During this time of physical isolation, we look for ways to share words of comfort and hope in the face of uncertainty and fear. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. The prayers in our service today are from Celebrate God’s Presence. Many thanks to Taye, Jenna, and Heather!

PRELUDE: “Spirit of Life” (McDade)

OPENING PRAYER

Spirit of the living God, visit us again this day of Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
On rushing winds that sweep away all barriers,
come, Holy Spirit, come.
With tongues of fire that set our hearts aflame,
come, Holy Spirit, come.
With speech that unites the babel of our tongues,
come, Holy Spirit, come.
With love that overleaps the boundaries of race and nation,
come, Holy Spirit, come.
With power from above to make our weakness strong,
come, Holy Spirit, come.
In the name of God, the Holy One,
and of Jesus Christ our Saviour,
come, Holy Spirit, come.

HYMN OF PRAISE: “Spirit of God, unleashed on earth”

Spirit of God, unleashed on earth
with rush of wind and roar of flame!
With tongues of fire saints spread good news;
earth, kindling, blazed its loud acclaim.

You came in power, the church was born;
O Holy Spirit, come again!
From living waters raise new saints,
let new tongues hail the risen Lord.

With burning words of victory won
inspire our hearts grown cold with fear,
revive in us baptismal grace,
and fan our smouldering lives to flame.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Spirit of God,
You send us the Spirit of courage,
but we have been afraid.
You send us the Spirit of truth,
but we cling to our illusions.
You send us the Spirit of healing,
but we cannot let go of our hurts.
Holy Spirit of forgiveness, come to us again:
shake our hearts,
set our souls on fire with your love:
rejoicing in your power.
Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God’s unfailing love sustains and upholds us;
God will never let us go.
Where the Spirit is, there is freedom.
Receive God’s forgiveness.
Come alive in Christ!

SPECIAL MUSIC: “She Flies On” (Light)

FIRST READING: Psalm 104

O God, how manifold are your works!
With Wisdom at your side you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

There lies the great and mighty Sea,
teeming with living things both great and small.
Upon it sail the ships, and there is Leviathan,
the monster you made to play in it.
All these look to you,
to give them their food in due season.
What you give them they gather up.
When you open your hand,
you fill them with good things.
But when you hide your face they despair.
When you take away their breath, they die,
and return to dust.
But when you send out your spirit, they live again,
and you renew the face of the earth.

May your glory, O God, endure forever.
May you rejoice, O God, in your works.
When you look at the earth it trembles,
when you touch the mountains they smoke.
I will sing to God as long as I live.
I will praise my God while I have being.

SECOND READING: Acts 2.1-8, 12-21

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?

12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

HYMN: “Spirit of the living God”

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mould me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Spirit of the living God, move among us all;
make us one in heart and mind, make us one in love:
humble, caring, selfless, sharing.
Spirit of the living God, fill our lives with love!

REFLECTION

I expect Luke knew that his recounting of Pentecost would someday be read aloud. He may have been thinking about his words being read at some sort of public gathering—and not read into a smartphone—but I expect he knew someone would read it to others. So as we thank Jenna for her fine reading, she can thank Luke, because he put the unreadable bits together in such a way that we can save them for later. Then, of course, it falls to me to struggle through Luke’s list, which I will do now. I’ll take it from verse eight:

Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Indeed, what does it mean? But before we get to that larger question—the meaning of Pentecost—I want to talk about diversity in the Roman world. Luke is amazed by it, and this tells me that we should be too. He recounts for us the nations represented that day, the nations with a large enough Jewish population that they deserved a mention. Looking at a map, you would see that his list takes us from Rome in the west (1,400 miles!) to Parthia in the east, and south into Africa, both Egypt and Libya. To the north is modern-day Turkey, and all those cities Paul and his companions will someday visit.

And as I began pondering this passage, thinking about the diversity of the Roman world, I remembered an interview with Professor Mary Beard, included in David Olusoga’s documentary Black in Britain.* Olusoga is also interested in the diversity of the Roman world, and how physical differences like skin colour were perceived. Dr. Beard begins with a rather long caveat (“I don’t…want to give any impression that the Romans are particularly nice or angelic about this”) but then goes on to say, “what the Romans weren’t is racist in our terms, and there is no sense that skin colour is really the thing that marks you out for your position in the culture.”

“When it comes to race [then],” Olusoga asks, “the Romans were more liberal than we are now?”

“Yeah,” she says, “I think we live with a kind of myth that somehow we’ve got less and less prejudiced over the centuries, and that’s simply not true. And one of the points of looking at the Romans—one of the lessons they’ve got for us—is they remind us that some of the prejudices we hold haven’t been held forever. There’s something a bit optimistic about it because it might actually mean that we won’t go on holding them one day. Who knows,” she says, “Who knows?”

