Easter V

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)