Liturgical Elements of our Roundtable Worship

Calls to the Table:

When we were young,

You gave us growth.

When we were certain

You surprised us with mystery.

When we were lost

You took our hand.

When we sank in despair

You gave us a boat.

When we faltered in fear

You opened a door.

When we were hungry

You drew us to table.

All: We come to Your table, We come in Christ’s peace.

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In the darkness

We face ourselves within.

In the darkness

We must listen with our hearts.

In the darkness

We must touch to find our way.

In the darkness

Smell arouses us to hunger.

In the darkness

Light does not deny our death.

Out of darkness

We come to the table of light.

All: We come in peace to your table of light.

Amos calls out to us:

“Let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like a never failing stream.”

Micah reminds us:

“God loves the foreigner . . . . and calls you to love them, for you, yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”

Jesus beckons us:

“Come, you who are blessed by God . . . . I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in . . .”

ALL:  We come to your all-embracing table of peace.

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From aching void and faintest light

You call us to your centering love.

Through clash of interest, clan, and creed,

You draw us through refining fire to your truth.

From the desert of our self-concern

You lead us to oases of your peace.

To your table you invite both enemy and friend,

From your hand we find sustaining bread.

All: We come to your table, we come to your peace.

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Out of seed’s decay

Grows beauty longing to be fruit.

From ice-locked mountain peaks

Flows water giving life.

Within the magma of a molten earth

Emerges rock and ash renewing soil.

From God’s self-giving love

Springs forth abundant life for all.

Come to God’s table.

The table of peace.

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Out of our world of violence and fear

Let us enter a house of peace.

From shouted slogans of oppression,

Let us turn to songs of justice.

In a world of privileged ladders,

Let us stand in a circle of care.

Where people’s eyes are sunk in suspicion,

Let us sit around a table in hope.

In a land of exploitation,

Let us share at a table of plenty.

ALL: Let us come to the table, let us gather in peace.

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Confirmations of God’s Presence

O Source of Life, Lover of all,

Your arms upholding, your love enfolding, your wisdom sustaining, your mercy abiding, you spread out this table to welcome us all. Creation abounding gives food to your people, bright beauty to eye, breath of life to our lips, fresh waters of birth to the thirsty land. We greet you at table, sustained by your hand.

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In the warfare of our words, O God, you have brought the conversation of your peace.

Into the darkness of our doubt, You have sung the mystery of your love.

Into the cold fear of death you have brought a heart on fire.

Bound in the promise of your presence, we have gathered at your table.

Bound to all the earth in hope, we feel your web of care.

In your wisdom help us find the word and deeds that heal.

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O Holy Heart of All Creation,

In your creative waters we feel refreshments of our souls. In your fiery depths we sense your awesome power. In falling, shouting leaves your resurrection promise bursts the bounds of death. To your table come our hurts and hopes, our fears and loves, thirsting for your drink, longing for your bread. In the stillness help us listen, in the clamor help us hear your voice. Centered in your care, help us speak our heartfelt truths in love. May our eyes be open to your beauty, may our ears be open to your song. May we find renewal as we gather in your reconciling power.

May it be so, today and every day to come.

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In the midst of conflict, you are here with healing, Holy One.

In the midst of doubt, you lead us to your deeper mystery.

In the midst of fear, you love us with a heart on fire.

In the promise of your presence, we are gathered at your table.

In the Wisdom of your new creation

We await your Word among us, your healing for our lives.

Remembrances

From out of Mary’s nowhere came the vessel of your power. Filled in secret with your wisdom, strength, and courage, he became the word for speechless people. In his birth were new beginnings, in his death the end of endings. At his table walls were leveled, first and last turned upside down. In his smile blazed distant stars, from his hand flowed streams of mercy. In his spirit we find Mary’s nowhere as our pathway to new birth.

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Jesus spoke of mustard seeds become a tree of faith, taught of sparrows saved within the eye of God. The hairs upon our heads, the grains of sand, the stars within a billion galaxies are only whispers of God’s power. His road to death became a way to life. His self-surrender opened up the heart of God. In his faithful spirit walk the saints who open up our fists of fear into the outstretched hands of peace.

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Not as a word pinned down in letters but a life lived out in love.

Not as commands to bring a curse, but invitations to a feast.

Not as a king above but a partner in our life.

Not as a period at the end but a comma in a conversation.

So the Spirit comes where two or three are gathered at the table of God’s love.

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She said Master.

He said mother.

They said Lord.

He said friends.

She wept Rabbi.

He said servant.

They cried King.

He said child.

She pled Savior.

He but pointed to God’s love.

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In the midst of conflict, Jesus said he would be there.

