This is part of the worship series
"Consider the Birds of the Air"
Series Introduction
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
WEEK ONE
THE RAVEN AND DOVE
Call to Worship
Psalm 84 (different sung or spoken settings)
*Call to Confession
Christ our Lord invites all who love him,
who earnestly repent of their sin
and seek to live in peace with one another.
Therefore let us confess our sin before God and one another.
Prayer of Confession
O God, who brooded over the world when it was created,
and broods now over your children
until we are shaped in the image of Christ,
we confess our daily sins:
the word sharply spoken,
the praise withheld,
the embrace not given,
the hurt disguised,
the envy felt,
the self indulged,
the need neglected.
Receive us now broken, penitent, wishing it were otherwise.
Enfold us in the arms of love and forgiveness, and restore a new spirit within us.
Make us one with ourselves, with each other, with you.
Let your name be magnified, let Christ be glorified, let the Holy Spirit be intensified,
in each heart and on all our lips, this day and forever.
Amen.
—John Killinger, Lost In Wonder, Love & Praise: Prayers and Affirmations for Christian Worship, p. 49. © 1986, Angel Books, Lynchburg, VA 24503. Used by permission.
Alternatively, the congregation could sing Psalm 139, “Lord, You Have Searched Me” Post and Oliver
*Assurance of Pardon
Leader: Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God’s love for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
People: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
All: Glory to God. Amen.
Hymn of Response
“Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart” Croly and Arkinson
Prayer for Illumination
“Spirit Divine, Inspire Our Prayers” Reed and Cruger
The Prayer of the Dove
The Ark waits,
Lord,
the Ark waits on Your will,
and the sign of Your peace.
I am the dove,
simple
as the sweetness that comes from You.
The Ark waits,
Lord;
it has endured.
Let me carry it
a sprig of hope and joy,
and put, at the heart of its forsakenness,
this, in which Your love clothes me,
Grace immaculate.
Amen.
—From Prayers from the Ark by Carmen Bernos De Gasztold; trans. by Rumer Godden, © 1962, renewed 1990 by Rumer Godden. Original copyright 1947, © 1955 by Editions du Cloitre. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a div. of Penguin.
Scripture
Genesis 6:1–9:3
Sermon Seed
In the beginning it must have been a great adventure for Noah and his sons: the excitement of building a new boat, being the talk of the town, the animals obediently marching to the ark, flashes and peals of thunder. History’s biggest rainstorm was about to begin.
Fast-forward the story about one hundred and fifty days. Everything inside the ark is damp. The air is putrid. Eight human beings and a menagerie of seasick animals are lulling and pitching in the rudderless ark. Hope gives way to despair as one gray, drizzly day turns into another. But the ark comes to rest on top of Mount Ararat and Noah flings wide the windows, letting in fresh air and the next chapter of this story.
Birds are prominent in Noah’s story; we read no less than eighteen references to them. And now, safely atop Ararat, Noah follows an ancient custom practiced by navigators lost at sea. When their ships were blown off course and out of sight of land, captains would release doves kept aboard in cages for such contingencies. The direction in which the doves flew indicated where the nearest land lay. Noah first decides to release a raven—a strong, muscular, and smart bird. (Ravens can even be taught to utter a few words.) With a four-foot wingspan, ravens cover large distances without growing tired and survive where smaller, weaker birds would perish. They fly very high, where their keen eyes can see for miles around. Noah’s raven kept “flying back and forth until the water dried up from the earth” (Genesis 8:7).
Next Noah sends out doves—similar to our modern-day pigeons. Doves are well-suited for this task; they fly quickly and can cover long distances easily. The first dove, like the raven, could find no land. The second dove Noah sends out returns a week later with a freshly-plucked olive branch, proof that God’s world was alive again. The final dove, sent out a week later, never returned, definitive proof that there was viable life for God’s creatures.
The story ends with an altar, smoke, blue skies, green vegetation, and a colorful rainbow—and with the skies full of winged creatures.
Noah and the doves’ story reminds us of a God who will not give up on this world, even when it has collapsed under the weight of its own sin. There is always hope.
Congregational Song
“Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song” Daw
“In the Beginning” Burg
“Let All Creation Bless the Lord” Daw
“Praise the Lord, Sing Hallelujah” Kirkpatrick
“For Your Gift of God the Spirit” Clarkson
“All Things Bright and Beautiful” Alexander
Anthem Suggestions
“Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song,” John Ferguson; SB voices and organ (GIA G-4948)
“Hear My Prayer,” Felix Mendelssohn (Foster 222). You could excerpt the famous soprano solo
“Oh, for the Wings of a Dove” and use as a solo.
“On Mighty Pens” from The Creation, Franz Josef Haydn; soprano solo (Schirmer 190)
Revised Common Lectionary
Year A: Season after Pentecost—Proper 4 (9)
