Order of Worship Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 5, 2024
Welcome - Shelly Wilson
Prelude - Vaughan Williams: Organ Prelude on Rhosymedre
Lighting of the Candle of Peace
~~~Moments of Silence~~~
Call to Worship (by Miriam Therese Winter) - CH#597
O God of a Thousand Faces, who sees through all our pretenses to that silent, secret space within where our true spirit sojourns, prune away the duplicities that mask our best intentions and all those quick defenses that disguise who we really are. Open us up to you and to all who would touch the truth of our being, so all may see the integrity of lives given over to you, now and forever. Amen.
Invocation
Loving God, whose touch can heal the broken places of life, touch us today. God of peace, whose spirit of peace can quiet our spirits of confusion and despair, reassure us today. Forgiving God, whose call to repentance promises grace upon grace, place your mercy in our souls today. You who heal the sick and liberate the imprisoned, who brings justice in the midst of oppression and strength in the midst of weakness, pour out your spirit of power upon us today. Amen.
Opening Hymn - “Open My Eyes, That I May See” - CH#586
Readings from Rumi
The truth was a mirror in the hands of God. It fell and broke into pieces. Everybody took a piece of it, and they looked at it and thought they had the truth. We are pain and what cures pain, both. We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours. Let go of your worries and be completely clear-hearted, like the face of a mirror that contains no images. If you want a clear mirror, behold yourself and see the shameless truth, which the mirror reflects. If metal can be polished to a mirror-like finish, what polishing might the mirror of the heart require? Between the mirror and the heart is this single difference: the heart conceals secrets, while the mirror does not.”
Your grief for what you’ve lost lifts a mirror up to where you’re bravely working. Expecting the worst, you look, and instead here’s the joyful face you’ve been wanting to see. When the mirror of the heart becomes pure and clear, impressions of the other world will become manifest. The image and the image-maker will become visible.
Special Music - “Mirror of Your Heart” - Chris Christian
Scripture Lessons - James 1:23-27 and I Corinthians 13:8-13
James 1 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. 26 If any think they are religious and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
I Corinthians 13 8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.
Response - Thy Word - CH # 326
Sermon - “In a Mirror, Dimly” - Shelly Wilson
Hymn of Response - “Though I May Speak” - CH#526
Prayers of the People - by the Rev. Cheyenne Boon
Source of all, you have made each of us as a mirror and a face in the mirror, grant us the courage and the compassion to reflect something good back to our neighbors. Color the glass we hold with the abundant grace we have received from you. Help us to offer a vision of the other as you see them, whole and holy and loved, Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer Maori Version, South Pacific, Indigenous
Earth-maker, life-giver, pain-bearer,
Source of all that is and all that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God in whom is heaven:
May the hallowing of your name
echo through the universe!
May your heavenly will be done
by all creatures great and small!
And may your commonwealth
of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth!
With the bread we need this day, feed us.
For the hurt we inflict on one another, forgive us.
By your grace and mercy,
strengthen us through times of temptation,
and spare us from trials too great to endure.
Free us from bigotry and evil, for service and truth.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is Love. Amen.
Call to Offering
We have come to the time in our service for the giving and receiving of our financial support for the work of the Church. Thank you for your support of our Church’s work for peace and justice in the world.
Offerings, tithes, and financial gifts can be given online via PayPal at the link below. All gifts are greatly appreciated.
Doxology - OLD HUNDREDTH - (NCH #778)
Dedication of our Offerings
For the wondrous ways this offering will bless this community, we dedicate these gifts.
For the ways our gifts help us nurture caring relationships with our neighbors, we are grateful.
Let this offering, and the works of our hands and feet, be good fruit in the world. Amen.
Closing Hymn - “Be Thou My Vision” - CH#595
Benediction
May we go forth, celebrating faith.
May we go forth, celebrating hope.
May we go forth, celebrating love.
May we go forth to be the transformed people
God calls us to be.
May we go forth to love the world—
the breadth and depth and beauty of it,
but also the limitations and suffering
and brokenness of it.
May we go forth as reflections of compassion, love,
and peace.
May it be so. Amen.
Shalom (join hands and hearts and sign together)
Postlude - “Toccata” from Symphony #5 by Widor
Words of Dismissal: Worship has ended, let the service begin!
Welcome to our church, a sacred space where, indeed, all are welcome. A special greeting if you are a visitor with us today.
Worship Leader: Rev Shelly Wilson
Worship Production: Kelly Yamanishi and Carolyn Cheng
end