I share all this at the end of a very long week, with the death of George Floyd and all the unrest that continues. 53 years ago, Dr. King said that “a riot is the language of the unheard.” He wasn’t justifying violence—his project was always non-violent—but rather explaining why systemic racism and extrajudicial violence leads to unrest. We pray for an end to violence, best resolved through reconciliation and truth-telling. As we have learned on this side of the border, the process of addressing past wrongs is long and complex, but our collective future depends on it. And as Mary Beard reminds us, race and racial inequality are learned ideas, and can hopefully be unlearned.

On the day of Pentecost, differences melted away. Religious women and men from all over the known world had a common experience of divine power, the wind and flame of the Holy Spirit. They (literally) spoke with one voice to proclaim the wonders of God, the God who saves, the God who transforms us and makes us one.

Pentecost is the birthday of the church, but it’s also the beginning of Joel’s “last days,” a new era that will lead to the “great and glorious day of the Lord.” It begins amid the Babel, erased by the power of the Holy Spirit. From this moment of unity will come a common message, and that common message will be carried back to the farthest corners of the Roman world. Soon the world will learn that “anyone who calls on the name of the Lord can be saved”—saved from meaninglessness, saved from the things that divide us, and saved from death itself.

The cornerstone of Pentecost is baptism, entering into the death and resurrection of Christ to emerge a new person. “There is neither Jew nor Gentile,” Paul will soon write, “neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Wind and flame—and the cleansing water of baptism—will sweep away what divides us, and make us one. May we ever remain Pentecostal people, alive in the Spirit, and determined in our desire for unity. Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Spirit of Life—
come as the breath of life,
pouring energy and power into our dry bones,
rekindling all who are weary,
that they may have life and know God.
Thank you, God, for the Spirit of Life!

Spirit of Truth—
come as the flame of Christ’s light among us,
illuminating our hearts, our minds, our lives.
Thank you, God, for the Spirit of Truth!

Spirit of Hope—
come from the four winds,
O breath, O restless searcher;
breathe upon your people,
that creation may be renewed with hope.
Thank you, God, for the Spirit of Hope!

Spirit of Love—
come as our Comforter and Consoler,
that all who are broken or wounded may be healed,
that all who grieve may be consoled
by the power of your love and grace.
Thank you, God, for the Spirit of Love.

Spirit of Wisdom—
come as the light of understanding,
that diversity in all its forms may be respected
and may be understood as gifts to cherish.
Thank you, God, for the Spirit of Wisdom!

Spirit of Peace—
come as the winds of truth,
that our hearts may be kindled
by the passion for justice and peace.
Thank you, God, for the Spirit of Peace!

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “O Holy Spirit, root of life”

O Holy Spirit, root of life,
creator, cleanser of all things,
anoint our wounds, awaken us
with lustrous movement of your wings.

Eternal Vigour, saving one,
you free us by your living word,
becoming flesh to wear our pain,
and all creation is restored.

O Holy Wisdom, soaring power,
encompass us with wings unfurled,
and carry us, encircling all,
above, below, and through the world.

BLESSING

God of power,
may the boldness of your Spirit transform us,
may the gentleness of your Spirit lead us,
may the gifts of your Spirit equip us
to serve and worship you now and always. Amen.

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

During this time of physical isolation, we look for ways to share words of comfort and hope in the face of uncertainty and fear. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Special thanks this week to Margaret “Bunny” Todman, our guest preacher and liturgist. Thanks too to Jenny, Bob, and Heather!

PRELUDE: (Scottish traditional tune)

CENTRING POEM: “Rio’s Messiah”

Overlooking the lush playground of Rio
Stands an open-armed Messiah
Welcoming everyone
Under his protective wings
Ready to embrace the world
With all its misgivings.

OPENING PRAYER

Dear Lord:
We are all your children
and we are all children of this earth.
Help us reach a calm within ourselves
to face the strange and unfamiliar happenings of these days.
Give us the strength to go toward what lies ahead
with confidence and conviction;
knowing that you are with us
and all will be well. Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God”

Seek ye first the kingdom of God
and God’s righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Hallelu, hallelujah.

Ask and it shall be given unto you;
seek and you shall find;
knock and the door shall be opened unto you.
Hallelu, hallelujah.

We do not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Hallelu, hallelujah.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Dear God:
We ask you to help us forgive those who have wronged us…
but we don’t always ask for forgiveness
for the wrongs we have done to others.
Look into our hearts and help us to forgive.
We are all part of this earth
and should live in harmony.
Thank you, Lord.
Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God listens and makes available
everything we need for the future
and forgives our foolish ways of the past.
Thank you God.
Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC: “Better Than a Hallelujah” (Hart/Hartford)

FIRST READING: Psalm 91.9-16

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honour him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

SECOND READING: Matthew 8.23-26

23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

HYMN: “O worship the king”

O worship the King, all glorious above,
O gratefully sing God’s power and God’s love;
our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendour, and girded with praise.

