This is part of the worship series,
"Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down"
Series Introduction
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
Week Four
Praying and Worshiping in Joy
Scripture
New Testament Lesson: John 15:1–11
Text: Psalm 100
Sermon: Serve Him with Mirth
Garrison Keillor’s novel Wobegon Boy opens with, “I am a cheerful man, even in the dark, and it’s all thanks to a good Lutheran mother.” Not everyone would see such a natural connection between cheerfulness and a religious upbringing. But joy is a central reality of the Christian life.
Try to think of a time when you’ve experienced complete joy. I can think of such times. For instance, I think of the last time that I was at the beach, lying in the sun under a blue sky, listening to the waves. But that joy was fragile, dependent on external circumstances and so susceptible to external change. It wasn’t a joy that none can move.
Most of us have probably had a few experiences in our lives of a joy so overwhelming, so complete, that we were for a time immune to external changes. People who are in love may sometimes sustain that state for weeks or even months at a time. That’s the joy Jesus wants for us as a constant in our lives.
The psalm tells us that the joy we find in God is unshaken and unchanging because it is based on something lasting and unchanging. In the gospel of John, Jesus tells us very clearly what we have to do to have complete joy. We need to abide in his love. Joy is rooted in love—a love that we receive from God, not a love that is our duty to produce. Romans 8 promises that we cannot be separated from that love. Brennan Manning says that God loves us so much, he’d rather die than live without us.
We would be so much more comfortable if everything depended on our love for God. Our sacrifices, our offerings, our rituals, our prayers . . . these are things that we can control. But this is not what we need. We need a heart that delights and rejoices in God’s love. This is the hinge on which your eternal destiny depends: not “Do you love God?” but rather “Will you let God love you?” We have a hard enough time receiving love from other people. Remember the connection between love and light? Love sees. So we hold other people at a distance because we don’t want to be seen. God’s love sees completely, yet he still loves us. In Wobegon Boy, Keillor’s narrator, John, ultimately concludes: “You can’t outsmart life. The only answer is to be loved so that nothing else matters so much.” That’s the answer that God offers us.
Liturgical Resources
Call to Worship
O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
—Psalm 95:1–2 NRSVUE
Opening Time of Praise
“O Lord, Our Lord, How Majestic” (Psalm 8) Smith
“Come, Let Us Worship and Bow Down” (Psalm 95) Doherty
“Praise Ye the Lord” (Psalm 150) Cleveland
Call to Confession
Psalm 5:3–7
Prayer of Confession
Psalm 51 chant (setting by David Isele)
[or read Psalm 51 in unison]
Assurance of Pardon:
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.
—Psalm 103:8–14 NRSVUE
Prayer for Illumination
Psalm 19:14
Read Psalm 100
This psalm is so well known that people need to hear it in a new way. But using some fresh translation or paraphrase is often more jarring than refreshing and undermines the memorization of Scripture. Instead, I suggest that you have people put away their Bibles and repeat each line of the psalm after you. Break the psalm into short lines, and declare each line very deliberately with joy, enthusiasm, and clarity. The people will naturally repeat after you with the same intonation you use and at the same speed, so they will find themselves expressing the psalm with the same joy, enthusiasm, and clarity. Start your next line as soon as they finish repeating the line prior, with no pause, but don’t rush the text. This is very simple and very effective. It’s especially effective if you memorize the psalm so that you can look up at the congregation while saying your lines.
Musical Settings of the Text
Metrical Settings
“All People That on Earth Do Dwell” Kethe
“Before the Lord’s Eternal Throne” Watts
Choir Anthems
“Old Hundreth” Vaughan Williams (the well-known setting of “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” for choir and congregation, with brass and organ.)
Prayers of the People
Introduce the prayers of the people with Psalm 16, using the refrain, “You will show me the path of life” by Marty Haugen. Soloists sing the stanzas or read the verses; the congregation responds with the refrain. The arrangement below intersperses the musical setting with straight Scripture.
Refrain: (first time, duet; second time, all)
Stanza 1 (sung): Faithful God, I look to you, you alone my life and fortune.
Never shall I look to other gods; you shall be my one hope. Refrain
Psalm 16:1–4 (read); Refrain
Stanza 2 (sung): From of old you are my heritage, you my wisdom and my safety.
Through the night you speak within my heart. Silently you teach me. Refrain
Psalm 16:5–8 (read); Refrain
Stanza 3 (sung): So my heart shall sing for joy. In your arms I rest securely.
You will not abandon me to death. You shall not desert me. Refrain
Benediction
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
—Psalm 67:1–3 NRSVUE
Revised Common Lectionary
Year A: Season after Pentecost—Proper 6 (11)
Year A: Season after Pentecost—Reign of Christ - Proper 29 (34)
Year B: Easter—Fifth Sunday of Easter
Year B: Easter—Sixth Sunday of Easter
Year C: Season after Pentecost—Canadian Thanksgiving Day
Year C: Season after Pentecost—Thanksgiving Day
