Tuesday, May 24, 2022
The liturgy below is for the Chapel gathering on May 24 at 12 pm (PDT). If you are unable to join us at that time, the Chapel recording and the liturgy will be posted on Moodle on Tuesday afternoon and available for 1 week.
Welcome & Announcements
Call to Worship
Inspired by Psalm 139
Lord of heaven and earth,
You search us, and know us.
You know the paths that have led us to this place,
And you know what lies on the journey ahead
And on the journey,
there is nowhere you won't meet us
In our highs, you will meet us;
In our lows, you will meet us;
In our hopes, you will meet us;
In our fears, you will meet us;
In our rejoicing, you will meet us;
In our lamenting, you will meet us.
Lord, who formed us and knows us,
Meet us now in this place.
How Long
© 2016 Isaac Wardell
How long will You turn your face away?
How long? Do You hear us when we pray?
On and on, still we walk this pilgrim way
How long?
How long till Your children find their rest?
How long till You draw them to Your breast?
We go on holding to Your promises
How long?
Till You wipe away the tears from every eye?
Till we see our home descending from the sky?
Do we wait in vain?
Jesus give us hope again
How long till Your word will still the storm?
How long till You bear Your mighty arm?
How we groan till You snatch us from the thorns
How long?
How long? Sweet the dawn that ends the race
How long? Weak our hearts but strong our legs
Looking on, great that cloud of witnesses
How long?
Amen, Jesus come!
Amen, Jesus come!
Amen, Jesus come!
Amen, Jesus come!
Prayers of Lament
based on Psalm 13, by Sarah Hargreaves (Revised)
Reader 1:
How long, Lord? Will you forget me for ever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
Reader 2:
We pray for those who feel forgotten and unseen,
may they know that they are remembered and seen by you God.
Help us to partner with you to remember the forgotten.
Search our hearts to reveal those we hide our faces from,
the outcast, the stranger or the homeless.
Change our hearts, that we may turn our faces towards these people
and see them as your beloved children.
Reader 1:
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Reader 2:
We pray for those we know who struggle with mental illnesses, anxiety and depression.
We pray that there will be resources released to help,
enough staff employed and finances given towards mental health services nationally.
Help us to be a friend and a listening ear to those who suffer.
Fill us with compassion and wisdom.
Ultimately, we pray for those who wrestle with sorrow, that they may know your
victory over those dark thoughts which currently seem to triumph.
Reader 1:
Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, 'I have overcome him,'
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
Reader 2:
We pray for those who might be considered fallen by those around them:
may they know your restoration and grace.
Help us to not judge or exclude your beloved children, but instead lift them up in
prayer, and embrace them with the grace we know in Christ.
Thank you, loving Father God, for hearing our prayer.
We proclaim together:
All:
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord's praise,
for he has been good to me.
Amen
Silent Reflection
Abide With Me
by Henry Francis Lyte, William Henry Monk, and Justin Smith
Abide with me fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens Lord with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless O abide with me
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away
Change and decay in all around I see
O Thou who changest not abide with me
I need Thy presence ev'ry passing hour
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?
Who like Thyself my Guide and Stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, oh abide with me
I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight and tears no bitterness
Where is death's sting, where grave thy victory
I triumph still if Thou abide with me
Scripture | Psalm 139 (NRSV)
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
3 You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.
7 Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end —I am still with you.
19 O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
20 those who speak of you maliciously,
and lift themselves up against you for evil!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
24 See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Homily | Where Can I Go From Your Presence?
Isabelle Hamley - Theological Adviser to the House of Bishops, Church of England
Silent Reflection
Poem | Psalm 139: CXXXIX Domine, probasti
From, Malcom Guite, David's Crown: Sounding the Psalms (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2021), 139.
This very night I worship and adore
For I am drawn towards your mystery.
I cannot fully know you, but before
I was conceived you knew and summoned me.
You called me into being. I was formed
Both in my mother's womb and in the sea
Of your strong love. The blood that warmed
My growing body also flowed in you,
When you were hid in Mary's womb and formed
In our humanity. I turn to you
Because you know my heart better than I,
The darkness there was never dark to you.
However low I fall, however high
I rise, your loving presence meets me there
And you will still be with me when I die.
Almighty God
by David Leonard, Leslie Jordan, and Sandra McCracken
Almighty God to you all hearts are open
Search and know our thoughts and anxious fears
Wash us in the fountain of your mercy
Come with your light, we cannot hide from you
Almighty God to you all hearts are open
With gratitude we raise our song to you
Come and fill the praises of your people
In grace and truth, you make us new again
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Almighty God to you all hearts are open
We long for more than what this world provides
No shallow spring will ever satisfy us
Your river deep floods over everything
To you all hearts are open, Almighty God
To you all hearts are open, Almighty God
To you all hearts are open, Almighty God
To you all hearts are open