In the sting of judgment, Jesus said he would be there.

In the life that conquers death, Jesus said he would be there.

At table, in prison, in court and in home, in darkest cave and spotlit stage.

Jesus promised all of us. I will be there.

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God in Christ breaks down the walls that make us strangers to ourselves and divide us from one another.

We are the body of Christ.  Around this table, we enact our faith.

The body broken is restored to wholeness; lifeblood poured out brings healing to our world.

We dream, O God, of community, but in waking hours we forget such hopes.  Our dreams we call “alien;” our sister and brother we call “stranger.”

You call us by name.  With arms outstretched as on a cross, you call us to yourself, and you name us your own people.

So with arms outstretched, we now embrace new friends and forgotten dreams.  The body broken and lifeblood poured transform our fears, revive our visions.

All: Renew us, O God, with your Spirit.

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From table Jesus sent them out, proclaiming that the powers of death were overcome, that love was stronger than the torturer’s chains. The circle round his words became a universe of conversation, the bread they ate a banquet for the world. So now the ripple of their words and actions reaches us, brings us to table, beckons us to listen and to speak, united in his love.

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He was like wheat between the millstones of colony and empire, like a helpless babe emerging from the womb. Like the steam of boiling water he did not resist the heat of hell, but lived on laughing in the rain that greets the green of spring. By God’s hand ground grain appears as bread to feed us, crushed grape pours out to quench our thirst. Words uttered once are passed by tongue and ear to guide unending conversation round the tables of our love. And so we gather here together, thankful once again. AMEN.

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Jesus walked through walls of fear,

Called to children in the shadows.

Ate with unclean sinners, broke the laws of rank and power.

He spoke of God as hovering mother, as forgiving father with a wayward son.

At his table all were equal in their gifts and in their loss.

To his banquet he invited friend and foe to share God’s feast.

This is the table, this the spirit hosting us.

Thanksgivings

O Holy Source of Truth and Power,

As seed is buried in the earth, covered in a fiery splendor, so we let our bodies rest from labors at the table of your peace. As wintry air reveals stars embedded in your awesome mystery, we touch the boundaries of our grasp, offer up our wants in your abundance.

Gathered at your table, we renew our lives.  Living in the circle of your love, we enter into thanks for partnership in your creation. In our song of thanks may we enter into deeper circles of your care.

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O Welcoming God,

Let our thanks pour forth like seeds upon the earth that gives us life. Let us taste your mercy in this bread, let us savor grace within these cups. Help our every moment be a testimony to your life, every breath a whisper of your care. At this table we speak out our gratitude, here we revel in the freedom of your peace. Here the breath you give springs forth as song:

Thank you, God, Holy One.

Thank you God, Creator.* Thank you God.

*Companion, Sustainer.

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O Bountiful God,

From your orchards and your fields we have this food and drink. For the hands that brought it here we give you hearty thanks. For the lives of those who brought us words to speak, faith to live, and hope that opens hearts, we sing our gratitude. For every reconciling act that heals wounds of war and violent rage we give you our unending thanks.

Thank you, God, Holy One.

Thank you God, Creator.* Thank you God.

*Great Lover, Great Spirit.

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O Source of Life,

From wintering ground you offer up the beauty of new life. From empty hands you generate a feast of humble care. In hungry hearts you grow the garden of your peace. For the mercies of the earth we give you thanks. For the lives that bring your bounty to our table we give thanks. For life renewed and bodies healed, we give you hearty thanks. For this table of your reconciling love we give you our continual thanks.

Thank you, God, Holy One

Thank you, God Creator,* Thank you, God.

*Redeemer, Great Spirit

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O, Abundant Womb of Mercy,

From the mystery of our birth you have fed us with the bounty of your land. With hands of promise you have lifted us from fears and pain to stand in song before your beauty. With tears and yearning you have walked our ways, suffered our deaths, empowered our hopes, healed our wounding of this earth. So with generations past and yet to come we sing our song of thanks and praise.

Thank you, God, Holy One, Thank you, God Creator,* Thank you, God.

*Redeemer, Great Spirit

The Hope Prayer

O Source of Life, You alone are holy.

Come and govern us in perfect peace.

Give us today all the food that we need.

Release us from sin as we release our enemies.

Save us in the trials of judgment.

Liberate us all from evil powers.

For in you is our justice,

Our constitution, and our peace. AMEN.

Words of Commitment

In God’s love, we will seek the path of reconciliation.

In God’s power, we will walk the ways of peace.

In God’s wisdom, we will struggle for God’s justice in this world.

In God’s mercy, we will seek to care for Earth, our home.

Amen, Amin, Ameyn