Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist June 23, 2018 Laurie Olson and Barbara Clarihew First Reading: John said, I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet. Holy Spirit, let us know our unworthiness, and yet make us able to unfasten Christ to the world. Anne Osdieck Today is known as Little Christmas. It is the birth of the sixth-month older cousin of Jesus. Some believed John to be the Christ, but the Gospels make it quite clear that his destiny was to be the forerunner and baptizer of the Christ. There is nothing known or written about any friendship they enjoyed after their wombto-womb meeting during Mary s visitation to John s mother, Elizabeth. John is pictured as having a light to shine toward and upon Jesus, but as the Evangelist John writes in his first chapter, He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. Jn. 1, 8 John is born to be the front-runner, the advance-publicity man for the coming on stage of Jesus. We are the co-runners who have been radiated by His Light and extend that Light to the ends of our neighborhoods, the end of our abilities, and to the end of our time. Zechariah, Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary were all mighty little in their times, but all were born with their little to do mighty things in their time for all time. We are servants whom the Lord has known before we were born and in our lifetime we give birth to Him according to our individual personalities and history. John was born to make known the coming of Jesus. We are born for the remembering of His life, death, and Resurrection. We are born to announce He lives and gives new births and lives to all nations. Through the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will visit us. Lk. 1, 78
Second Reading: Responsorial Prayer Forgive, forgive us, holy God! Your children call on you to hear! Our blood is on each other s hands, We die from hunger, lies and fear. Forgive, forgive us, holy God! Forgive us that our souls are numb To scenes of terror, screams of pain; That while we pray Your Kingdom come, Our world is still a battle plain. R. Forgive the minds no longer shocked By homeless poor, by lives abused, Forgive us that the earth is stacked With weapons waiting to be used. R. Forgive us that our household gods Are self and safety, private need, Forgive us all our fitful prayers, The token gift, the token deed. R. Give us this day the bread of peace, The hands to share a common good, The hearts to ache for justice sake The will to stand where Jesus stood. R. (Shirley Murray -- Faith Forever Singing --New Zealand Hymns and Songs for a New Day) Third Reading: Baptized and Beloved by Janet Wolf, Upper Room Disciplines 1999 A few nights ago, I had a dream. In the dream, I was sitting by a lake. A woman came and sat down beside me. She looked like a woman on whom life had been especially hard. Turning to her, offering my hand, My name, she said, is Fayette. Years ago, a woman named Fayette found her way to Hobson United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Fayette lived with mental illness and lupus and without a home. She joined the new member class. The conversation about baptism this holy moment when we are named by God s grace with such power it won t come undone, as Janet puts it especially grabbed Fayette s imagination. Janet tells of how, during the class, Fayette
would ask again and again, And when I m baptized, I am? The class, Janet writes, learned to respond, Beloved, precious child of God, and beautiful to behold. Oh, yes! she d say, and then we could go back to our discussion. The day of Fayette s baptism came. This is how Janet describes it: Fayette went under, came up spluttering, and cried, And now I am? And we all sang, Beloved, precious child of God, and beautiful to behold. Oh, yes! she shouted as she danced all around the fellowship hall. Two months later, Janet received a phone call. Fayette had been beaten and raped and was at the county hospital. So I went. I could see her from a distance, pacing back and forth. When I got to the door, I heard, I am beloved. She turned, saw me, and said, I am beloved, precious child of God, and. Catching sight of herself in the mirror hair sticking up, blood and tears streaking her face, dress torn, dirty, and rebuttoned askew, she started again, I am beloved, precious child of God, and She looked in the mirror again and declared, and God is still working on me. If you come back tomorrow, I ll be so beautiful I ll take your breath away! Beloved, the voice from heaven had proclaimed as the baptismal waters of the Jordan rolled off Jesus body. Beloved, the voice named him as he prepared to begin his public ministry. Beloved, spoken with such power that it would permeate Jesus entire life and teaching. Beloved, he would name those he met who were desperate for healing, for inclusion, for hope. Beloved, echoing through the ages, continuing to name those drenched in the waters of baptism. Beloved. Child of God. Fayette beloved, precious child of God, and beautiful to behold haunts me, blesses me, goes with me into this season. She challenges me to ask what it means that like her, with her I have been named by God s grace with such power that it won t come undone. As I remember the Baptism of Jesus, how will I reckon with the fact that I, that we, have shared in those waters that in the sacrament of baptism and as members of the body of Christ, we, too, are named as beloved children of God? How will we live in such a way that others will know themselves as named by God, beloved by God especially those who have been given cause to think they are less than loved, less than children of the One who created them? In the coming days, may the waters of our baptism so cling to us that in their depths we see who we are, and from our depths reflect to others their true name: beloved, precious child of God, and beautiful to behold. Blessings to you.
