May 6, 2007

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Preparation for Worship

God… will wipe every tear from their eyes

Revelation 21:4

“Life is this simple. We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent, and God is shining through it all the time. This is not just a fable or a nice story. It is true. If we abandon ourselves to God and forget ourselves, we see it sometimes, and we see it maybe frequently. God shows up everywhere, in everything – in people and in things and in nature and in events. It becomes very obvious that God is everywhere and in everything and we cannot be without God. It’s impossible. The only thing is that we don’t see it.

Thomas Merton

We continue in the season of Easter with the themes of resurrection and new life in our liturgy and music. The prelude and the opening hymn reflect this idea celebrating how “The Lord of Life is risen today!” The central text for today’s worship is taken from the twenty first chapter of the Revelation to John where a vision of a new heaven and new earth is proclaimed. Our call to worship and litany of affirmation reflect the biblical hope that death will be no more. In our prayer of examen, we remember our week and discern the places where God dwells in and among us. We end singing an affirmation of how God is here among us.

     We celebrate communion today in our worship service. In the Presbyterian Church, we understand that the table is not reserved for any particular denomination or sect, but belongs to our Lord offering grace to all who hunger and thirst. We emphasize the communal nature of the Lord’s Supper through a shared liturgy and experience. (Did you know when communion is served to shut-ins, the minister cannot serve them alone but must have at least one elder present?) One of the central images in communion reflected in the liturgy is its anticipation in the present day of a time when people shall gather around the table, people from the east, and west, the north and the south. And nothing shall separate them! In this way, when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we enact the truth of a new heaven and a new earth.