Redeemer Lutheran Church 540 Essex Street Bangor, Maine www.redeemer- lutheran- church.org WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW An Alternative Worship Service for an Alternative Valentine s Day Welcome Confession and Opening Prayer Love can be a powerful topic, but it can also be a painful one. We bring to worship our own longings and failures to give and receive love in the ways we have desired. Beyond ourselves, we come to worship aware of others pain and such vast unmet needs for love, in those known to us and those far away from us. As worship begins, in silence we pass around the group two items that collect the silent prayers, hopes, and longings of the people holding each item for a moment before passing it on: 1) a heart with a crack in it, 2) a small globe. later that night i held an atlas in my lap ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered where does it hurt? it answered everywhere everywhere everywhere. excerpt from What They Did Yesterday Afternoon, by Somali- British poet Warsan Shire Song: Give Me Love by George Harrison Song with lyrics at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flskwwf94cw Reading: "The Commercialization of Love," from Letters to Marc about Jesus by Henri Nouwen The most important thing you can say about God's love is that God loves us not because of anything we've done to earn that love, but because God, in total freedom, has decided to love us.
Everything that Jesus has done, said, and undergone is meant to show us that the love we most long for is given to us by God, not because we've deserved it, but because God is a God of love... If we had a firm faith in God's unconditional love for us, it would no longer be necessary to be always on the lookout for ways of being admired by people, and would need, even less, to obtain from people by force what God desires to give us so abundantly..." For a larger part of the letter, see http://jameslau88.com/jesus_the_loving_god.html Musical interlude Reading: Verses from the Bible about love (**see the last page for Bible references) The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end. You have granted me life and steadfast love, (O Lord), and your care has preserved my spirit. I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. [Jesus said], As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father s commandments and abide in his love. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one s life for one s friends. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.for if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax- collectors do the same? If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance. Musical interlude ENGAGING WITH THE WORD Around the room are four stations for prayer, and people are invited now to spend time in reflection however they wish: visiting one or more stations and doing the activities suggested there, and/or remaining seated and listening to the music and/or writing or drawing in response to the readings. When the instrumental music transitions to the chanted Ubi Caritas, people know the prayer time will be ending soon. The first three stations take common Valentines Day items and transform their meaning. Station 1: Valentine cards (a table with a pile of blank valentines like the ones kids give out at school) Two possibilities: 1. Imagine that God has sent you a valentine. What would it say? 2. Write a valentine to someone who needs one, and/or who may not be expecting one from you. Station 2: Chocolates (a table with a box of chocolates, with only the empty wrappers in it) Each wrapper contains a piece of paper with a quote related to love. You are invited to take one and see what it says to you today (or keep choosing until one speaks to you!). You might want to copy it down on a post- it that you can put somewhere you ll see it each day. (***See the list of quotes on the last page.) Station 3: Flowers (a table with a bouquet of flowers and Picasso s image of a hand holding a bouquet; https://www.masterworksfineart.com/artist/pablo- picasso/bouquet- of- peace- 1958/ ) Each of us can offer what we have to the world talents, experiences, feelings, convictions, hopes, love bringing out the best of ourselves for the good of another (or many others). Draw or write what is in the bouquet you have to give. To whom do you, or could you, offer it? What excitement or hesitation do you have in offering it? Station 4: Remembering Baptism (a large wooden cross laid out on bricks on the floor; in the center is a large bowl of water filled with smooth stones; hymnals are available with the baptismal liturgy marked) Baptism is the quintessential Christian ritual of God s love for us, in which God says to each person, I love you; you are mine. That love is the source of all the love we can share with
others, but it s easy to forget in everyday life. Use this moment to remember and bask in that love. Take a stone from the water and write on it a word or phrase that will help you recall how deeply you and the world are loved. (If you re stuck, you might find inspiration in the baptismal liturgy or the lyrics of the hymn, You Are Mine, which is written as words from God to us. You can find them at http://www.lyricsbox.com/david- haas- you- are- mine- lyrics- zns7cnm.html ) Ubi caritas et amor Deus ibi est; Deus ibi est. (Translation: Where true charity and love abide, God is dwelling there.) Opportunity to share what struck you in the prayer stations Song: O Christ Your Heart Compassionate (Evangelical Lutheran Worship #722) Lyrics: http://forum.musicasacra.com/forum/discussion/8932/o- christ- your- heart- compassionate- text- by- herman- g.- stuempfle- jr./p1 Blessing By William Sloane Coffin (1924-2006) May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine on you with grace and mercy. May God give you grace not to sell yourselves short, Grace to risk something big for something good, Grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth, and too small for anything but love. May God take your minds and think through them. May God take your lips and speak through them. May God take your hands and work through them. May God take your hearts and set them on fire. Postlude: One Love by Bob Marley Listen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdb- 8eLEW8g **Bible verses with references The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end. (Lamentations 3:22) You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. (Job 10:12) I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:24) Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. (Proverbs 10:12)
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. (1 Chronicles 16:34) For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. (John 3:16a) [Jesus said] As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father s commandments and abide in his love. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one s life for one s friends. (John 15:9-10, 12-13) Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matt. 22:37-40) You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax- collectors do the same? (Matt. 5:43-44, 46) If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.(love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:1, 7, 13) And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24) Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7-12) May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance (Jude 1:2) ***Quotes related to love: Love is the bridge between you and everything. Jalaluddin Rumi The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds. Dalai Lama The ultimate lesson is learning how to love and be loved unconditionally. Elizabeth Kubler- Ross Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. Thomas Merton
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Martin Luther King, Jr. Love one another and help others to rise to the higher levels, simply by pouring out love. Love is infectious and the greatest healing energy. Sai Baba Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. Jalaluddin Rumi Love is not what you say; Love is what you do. John Hagee Loving others is easy when you love and accept yourself. Louise Hay Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. Dr. Seuss If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another. Buddha I have decided to stick to love... Hate is too great a burden to burden to bear. Martin Luther King, Jr. Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public. Cornel West Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus. Mother Teresa Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Marianne Williamson Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. - - Jalaluddin Rumi
For comments or questions, contact Pastor Rebecca at pastorrebecca@redeemer- lutheran- church.org