Gospel Acclimation Gospel Reading: Luke 1:57-66 The Message (MSG) God be with you. And Also with you. A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke. Glory to you, O God The Birth of John When Elizabeth was full-term in her pregnancy, she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives, seeing that God had overwhelmed her with mercy, celebrated with her. On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and were calling him Zachariah after his father. But his mother intervened: No. He is to be called John. But, they said, no one in your family is named that. They used sign language to ask Zachariah what he wanted him named. Asking for a tablet, Zachariah wrote, His name is to be John. That took everyone by surprise. Surprise followed surprise Zachariah s mouth was now open, his tongue loose, and he was talking, praising God! A deep, reverential fear settled over the neighborhood, and in all that Judean hill country people talked about nothing else. Everyone who heard about it took it to heart, wondering, What will become of this child? Clearly, God has a hand in this. The child grew up, healthy and spirited. He lived out in the desert until the day he made his prophetic debut in Israel. Silent Reflection and Sharing
Intercessions Let us pray for all people suffering because of broken relationships, Response (sung) O God, hear our prayer. For the whole church: That we may collectively demonstrate God s salvific love and mercy to all people we pray, R. For those who are overcome by discouragement or guilt who do not believe that they are loved and forgiven we pray, R. For those who too easily condemn others; and for those who are unjustly denigrated or condemned we pray, R. For prisoners, for those who work in prisons, and for humane prison policies and conditions we pray, R. For those whose work is dedicated to attaining justice for the unjustly accused; and for a serious review of the death penalty we pray, R. For the courage to examine our own attitudes toward punishment and forgiveness, and the will to witness as a community to God s love and mercy we pray, R. And for all those in our hearts and minds, for all of our intentions spoken and unspoken... God of mercy, help us to remember your loving presence in the darkest moments of our lives. Show us how to extend your loving mercy to all whom we encounter, especially those we consider unworthy. We pray in Christ s holy name. Amen. Prayer for the Breaking of Bread. Listening to Eucharist the breaking of the bread and the gushing of the wine the pain of sorrow and the pulse of hope the echo of our name and the bread in our teeth a cup on our lips and breathing at our side as we wait for the sounds of God the breaking of the bread and the gushing of the wine.
Prayer for the Breaking of Bread. Listening to Eucharist We hear sounds in the distance: the vibration of human lives the crackle of fear and the murmur of distrust the scramble for rice and the tearing of garbage the shuffle of withered limbs and the sigh of rich tourists the growl of empty bodies and the splash of spent blood the breaking of the bread and the gushing of the wine. We hear the snarl of a bullet and the snap of a trigger the sudden yell of unseen mines the cough of smoking ruins the whisper of desolation and the silence of a lifeless field the breaking of the bread and the gushing of the wine. We hear the bleating of the lamb and the breaking of the womb the death of the lamb and the breaking of the tomb a word that was healing and a God that was feeling in the breaking of the bread and the gushing of the wine. And we listen for the bursting of joy and the bubble of children's faces and the dancing of willows and the surprise of open lives the shout of mountains and the laughter of a second birth the leap of our spirit and the swirl of celebration in the breaking of the bread and the gushing of the wine. (Interrobang Norman C. Habel - 1969)
Let us pray: Father, Mother God, Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days. For then we have you to lean upon. Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days, for then we can share that which we have with those who have less. And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days, for then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends. For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak. For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness. For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing. For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company. For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope. Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most Peace. --Maya Angelou Sharing of the Bread Hymn: In the Breaking of the Bread #336 Silent Reflection
Closing Prayer The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886 one of the first sights immigrants had when arriving in New York Harbor O God, who welcomes all children, And embraces even the prodigal ones, Help us open our hearts And welcome all who come, searching As our ancestors did, For the promise of a new land, a new life. Root out fear from our souls; Help us form the words Sister and Brother As we greet the newcomers. Let us remember that, With your grace, There are enough loaves and fishes To go around If we come together As your family. Give us the courage And the compassion To respect the rights of all In this country of abundance To embrace all in The name of your love. And may God bless us and keep us, may God s face shine upon us and grant to us and to all our broken world, peace. May the blessing of Almighty God, the Creator, the Redeemer and the Holy Spirit comp upon us and remain with us forever. Amen. Closing song: Down to the River to Pray (words on back) Sharing of Peace
Closing Song: Down to the River to Pray As I went down in the river to pray And who shall wear the starry crown O sisters, let's go down, Let's go down, come on down O sisters, let's go down As I went down in the river to pray Studying about that good old way And who shall wear the robe and crown O brothers, let's go down Let's go down, come on down Come on, brothers, let's go down As I went down in the river to pray And who shall wear the starry crown O fathers, let's go down Let's go down, come on down O fathers, let's go down As I went down in the river to pray And who shall wear the robe and crown O mothers, let's go down Let's go down; don't you want to go down? Come on, mothers, let's go down As I went down in the river to pray And who shall wear the starry crown O sinners, let's go down Let's go down, come on down O sinners, let's go down As I went down in the river to pray And who shall wear the robe and crown