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Ordinary 17A

Litany: Ash and Starstuff

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When you take away your breath,
We die; we return to ash and starstuff
When you send your breath,
Ash and starstuff dance and we live.
When all was watery chaos and dusty void, God’s breath hovered over the waters
And life began.
When we were adamah, creatures of soil with no spark of life within us,
God’s breath filled our lungs and gave us life.
When waters filled the earth and all was destroyed,
A breath from God cleared them away.
When the people fled Pharoah and became trapped at the shores of the Reed Sea,
God’s ruah, God’s breath, parted the seas to make them a path
When Ezekiel looked out at the valley of dry bones,
It was God’s breath that gave them new life.
When a baby was born in Bethlehem
His first breaths were God’s breaths, too.  
When a young man died on a cross,
God’s breath was there as he breathed his last.
When the women went to the tomb, their breath caught in their throats,
And that was God’s breath too.
When God’s people gathered for Pentecost,
God’s breath – God’s Spirit – was there.
We are God’s people, all gathered in the same place.
God’s breath – God’s Spirit – is here. 
submitted by Rev. Madeline Hart-Anderson (she/hers; ella/suya), Westminster Presbyterian Church, Santa Fe, NM

Communion: Making Room

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God of Grace and Mercy, wide and deep
Since the beginning, Your  creative power has been poured out in abundance
With every pat and piece:
sky, earth, and sea,
mountain valley and plains,
trees rock, rivers,
birds, fish, creeping things
Woman, man, and child
Having room, having a role, having a purpose that you called good.

Yet we acknowledge how we, created in your image, took a mile whenever we were given an inch, distorting your intent, polluting your creation, turning away from your call.

So our gratitude is great not only for your act of creation in the beginning but your ongoing action of love, revealed again in abundance through prophets and poets, nomads wandering the wilderness and sages studying in the temple, women and men of faith in every time and place who sought to redirect our steps back to your wide embrace.

But our deepest thanks is for your son, our savior, and brother Jesus Christ, who was himself the bread of life that restored, redeemed, and renewed us; who taught us how to live, how to die, and how we also can live again according to your promise of everlasting life.

As we gather around the table he has prepared for us, may we make room for his word again in our lives and room also always for one more. Breathe your Holy Spirit upon the gifts of the table and upon us so that the bread we break and the cup might be a true communion of your body, unified yet unique and ready to share your love with the world.

May that love continue to be poured out in acts of mercy and hospitality, in our actions after we leave this meal. May we share gifts of joy, generosity, and grace so that all may know peace, dignity, and have room to belong, to grow, to serve.

And even when we are apart, may we continue to trust in our ongoing unity with one another, with all who gather at table today, and with your ever present Spirit, until at last the day comes when we will feast together face to face in the time and place you have promised.  For we make our payer in your Holy name. Amen.

submitted by Rev. Ben Acton, First Presbyterian Church of Garner, NC

Confession: some other place

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Creating and transforming God,
you call us to spread the joy of your kingdom
and live as agents of your renewal in the world.
We confess that we are content to locate your kingdom
in some other place, some other time, some other reality.
We have been unwilling to welcome your ever-present Spirit,
to strive for your justice in this world,
or to recognize the risen Christ in the face of others.
Forgive us.
Open our hearts, our minds, and our lives
to see the truth right in front of us.
Free us from our foolishness,
and teach us to live by your wisdom,
in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Submitted by Rev. Nathan Williams, Echo Hill Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA