Year
A
Proper 21
Sunday
28 September 2014
Eucharistic Preface
Let
us lift up our hearts.
........We
lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our
God.
........It is right to
give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give
you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you are at work among
us,
conforming our will and our work to your sacred purposes.
In
the first of your mighty wonders,
you divided the waters
and
brought forth a newborn earth.
You rescued your people from
slavery,
and though their faith dried up in the desert,
you
split the rocks and quenched their thirst
with waters welling up
from ancient depths.
Your child Jesus, though one with
you,
was born as one of us and humbled himself,
passing through
the ancient waters of baptism
and following the ways of
righteousness
even to the point of death on a cross.
Therefore
you raised him to life
and exalted him above every other
power.
Now you embrace all who in action confess him as
Lord,
baptising them in his name into the life of your
Kingdom.
Therefore with .....
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Short
Preface
(for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with
fixed prefaces)
We give you thanks for your child Jesus who,
having humbled himself even to the point of death on a cross,
was
raised by you and exalted above every other power,
and now lives
to bring life to your thirsty people
from the ancient wellspring
of love and consolation.
©2002 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
General
Prayer of Thanksgiving
(Preface reformatted for use
apart from communion)
We give you all
thanks and praise, O God,
for you are at work among us,
conforming
our will and our work to your sacred purposes.
In the first of
your mighty wonders,
you divided the waters
and brought forth
a newborn earth.
You rescued your people from slavery,
and
though their faith dried up in the desert,
you split the rocks and
quenched their thirst
with waters welling up from ancient
depths.
Your child Jesus, though one with you,
was born as
one of us and humbled himself,
passing through the ancient waters
of baptism
and following the ways of righteousness
even to the
point of death on a cross.
Therefore you raised him to life
and
exalted him above every other power.
Now you embrace all who in
action confess him as Lord,
baptising them in his name into the
life of your Kingdom.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted
high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus
Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Declaration
of Grace / Absolution
Though Christ was one with
God,
he humbled himself and become obedient
even to the point
of death on a cross,
so that we might drink deeply from the well
of grace
and know the mercy of God at work within us.
Sisters
and Brothers,
........your sins are
forgiven;
................be at
peace.
©2002 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Commission
& Benediction
Go now to will and to work
for God’s purposes.
Let the same mind be in you that was in
Christ Jesus.
Be filled with the same love
and look to the
interests of others.
With reverence for God, work out your
salvation.
And may God quench your thirst with love and
consolation;
May Christ Jesus strengthen you and encourage
you;
And may the Holy Spirit lead you on and make your joy
complete.
We go in peace to love and serve the
Lord,
........In the name of
Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Paraphrases
of the Scripture
Lections
for Proper 21 - Year
A - Sunday 28 September 2014
Lections from The
Revised Common Lectionary.
Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on
Common Texts (CCT)
P. O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN
37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.
* Exodus 17: 1-7
........The
whole gathered people of Israel pushed on from the Sen Desert, making
the journey in manageable stages as the LORD
directed them. At the end of one stage, they set up camp at a place
called Rephidim, only to find that there was no drinking water in the
area. The people started getting stuck into Moses again and demanding
that he provide them with water to drink. But Moses said to them,
“What are you taking it out on me for? Are you trying to
provoke the LORD into losing patience with
you?”
........But the people’s
thirst was becoming severe, and the more desperate they became, the
more they blamed Moses. “Now look at the mess you’ve got
us into,” they said. “Is this what you dragged us all out
of Egypt for: to watch us die in a parched desert, and our children
and livestock with us?
........So
Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What
am I supposed to do with these people? They are just about ready to
tear me limb from limb.”
........The
LORD replied, “Take some of the Israelite
tribal leaders with you, and go on ahead of the people. Take your
hiking stick with you — the same one you used to strike the
waters of the Nile. I will be waiting for you at the rock at Mount
Sinai. Give the rock a good thump with your stick, and water will
come pouring out of it for everyone to drink.”
........In
full view of the tribal leaders, Moses did as the LORD
had told him, and sure enough, there was water for everyone. From
then on, Moses referred to that place by either of two names: Massah,
which means ‘testing’, because the people had tested the
LORD’s patience; and Meribah, which means
‘dispute’, because the people had questioned the LORD’s
loyalty.
©2002 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 78: 1-4, 12-16
We are keen to learn of
you, LORD;
........your
people are eager to hear what you have to say.
We listen to
those who pass on the old stories;
........the
dark mysteries of ancient wisdom.
These are things we must hear
and know,
........for the wisdom of
our ancestors must not be lost.
We will not deprive our
children of these things.
........We
will pass on the stories to the next generation,
LORD,
................stories
of the wonderful things you have done,
........so
that they know how great and amazing you are.
Our ancestors
saw the miraculous things you did
........when
they were still doing hard labour in the land of slavery.
You
cut a track through the sea and let them escape;
........you
made the angry waters stand aside to let them through.
You
sent a cloud to guide them in the daytime,
........and
a fire to light the way for them at night.
In the parched
outback, you broke open rocks,
........bringing
drinking water flooding up from deep below.
You made fresh water
pour from the rock;
........a river
of life flowing in the desert.
©2002 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Philippians 2: 1-13
........If
you have indeed experienced the encouragement of being united to
Christ, and the support that genuine love offers, and the deep bonds
of a shared life formed in the Spirit; if indeed you have any
compassion and concern for me, then make my dreams come true: get
your heads tuned to the one wavelength so that you will share a
common love, a common dedication to the one cause, and a common
mindset. Don’t let yourself be driven by self-centred ambitions
or empty egotism, but keep your feet firmly on the ground and promote
others ahead of yourself. To each one of you, I would say, don’t
focus on doing what is in your own best interests, but on what is in
the best interests of others. Model your attitude on the attitude of
the Messiah, Jesus.
