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C. WORSHIP
LIFE
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10 THANKSGIVING
AND COMMUNION*
Worship and Invocation
Worship to you, Creator
Worship to you, Redeemer
Worship to you, Divine Holy Spirit
Worship to you, Triune God
God from time immemorial, author of creation
Lord Jesus, the Son, giver of healing release
Blessed Holy Spirit, Guardian of the Church
Come now into our midst.
(A literal translation of a Sinhala verse form that is chanted. A lyric may be sung instead of it.)
The Ministry of the Word
The Collect for the day or brief free prayer
1st
2nd
3rd
Silence
Sermon
(with dialogue)
Silence
Creed
(occasional use of varied forms as
authorized)
A lyric may be sung here
(The Intercessions –
after the Thanksgiving on page 5 – may alternatively, be offered here)
* A Liturgy authorized for use at Devasaranaramaya.
Ibbagamuva. N.W.F Ceylon.
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Repentance and Hope
A Layman – The Lord Jesus
Christ said: "The time has come; the
Silence
All – Almighty and merciful God, we have sinned against
you and against our neighbor, in what we have thought, and said, and done, and
in what we have failed to do. It was our own fault and we are sorry. Our faith,
our hope, and our love is weak. Forgive us and help us to live a new life.
Minister – May God forgive us and free us from our sin. May we, in the
power of this Spirit, live and work to his glory, in the service of our
fellowmen.
All – Amen
or alternatively
A Layman – "God is light. If we walk in the light, we share together
a common life, and are being cleansed by the blood of Jesus his son. If we
confess our sin, he is just, and may be trusted to forgive our sin, and cleanse
us from every kind of wrong." (1 John 1.6-7)
Silence
All – Eternal God, our Father, we are proud and
self-willed. We turn away from the truth and continue in folly, deceiving
ourselves. We do not love others. We misuse your gifts. We hurt each other. It
is our fault and we are sorry. We are weakened in spirit and seek new life.
Minister – Source of salvation, heal us and free us that we may be
truly human. Give us your Holy Spirit that we may live together in peace and
love, with justice.
All – Amen
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The Greeting of Love
Minister – Dear friends, let us love one another for love is of God. (1
John 4.7)
The traditional greeting is given.
Or, alternatively
Minister – Remember the words of the Lord Jesus: "If, when you
are bringing your gift to the altar, you suddenly remember that your brother
has a grievance against you, leave your gift where it is before the altar. First
go and make your peace with your brother, and only then come back and offer
your gift." (Matthew 5.23). So let us be at peace with one another.
The traditional greeting is given.
The Preparation of Gifts
A Layman – We shall offer in God's presence a sacrifice of joy. We will sing and make music for the
Lord (Psalm 27.6)
Or, alternatively
A Layman – Therefore, my brothers, I implore you by God's mercy to offer
your very selves as a living sacrifice, dedicated and fit for his acceptance,
for such is the worship, which you, as rational beings, should offer. Adapt
yourselves no longer to the pattern of this present world, but let your minds
be renewed and your whole nature thus transformed. Then you will be able to discern
the will of God, and to know what is good, acceptable, and perfect. (Romans 12.
1-2)
Representatives of the people will
bring bread and wine, and any
other gifts offered, to the holy table
A lyric may be sung here.
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The Thanksgiving
Minister – The Lord is with you
People – And with you also.
Minister – Lift up your hearts.
People – We lift them to the Lord.
Minister – Let us give thanks for God's glory.
People – We give thanks, we rejoice in the glory of all creation.
Minister – All glory and thanks be to you, Father. You are the Source,
Guide, and Goal of all that is.
All glory and thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ. In the fullness of
time he came from you to be our Redeemer. He taught us the true way of life. He
lived and worked for others. He loved and served sinners. He suffered for us
and offered his life on a cross. Sin and evil were vanquished. He rose
victorious and reigns in glory.
All glory and thanks be to your Holy Spirit. He has been wonderfully
poured out in the spreading of the Gospel and the building up of your Church.
At all times and in all places and with varieties of gifts, he is forever
active in love - in inspired teachers, doctrine and law, in the lives of our
fathers in the faith, in all living beings, in the heights and depths of the
universe.
All – One God, holy and immortal, living and true, we
worship you and thank you. Keep the vision of your Presence, active in love
ever before us.
Minister – One of the night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus Christ
took bread; he gave thanks; he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying,
"Take, eat, this is my body, which is given for you." In the same
way, he took the cup after supper, and gave it to them saying, "Drink of
it, all of you; this cup is the new dispensation of salvation sealed by my
blood. It is shed for you and for all men for the forgiveness of sin. Do this
in remembrance of me”
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All – We remember this life offered for us in obedience
unto death. We gladly obey his command. We offer bread and wine. We offer
ourselves, sinners as we are, and all families and nations; all nature and
labor, art and science, to be transformed. We ever look forward to a new heaven
and a new earth.