O tell of God’s might, O sing of God’s grace,
whose robe is the light, whose canopy space,
whose chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
and broad is God’s path on the wings of the storm.

The earth with its store of wonders untold,
Almighty, your power has founded of old;
has stablished it fast by a changeless decree,
and round it has cast, like a mantle, the sea.

Your bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
in you do we trust, nor find you to fail;
your mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

REFLECTION: “Out of Service”

Isn’t it annoying when you dial a telephone number and you hear a voice tell you that that number is “Out of Service?” And you know “Out of Service” means it’s not working, not functioning, broken or currently unavailable.

Telephones and telephone numbers can be “Out of Service.” Subways and buses can be “Out of Service”. ATM machines can be “Out of Service” Yes, all of these things can be “Out of Service” whether temporarily or permanently.

Something that’s always available and never “Out of Service,” though, is our direct line to God. God is always with us and will listen to us whether we’re getting in touch to ask for help, to complain or to say “thank you.”

Yes, our direct line to God is often used in prayer.

As Psalm 27: verses 7-8 say: Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

All people ask for help. One of our readings today told us about the disciples waking Jesus during a storm on the lake. They asked for his help because they were frightened of the storm.

Many people today call on God for help. Yes, we all need help at one time or another—it could be because we are ill or in pain. We could be needing forgiveness. We could be looking for guidance. We could be searching for peace. Whatever the reason, we all should stay in touch with God through our prayers.

Yes, many of us pray to God; and David, who is considered the traditional author of many psalms, was no exception. The psalms call upon the Lord, in prayer, for many reasons. Let’s see how the psalms were used to communicate with God whether to ask God for help, whether to ask God questions or whether to give God praise and thanks.

First let’s hear some of the psalms that asked God for HELP.

In Psalm 5, Verses 1 and 2 say: O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to me cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you.

In Psalm 17, verse 1 says: O Lord, hear my plea for justice. Listen to my cry for help. Pay attention to my prayer, for it comes from honest lips.

Yes, these psalms ask God to hear their pleas for help.

Then, in another psalm, the writer admits that the Lord did hear his pleas for help. Yes, in Psalm 40, verse 1 it says: I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.

Now let’s hear how the psalms COMPLAINED and asked questions of the Lord.

In Psalm 10, verse 1 says: O Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble?

And then in Psalm 13, verses 1 and 2 say: O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?

Yes, like these psalms, we have a lot of questions for the Lord and sometimes don’t see how the Lord is guiding us and answering us. We lose patience with the Lord and don’t understand why our prayers aren’t answered immediately.

We all know that we all have crises in our lives and when those crises in our lives are over, we want to thank and PRAISE God.

And, of course, the psalms also PRAISED God.

In Psalm 9, verse 1 says: I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvellous things you have done.

And in Psalm 30, verse 1 says: I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.

And, lastly, in Psalm 34, verse 1 says: I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.

So you see, some psalms certainly praised God a great deal and, like these psalms, we all have a lot to praise God for—we should praise him for his forgiveness, we should praise him for his guidance, and we certainly should praise him for his steadfast love.

Yes, David, and many of the people in Biblical times, called on God many times and we too, can call on God to assist us in our lives, and God WILL guide US as well.

We must never forget that God is always available to us—any time, any place. We always have a direct line and it’s never “Out of Service”.

AMEN.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Dear Lord:
We all need your peace and comfort.
As you gave your disciples,
give everyone around the world that peace
which is surely needed in this challenging and difficult time.
Give us the knowledge that this, too, will pass
and we will, once again, be able to show our love
to family and friends face-to-face.
Thank you God for your understanding.
Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “What a friend we have in Jesus”

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Christ the Saviour is our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do our friends despise, forsake us?
Are we tempted to despair?
Jesus’ strength will shield our weakness,
and we’ll find new courage there.

BLESSING

Remember we can go to God and ask for his guidance
and we can do this anytime, anywhere
because our direct line to God is never “Out of Service”
Amen.

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

During this time of physical isolation, we look for ways to share words of comfort and hope in the face of uncertainty and fear. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Thanks this week to Dave, Barbara B., and Heather!

PRELUDE: “Healing” (Haugen)

OPENING PRAYER

Come then and listen,
all you in awe of the Most High.
The God who preserves us from evil.
The God who helps us pass through fire and water.
The God who listens when we cry out.
The God who sends us only mercy.
At all times and all places,
God is worthy of our praise,
Amen and amen!