Although Jesus was the same as God in every way,
........he did not think of his God-like privileges
........as something to milked for all they were worth.
Instead, he laid it all aside
........and, with no more privileges than a slave,
........was born as a human being.
Having become a human being,
........he was the model of humility.
He didn’t demand his own way
........but let God set the agenda;
even when it included his own death,
........and a gruesome public death at that.
Because of all this,
........God has raised him to the status of number one
and honoured him more highly
........than anyone else in the universe.
So now, just the mention of the name ‘Jesus’
........should bring everyone to their knees;
........everyone who has ever lived or ever will.
Everyone, everywhere will honour God
........by openly acknowledging
........that Jesus the Messiah is Lord of all!
Therefore, my dear friends, there is work to
do. You have always stuck to the agenda that was set for you, so keep
it up, not only when I am around but even more when I am gone.
Continue to work at living the life for which you are being saved,
and do so with such an awareness of how high the stakes are, that it
fills you with awe and makes the hair stand up on the back of your
neck. For this is awesome stuff: it is God who is at work within you,
making it possible for you to set your mind on what God wants and to
work for those things which are ultimately pleasing to God.
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Matthew 21: 23-32
........While
Jesus was teaching the people in the Jerusalem Temple, the chief
priests and the political leaders came up and challenged him, “What
authority do you have for what are you doing, and who authorised you
to do these things?”
........Jesus
replied, “I’ve got a question for you too, and if you
tell me the answer to mine, I’ll answer yours and tell you what
authority I have for what I am doing. Where did John’s
authority to baptise people come from? Was it from God, or did he
just dream it up himself?”
........They
thought for a moment, weighing up their options and saying to
themselves, “If we tell him we think God was behind it, then
he’ll want to know why we failed to act on it. But if we say
that John just dreamed it up himself, we will be in trouble with the
people because the popular opinion says that John was a messenger
from God.”
........So they
answered Jesus, “We do not know.”
........And
so Jesus said to them, “Well then, neither am I going to answer
your question about what authority I have for what I am doing. Listen
to this story though, and tell me what you think.
A man had two teenage sons. One day he said to one of them, ‘Son, the garden needs a bit of work. Would you give us a hand?’ The boy said, ‘No way!’ but later he had second thoughts and went and got stuck into it. Meanwhile, the father went to his other son with the same request. The boy answered, ‘Sure, Dad, I’ll get into it in a few minutes,’ but he never got around to it. Which of the two did what the father would have hoped for?”
........They
replied, “The first one.”
........Jesus
looked at them and said, “I kid you not; when it comes to
getting into the realm of God, the prostitutes and the collaborators
who work for the occupation forces are miles ahead of you. Why?
Because John was on the right track when he came to you, and you
didn’t believe him. But the people you had written off as moral
garbage did. They took what he said seriously, and even though you
saw the difference it made to them, your minds were set like concrete
and you wouldn’t take any notice of him.”
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Alternative
Hebrew Bible Lections themed to the Gospel Lection
*
Ezekiel 18: 1-4, 25-32
Ezekiel received this
message from the LORD:
....Why are you repeating the old saying, “The parents eat junk, and their kids’ teeth rot”? I am the Lord GOD and I swear I do not want to hear this saying from any of my people ever again. Get this into your heads: I have the power of life and death over everyone, both the parents and the children, and it is only the person responsible for the sin who will die for it.
....Yet I hear you whinging, “The way the Lord treats us is not fair.” Well listen up, my people: is it my ways that are not fair? Isn’t the reality that it is your ways that are not fair? When people who have previously done the right thing turn their backs on what is right and start doing things that are corrupt, they are making a fatal mistake. They will die because of the corrupt things they have done. On the other hand, if corrupt people mend their ways and begin living by what I have taught and doing the right thing by others, they will save their lives. Because they have woken up to themselves, turning their backs on corruption and getting their lives back on track, they will no longer be under sentence of death. And yet I hear my people whinging, “The way the Lord treats us is not fair.” Give me an answer, my people: is it my ways that are not fair? Isn’t the reality that it is your ways that are not fair?
....So, my people, I am telling you that I, the Lord GOD, will judge each of you on the basis of how you, yourself, live. Give up corrupt ways and get your lives back on track; otherwise corruption will be your downfall. Put behind you all the corrupt things you have done against my express instructions, and make a fresh start. Get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why go on trudging towards death, my people? I am the Lord GOD, and I am never happy to see anyone die, no matter who they are. So do an about face and live!
©2002 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 25: 1-9
I gladly offer you everything I
am, LORD.
I have put my trust in you,
God;
........please don’t let
me down;
........don’t give my
enemies grounds to gloat.
Be there for those who hang in there
for you, no matter what:
........don’t
leave them with egg on their faces.
........Save
that for the two-faced scabs who deserve it.
Let me in on
your way of doing things, LORD;
........teach
me how to follow your tracks.
Steer me along your ways of
truth, and teach me all about them.
........Only
you can save me from disaster, God,
........so
I’ll wait for you before setting out.
Your love and
mercy have been as timeless and dependable as the
rock;
........please don’t
change your mind about them now!
Don’t keep a record of
everything I’ve done wrong in the past.
........Let
your unshakable love colour your view of me,
........and
keep your reputation for generosity intact!
You always do what
is good and right, LORD,
........and
so you patiently retrain those who do wrong.
You pilot a safe
course for those who are not to full of themselves;
........you
give lessons on your ways to the humble folk.
©2000
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net