Without higher quality material to work with, God resorts to working through us for others and upon us through others. Those are some weirdly restorative, disconcerting shenanigans to be caught up in: God forcing God’s people to see themselves as God sees them, to do stuff they know they are incapable of doing, and make them to be both humble recipients and generous givers of grace, so that they may be part of God’s big project on earth.
–Nadia Bolz-Weber
Call to Worship
Living God, we have gathered to remember
to remember those who have come before,
and re-member ourselves to those at our side
whose lives, like mirror shards
catch the Light of Christ
and cast a reflected Brilliance
that pierces the gathered gloom
of this broken world
and confronts us time and again
with that thread of truth
from which our every hope is spun:
there’s a Light in the darkness
the darkness did not overcome
Amen
Scripture Reading
A reading from Matthew 5:1-12:
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Remembering the Dead
Take a moment to call to mind those who have died and who have reflected the light of Christ in your life.
When Death Came Calling
barely breathing, barely even hanging on
a dim light, fading; you were crumbling from the weight
with a broken body, a hollow frame
when death came calling you broke
clean out of your skin, like you were running home
but I still feel you; creaking floorboards and rushing winds
a picture, fading; but I keep grabbing for the shape
of a broken body, a hollow frame
when death came calling, he broke clean out of the grave
like a falling chain
but it still stings, it still stings
when everything you love is fading
but we all fade; we’ll all fade
but there in darkness, we’ll be caught up in blinding light
the final curtain, cut short for the rewrite
when all the broken bodies are coming up from open graves
and ol’ death comes calling, there’ll be nothing left
to give or take away
nothing left to give or take away
and we won’t fade
and every tear we shed in graveyards
will sprout and bloom
and grow a garden
where won’t fade
and you won’t fade
Reflecting on Living Lights
Take a moment to call to mind people who are in your life who reflect the light of Christ to you.
The gathered glories (by Malcolm Guite)
Though Satan breaks our dark glass into shards
Each shard still shines with Christ’s reflected light,
It glances from the eyes, kindles the words
Of all his unknown saints. The dark is bright
With quiet lives and steady lights undimmed,
The witness of the ones we shunned and shamed.
Plain in our sight and far beyond our seeing
He weaves them with us in the web of being
They stand beside us even as we grieve,
The lone and left behind whom no one claimed,
Unnumbered multitudes, he lifts above
The shadow of the gibbet and the grave,
To triumph where all saints are known and named;
The gathered glories of His wounded love.
Scripture Reading
A reading from Isaiah 25:6-9:
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away
from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him,
so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Communion
Prayer
Merciful God,
Your Son is the resurrection and the life;
raise us from the death of sin
into the life of your self-giving love
That at the last,
With all your beloved
We may enter into your eternal joy
Through our savior Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, Lord of the living and dead;
With each generation
Your body grows and grows;
Thank you for all who have gone before us
For what they achieved and what they learned
Give us the strength to grow and learn
To be your body now
Amen
Benediction
As you go now, may you remember the Light you have received.
Cling tight to the collection of glimmers and flashes of brilliance of those who now sleep, but have a home in your memory.
Tune your eyes to embrace the glimmers and sparks that accompany your journey in every blessed ordinary day.
And may you join the untold numbers before you in raising this gathered Light like the dawn; dispersing the gathered gloom of this long night, reminding yourself and your neighbor of the truth, the goodness, the beauty, underneath it all, until Morning has finally come.
Amen.