HYMN OF PRAISE: “Rejoice the Lord is king”

Rejoice the Lord is King!
Your risen Lord adore!
Rejoice, give thanks and sing
and triumph evermore.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice:
rejoice; again I say, rejoice!

Jesus the Saviour reigns,
the God of truth and love;
when he had purged our sins,
he took his seat above. R

God’s kingdom cannot fail;
Christ rules o’er earth and heaven;
the keys of death and hell
are to our Jesus given. R

Rejoice in glorious hope,
for Christ, the judge, shall come
to glorify the saints
for their eternal home.
We soon shall hear the archangel’s voice;
the trump of God shall sound, rejoice!

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

It feels like we’ve been tested, God,
and the results are mixed.
In the midst of trouble,
we struggle to trust in you.
In the midst of sadness.
we struggle to trust in you.
Even in the valley of the shadow of death,
we struggle to trust in you.
Renew our trust, as you renew our strength,
and help us to walk with you.
Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God is “slow to chide, and swift to bless.”
Praise to God, singing alleluia,
ever glorious in faithfulness! Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC: “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” (Stead)

FIRST READING: Psalm 66

Bless our God, all peoples,
and let the sound of praise be heard.
God has preserved us among the living,
and kept our feet from stumbling.
For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
You led us into the desert,
you laid a burden upon our back,
you let sickness furrow our brow,
we passed through fire and water;
but you brought us out to a land of plenty.

I will come to your house with burnt-offerings;
I will pay you my vows,
the vows which I made with my lips,
and swore with my mouth when I was in trouble.
I will offer fat beasts in sacrifice, a savoury offering of rams;
I will prepare you an offering of bulls and goats.

Come then and listen, all you that fear God,
while I tell what God has done for me.
I cried aloud to God; high praise was ready on my tongue.
If I had cherished evil in my heart,
God would not have heard me.
But truly God has heard me,
has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed are you, O God,
for you have not rejected my prayer,
nor withdrawn from me your steadfast love.

SECOND READING: John 14.15-21

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

HYMN: “We praise you for the sun”

We praise you for the sun,
the golden shining sun,
that gives us healing, strength, and joy;
we praise you for the sun.

We praise you for the rain,
the softly falling rain,
that gives us healing, strength, and joy;
we praise you for the rain.

We praise you for your love,
your patient, endless love,
that gives us healing, strength, and joy;
we praise you for your love.

REFLECTION

James Bond is one.
Harry Potter is one.
Anakin Skywalker is one (sort of).
Batman is one.
Dorothy (of Oz) is one.
Frodo Baggins is one.
Almost everyone in the Marvel Universe is one.
Anne (with an e) is one, and Little Orphan Annie too.

If you guessed orphans, well done. If you guessed orphans after hearing Little Annie’s middle name, don’t pat yourself on the back too hard. Curious, isn’t it, that all these fictional characters—mostly aimed at children—are orphans. This is worth exploring, wouldn’t you say?

Whenever I have a question that relates to comic books, or comic book characters, I call my friend Ted. He knows comic books. He may be the only minister who signed up after learning that “to seek justice and resist evil” is at the heart of our call as a church, a bit of comic book hiding in plain sight.

“Ted,” I say, “I’m calling about all those orphans in the Marvel Universe.”
“Sure, he says, “it’s all about abandonment redeemed by dedication to a higher ideal.”

Now, with any trip to the mountaintop to consult with your comic book guru, there will need to be some pondering, unpacking, maybe some reframing. But before we do that, Ted also gave me a quick illustration of the opposite. Seems that in the golden age of comic books, DC introduced a character called Mister Terrific, who was, well, terrific. Athlete, scholar, self-made millionaire, Mister Terrific had it all, then turned to helping others mostly out of boredom. Needless to say, audiences didn’t respond to the character, and he was soon retired. Superheroes need to suffer on the road to becoming superheroes, so it would seem.

Before we draw a link between John 14 and some mountaintop wisdom, let’s look at the choice of the word “orphans.” One of the pivotal (and often ignored) passages in scripture is found in Mark 3 (and Mat 12, Luke 8) where Jesus’ family comes knocking, and someone in the group says ‘your mother and brothers are here, looking for you.’ He looks around the room and asks ‘who are my mother and my brothers?’ A pause, and then ‘you are my mother and my brothers, along with anyone who does what God intends.’

Clearly, the church has found this awkward through the ages. For most of our history, we have billed ourselves as ‘family-friendly,’ where we honour mothers and fathers, and seek to love our siblings, literal and metaphorical. But here, Jesus seems to reject his mother and brothers, making himself an orphan. In fact, he is redefining family, and adding to the concept rather than replacing it. Still, it is dramatic, stepping out of kin and clan and naming friends and fellow-travellers as his family as well.

