.
Opening Prayer:
Today on Pentecost Sunday we pray for the Holy Spirit to come anew.
We bring our Deepest Selves opened to hear again the story of another beginning. Amen.
Opening Song: Holy Spirit, Move Me Now by Vinesong - Part 1
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Excerpt from The Spirit of God is a Wild Thing by Joan Chittister, OSB
The Holy Spirit was not a disembodied ghost, not an immaterial being. On the contrary. The Spirit embodied the life force of the universe, the power of God, the animating energy present in all things and captured by none. Because of the Spirit, Jesus was not gone and God was not distant, and the life force around us bore it proof. The Spirit was the restless urge to life in us leading life on to its ultimate.
The Spirit of God moves us to new heights of understanding, to new types of witness, to new dimensions of life needed in the here and now. The static dies under the impulse of the Spirit of a creating God. We do not live in the past. There is a magnet in each of us, a gift for God that repels deceit and impels us toward good. The gifts are mutual, mitered to fit into one another for strength and surety.
We are, in other words, in the most refreshingly trite, most obviously astounding way, all in this together– equally adult, equally full members, equally responsible for the Church. The Spirit of God is a wild thing, breathing where it will, moving as it pleases, settling on women and men alike.
Second Reading : A Reading from the Book of Genesis (11: 1-8)
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come. let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." So, the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel - because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world." [NIV]
Acclamation: More Light by Christopher Gundy video by MTStreck
Third Reading: (Acts 2:6-8; 12, 13)
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in [their] own language. They were astounded and in amazement they asked, "Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in [our] own native language?”
They were all astounded and bewildered, and said to one another, "What does this mean?" But others said scoffing, "They have had too much wine."
Shared Homily
Dennis: Pentecost in the time of Jesus was a Jewish feast day, commemorating the receiving of the tablets on Mt. Sinai. It occurred 50 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which immediately follows Passover, and commemorates the Exodus from Egypt. It celebrates a new beginning, a new journey for the Israelites.
Spiritus, Ruah, Pneuma all mean “air in motion, or breath, or wind” In the ancient world other than human and animal power, the observable power was wind. It could be a soft, refreshing breeze, a strong wind, or a hurricane force wind. The Jewish scriptures never personifies the Spirit but presents it as the power by which God interacts with the world. In today’s gospel it says, “there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house.”
The arrival of the Spirit after 50 days of hiding empowers those gathered to leave that place and begin to preach to the people gathered in their own language. Interesting that the Greek word, “glossa” can mean both tongues of fire and foreign tongue. The spirit, descending on them like tongues of fire opens their minds, their hearts and their voices to proclaim in foreign tongue, the message of Jesus, the message of love and acceptance of all. They celebrated a new beginning, a new journey of faith for the budding Christian community.
Resources:
The Cultural World of Jesus, John J. Pilch, The Liturgical Press, Pgs. 88-90.
Preaching the New Lectionary, Dianne Bergant with Richard Fragomeni, The Liturgical Press, Pgs. 200-201.
Elaine: At Pentecost we hear the wind again, and as it turns out, the wind is like the moving breath of God that moves us again to a new beginning. The story, with all its phenomenal images, conveys enough excitement to make us drunk with it. If we go with its transmission, Pentecost will inspire us to fall into a Love ready to do crazy things in its name. You know, things like helping to create a new Community, indeed a new world because after all, we are being made new!
In the experience of Pentecost we have fallen in love with God for the very first time. Again.
We are inebriated with a human – divine encounter where God shows off for us and beguiles us. This is a God who draws us irresistibly and shakes us - wresting from us every God given, life-giving quality planted in our Nature. The gifts and fruits of the Spirit: knowledge and wisdom, guidance, both gentleness and strength, piety leading to awe, goodness and patience, kindness. Love we’re immersed in here and now - understanding we bring to the world in our openness.
Not only does God show off for us at Pentecost, God invests us with radical trust by speaking through a variety of languages to our one personal language. Unlike the confusion of languages in Genesis that leaves us with an aching need for understanding, God’s voice of authority here in Acts is de-centralized and dispensed among the Community whose understanding is united. It is the language of love in creation.
Such love is rooted in the world, yet out of this world in experience. Like the Apollo 17 astronauts who saw the Earth from their new vantage point, we come face to face with the newness of God. Again. For the first time. It’s a mutual gaze at the face of the Beloved for the first time. Again. The astronauts, on their final morning in space, heard this music when they saw the Earth.
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack (verses 1 & 2)
https://youtu.be/fmpSWlVdKmo?si=KJ1lIv_3cyomevZo
A love song by Roberta Flack. Out of this world, while gazing at the world.
The story of the first Pentecost told by the ancients separated from us by centuries is a proclamation of wild and crazy love. Genesis plants the passionate human need for understanding. Acts gives us a visceral experience of understanding.
In both our need for understanding and in the mystery of being understood, we are made new for a new world.
Quiet Reflection
Invitation to share: How are you being made new? How are you helping to renew the world?
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 of the Community
As we prepare for our sacred meal, just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We are all called to serve one another. We bring to this table our blessings, cares, and concerns. Please feel free to voice your prayers beginning with the words, “I bring to the table…
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
With open hands and hearts, we pray our Eucharistic prayer:
Spirit! Power and Passion of our being,
press upon our hearts your profound love.
Move through the fragments of our days;
enable us to sense your fiery Presence
consecrating our most insignificant moments.
Spirit! Source of Vision, Perceptive Guide,
permeate the moments of our choices
when falsehood and truth both call to us.
Turn us toward the way of goodness,
so that we will always lean toward your love.
Spirit! Blessing for the heart grown weary,
encircle us with your loving energy,
empower us with your active gentleness.
