Year
C
Proper 8
Sunday
30 June 2013
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 alone are holy,
and
there are no other gods that compare with you.
With
thanksgiving we recall your awesome deeds,
your wonders of
old,
when you brought forth the earth from the churning
chaos;
when you parted the waters and led your people to
freedom;
when your chariot of fire carried your prophet to
glory.
And especially we recall
how you sent your child,
Jesus Christ,
who proclaimed your reign among us.
When he was
crucified by those who refused to accept him,
you raised him to
life,
and through him,
gave us a double portion of your
Spirit.
He has rescued us from slavery,
called us to follow in
his ways,
and set us free to bear the fruit of your Holy
Spirit,
in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Therefore with
.....
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Short
Preface
(for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with
fixed prefaces)
We thank you for your awesome deeds of
old,
and for all you are doing now through your son, Jesus
Christ:
rescuing us from slavery;
guiding us in his ways by
your Holy Spirit;
and bearing within us fruits of love, joy and
peace.
©2001 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 alone are holy,
and there are
no other gods that compare with you.
With thanksgiving we
recall your awesome deeds,
your wonders of old,
when you
brought forth the earth from the churning chaos;
when you parted
the waters and led your people to freedom;
when your chariot of
fire carried your prophet to glory.
And especially we recall
how you sent your child, Jesus Christ,
who proclaimed your
reign among us.
When he was crucified by those who refused to
accept him,
you raised him to life,
and through him,
gave us
a double portion of your Spirit.
He has rescued us from
slavery,
called us to follow in his ways,
and set us free to
bear the fruit of your Holy Spirit,
in love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control.
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.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Declaration
of Grace / Absolution
Christ Jesus has set you
free.
Stand then as free people,
and do not allow yourselves
to become slaves again.
You are set free to live by the
Spirit.
Sisters and Brothers,
........your
sins are forgiven;
................be
at peace.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Commission
& Benediction
Go now, and proclaim the
reign of God.
Do not let bodily desires enslave you,
but live
by the Spirit.
Use your freedom to grow in love for one
another.
And may God reach out to you and save you;
May
Christ Jesus give you a double portion of his Spirit;
And may the
Holy Spirit bear fruit within you
........and
guide you in all your ways.
We go in peace to love and serve
the Lord,
........In the name
of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Paraphrases
of the Scripture
Lections
for Proper 8 - Year C
- Sunday 30 June 2013
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.
* 2 Kings 2: 1-2, 6-14
........Shortly
before the LORD sent a whirlwind to take Elijah
into heaven, Elijah and Elisha headed off on a journey from Gilgal.
Elijah had tried to talk Elisha out of coming, saying, “The
LORD wants me to go to Bethel, but there is no
need for you to come. You can stay here.”
........But
Elisha said, “I’m sticking with you, come hell or high
water!”
........So they
travelled together down to Bethel. Then Elijah said, “Elisha,
you stay put. The LORD wants me to go across the
Jordan River, but there is no need for you to come.”
........But
Elisha said, “I’m sticking with you, come hell or high
water!”
........So the two of
them continued on together. A group of fifty prophets followed them,
keeping their distance but not letting them out of their sight. When
they arrived at the Jordan River, Elijah took off his coat, rolled it
up, and slapped the water with it. The water immediately parted to
form a dry path through the middle of the river and the two of them
crossed over. When they reached the other side, Elijah said, “Elisha,
our time together is almost up. What would you most like me to do for
you before I’m taken away?”
........Elisha
replied, “Please make me your successor by leaving to me the
largest share of the spirit that empowers you.”
........Elijah
responded, “That’s a tough ask! But if you actually see
me being taken away from you, then you’ll get your wish. If you
don’t, you’ll miss out.”
........The
two of them continued to walk along, deep in conversation, when
suddenly a chariot of fire drawn by two blazing horses charged
between them and Elijah was sucked up in a whirlwind and taken into
heaven. Elisha saw the whole thing and kept crying out, “Father!
Father! You are gone with the defenders of Israel, God’s
mounted warriors!”