Back to John 14, Jesus is busy explaining this new universe they have entered, a universe where family is redefined, where the Spirit is promised, and where the faithful are Jesus’ kin and clan. And he describes it like this: “If you love me, keep my commands.” It’s pretty simple, and it opens that other instruction, to love God and neighbour—the heart of the law. In other words, Jesus is saying “if you love me, keep the command to love God and love your neighbour.” Or in other, other words, ‘when you love me, you are loving God, and cannot help but do what God intends.’ That’s a lot packed into seven words.

He then promises an advocate, the Holy Spirit, who we know will arrive in just two weeks’ time (Pentecost). He calls the Spirit the “Spirit of truth,” something the world cannot accept, and something that will live within us. Then the same promise, restated: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” And finally, some poetry, a new psalm that expresses the heart of the gospel:

Before long,
the world will not see me no more,
but you will see me.
Because I live,
you also will live.
On that day you will realize
that I am in my Father,
and you are in me,
and I am in you.

We cannot be orphans, since death is no more. We are alive in Christ, and he is one with God. “You in me, and I in you,” the re-formed family of God.

So what about suffering, or “abandonment redeemed by dedication to a higher ideal”? All of the characters listed a moment ago began with suffering and loss, and applied that same suffering and loss to the service of others, to prevent them from being defined by the same experience. And isn’t that just another way of saying Jesus died on the cross to save us? The way it works is a mystery, but the outcome is the same: suffering redeemed for the salvation of others. “Because I live, you also will live.”

That’s the cosmic answer, the “meta-narrative” that animates the universe of Christianity. Closer to home—today—there is another answer: our sense of abandonment (in this time of COVID-19) redeemed by dedication to a higher ideal. The higher ideal is being the body of Christ, even when we’re separated by disease and the threat of death. Jesus said “you are in me, and I am in you.” Our suffering is his suffering, and his suffering is our suffering. In any part of the body, suffering is added to the great well of suffering that God keeps—as God tends to it, and holds it in our stead. We surrender it to God, trusting that we never suffer alone, nor will we ever be orphans. Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

This adapted prayer is from the Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church (USA).

Merciful God,
your Spirit hovers over us and all our troubled world,
interceding for us with sighs too deep for words.
Help us now.
Chaos and infection have shattered our lives.
Stay with us as we wait
for news, for healing, for help.
Give us strength and courage to bear the unknown.
Uphold us with your sustaining grace,
and show us your care
through neighbours, strangers, and friends.
Sustain all those whom we love
with your healing and your peace,
and comfort those who mourn.
Guide the hands and strengthen the hearts
of medical professionals as they work to save.
Let those who have been afflicted know that you are near;
give them rest from pain and fear,
and restore their hope,
we pray in the name of Christ, our light. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “Love Divine”

Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.

Come, almighty to deliver;
let us all thy grace receive;
suddenly return, and never,
nevermore thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.

Finish, then, thy new creation;
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee,
changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.

BLESSING

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

During this time of physical isolation, we look for ways to share words of comfort and hope in the face of uncertainty and fear. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Thanks this week to Emma, Madelyn, Bunny, Taye, and Heather!

PRELUDE: “Mom” (Trainor)

OPENING PRAYER

We praise you this day!
You are our rock and fortress,
a refuge in the midst of trouble.
You are our stronghold,
keeping us safe in our time of need.
You are our righteousness,
redeeming us when we turn away.
You are our protector,
guiding our spirits on a path back to you.
Remind us, Lord, that we are living stones—
strength from strength when we rest in you.
Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE: “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds”

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
in a believer’s ear!
It soothes the sorrows, heals the wounds,
and drives away all fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,
and calms the troubled breast;
’tis manna to the hungry soul,
and to the weary, rest.

Dear Name! the rock on which I build,
my shield and hiding-place,
my never-failing treasury, filled
with boundless stores of grace.

Jesus, my Shepherd, Brother, Friend,
my Prophet, Priest, and King,
my Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
accept the praise I bring.

The effort of my heart is weak,
and cold my warmest thought;
but when I see you whom I seek,
I’ll praise you as I ought.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

God of mercy,
Once we were no people,
and now we are your people.
Still, we forget.
We forget that we belong to you,
and that you feed us
with the pure spiritual milk we crave.
We forget that you made us living stones,
building together
the household of heaven.
Help us remember,
who we are,
and to Whom we belong,
In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God is “slow to chide, and swift to bless.”
Praise to God, singing alleluia,
ever glorious in faithfulness! Amen.

FIRST READING: Psalm 31.1-5

In you, O God, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
Deliver me in your righteousness;
incline your ear; come quickly to my rescue.

Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to keep me safe.
You are indeed my rock and fortress;
lead me and guide me for your own name’s sake.
Release me from the net that they hid for me,
for you are my protector.
Into your hands I commend my spirit,
for you have redeemed me, O God of truth.

SECOND READING: 1 Peter 2.2-10

2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.
4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour.
5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. 6 As the Scriptures say,

“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,
chosen for great honour,
and anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”

7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honour God has given him. But for those who reject him,

“The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.”
8 And, “He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them. 9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,[g] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

10 “Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”

HYMN: “In the quiet curve of evening”

In the quiet curve of evening,
in the sinking of the days,
in the silky void of darkness, you are there.
In the lapses of my breathing,
in the space between my ways,
in the crater carved by sadness, you are there.
You are there, you are there, you are there.

In the rests between the phrases,
in the cracks between the stars,
in the gaps between the meaning, you are there.
In the melting down of endings,
in the cooling of the sun,
in the solstice of the winter, you are there.
You are there, you are there, you are there.

In the mystery of my hungers,
in the silence of my rooms,
in the cloud of my unknowing, you are there.
In the empty cave of grieving,
in the desert of my dreams,
in the tunnel of my sorrow, you are there.
You are there, you are there, you are there.

REFLECTION

You don’t need to find a good metaphor—it finds you.

In part, a good metaphor lines up with our experience, confirming something we already know. If a scientist or a politician talks about “the battle against COVID-19,” it lines up with our present experience, and it speaks to our deepest hope that the virus will be “defeated” in our collective “war” against it.

A good metaphor will also test our experience, and pose questions about the nature of our relationship to the topic. In this case, my examples are the various metaphors present in our reading from 1 Peter. I’ll share a quick list—which may not catch all of them—and suggest that one or more of them will light up for you.

Pure spiritual milk
Taste that the Lord is good
Christ the living Stone
And you, like living stones
Built into a spiritual house
You are a holy priesthood
A chosen and precious cornerstone
A chosen people
A royal priesthood
A holy nation
God’s special possession
The people of God

Maybe we should step back for a minute and hear the textbook definition of metaphor. “The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another.”* In other words, seeing things we didn’t see before because we never saw them side-by-side. I’ve read this passage many times, but the metaphor of being ‘living stones built into a spiritual house’ speaks to me in this moment. We can’t meet in our regular spiritual house, but together we are the spiritual house, as living stones—each of us.

Likewise, on Mother’s Day, this passage leaps off the page:

Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.

The metaphor tells us a number of things at once. All of us, even the most seasoned believer, need the pure spiritual milk that only God can give. Our continued growth depends on it, to fully understand our salvation. And we should cry out for it, and never imagine that we can somehow wean ourselves from this heavenly kindness.

The other thing this passage tells us is the importance of God the Mother, overshadowed in our metaphorical approach to God, but never diminished. Even at the beginning of creation, we find God brooding over the waters of creation, waiting to bring us to life (Gen 1.2). Then God lifts us to her cheek, and bends down to feed us (Hos 11.4). And “as a mother comforts her child,” God said, “so I will comfort you” (Isa 66.13). Time and again, we are being nurtured, sought, and sheltered, “gathered as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (Mat 23.37).

As I said, a good metaphor finds us. It finds us in a time of deep need, it finds us in the midst of longing, it finds us when answers seem remote or absent. One of my mother’s enduring phrases was “be careful,” something she would offer as response to most situations, but mostly as a farewell. I would tease her about it from time-to-time, wondering what hidden dangers she saw lurking in my immediate future—since it remained her blanket advice to every situation.

In many ways, her perennial advice is tailor-made for the present age, with hidden danger all around us. You might even say that in the present age, all that childhood advice has finally come into its own: wash your hands, cover your mouth, don’t stay out, and usually a question about doing something foolish just because my friends were doing something foolish. All good advice, and all rooted in the brooding, sheltering, and comforting love that we need.

Back to 1 Peter, there is another message hiding in plain sight, and that is the message of adoption. The context of 1 Peter is advice to new believers, those who have found the “wonderful light” of God. Here is his summary: “Once you were no people, but now you’re God’s people.” We are God’s “special possession,” chosen by God, chosen based on our need for God and God’s love. Anyone with the same need can be adopted into the household of God: nurtured, sought and sheltered by the Mother and Father of us all.

In a time of longing, or separation, or sadness, we turn to each other—our spiritual housemates—and minister to each other. We remind each other of the taste of God’s kindness, and embody the comfort that God gives, now and always, Amen.

*Lakoff & Johnson, p. 5

SPECIAL MUSIC: “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep” (Berlin)

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

“A Prayer in the Midst of the Coronavirus” was written by the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty, Senior Director of Theological Education Funds Development, Presbyterian Foundation.