Minister – Send, Father, the Spirit of life and power, love and
humility upon your people, upon this bread and wine, and upon all your gifts.
May the Lord Christ be truly present in his risen power.
(The Minister may here extend his
hands in invocation and blessing)
All – Amen. Come Lord Jesus. Transform us. Live us that
we may live in you. Lift up a people united to you and to one another in love
and service.
Minister – Now with all who ever were, are, and will be, with all
creation in all time, with joy we sing (or, say):
All – Holy, holy, holy, is God the sovereign Lord of all,
who was, and is, and is to come. All space and all time show forth your glory
now and always. Amen.
Intercession
A Layman – The Lord is near; have no anxiety, but in everything make your
requests known to God in prayer and petition with thanksgiving. Then the peace
of God, which is beyond our utmost understanding, will keep guard over your
hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4. 6-7)
A time of individual intercession
and thanksgiving by free prayer open to all.
(people offering prayers are
requested to be brief and to avoid repetition)
or, alternatively
A Litany or biddings may be used
occasionally.
Minister – Let us now say together the Lord's Prayer.
All – Our Father in heaven, may your name be hallowed, may
your kingdom come, may your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us each
day the bread we need. Forgive us our j sin as we forgive those who sin against
us. Save us in the hour of temptation, and deliver us from evil. For yours is'
kingdom, the power and the glory. Amen.
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The Communion
The bread is broken
Minister (or Deacon if present) –
"When we bless 'the cup of blessing', is it not a means of sharing in the
blood of Christ? When we break the bread, is it not a means of sharing in the
body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, many as we are one body; for it
is one loaf of which we all partake". (1 Corinthians 10: 16-17)
Minister – The peace of the Lord is always with you.
All – And with you also.
Minister – The gifts of God for the people of God
(The bread and wine may here be
lifted up)
All – Hosanna in the highest. Blessings on him who comes
in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.
Silence
All sit
The plate is passed from hand to
hand:
"The body of Christ, the bread
of life"
The cup is passed from hand to hand:
"The blood of Christ, the cup
of life"
A lyric may be sung here
The Way
Minister – The Lord is with you
People – And with you also.
All – Let us go into the world in peace – to love and serve
God's Kingdom and his justice.
A lyric may be sung here
(Note on Silence – The Silence after
the sermon and at the Communion should be fairly prolonged. The Silence after
the
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11 ORDINATION
SERMON
Jesus was a carpenter. He was a worker. He did not wear
any special dress. He wore ordinary clothes. The cassock we wear now is more or
less, the middle-eastern ordinary dress of his day. He must have lived a tough
worker's life. He may well have first impressed his first followers – who were
themselves workers – by the toughness of his character and the quality of his
labor and skill. He probably constructed the fishing boats they used for their
work. And he encouraged them in their work. Once, when thy had toiled all night
and taken nothing, he urged them to venture out again – further into the deep.
They did and succeeded. Later, after he was crucified, they went back to their
work of fishing and he was with them again, in his risen presence, encouraging
them to try again. (Lk. 5:4-6, Jn. 21:1-6)
So Jesus was not only a worker. He chose workers as
his apostles. He did not choose people who could do nothing else but conduct
services, preach sermons and give advice. He chose workers – those who were
experienced in the school of life and were men of the world. Peter, the chief
of the apostles, was a fisherman. So were Andrew, James and John. (Mk. 1.
16-19). Matthew was a tax-gatherer. (Mk. 2. 14). Later, the greatest missionary
of the early church, Paul, was one who earned his living by making tents. (Acts
18.3). One may say here, in parenthesis as it were, that this was not an
entirely new pattern of apostleship. We may recall that Elijah chose Elisha
after watching him plough a field at the rear of twelve pairs of oxen. (I Kings
19. 19). And Amos was a shepherd (Amos 1. 1).
But, of course, Christ's apostles were not just a
band of workers. They were invested with an extra-ordinary power, energy and
grace. They proclaimed good news to the poor. They were liberators of the
oppressed. Christ himself explained the nature of his mission by referring
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to the words of the prophet Isaiah. (Isa. 61: 1-2).
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has
anointed me; he has sent me to announce good news to the poor, to proclaim
release for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind; to let the broken
victims go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Lk. 4.18)
These words have often been interpreted in an
exclusively "spiritual" sense. In fact, over the years, there has
been a tendency to narrow the field of Christ's mission. For instance, even the
Gospel according to St. Matthew speaks of him as "the carpenter's
son". (
But the liberation Christ brought was infinitely
wider and fuller than that. It had a much more concrete bearing on the life of
the society of his time and on the individuals, he moved among. It involved
clear, penetrating, open public judgments on the authorities, vested interests,
laws and institutions of his day. And, moreover, those whom society judged and
condemned he released and pronounced forgiven.
