A service of reflection with
times of music, words and silence.
On a hill overlooking the Sea
of Galilee stands the Church of the Beatitudes. The view is breath taking and
the words Jesus spoke on that hill in his sermon on the mount were equally
breathtaking – who were the people who were going to build the kingdom here on
earth – Blessed be the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.
A spirituality course on
peacemaking in Texas was led by a member of the Iona community. And out of
their gathering came these words: Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they are born of God. At that course were Muslim,
Jew and Christian. Together they found
those words: Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they are born of God. And the leader forever remembers these words
uttered by a Muslim woman: “I so love
Jesus, peace be upon him. He is so compassionate. He is so humble. He is so
merciful. I so love Jesus, peace be upon him.” He remembers, he says,
because he realised that she was teaching him how to speak about Jesus. That being a peacemaker involves talking to
other people, people of different views and faiths.
The world has never been at
peace and we will probably never see the world at peace. But if we would take note of what Jesus
teaches the world would become a better place, the kingdom would take another
step forwards it becoming a reality.
If people are humble and poor
in spirit there would be no war. If there was a desire for Justice, there would
be no war. If as Children of God, we imitated God's love, there would be no
war. It is because we long for peace that we pray.
The Beatitudes provide peace
in the midst of our trials on earth. Beatitude is a possession of all things
held good – the opposite to beatitude is misery. And the Beatitudes build on
one another and they produce a beautiful picture of what the world could be
like, as beautiful and peaceful as that breath taking view from that hill - over
the Sea of Galilee.
So as we gather we take time
to be still – and to listen to the music of the Beatitudes.
Music Taize Blessed are the peacemakers.
Opening liturgy:
Bruised, black clouds shed
heavy tears on the fields of Flanders, fields become graveyards in which were
buried the flowers of a generation.
And God wept, for these were
God’s children.
Bruised and black clouds shed
heavy tears on the cities of Europe and of Japan, cities shrouded in the dust
of desolation, camps wreathed in the smoke of human cremations, people in
confusion whispering – ‘Please God, never again.’
And God wept, for these were
God’s children.
Bruised and black clouds
shroud cities, shopping streets, business centres, refugee camps, and people gaze
on devastation wrought by evil on innocence.
And God weeps, for these are
God’s children.
Bruised and black clouds shed
tears over a whole world, bowed, bloodied by battle, cowed and weary of war,
her roads clogged by refugees – with nowhere but earth to call home.
And God weeps, for these are
God’s children.
God of life, drawing life and
death together in yourself, uniting the lost and the loving, be among us we
pray as we gather, guide our praying and loving, cherish our remembering, God,
our God, who forgets no-one.
We imagine that this table is
a map of the world – and there are so many places of conflict, of waste and
gratuitous violence and we are lost for words.
So I invite you, as an act of defiant faith, to come place a candle, a
night light on countries deeply affected by violence, or a place where
important decisions are being made like the United Nations or where poverty and
injustice are rampant because all the money is being spent on armaments. The night light is a prayer to God to be a
light to the people in those places. And
as you place the candle, you might like to say the words: we light a light for
the people of …..
Reading of four scriptures –
a psalm, from the Qur’an, Atharva Veda, and James in the NT. After each will be a time of silence and the
words will be on the screen.
Psalm 122
Pray for the peace of
Jerusalem:
May they prosper who love
you.
Peace be within your walls,
And security within your
towers.
For the sake of my relatives
and friends
I will say, ‘Peace be within
you’.
For the sake of the house of
the Lord, our God,
I will seek your good.
Sura 41 of the Qur’an
And who could be better of
speech than he who calls others unto God
and does what is just and
right
and says: I am of those who
have surrendered
themselves to God.
Good and evil are not equal:
repair the evil that is done
to you with something better.
And lo! The enemy who did
evil to you may turn into a close and true friend.
Yet to achieve this is not
given to any but those who are
wont to be patient in
adversity.
It is not given to any but
those endowed with the greatest fortune.
If it should happen that a
pointing from Satan stirs you to blind anger,
seek refuge with God.
Behold, He alone is all
hearing, all knowing.
A reading from the Atharva
Veda
Peace be to the earth and to
airy spaces.
Peace be to heaven, peace to
the waters.
Peace to the plants and peace
to the trees.
May all the gods grant me
peace.
By this invocation of peace
may peace be diffused.
By this invocation of peace
may peace bring peace.
With this peace the dreadful
I appease.
With this peace the cruel I
appease.
So that peace may prevail,
happiness prevail.
May everything for us be
peaceful.
A reading from the New
Testament – from James 3
Who is wise and understanding
among you? Show by your good life that
your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish
ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom
does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition,
there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a
trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a
harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
Prayer
Lord of the nations, God of
peace and love,
in your hands are all the
people of this world:
one flesh, one blood, created
by you.
You alone, O God, can curb
the passions that take us from you and turn us upon each other.
You alone can save us from
ourselves.
Be with us now, O Lord, and
hear our prayers for peace.
Forgive us for participating
in that which turns people against each other; for fuelling anger and harbouring
vengeance, and not heeding your call to love one another.
Forgive us for not always
sharing with the world the blessings of prosperity that we have received as a
nation. In our comfort we have not
always seen the uncomfortable. In the
caring for our own, we have not always cared for the least of your kingdom.
Renew us in faith, Lord, and
grant us peace.
Renew us in faith, Lord, and grant us peace.
Open our eyes and help us see
the world around us as you see it.
Renew us in faith, Lord, and grant us peace.
Open our eyes and help us to
see where your love is needed most.
Renew us in faith, Lord, and grant us peace.
Open our eyes and hearts to
your truth.
Renew us in faith, Lord, and grant us peace.
As we seek justice, make us
just.
As we seek forgiveness, make
us forgive.
Renew us in faith, Lord, and grant us peace.
Guard and protect those who
stand in harm’s way.
Inspire the leaders of
nations to pursue equity and peace.
Renew us in faith, Lord, and grant us peace.
Grant wisdom to our leaders and
to the agencies who have powers of decision making.
Renew us in faith, Lord, and grant us peace.
Grant peace in our land, in
our homes, and in our places of work.
Renew us in faith, Lord, and grant us peace.
God of our ancestors, God of
all who are in need, heed our call and answer our prayer.
Send peace in our time, peace for our hearts, peace
for our land, peace for all the world, peace that abides as we abide in you.
Amen.
Music Taize Our Father in Heaven
An Affirmation
It is not true that this
world and its inhabitants are doomed to die and be lost;
This is true: for God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that everyone who
believes in him shall not die, but have everlasting life.
It is not true that we must
accept inhumanity and discrimination,
hunger and poverty, death and destruction;
This is true: I have come
that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
It is not true that violence
and hatred shall have the last word, and that war and destruction have come to
stay forever;
This is true: For to us a
child is born, to us a son is given, in whom authority will rest, and whose
name will be Prince of Peace.
It is not true that our
dreams of liberation of humankind, our dreams of justice, of human dignity, of
peace, are not meant for this earth and its history
This is true: the hour comes,
and it is now, that we shall worship God in spirit and in truth.
Amen.
May God our maker bless us
and wrap us around in love and tenderness.
May Jesus our brother bless
us and ask us the questions that lead us to do justice.
May the Holy Spirit bless us
and fill our lives with her courage and wisdom.
May we live bravely in the
love of the Trinity all our nights and days
Amen.
Taize Music to take us out when we are ready
Margaret Garland
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