I will respect each person’s right

to privacy if we discuss

painful or difficult subjects.

I will listen carefully, giving my full

attention, as each person speaks.

I will not interrupt or contradict.

Response: Out of what we are, bring more of what we dream, but haven’t dared.

All: Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who brings us life and gives us hope. Amen.

A scripture Reading

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.

Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

This is the great and first commandment.

And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."

Shout! A full-throated shout. Hold nothing back – a trumpet-blast shout! Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives, face my family Jacob with their sins! They’re busy, busy, busy at worship, and love studying about me. To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people – law-abiding, God-honoring. They ask me, "What’s the right thing to do?" and love having me on their side. But they also complain, "Why do we fast and you don’t look our way? Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?"

Well, here’s why: The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit. You drive your employees much too hard. You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast, but you swing a mean fist. The kind of fasting you do won’t get your prayers off the ground. Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after: a day to show off humility? To put on a long face and parade around solemnly in black? Do you call that fasting, a fast day that I, God, would like?

This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of the exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families.

Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once! Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, "Here, I am!"

If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people’s sins; if you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places – firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry.

The Message – Eugene Peterson

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~~ the first step ~~

Read the vignette – "Scenes on the Wall"

Using the scripture and story listed above – what does it mean to "be in mission?"

What does it mean to "worship God?" How does worship look? Give an example.

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Consider the story below, paying particular attention to the walls one homeless woman sees between herself and others…

"You see," she says to me, "whether or not you know it’s there, a wall is between us. A wall of experience. The mural on your side of the wall is painted with hope and the American Dream realized. My side of the wall is repeatedly showing bleak scenes. Even when I close my eyes, they’re still there. What are those scenes, you ask? The scenes are about what it’s like to be on the streets. The scenes are about how it feels to be invisible, or conversely, the object of stares. I know the experience of consistently finding closed doors marked NO ROOM AT THE INN. Most important, I played the leading role in the screenplay, TRY, TRY, TRY AGAIN. And the third act was always fail, fail, fail. See this funeral scene? I was at the wake when hope died."

She winks at me and says with a smile, "You see, I know something about the architectural quirks of that wall. Your side is lower than my side! If you jump over to my side, the wall won’t be between us anymore, and we can look at my side together."

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Who are the poor in your community? What are the barriers in discovering the needs?

What are some of those things that preclude us from moving beyond our walls? Familial? Social pressure? Spiritual?

What are the barriers in your local church? Attitudes? Time? Activities? Knowledge?

Resources – we’re not in this alone!

What are the resources of your local congregation? Attitudes? Time? Activities? Knowledge?

List 3 People who will go with you:

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What transformation might take place in your community?

What transformation might take place in your congregation?

What transformation might take place in you?

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Leader: May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

Group 1: May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

Group 2: May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

Leader: May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

ALL: And the Blessing of God, who Creates, Redeems and Sanctifies, be upon you and all you love and pray for this day, and forevermore. Amen.