Liturgy for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A (Matthew)

Introduction

Moses turns aside to look at a bush that burns without being consumed and finds himself standing on holy ground, called by name and sent to a people he had not yet met.

Jeremiah complains to God of his suffering and hears a promise of restoration in return.

Paul instructs the church that love must be genuine, without pretense, and that evil is to be overcome with good.

And Jesus tells his disciples plainly what discipleship will cost him, and them, and Peter cannot bear to hear it.

This liturgy follows the Revised Common Lectionary for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year A) and is shaped by themes of holy ground, calling, and a love willing to pay a cost.

Finding this helpful? Want to receive some non-intrusive resources a few times a month? Sign up below!

Lectionary Readings for this Sunday

Exodus 3:1-15: Moses encounters God in a burning bush that is not consumed. God calls him by name, reveals the divine name "I AM WHO I AM," and sends him to deliver Israel from Egypt. This is YHWH, the Personal Name for God.

Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b: A call to give thanks and seek the Lord continually, remembering the wonders God has done and the way God made Israel fruitful in Egypt.

Jeremiah 15:15-21 (alternate first reading): Jeremiah laments his suffering for the sake of God's word, and God answers with a promise that if he turns back, he will be restored and made a fortified wall.

Psalm 26:1-8 (alternate psalm): The psalmist asks to be vindicated, having walked in integrity and trusted the Lord without wavering, and professes love for the house where God dwells.

Romans 12:9-21: Paul calls the church to let love be genuine, to hold fast to what is good, to bless those who persecute, and to overcome evil with good rather than repaying evil for evil.

Matthew 16:21-28: Jesus tells his disciples he must suffer and die. Peter rebukes him, and Jesus responds sharply, then teaches that whoever wants to follow him must take up their cross. In the following link, I write about how Matthew depicts discipleship in his gospel.

Liturgy for this Sunday

Call to Worship

One: There is holy ground beneath our feet, though we did not know it.

All: God draws near, even in the most ordinary places.

One: Come with reverence. Come with wonder.

All: Let us worship the God who is present here.

One: Let us worship the God who calls us by name.

All: Let us worship the God who sends us out again.

Call to Worship

One: Let love be genuine, and let it cost you something.

All: Let us follow the one who calls us to lay down our lives.

One: Come, and bring whatever burden is yours to carry.

All: Come, and follow where love leads.

One: Let us worship the God who asks everything and gives everything.

All: Let us worship the God who gives us the blessings of this day.

Opening Prayer

God who called Moses from the burning bush and calls us still, give us ears to hear and courage to answer. Teach us to love as genuinely as you love, and to follow even the harder path. Amen.

Prayer of Confession

Merciful God, we have walked past holy ground without noticing. We have loved with conditions instead of loving genuinely. We have resisted the harder path when it was set before us. Forgive us, and renew in us a love that costs something. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

"If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me." Jeremiah 15:19

More assurance of pardon scripture

Prayer for Illumination

Speak to us as you spoke from the bush, God, even when we do not expect it. Open our ears to hear you in this ordinary hour. Amen.

Benediction

Go, and recognize holy ground wherever you stand. Go, and love without limit and without condition. And may the God who called Moses by name, and calls you by name still, go before you now. Amen.

More benedictions and blessings

See also

Worship Resources
Calls to Worship
Opening Prayers
Prayers of Confession
Assurance of Pardon
Prayer of Illumination
Benedictions and Blessings