COMMUNION SUNDAY

GATHERING FOR WORSHIP

As the bell sounds, may we quiet ourselves and allow the music of the prelude to lead us into a worshipful place in our hearts and minds.

Prelude: Litany for the Feast of All Souls (with Abide With Me)

Franz Schubert (William Monk)

Choral Introit

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship

Leader: From God comes the wonder of creation.

People: We will worship God the Creator.

Leader: From God comes healing for the brokenness we see.

People: We will worship God our Redeemer.

Leader: From God comes the strength to face the new day.

People: We worship God our Sustainer.

*Opening Hymn. For All the Saints (vs 1, 3, 4 & 5)

Unison Prayer of Confession

God of mercy and forgiveness, we confess that sin still has a hold on us. We havenoften harmed your good creation. We have often failed to do justice for all, share loving kindness, and walk humbly with you. Turn us in a new direction. Show us the path that leads to your Kingdom. Be our refuge and strength on the journey, through Jesus Christ, our redeemer and friend. Amen.

Silent Confession

Words of Assurance

Beloved of God: your sins are forgiven and you are made whole. God points the way to new life in Christ, who meets us on the road. Journey now with all God’s people in His abiding love, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

*Gloria Patri

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.

SHARING GOD’S WORD

Scripture Reading Mark 12:28-34

Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

Musical Interlude

THE COMMUNITY AT PRAYER

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

Call to Prayer

Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness, make thy way plain before my face. For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety.

Pastoral Prayer

*Hymn of Preparation I Sing a Song of the Saints of God

SERMON Self Love Can Be Good

THE SERVICE OF OFFERING

Collection and Offertory

*The Doxology

* Prayer of Dedication

Gracious God, in your great love you richly provide for our needs. Make of these gifts a banquet of blessing, and make us ready to share with any in need who may cross our path; through Jesus Christ, who sets a table for all. Amen.

THE SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION

Communion Hymn We Call Ourselves Disciples (vs 1, 2 & 4)

The Invitation

Prayer of Consecration

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Words of Institution 

Sharing the Bread and the Cup 

Unison Prayer of Thanksgiving 

We thank you, O God, for inviting us to this table where we have witnessed the light,  have known the presence, and have received the gifts of Christ our Lord. Strengthen  our faith, increase our love for one another, and enable us to show forth your light in  our lives; through Jesus Christ our savior. Amen. 

WE GO FORTH TO SERVE 

Hymn of Parting To Us All, to Every Nation

Benediction 

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and  minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of Christ Jesus our risen Savior.  And the blessing of God Almighty, Creator, Redeemer and Comforter, be  among you and remain with you always.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord, In the name of Christ. Amen. 

Congregational Response Go Now in Peace 

Go now in peace. Never be afraid, God will go with you each hour of every day. Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true. Know He will guide you in all you do. Go now in love, and show you believe. Reach out to others so all the world  can see. God will be there, watching from above. Go now in peace, in faith, and  in love. 

POSTLUDE When the Saints Go Marchin’In (with Glory, Glory Hallelujah)  Traditional American Spiritual, arr. Mark Hayes 

I would like to open with words from the book, A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle.  His writing is somewhat esoteric, but that may be intentional: it is only beyond our understanding that God comes alive.  In this paragraph, Mr. Tolle is describing the mystery of being truly present with another person, beyond words. He writes:

“The thinking mind cannot understand Presence

and so will often misinterpret it.  It will say that in your silent presence, you are uncaring, distant, have no compassion, are not relating.  The truth is you are relating but at a level deeper than thought and emotion.  In fact, at that level, there is a true coming together, a true joining that goes far beyond relating.  In the stillness of Presence, you can sense the formless essence in yourself and in the other as one.  Knowing the oneness of yourself and the other is true love, true care, true compassion.”

As we think about the various saints in our own personal lives, as well as the saints of history, we may eventually come to the question of what makes them different from the normal, every-day Christian, since the job description is the same?  They gave their lives for the betterment of humankind; yes, but where did they come up with the devotion and selflessness that enabled them to give so much? 

So if we have yet to attain sainthood, what is it we are short on?  What did they have that we don't?  We're too selfish?  Is it that we simply love ourselves too much and others not enough?  Most experts say quite the opposite is the case.

  When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus quotes the Torah, the Hebrew Scriptures.  The first commandment is found in Deuteronomy:

“Hear, O Israel, The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Jesus expands it just a bit, suggesting mind and strength for “might."

  Love God with the Heart, starts at the center of our being.

Soul - that part of us that is spirit, 

Mind - our thoughts begin and end with God

Strength - all that we do with every muscle and fiber of our being is grounded in God-directed action.

All that we are and do emanates from God-presence.

  For the second summary commandment, Jesus quotes Leviticus:

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

  And here we come to the question that so often confounds us. 

In his book, Mr. Tolle urges his readers to focus on their relationship with “Being" or God. Some may wonder how this fits with our Christian theology which asks us to deny the self and uplift others.  In that light, Mr. Tolle's approach comes across as rather self-centered.

  Here, in Jesus' selection for the second-most important commandment, we find part of the answer.  He doesn't stop with “Love your neighbor".  Along with the Hebrew Scriptures he goes on to add, “as yourself."

We can understand this connection between loving ourselves and loving others in two ways, depending on our interpretation of that little two-letter word “as".

  We can love our neighbor “in the same way” that we love ourselves - or -

  As we are loving our neighbor, we are loving ourselves at the same time.

  The “Self" Jesus asks to deny is that part of us that we so easily confuse with who we truly are.  In short, this outward expression: body, actions, job, name, address, credit score, SS number, party affiliation, etc., etc. is not our essential identity.  It is the self we are to move beyond in order to discover the God-essence deeper within.

The love of another must start with the discovery and acceptance of the love that is at the center of our essential nature.  Evil deeds are done by desperate, love-starved persons.

That is the meaning of loving God with heart, soul, mind and strength - God's love is experienced as the truest essence of our being.

And it happens as we are loving our neighbors.  The “self" is transcended and true connection happens.  Rare as it may be, we know it when it hits us.  We have experienced a glimmer of sainthood.  I suppose the defining factor of sainthood is one of degree.  The more of those moments we can have, the closer we come to fulfilling Jesus' 2 commandments. Reaching for Sainthood.

Self love can be good.  From the Christian perspective, it is a requirement for Sainthood.  We must know God's love, at which point we will know we are loved, and then that love, that “true" love will naturally flow outward.  

It all happens at one and the same time: Loving God, loving self, loving neighbor.  They are inseparable.   God within has become a state of being.  Self-love is good when God is the source and neighbor is the benefactor.

From Mr. God, This Is Anna, by Fynn.  True story takes place in London, England in the 1940’s: little 5 year old Anna is in conversation with her 20 year old caregiver and new-best-friend, Fynn.

"A: Why do we go to church, Fynn?

F: To understand Mr. God more.

A: Less.

F: Less what?

A: To understand Mr. God less.

F: Wait a minute.  You're flipped!

A: No, I'm not.  You go to church to make Mister God really, really big.  When you make Mister God really, really, really big, then you really, really don't understand Mister God - then you do."