God of labyrinthian journeys,
thank you for walking with us
through paths that lead to places that centre us,
not confusing and blocking our progress like mazes.
Thank you for being present with us,
even when we forget you are with us.
Thank you for the witnesses we have to your faithfulness and love
for generation after generation.
Thank you, God, for being with Sarai and Abraham
as they traveled to places they did not choose,
lands foreign to them and challenges they did not design.
Thank you, God, for Shiprah and Puah, the midwives to the Hebrews,
who risked their lives to make sure new life thrived,
letting their commitment to you and to the community take priority.
Thank you, God, for being with Naomi and Ruth
as they return to Bethlehem after the death of loved ones,
for their courage to stay steadfast to one another and to you,
and the abundant harvest they found where there once was famine.
Thank you, God, for the gift of Mary, who anointed Jesus with costly perfume,
reminding us that caring for the body of Christ is primary for us all.
Finally, we give thanks for leaders in our midst throughout time
who have showed us the way forward as prophets,
preachers, pastors and shepherds.
Journey with us, O God, in the tumult, twists and turns of this coronavirus crisis,
and lead us to a place centred on your love, trust, promise
and new life that conquers all. In the name of the one who created us,
redeems us, and sustains us, our One God. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy”

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
like the wideness of the sea;
there’s a kindness in God’s justice
which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth’s sorrows
are more felt than up in heaven;
there is no place where earth’s failings
have such gracious judgement given.

There is plentiful redemption
in the blood that Christ has shed;
there is joy for all the members
in the sorrows of the Head.

Troubled souls, why will you scatter
like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts, why will you wander
from a love so true and deep?

For the love of God is broader
than the measures of the mind,
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.

BLESSING

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23

FINAL SONG: “We’ll Meet Again” (Parker/Charles)

During this time of physical isolation, we look for ways to share words of comfort and hope in the face of uncertainty and fear. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the song links within the liturgy. Thanks this week to Jenny, Katie, Judith, Faith, Olivia, and Heather!

PRELUDE: “Praise to the Lord” (Klusmeier)

OPENING PRAYER

We praise you, God
that you come to us:
The Good Shepherd
The Gate for the Sheep
and The Lamb of God—
who takes away the sin of the world.
Find us in your pasture, God,
and may we ever dwell in your gates,
secure in your love and goodness.
Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE: “Christ is alive”

Christ is alive! Let Christians sing.
The cross stands empty to the sky.
Let streets and homes with praises ring.
Love, drowned in death, shall never die.

Christ is alive! No longer bound
to distant years in Palestine,
but saving, healing, here and now,
and touching every place and time.

In every insult, rift, and war,
where colour, scorn, or wealth divide,
Christ suffers still, yet loves the more,
and lives, where even hope has died.

Women and men, in age and youth,
can feel the Spirit, hear the call,
and find the way, the life, the truth,
revealed in Jesus, freed for all.

Christ is alive, and comes to bring
good news to this and every age,
till earth and sky and ocean ring
with joy, with justice, love and praise.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

All we like sheep have gone astray, Lord.
We are meant to follow you,
but we follow in our own way.
Direct us with your grace,
guide us with your goodness,
and lead us back to you.
Speak to us through the Spirit,
and remind us of the sound of your voice.
Give us life, that we might have it abundantly,
filled with love and mercy.
Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God is “slow to chide, and swift to bless.”
Praise to God, singing alleluia,
ever glorious in faithfulness! Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC: “Footprints” (Osther)

FIRST READING: Psalm 23

God is my shepherd,
there is nothing I shall lack.
You, God, make me lie down in green pastures,
you lead me beside peaceful waters;
you revive my spirit,
you guide me in right pathways
for your name’s sake.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
you are with me,
your rod and your staff are my comfort.
You spread a table for me in the sight of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.
Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in God’s house my whole life long.

SECOND READING: John 10.1-10

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

HYMN: “The King of love”

The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his
and he is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow
my ransomed soul he leadeth,
and where the verdant pastures grow
with food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed;
but yet in love he sought me,
and on his shoulder gently laid,
and home rejoicing brought me.

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill
with thee, dear Lord, beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still,
thy cross before to guide me.

Thou spread’st a table in my sight;
thy unction grace bestoweth;
and O what transport of delight
from thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days
thy goodness faileth never:
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
within thy house forever!

REFLECTION

Few slogans sum up a people like “keep calm and carry on.”

If you didn’t know that the slogan originated in Britain as a wartime motivational poster, you would likely guess that it did. Ironically, of the millions of posters first printed, most were never used. And it was only in 2000 that a bookshop owner found a copy and made it public. The rest, as they say, is history.

