Home Worship Guide for April 26

Preparation for Worship

For this morning’s worship, you will need two candles. In our tradition, we light two candles at the beginning of worship to represent the presence of Jesus. If you want to celebrate communion, have some food and drink to share. The type of food and drink does not matter for they are merely symbols which help us celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

 

Invitation. In our daily walk of faith, countless blessings surround us. We need to take the time to recognize these blessings and realize God’s presence is always with us and within us. The power to be a blessing is within us because God’s love rests in our souls.

 

The Worship of God

Light two candles in recognition of Christ’s presence. In our practice, one candle represents Jesus’ divinity and the other Jesus’ humanity.

Gathering for Worship

Passing the Peace
Say to one another, “May the Peace of Christ be with you.”
Respond by saying, “And also with you.”

Call to Worship
By Christ dying, we have been set free from the futility of sin.  Alleluia!
By Christ rising, we have been set free from the fear of death.  Alleluia!
By Christ loving, we are compelled to love another deeply from the heart.
Alleluia! Thanks be to God!

Opening Prayer. God of blessings, we often do not recognize all the blessings you have given. Sometimes, we miss seeing that you can bless the world through us. Sometimes, we hoard your blessings not allowing them to flow through us.  As we worship you today, clear our sight so we may see your blessings. Help us to know how we can be used by you to bless the world. Remove any stinginess so your blessings may be shared with others. Amen.

Psalm 116:1-4, 12–14–19.
A declaration of love and commitment to lifelong thanksgiving to God.

I love God because God hears my cries and pleadings.
Because God listens closely to me,
all my life I will proclaim to others:
“The confines of death surrounded me;
the deep chill of hell entombed me.
I came face-to-face with trouble and grief.
So I cried out, ‘Save my life, O God, please!'”

What can I do to repay God for such kindness?
I will lift up the cup of salvation for all to see.
I will continue proclaiming God’s name.
I will continue keeping the promises I have made to God.

Before everyone
I will humbly express gratitude to God
and tell of God’s faithfulness.

Song of Praise
Praise God, All Ye Little Children

Praise God! Praise God! All ye little children!
God is love! God is love!
Praise God! Praise God! All ye little children!
God is love! God is love!

Love God! Love God! All ye little children!
God is love! God is love!
Love God! Love God! All ye little children!
God is love! God is love!

Thank God! Thank God!  All ye little children!
God is love! God is love!
Thank God! Thank God!  All ye little children!
God is love! God is love!

Celebrating Communion

Communion.  (Bread and wine were common foods during Jesus’ day.  As we celebrate communion at home, use common food and drinks you have. The type of food and drink is not what matters, but it matters that you remember Christ as you share, eat, and drink.)

A Reading from the Gospels. Mark 14:22-24.  While [the disciples and Jesus] were eating, [Jesus] took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”

Share what you have to eat. Before everyone eats, have someone say,
“This food represents the body of Christ. As we eat, we remember Jesus.”

Share what you have to drink. Before everyone drinks, have someone say,
“This drink represents the covenant Christ made with us that our sins will be forgiven. As we drink, we remember Jesus.”

Prayer of Thanksgiving. Dear God, although we have not seen you, we love you. Even though we do not see you now, we believe in you and rejoice.  Thank you for sharing your life with us so fully. Amen.

Song.  End communion by singing a hymn. You may want to sing Amazing Grace.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found,
was blind but now I see.

The Gospel Lesson for the 3rd Sunday of Easter

Listen to the gospel lesson and/or read below.

A Reading from Luke 24:13-35.  Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Reflection “Seeing Hope” from Jeffrey

Today’s gospel reading fills in some of the events of that first Easter Sunday. After Mary’s marvelous morning at the tomb with Jesus she returned to the disciples and followed Jesus’ command to bear witness to the resurrection. In doing so, she delivered what had to be the first Christian sermon! We don’t know exactly what she said but it must have been something like, “I have seen Jesus. He’s alive. He called me by name. Resurrection life is no longer just a possibility. God’s hope is truly realized in him. Please believe me.” Some people did believe Mary, and sadly some did not. Were the message of Mary all that we had, it should be enough. Yet the stories of resurrection appearances will multiply and continue in the Gospels. Just as a host of angels proclaimed Jesus’ birth, a crowd of people witnessed his resurrection – women and men, disciples and by-standers, those locked safely in their homes and two friends walking back home from their religious festival. It is the witness of these two walkers travelling to Emmaus on that first Easter Sunday that draws our attention today.

Seven miles to Emmaus was farther than a religious Jew was allowed to walk on the Sabbath so Cleopas and his friend are understandably traveling on Sunday. The Sabbath had ended on Saturday at sundown and they are walking in the next day’s light. They know about the events in the early morning hours at the tomb of Jesus. They heard the women’s witness and are weighing reports from the men as well. The two travelers are astounded yet uncertain, wanting to believe but struggling with what they know to be true, debating what possibly might be different given what they heard Jesus say and what the witnesses now tell them. An uninvited stranger joins their hike home and he appears to know nothing of the past three days. We know this man is Jesus though they don’t recognize him. As the miles stretch on into the late afternoon hours on the road, Jesus explains to them the scriptures. If Mary preaches the first Christian sermon, Cleopas and his friend are in the first Christian Bible study and it’s led by Jesus!

This Emmaus story has lent itself to a rich array of interpretations. I want to focus this morning on Cleopas’ search for hope. We know little that is definite about Cleopas, except that he had known about Jesus before this Easter Sunday. Speaking for himself and his unnamed companion, Cleopas mentions in verse 21 that “we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” And that hope was based on what Cleopas knew about Jesus who “was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people” (v. 19).