He ate and drank in taverns with ordinary people whom
society spurned. (Mk. 2.15-17). He commended the love of a woman who was living
an immoral life. When this woman came to him and fell at his feet as he was
dining in the home of a respectable man, Jesus said: "Her great love
proves that her many sins have been forgiven". (Lk. 7.47) He commended the
faith-shown by people of other religions. A Roman centurion showed
extra-ordinary perception on meeting Christ. When Christ saw this he burst out:
"I tell you this; nowhere, even in
Then, he also resisted the authorities of both State
and
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was advised to flee, he told them to “go and tell that fox” that he had
work to do and would do it come what may. (Lk. 13:32). He warned his disciples
that they would be handed over for punishment and execution and that men of all
nations would hate them for their allegiance to him. (Mt. 24:9 Lk. 12:11-12).
Then, he found the
Some of the titles he earned for these varied
activities were “madman” (Jn. 10:20), “possessed” (Jn. 7:20, 8:48, 10:20),
“blasphemer” (Jn. 10.33), "glutton and wine bibber", "friend of
tax-gatherers and sinners" (Lk. 7.34). No wonder he was crucified! (Lk.
23.2, Jn. 18.36). He loved
people and bore witness to truth and justice – to the point death. This was
what
He was crucified. But he was not overcome. His spirit
lived on in his followers. So it was said of the early Christians at
Thessalonica that they turned the world upside down." (Acts 17.6)
Of course, this was not purely destructive activity.
What was happening was that a society that had grown old and corrupt was
crumbling and a new society was struggling to emerge. Christ himself this
dramatically and the New Translation of the Bible brings out the full
significance of his words: "With all these things the birth-pangs of the
new age begin." (Mt. 24:8). Of course, this "new age" can never
be defined in purely "this worldly" terms. It carries us ever further
beyond and ever deeper within. But, nevertheless, Christ was the type, the model
of the new man and the Church was to be the type, the model of the new society.
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Jer. 31:31-4, Rev. 21:1-5).
Today we stand at a similar point in history. To
those who have been identified with the old established order, who cling to the
old ways, it will seem that the world is “going to the dogs”. Indeed, it may
seem well that the world is coming to an end.
But to those who have eyes to see, there is a new
world that is struggling to be born. It is a world that is destined to be based
on the world of the workers, peasants and students. It is our plain task as a
Church to identify ourselves, in the spirit of Christ, with this new emerging
world! We must never forget that Christianity stands for "new
creation". Christ as well as Christians means "new man" and the
Church is meant to be "new community". (Gal. 6.15)
There are signs that the Church throughout the world
has begun to awake to the urgent need for change and renewal. The time of the
first prophetic rumblings in the wilderness has passed and now there is a
certain amount of significant leadership in this respect at the highest levels
of the Church – in the World Council of Churches and in the Roman Catholic
Church. In Lanka, too, church people are beginning to stir in certain places and
certain authorities are showing certain significant signs of encouragements of
new forces.
There are desperate problems to be tackled with
unflinching faith and vision. The need of the hour is for men of vision with
technical know-how as well as mass involvement, who will settle down into a
creative job in a community set-up, and stick to it through thick and thin.
These will be the new preachers of the new society, and they will not
necessarily be all ordained ministers of the Church. Teilhard
de Chardin and Dag Hammarskjold are the type of these new preachers. The days
are passed when we can be content with priests who conduct services, preach
sermons, give advice and judiciously gravitate from remote villages to
Thambiraja of Navajeevanam,
James Amarasekera of the K Double I, Kenneth Femando of Sudarshana and Udeni de Suva of Christoday are
examples of a new breed of priests. The Christian Workers Fellowship is still
another approach. The "Church of the Open Door" at Dehiwela, the "Church of the
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So, perhaps, we may say that the Church is beginning
to measure up to the challenge of the times. But, here, it must be emphasized
that there must always be both an utmost caring for individuals as well as a
firm, unyielding vision of social justice that calls for radical change and
revolution in existing laws and institutions. Our aim must be nothing less than
"the length and breadth and depth and height of the love of Christ".
We must always be moving "ever further beyond and ever deeper
within".
One last word. We must not rush headlong into the
modem world without taking due note of our roots in the past – in the tradition
of our fathers in the Church at its best and in the best of the indigenous
culture of our own country. We need to heed the words of Isaiah: "Look to
the rock from which you were hewn, to the quarry from which you were dug".
(Isa. 51:1) Thus, while we will be ready and eager to launch out into new
worlds, we will, at the same time, profoundly value and love the deepest
traditions of doctrine, prayer and discipline handed down to us by our Gurus in
the Church. We will not forget to be thankful for, and draw inspiration from,
the countless examples of holy lives of those who have gone before us – those
"witnesses of faith around us like a cloud". (Heb. 12:1) We will also
profoundly value and love the best in the indigenous religion and culture of
our beloved Lanka. These things are compatible. They can and must be
integrated. The Lord Jesus had already taught us that this is possible. For he
said:
"When, therefore, a teacher of the law has become
a learner in the