The advice, to keep calm and carry on, is part of the genesis of what is now called “emergency risk communication.” It pairs what we know about effective communication and twins it with human psychology, all in an effort to reduce risk to the general population. It is the social science behind the message, and it all feels rather familiar.

The first thing to note about the psychology of a crisis is our inability to process complex information. We have trouble hearing, understanding, and remembering. So messages have to be simple and to the point. “Stay at home” and “wash your hands” are good examples of this approach. Next, we tend to hold on to current beliefs. Early misinformation comparing the virus to a seasonal flu meant that some had a harder time adapting to the crisis.

Going a bit deeper, we tend to seek second and third opinions in a crisis, partly because we can’t take it in, and partly because we are looking for an opinion that fits our existing beliefs. The key here is listening to experts and avoiding Fox News. The final point in emergency risk management ties all these threads together: we tend to believe the first message we receive. In other words, we need to hear an accurate message from multiple sources in a timely manner.* And it needs to be memorable too, so keep calm and carry on.

It is no accident that we turn to the psalms in a time of crisis. They constitute the spiritual side of emergency risk communication, the simple and direct messages we need when we are being tested in some way. Walter Brueggemann tells us that the psalms fed the “liturgical imagination” of Israel, allowing the people to order their lives under the “the rule, guidance, and protection of Yahweh.” So whether recited in worship, or prayed at home, the psalms voice our need for God in the midst of whatever life sends our way.**

And the twenty-third psalm, perhaps most of all, captures the mood of this moment. The Divine Shepherd will lead us to a better place, a peaceful and refreshing place. The Divine Shepherd will restore us there, and keep us in the right path. Even at the height of crisis, the Divine Shepherd will protect us and comfort us. We will be anointed and fed, and even our adversaries will see. Goodness and mercy will follow us all our days, and we will dwell in God’s house forever.

Again, if we are looking for the rule, guidance, and protection of God, the Divine Shepherd is the model we need. The message is simple and consistent, the path is clear, and the protection never ends. The gift of liturgical imagination is then personified, and we meet the Good Shepherd, the Word made flesh. Jesus expands the scope of the psalm, becoming shepherd and gate, the means and the destination in one.

Part of the context of John 10 is the ongoing risk posed by false-prophets. Jesus compares them to thieves and robbers, those who do not care for the sheep but only themselves. Notice the link back to messaging: “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”

Not so with the stranger. The stranger speaks with an alternate voice, urging us to reject the shepherd, to make our own way in the wilderness, and to neglect the needs of the rest of the flock in favour of our own needs. But Jesus calls out the stranger, exposing their lies, and points instead to the abundance that comes within the sheepfold, where our cup overflows.

As I noted in the blast on Thursday, this feels like the end of the beginning of this crisis. We are moving into the next phase, with changes coming as early as tomorrow. As expected, these changes will have little bearing on the churches, with our mature demographic and our common life based largely on gathering together. And so we wait, but we do not lose hope.

We give thanks that our church continues to be a venue for love in action, feeding the hungry in a time of need. We give thanks that God has given us the means to worship remotely, and hear the voice of the Spirit through a number of voices. And we give thanks that we can reach out to each other, and speak words of comfort.

May we shelter with the Shepherd of the Sheep, and find pasture in his presence, now and always, Amen.

*https://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/ppt/CERC_Psychology_of_a_Crisis.pdf
**https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/passages/related-articles/psalms-in-israels-worship

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Shepherd God,
You lead us to the stillness of this moment,
you make it sacred, and we shelter here.
Comfort us, God, as we shelter in your love.
Remind us that we are your children,
and that you lead us in your way.

Comfort us in the midst of fear:
fear of things lost and never to return,
fear of sorrow,
and fear of the unknown.

Encourage us in the midst of peril:
praying for a cure,
praying for frontline workers,
praying for all in need.

Guide us through the valley of shadows,
with your staff to protect us,
and your Spirit to lead us home.

Surround us this day with goodness,
Set a place at table,
that you may be our companion and guide,
and we may be companion and guide to others.

Dwell with us, God, this day,
and remind us that we never walk alone.
Strengthen us to care for others,
Following the compassionate example of your child,
Jesus the Christ. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “He leadeth me”

He leadeth me: O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be,
still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.
He leadeth me! He leadeth me!
By his own hand he leadeth me!
His faithful follower I would be,
for by his hand he leadeth me!

Sometimes ‘mid scenes of deepest gloom,
sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
by waters calm, o’er troubled sea,
still ’tis his hand that leadeth me. R

Lord, I would clasp thy hand in mine,
nor ever murmur nor repine,
content, whatever lot I see,
since ’tis my God that leadeth me. R

And when my task on earth is done,
when by thy grace the victory’s won,
even death’s cold wave I will not flee,
since God through Jordan leadeth me. R

BLESSING

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.