........When
Elijah disappeared from sight, Elisha was torn apart with grief. When
he had pulled himself back together, he picked up the prophet’s
coat which Elijah had dropped, and headed back to the river bank. He
rolled up Elijah’s coat and, slapping the water with it as
Elijah had, called out, “Are you with me now LORD,
God of Elijah?”
........Sure
enough, when he struck the water, a dry path opened up through the
Jordan River once more, and Elisha crossed over to the Jericho side
again.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 77: 1-2, 11-20
Please God, hear
me!
........I’m crying out as
loud as I can.
I search for you in desperation,
Lord.
........Day and night I never
stop reaching out for you;
................I
refuse to be comforted by anyone else.
I think back on what
you’ve done in the past, LORD;
........I
remember the amazing things you did.
I will keep these things
in my mind,
........and meditate on
all your works.
You are in a class of your own,
God;
........No other god even comes
close.
You are the God who does awesome things;
........you
have come out in the open
................and
shown everyone what you’re made of.
You rolled your
sleeves up and pulled your people out of trouble,
........coming
to our rescue like you did for our forebears,
................Jacob
and Joseph.
When the waters stood between us and
freedom,
........they took one look
at you, God, and panicked;
................the
depths shuddered with fear.
Everything went
berserk;
........the clouds burst
their seams,
................thunder
shook the skies
........................and
lightning bolts flashed in all directions.
Your whirlwind came
with a crash of thunder;
........your
lightning lit up the sky;
................the
earth shuddered and shook.
You cut a path through the raging
waters;
........blazed a trail
through the roaring waves;
................not
a footprint was left to show where you’d been.
Like
sheep through a gate you led your people,
........with
Moses and Aaron showing the way.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Galatians 5: 1, 13-25
........Christ
has set us free — really free. So stand your ground on that
freedom, and don’t let anyone or anything else start dictating
the limits of your life. The life of freedom into which Christ has
liberated us is a wonderful thing, but don’t make the mistake
of using it as an excuse to give in to every selfish impulse. That
would only lure you into an even worse slavery. Instead use your
freedom to serve one another in uninhibited love. If you live by just
one law — “love others as fully as you love yourself”
— you won’t need to slavishly study the rest in order to
comply with its requirements. The rest is just commentary. If, on the
other hand, you use your freedom to pursue selfish ends, you’ll
become increasingly nasty and competitive with one another and end up
just destroying each other. And a fat lot of good your freedom will
do you then!
........How then should
you live? Dance to the Spirit’s tune, and don’t go
feeding every selfish impulse that surfaces within you, or they’ll
grow into monsters and take over your life. You see, the problem is
that a wedge has been driven between our bodily appetites and the
Spirit’s desires. They now strive for quite different things
and have become opponents in a struggle for your allegiance. The
conflict means that you can no longer simply assume that your body
will reliably tell you what’s best for you. But that doesn’t
mean that you have to live your lives in slavish compliance with the
law, because there is another alternative — following the
leadings of the Spirit.
........It is
quite obvious what sort of things characterise those whose lives are
dictated by their bodily impulses:
— loveless, trivialised sex;
— polluted minds and hearts;
— desperate pleasure seeking;
— the worship of possessions and power;
— personality cults;
— vindictiveness;
— muck-raking;
— resenting the success of others;
— seething bitterness;
— vicious bickering;
— venomous feuding;
— paranoid sectarianism;
— toxic rivalry;
— chronic substance abuse;
— desperate and deluded partying;
I could go on, but you get the picture! I’ve said it before
and I’ll say it again: those who squander their freedom on such
things can kiss the realm of God goodbye.
........What
a contrast is the life danced to the Spirit’s tune! Like a lush
tropical orchard its fruits are constantly ripening:
— active, unconditional love;
— delight at the wonder of life;
— a deep inner peace that shapes all our relating;
— the ability to persevere when results are slow;
— open-handed compassion;
— unfeigned generosity;
— unshakable loyalty;
— unassuming consideration of others;
— the strength to direct our energies wisely.
