Introduction
Israel is given instructions for a meal to be eaten in haste, blood marking the doorposts so death will pass over.
Ezekiel is appointed a watchman for the house of Israel, responsible to warn and to hope that the wicked will turn and live.
Paul tells the church to owe no one anything except love, for love is the fulfilling of the law, and to wake from sleep before the day arrives.
And Jesus gives his community a process for addressing sin between members, promising his presence wherever two or three are gathered in his name.
This liturgy follows the Revised Common Lectionary for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year A) and is shaped by themes of watchfulness, reconciliation, and a love that fulfills every law.
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Lectionary Readings for this Sunday
Exodus 12:1-14: God institutes the Passover, instructing Israel to mark their doorposts with the blood of a lamb so that death will pass over their houses on the night of deliverance. What is Passover in the Bible?
Psalm 149: A call to sing a new song and praise God with dancing and music, for the Lord takes pleasure in his people and adorns the humble with victory.
Ezekiel 33:7-11 (alternate first reading): God appoints Ezekiel a watchman for the house of Israel, responsible for warning the wicked, and declares that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires that they turn and live.
Psalm 119:33-40 (alternate psalm): A prayer to be taught God's statutes, to turn the heart toward God's decrees and away from vanity, and to be given life in God's ways.
Romans 13:8-14: Paul instructs the church to owe no one anything except love, since love is the fulfilling of the law, and to wake from sleep and put on the armor of light.
Matthew 18:15-20: Jesus gives instructions for addressing sin between members of the church, and promises that where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there among them.
A sermon on this passage about forgiveness (Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is not about forgetting. It is about absorbing the debt and not seeking retribution - literally, not making them pay and refusing to pay them back for what they did.)
Liturgy for this Sunday
Call to Worship
One: This is the day the Lord has made.
All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
One: Come with your joys and your burdens alike.
All: We come to worship the God who receives us all.
One: Come, let us gather in this place of grace.
All: Let us worship the God who meets us here.
Call to Worship
One: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them to the Lord.
One: Come into this place of worship and rest.
All: We come to meet the God who is already here.
One: Let us worship with gladness and with peace.
All: Let us worship the God who is worthy of praise.
Opening Prayer
God of every gathering, we come before you this day with grateful hearts. You have called us out of our separate lives into this one body, and we are glad to answer. Quiet our distractions and settle our minds. Open our ears to hear your word and our hands to receive your grace. Meet us here, we pray, as you have promised to do. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, we confess that we have grown careless with your gifts. We have taken your patience for granted and offered little patience of our own. We have sought our own comfort while others carried heavy burdens alone. Forgive us for what we have done and for what we have failed to do. Renew in us a right spirit, and make us whole. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17)
More assurance of pardon scripture
Prayer for Illumination
Teach us your way, O Lord, and turn our eyes from what is worthless. Open this word to us, that we might walk in your truth. Amen.
Benediction
Go, clothed in the armor of light. Go, owing no one anything but love. And may the God who gathers us in his name go with you now. Amen.
More benedictions and blessings