Cleopas needs hope as it must have been in short supply in his day. An occupying government with full authoritarian rule allowed a bare toleration of religious Judaism. The land was not considered Jewish land and the Emperor or a ruling Roman governor could move them out of Jerusalem at will. Politicians were conspiring to keep this indigenous minority under control and make sure the Jews knew that they had no legal recourse, no rights, and no voice of complaint. The Jews were not facing religious intoleration so much as suffering from the over-bearing weight of immoral political power targeting a racial minority.

I am reminded of the First Nations in this land several hundred years ago. They must have needed a surprising hope as European conquerors took their native land, claimed a superior civilization and made decisions that ended in full control and frequent death. How did the indigenous Cherokee or Sioux or Shawnee think it would end? What was their hope?

Or the African slaves that were captured and brought unwillingly across an ocean, their lives interrupted for profit, their freedom given over to a stranger in authority, their families dismissed as inconsequential to the success of exploration. While on the boat they must have deeply hoped for land. Once on land, how could they not hope for freedom and return? After realizing their lives were under the absolute control of brutal and immoral white owners, how can they see an end for which they could hope?

Cleopas had hoped in Jesus. Past tense. This hope was because he had seen Jesus. He had heard his words, witnessed the way he healed others. The hope Cleopas had in Jesus was based on what he had seen with his eyes and heard with his ears—substantial enough to embed in him the possibility that in this one named Jesus the future God promised just might come true for him and for all Israel. Cleopas had hoped, but now he couldn’t see it because he could no longer see Jesus. He needed something new. What he needed, frankly, was not just to hope in the best that he could imagine, but to begin to hope in what God can make possible.

I believe that you and I find hope when we can see it. At times when our vision is clear, our hope is strong regardless of the circumstances that surround us. I have known people who are desperately poor and incurably hopeful, especially the Christians we served along side in Haiti several years ago. They were not hopeful because they could imagine wealth and abundance in their future, but because they could see the good works of God among them. Isn’t that what Jesus gave Cleopas before death and resurrection? I have known some remarkable folks who suffered illnesses that robbed them of life, literally, and they never were without hope because they could see in Jesus the possibility of life ending in life in what we celebrate as resurrection. I plainly remember one conversation with a man within days of dying of cancer—he was barely 50. We had an open and frank conversation about many things at the end of which I asked him if he was afraid. With absolute conviction he turned to me and said, “No, because I have seen what God has made possible through the resurrection.” He had hope because he could see what God intended for us all.

Cleopas and his friend find their hope when Jesus serves them a meal and they see him for who he is. The season of Easter is a reminder that to have hope in Jesus is not a trite encouragement to seek success or find a cure or live in ease. It is the opportunity to see Jesus as more than just the man of Nazareth who can do amazing things to people he meets. It is to see in this one the possibility that God imagines for each of us.

Cleopas and his friend take some food and then return to Jerusalem that same day. The last seven miles must have been with lighter hearts than the first half of their journey as they had wonderful news to tell. They too had seen Jesus. Their witness added to what others would come to know and see for themselves.

As Easter people we have hope, not as some kind of wish fulfillment that is limited by the best thing we can imagine for ourselves. Our hope is in what we can see from God – healing and teaching, truth and promises, life fulfilled in our living with others and life everlasting with God in resurrection. May God gives us eyes to see, and in seeing, find hope.

Questions for Reflection:

1. What are some possible definitions for “hope”?
2. Many people are discussing how this global pandemic will end, and frankly, no one knows the right answer. What do we hope even now even though we don’t know how this crisis will end?
3. What do we “see” in Jesus that helps give us hope?

Prayer of Thanksgiving. (Offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God.)

Song of Faith
Christ in the Stranger’s Guise

From heaven to here and from here to heaven
Is a distance less than tissue thin,
And it’s trod by him who, in the stranger’s guise,
Is made known when he is welcomed in.

Chorus:
SO, COME LORD CHRIST IN THE STRANGER’S GUISE,
KNOWN BOTH THROUGH SCRIPTURES AND THROUGH BROKEN BREAD.
YOUR KINGDOM COME AND ON THE EARTH YOUR WILL BE DONE
BY THE PEOPLE YOU’VE LOVED AND YOU’VE LED.

The folk who journey on the road with Christ
Are the ones who’ve left their selves behind.
Their song is taught them by the deaf and dumb;
Their horizon is shown by the blind.

The love that’s shared along the royal road
Is a love not found when standing still.
It lives and grows wherever faith is known
As a movement grounded in God’s will.

From heaven to here and from here to heaven
Is a distance less than tissue thin,
And it’s trod by those who meet the risen Christ
As a stranger to be welcomed in.

Sending Out

Benediction (If there are more than one of you, choose someone to read the following.)

Alive to God’s blessings
may we journey into life in new ways.
May we take to heart the gift of God’s
presence,
peace,
and forgiveness.
Receive it gladly.
Live it with passion and boldness.
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia

Closing Song.  In our tradition, we close worship by singing the first verse of Blest Be the Tie.  Mindy starts us each week, and so she does today as well.

Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Amen.

______________ 

Credits: The Psalm is a paraphrase and is read by Calley, Desiree, Matthew, and Mindy. Elizabeth created the video. Wyatt played the Horn in F with Kendall adding in percussion for Praise God All Ye Little Children. The gospel reading is the New Revised Standard Version and is read by Marcella. Tonya played piano, Tessa played flute, and Mindy sang for Christ in the Stranger’s Guise, a song published by the Iona Community. The Benediction comes from the Seasons of the Spirit Fusion, Sunday April 26 and used with their permission. Blest be the Tie was written by John Fawcett (1782) and sung by Mindy.  Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-724755. All rights reserved.  All other writings or recordings were created by Jeffrey and Tonya.