There is no law against such things, and no law that could ever
produce them. Everyone who belongs to Christ Jesus has handed over
their selfish impulses and corrupted bodily appetites to be executed
on the cross. Since we now live a new life — drawn from the
Spirit — let’s see to it that we live it to the full, by
allowing the Spirit to set the agenda in every area of our
lives.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Luke 9: 51-62
........When
time was running out for Jesus on earth, he gritted his teeth and set
out for Jerusalem. He sent some messengers on ahead to book
accommodation in the towns he would be stopping in on the way. In one
Samaritan town, the locals were so hostile towards Jerusalem that
when they heard that Jesus was heading there, no one was willing to
offer him a room or even a meal. Two of the disciples, James and
John, were so incensed by this that they said, “Lord, do you
want us to call down a thunderbolt from heaven to wipe them off the
map?”
........But Jesus put the
two of them back in their place in no uncertain terms and then
continued on down the track to another town.
........As
they travelled, someone approached Jesus and said, “I will
follow you, wherever you go.”
But Jesus replied, “Do
you know what you’re letting yourself in for? Dogs have their
kennels and chooks have sheds, but the New Human can’t even
find a room for the night.”
........To
someone else, Jesus made the call: “Follow me.”
........But
the man said, “Give me time. I can’t come until my father
has been buried.”
........But
Jesus dismissed his excuses, saying, “Get your priorities
straight. You can leave the lifeless to sort out the affairs of the
dead. Your business is life. Hit the road and get the message out
about the reign of God.”
........Someone
else came saying, “I’m definitely with you, Lord; but I
just need to say my goodbyes and sort things out at home before I can
join you on the road.”
........Jesus
replied, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too! Either
you’re with us or your not. You’ll be of no use to God’s
bandwagon if you’re going to keep jumping off to check on
things at home.”
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Alternative
Hebrew Bible Lections themed to the Gospel Lection
* 1
Kings 19: 15-16, 19-21
........On
Mount Sinai, the LORD spoke to Elijah, saying,
“Off you go. Head back down to the desert near Damascus. When
you get there, you are to crown Hazael as the new king of Syria. Then
you are to crown Jehu, the son of Nimshi, as the new king of Israel.
Finally, you are to appoint Elisha, the son of Shaphat, to be your
successor as my prophet.”
........So
Elijah set out as he had been told, and found Elisha, the son of
Shaphat. Elisha was working a paddock with a plow pulled by a pair of
bullocks. He was the twelfth in a line of men, each plowing with a
pair of bullocks. Elijah picked him out and as he walked past he
threw his own prophet’s coat over him. Elisha dropped what he
was doing and ran after Elijah, saying, “Let me just go and
kiss my parents goodbye, and then I’ll come with
you.”
........Elijah replied,
“Off you go. Have I done anything to stop you?”
........Elisha
went home and severed all his ties. Burning his plow and slaughtering
his bullocks, he gave a farewell barbeque for the people he had lived
and worked with. Then, with his old life behind him, he hit the road
with Elijah and became his apprentice.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 16
Protect me, God,
........you
are my place of refuge.
I’m acknowledging you as the one
in charge, LORD;
........you
are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
I delight
in the company of those
........who
dedicate themselves to you;
................they
are the salt of the earth.
Those who worship other
things
........will have nothing but
grief.
I will not buy into their futile devotions;
........I
will not utter the names they revere.
You are all I want,
LORD, and all I need;
........you
hold my future in your hands.
You mark out the best of
everything for me;
........you’ve
set me up with a bright future.
I heap accolades on you,
LORD,
........for
you always give me wise advice;
even in the dead of
night
........you fill my heart with
your teachings.
I’ll always stick close behind you,
LORD;
........with
you near by,
................I’ll
never be pushed off track.
You fill me with delight,
LORD;
........joy
erupts from deep in my bones;
................my
body relaxes, safe in your care.
You’ll never let the
grave drag me down;
........your
faithful servants are never left for dead.
You set my feet on
a life-giving track, LORD.
........To
be in your presence is absolute bliss.
................All
I could dream of comes from your hand.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net