PSALM LESSON Psalm 105:1-5, 8
THE GOSPEL LESSON Matthew 16:21-28
THE SECOND LESSON Romans 12:9-21
MEDITATION "Love of the Other"
Worship Notes
We conclude our Summer of Spirit with our final worship integrating the practice of lectio divina into our worship. Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading, spiritual reading, or "holy reading," and represents a traditional Christian practice of prayer and scriptural reading. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to read (Lectio), study (Meditatio), pray (Oratio) and listen (Contemplatio) to a bible text. The systematization of spiritual reading into four steps dates back to the 12th century. Around 1150, Guigo II, a Carthusian monk, wrote a book titled "The Monk's Ladder" wherein he set out the theory of the four rungs: reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation.
The central text for our worship is taken from the 12th chapter of Romans where Paul describes the distinctive marks of what it means to follow Christ. The Call to Worship incorporates three of these verses where Paul exhorts Christians to love even those we may curse us. The Prayer of Confession comes from a prayer written by Dag Hammarskjold, a Swedish diplomat, Christian mystic, and the second General Secretary of the United Nations. The Affirmation of Faith is a portion of the Brief Statement of Faith of the PCUSA detailing how it is God's Spirit that shapes us into a people willing to take up our cross. In the silent prayer following the prayers of the people, we encourage you to reflect on the ways you may be transformed in serving the world and the church.
As we hear Christ's admonishment of Peter in the Gospel lesson this morning, we are mindful of his instruction that we too must take up our cross and follow him. For centuries, Christians have struggled with how to discern and respond to God's call. The solo offered in worship this morning is a setting of a poem by the English mystical poet, George Herbert (1593-1633) entitled, "The Call." Scholars believe Herbert likely wrote this text to reflect his decision, late in life, to become a priest. In each stanza, the poem establishes particular descriptions of various aspects of God's call (way, truth, life, light, feast, strength, joy, love, heart) and then articulates how we respond to each aspect in such a way as to grow in our faith and in our commitment to Christ. Note the purposeful point made by the text as it reminds us that God's call is a call to life that is triumphant even over death. The music written for this piece is by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958).
