October 22, 2023

This Sunday, the congregation had an opportunity to reflect on losses, changes, and joys that we have experienced over the past couple years. We placed blue, white, and pink flowers in a vase to represent each of these experiences. I invite you to read the Scriptures and the brief reflection for each of these and spend some time contemplating how God has been present in your life in loss & grief, through change, and in joy.

Sharing our Losses and Sorrows: John 11:9-11, 32-35, 40-44

Jesus said, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” After he said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Placing our flowers

Not all losses represent death; sometimes we grieve the loss of a friendship, a job, or our ability to participate in a hobby. Sometimes we grieve the loss of a pet. No matter what losses we have experienced, we know we’re never alone; Jesus himself wept at the grave of his friend, and sits lovingly beside us while we grieve, too. We have a God who knows the fullness of our emotions and invites us to bring them to him. If you have chosen a blue flower, I invite you to come forward and place it in the vase, and if you’d like, share a sentence about why you’re placing it.

Prayer

Lord God, you are the ground of all that is. You hold us in being, and without you we could not be. Before we were born, before time began, before the universe came into being, you were.

When time has finished, when the universe is no more, you will still be. In your presence we can only be silent before the mystery of your being, for no words of ours can do justice to your grandeur.

Yet you have spoken to us. Out of universal silence your living word has sprung. You have spoken, and given form and beauty to the world.

You have spoken, and given purpose to human life.

You have spoken, and freed us from the fear of death.

Show us the beauty of life, unite us to the eternal purpose, remove our guilt, conquer the fear of death in our hearts. Speak and let us hear, for your name’s sake, Amen.

Sharing our Transitions: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Placing our flowers

It has been said that the only constant in life is change. This has certainly been true for this congregation over the past year. The challenges which faced the Israelites after the Exodus remind us that all transitions and changes are stressful, even the positive ones, yet God remains with us and goes before us as a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night to guide us down new paths.

Prayer

God the Father, God beyond us, we adore you. You are the depth of all that is. You are the ground of our being. We can never grasp you, yet you grasp us; the universe speaks of you to us, and your love comes to us through Jesus.

God the Son, God beside us, we adore you. You are the perfection of humanity. You have shown us what human life should be like. In you we see divine love and human greatness combined.

God the Spirit, God around us, we adore you. You draw us to Jesus and the Father. You are the power within us. Through all the changing scenes of life call us closer to you and make us the people we are meant to be. Father, Son, and Spirit – God beyond, beside, and around us, we adore you. Amen.

Sharing our joys: Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Placing our flowers

Life is always multi-faceted; at the same time as we’ve experienced losses and changes in our lives, we’ve also had joyous events. And just as Jesus wept for Lazarus, he danced at the wedding feast at Caanan. Paul reminds us that when we keep an outlook of gratitude and praise, the peace of God is with us. Many joyous events have marked the past two years.

Prayer

Eternal God, we thank you for the way you have disclosed yourself to us: supremely through Jesus, in the human life he lived, in his death and resurrection; yet also in Israel, where there was preparation for his coming; and in the church which has drawn its life from him ever since. We thank you that in every part of humankind’s story you are at work and can be discerned.

Give us joy and trust that you are active in every event, and in all aspects of every event, and that nothing evades your knowledge and care. Help us to be certain that in every situation we can turn to you; that because you are linked with our hardship and heartbreak, pain can help us rather than harden us, and that because you are linked with our joy and achievement, we can avoid false pride and false security. Bring us to see that no situation in life, no discovery about the universe, no insight into the nature of humankind or the course of history, need turn us away from you. For this is your world, and although you transcend it you rule it from within. We join our hearts and minds together as we joyfully share the prayer Jesus taught us, saying

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Blessing

I pray that today’s worship has brought you closer to your faith family, and closer to God. Our homes, our lives and our congregation truly are represented in this beautiful bouquet: a blend of mourning, transitions, and joys which we bring with us every week to church. God meets us no matter where we are, prepared to uphold us. Jesus is our firm foundation through all of life’s vagaries, and the Spirit remains with us and intercedes for us in sighs too deep for words.

Take the bouquet of life which you carry in your heart and celebrate that God is with you through it all. God asks that we be willing to share his wonderful presence with others. As we share God’s grace and love, our Lord Jesus Christ is with us and the Holy Spirit upholds us, even to the end of the age. Amen.