Readings and prayers selected by Kari Keyl
First Reading: Grounded and Moving by Richard Rohr
Jesus truly was dangerous. He was creating a following with a kind of thinking that was much more on the side of inclusiveness than exclusiveness.... Jesus is always moving the boundaries out while still respecting the center. That's the key to wisdom: being grounded in the center and still, from that deep foundation, knowing how to move out.
Source: Jesus' Plan for a New World
Prayer: Gathering God, as we now get into your words and the creative words of others, help us to reach deep into our center… and find you there. Grounded in your all-inclusive love, we look to Jesus as the one to lead us forward and outward… into dangerous territory, exciting territory… where old walls come down and new challenges enflame our passions. In your name we pray… amen.
Second Reading: Mark 10:2-16
1-2 From there he went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them. Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, "Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?"
3Jesus said, "What did Moses command?" 4They answered, "Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her."
5-9Jesus said, "Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman—no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart."
10-12When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. Jesus gave it to them straight: "A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery."
13-16The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.
from Eugene Peterson’s The Message
Prayer: O God, these words of Jesus about divorce sound harsh and unyielding. Help us dig beneath the surface to find the gems, the chunks of wisdom that speak not only to our concerns about marriage and divorce, but also to our desire that all your people would be respected and beloved. In your name we pray… amen.
Third Reading: Let love be real by Michael Forster
Let love be real, in giving and receiving,
without the need to manage and to own;
a haven free from posing and pretending,
where every weakness may be safely known.
Give me your hand, along the desert pathway,
give me your love wherever we may go:
as God loves us, so let us love each other,
with no demands, just open hands and space to grow.
Let love be real, not grasping or confining,
that strange embrace that holds yet sets us free;
that helps us face the risk of truly living,
and makes us brave to be what we might be.
Give me your strength when all my words are weakness,
give me your love in spite of all you know:
as God loves us, so let us love each other,
with no demands, just open hands and space to grow.
Let love be real, with no manipulation,
no secret wish to harness or control;
let us accept each other's incompleteness,
and share the joy of learning to be whole.
Give me your hope through dreams and disappointments,
give me your trust when all my failings show:
as God loves us, so let us love each other,
with no demands, just open hands and space to grow.
In memoriam: Reverend Eric Forster, 1911-2000
Prayer: Listening One among us, the words of this poet beckon us to dwell in your kind of love, admitting our weakness and drawing from your strength. As we think about all your people who are difficult to love, people we give labels to, those we don’t take seriously… break down our walls, piece by piece, as we confess our prejudices. And God, as we think about how we ourselves are pre-judged and marginalized, bring healing to our aching souls. Plant in us the ability to forgive and truly love those who hurt us. In your name we pray… amen.
First Reading: Grounded and Moving by Richard Rohr
Jesus truly was dangerous. He was creating a following with a kind of thinking that was much more on the side of inclusiveness than exclusiveness.... Jesus is always moving the boundaries out while still respecting the center. That's the key to wisdom: being grounded in the center and still, from that deep foundation, knowing how to move out.
Source: Jesus' Plan for a New World
Prayer: Gathering God, as we now get into your words and the creative words of others, help us to reach deep into our center… and find you there. Grounded in your all-inclusive love, we look to Jesus as the one to lead us forward and outward… into dangerous territory, exciting territory… where old walls come down and new challenges enflame our passions. In your name we pray… amen.
Second Reading: Mark 10:2-16
1-2 From there he went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them. Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, "Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?"
3Jesus said, "What did Moses command?" 4They answered, "Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her."
5-9Jesus said, "Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman—no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart."
10-12When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. Jesus gave it to them straight: "A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery."
13-16The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.
from Eugene Peterson’s The Message
Prayer: O God, these words of Jesus about divorce sound harsh and unyielding. Help us dig beneath the surface to find the gems, the chunks of wisdom that speak not only to our concerns about marriage and divorce, but also to our desire that all your people would be respected and beloved. In your name we pray… amen.
Third Reading: Let love be real by Michael Forster
Let love be real, in giving and receiving,
without the need to manage and to own;
a haven free from posing and pretending,
where every weakness may be safely known.
Give me your hand, along the desert pathway,
give me your love wherever we may go:
as God loves us, so let us love each other,
with no demands, just open hands and space to grow.
Let love be real, not grasping or confining,
that strange embrace that holds yet sets us free;
that helps us face the risk of truly living,
and makes us brave to be what we might be.
Give me your strength when all my words are weakness,
give me your love in spite of all you know:
as God loves us, so let us love each other,
with no demands, just open hands and space to grow.
Let love be real, with no manipulation,
no secret wish to harness or control;
let us accept each other's incompleteness,
and share the joy of learning to be whole.
Give me your hope through dreams and disappointments,
give me your trust when all my failings show:
as God loves us, so let us love each other,
with no demands, just open hands and space to grow.
In memoriam: Reverend Eric Forster, 1911-2000
Prayer: Listening One among us, the words of this poet beckon us to dwell in your kind of love, admitting our weakness and drawing from your strength. As we think about all your people who are difficult to love, people we give labels to, those we don’t take seriously… break down our walls, piece by piece, as we confess our prejudices. And God, as we think about how we ourselves are pre-judged and marginalized, bring healing to our aching souls. Plant in us the ability to forgive and truly love those who hurt us. In your name we pray… amen.
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