Deepen within us a faith in your dynamism
which strengthens the weak and the tired.
Prayer by Joyce Rupp
We are filled with gratitude and thank you as we sing:
Here in this Place – Holy Holy Holy by Christopher Grundy
Spirit! Breath of Life, Touch of Mystery,
you are the ribbon of inner connection,
uniting us with the groaning of all creation.
Because of you, our lives gathers into a oneness.
Keep us attentive to this interdependence.
Fill our being with constant compassion
and a deep hope that knows no bounds.
Spirit! Dwelling Place, Sanctuary of Silence,
you are the home for which we deeply yearn.
You are the resting place for which we long.
We find both comfort and challenge in you.
Grant that we may keep our whole selves open
to the transforming power of your indwelling,
that we may ever know the blessings
of your tremendous companionship.
Prayer by Joyce Rupp
Please extend Your hands in blessing.
"To your table we come,
Hungering for your bread,
We come;
thirsting for your wine;
we come,
singing your song
in every language;
speaking your name in every tongue,
in conflict and communion
in discord and desire
we come
O God of Wisdom we come."
from How the Stars Get in Your Bones: A Book of Blessings by Jan Richardson
All: On the night before he faced betrayal and death, Jesus shared supper with his friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
Lift plate as the community prays 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, the bread of life for all who hunger for justice and peace.
(pause)
Lift the cup as community prays the following:
Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink the Cup of Compassion for a broken world.
Whenever you remember me like this, I am among you.
(pause)
Bread and wine are transformed by Your Spirit and we are transformed when we open ourselves to Your Spirit. Every time we share this bread and wine we choose to be transformed. We choose to love as You love us.
Let us share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace.
Please receive Communion with the words: The Spirit is within me.
Communion song: Holy Spirit, Move Me Now by Vinesong - Part 2
Prayer after Communion:
Holy One, we are thankful for this holy meal which reminds us of the need to willingly give of ourselves completely. Our hearts are fueled with divine energy. May we share the love we have experienced with all of creation and may we live always as instruments of faithful love.
As we celebrate this memory of Jesus, let us experience, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, in the sharing of the bread and the cup of blessing, the divine presence in our midst.
May we become Spirit-Fire, as we fan the flames of love over the entire cosmos.
May all of our families and friends, the young and old, the sick and dying and all those in need experience nurturing love this day.
May all creation dance and become one heart, one mind, one spirit with everything. May we touch the earth with reverent awe and live in harmony with all creatures. May we turn away from all efforts to dominate anyone or anything. May we see the divine presence shining in the stars and in the sun. May we embrace the universe's treasures and celebrate life's simple pleasures each day. May love kindle our friendship with all life, as we dwell as one with all of creation. 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
Please raise your hands and offer each other our blessing.
May the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
bring fire to the earth
so that the presence of God
may be seen
in a new light,
in new places,
in new ways.
May our own hearts
burst into flame
so that no obstacle,
no matter how great,
ever obstructs the message
of the God within each of us.
May we come to trust
the Word of God in our heart,
to speak it with courage,
to follow it faithfully
and to fan it to flame in others. Amen
Excerpt from prayer by Joan Chittister, OSB
Closing Song: Send Down the Fire by Marty Haugen
https://youtu.be/2cSkl0IiioM?si=_0ekRtkt2-XU3eei
History of the Upper Room
The Upper Room, not yet named, began in Mary Theresa Streck’s living room in 2013. Mary Theresa continued her and her beloved Jay’s tradition of home church. Mary Theresa’s home was soon overflowing. By the time Mary Theresa was ordained on September 15, 2013, we were celebrating monthly liturgy at the Unitarian Church on Sundays at 2pm.
The Spirit was strong and was calling our community to create our own space. In the spring of 2014 we moved to River Street in Troy. We replaced monthly Sunday afternoon liturgy with monthly Sunday morning liturgy. It was not long before we began gathering and celebrating every Sunday morning.
Diarmuid O’Murchu, author and social psychologist, was in Albany for a conference, which a number of us attended. He came to our liturgy and celebrated Pentecost with us. O’Murchu offered the phrase, “I bring to the table” and it has been part of our Eucharistic celebration ever since. Our Theology of Blessing was evolving as our community was growing.
We still needed to name ourselves. Honoring our value of inclusivity, we had several community discussions and many names were suggested. The Spirit led us to choose the name “The Upper Room”.
In the fall of 2016 our lease was unexpectedly not renewed and we were in search of a new space. The New Covenant Presbyterian Fellowship Hall was available and we were on our way to Albany. Each Sunday we set up for liturgy and had coffee and social time before and after each celebration.
When Covid 19 became an unexpected reality, we stopped meeting in person and began celebrating via zoom. As Covid 19 negatively affected every aspect of life across our country and the world, our zoom liturgical celebrations began growing. People were zooming in from across the country and Canada. At times to be sure, there were technical glitches, but we took them in stride and our liturgies, including the shared homily and musical videos, were more and more spiritually enriching. We were growing closer to the Holy One and just as importantly we were developing closer relationships with everyone on Zoom.
In 2021 with hopes of Covid 19 abating, we began planning to return in person, but we had to find the technology to continue with our Zoom members too. We are one Upper Room Community whether in person or on zoom. We want and need to stay together.
In the fall of 2021, after another extensive search, we found a new space on New Karner Road in Albany which accommodates our desire to celebrate liturgy simultaneously in person and on zoom. This is our sixth Upper Room home, starting in Mary Theresa’s living room, to the Unitarian Church, to River Street in Troy, to the New Covenant Fellowship Hall, to on line in Zoom, and now to New Karner Road. Each time we move our community grows and experiences the Holy One and one another in wonderful and amazing ways. So our story continues…..
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