Pure Worship, Fifth Sunday in Lent, April 7, 2019

Fifth Sunday in Lent, Sunday, April 7, 2019

For some words of introduction/explanation about this worship, CLICK HERE.

WINDHAVEN WORSHIP

Fifth Sunday of Lent, Sunday, April 7, 2019

Opening Song    "Come, Now is the Time to Worship" 

Words and Music by Brian Doerksen, performed by Phillips, Craig and Dean

"Come, now is the time to worship. Come, now is the time to give your heart..."

Welcome

Invocation
L:  We begin our worship in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
C:  Amen

Opening Litany (based on Isaiah 43:18-21)   

L:  Do not dwell in the past – you’re going forward.

C:  We take the lessons we’ve learned and move on.

L:  The Holy One is here, creating again; can you feel it?

C:  God is doing something new, in the world and with us!

L:  Showing us a new direction and giving us all we need;

C:  Because we are God’s children, part of a beloved creation.

L:  God shaped us and still is perfecting us,

C:  And we are right to give God our thanks and praise.

Confession & Absolution                                                           

L:  Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, who forgives all our sin, whose mercy endures forever.

C:  Amen.

L:  Let us confess before God and one another:

C:  Merciful God, I confess that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done and by what I have left undone.

(silent reflection)

L:  Hear this Good News:  What you have, what you are, and what you offer is enough for God. God loves and accepts you, not because of what you possess or what you’ve accomplished. You are loved because God loves fully, completely and unconditionally. You are forgiven and released from anything that separates you from God, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

C: Amen.

Greeting & Prayer of the Day

L:  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

C:  And also with you.

L:  We pray together,

C:  Almighty God, every kind of worship offered purely and sincerely is holy to you. You don’t require the biggest offering, the most beautiful song, the perfectly worded prayer. You ask for our worship from the heart, not just in one hour of praise, but in lives lived well, with kindness and compassion for all.  Amen.

Gospel:   Mary Anoints Jesus   John 12:1-8 (NRSV)  

Reflection:  Pure and Simple Worship

None of us grew up with the same worship experiences. Yet all of us have a picture of what worship is.

My worship usually is a full house of Lutherans singing hymns, sometimes in two-, three-, or four-part harmony, a pastor and liturgist and cantor, prayers, scripture readings and a message. And the Meal. A faith family that joins together to praise God as we know God.

Your worship may be prayer intervals five times a day. Or a walk in the woods in contemplation and gratitude. Your worship may be meditation, or people with arms uplifted, moving freely, speaking in tongues. There may be a rock band, a country band, gospel piano, voices unaccompanied by any instruments, or a house church devoid of music altogether. Music, style, place, religion or people don't define worship.

Mary's worship in this scripture was a simple act of love. And for me, it defines worship. 

·         She brought the best she had. A jar of costly nard -- spikenard perfume that was worth a laborer's yearly wages. In one place I read 300 denarii was a laborer's yearly salary – five to six days a week for a year. So, in today's terms, perhaps a construction equipment operator's annual salary of $59,000. We aren't sure how she obtained it. Perhaps she spent all her savings weeks before to purchase it to anoint her brother, Lazarus, when he died. But Jesus raised Lazarus before she used it.

·         She was present in the moment. She wasn't paying attention to the grumbling people who questioned what she was doing, and why she was pouring this expensive gift on Jesus. She wasn't torn by someone else's opinion of her gift. She poured out the perfume, wiping it with her hair.

·         She recognized her Lord and opened her heart. Just like John, just like Peter, just like the Samaritan woman, Mary recognized Jesus as Messiah and testified to her belief. She poured out the perfume to anoint. She was focused on Jesus, and Jesus alone.

Pureness of heart and purpose is worship. I remember one of the most worshipful moments I ever experienced at my church. It was a get-together we have each November, after Thanksgiving, preparing our worship space for Advent, the season before Christmas. As we put up banners, trees, lights, and wreaths, a four-year-old girl, paused before the nativity scene that was already placed in the sanctuary. She was silent and motionless. Time stopped. I may have been the only one to notice her, and I didn't want to breathe, let alone speak, lest I disturb her presence, her open heart, and whatever thoughts and wonder she was experiencing in that moment.

I love photography, and sometimes the way the light filters through the trees, reflects off the rocks or water, or lights my husband's or son's hair or face stops me in my tracks. I pause and think about that light, that moment, God present through beauty and family. As my good friend put it: Worship. Always Worship.

Recently, my husband had a cardiac procedure. I sat in the waiting room alone, thanking God for the specialist and his team, the possibilities this procedure would give my husband, family and friends who were holding him close in thoughts and prayers. I felt the warmth of their concern and caring, an invisible brightness around us. I cleared my mind of fear and let their warmth sustain me. Worship.

I've also been in places where worship felt hollow. People more focused on themselves and their social circle than opening their hearts to God. Another Sunday, going through the motions, going to church, but losing sight of the reason for being there.

Maybe you've had life's worship moments too: when you saw your child for the first time, when you were present with a dying friend or family member, grateful to God for some unexpected grace, or sitting on a rock near a lake and watching the sunset turn from orange to amber to twilight blue. Your heart was pure, your mind open, and you recognized God's presence, and it was worship.

The next song's words are about coming full circle, stripping away all the outside noise and distractions, simply being present to God's central place in our lives, and giving ourselves over to that time of worship.

Song   "The Heart of Worship," written and performed by Matt Redman

"When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come …"

Read the Story Behind "The Heart of Worship." Click Here.

Closing Prayer

L:  We pray together,

C:  We give you thanks, gracious God, that you are with us as we try to clear our minds to worship you. Not with a worship band, organ or piano, but with simple voices and hearts open to you. Help us to worship you with all that we have, all that we are – your presence in this world that you love so much.  Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (feel free to use whatever language or words you regularly use for this prayer. This is one version.)

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, forever and ever. Amen.

Blessing

Sharing of the Peace

Individual Prayer (as desired)

Blessings on your time at Windhaven

May it be a time of rest, of renewal, of healing.

Praying for you, for the staff at Windhaven,

and for the God of many chances

to be real and present to you, today and always.