No Place for the Pharmakon (Revelation 22:15)

Here's a new (proprietary) song lyric that still awaits a musical setting. (If you want to write one, let me know, and maybe we can work something out.) But I wanted to post this without any further delay, to set up a marker. Perhaps this, by the grace of God, will awaken some sinner and snatch him from the fire.

The poisoners will not be there is heaven

The murderers, idolaters, or the scavengers

The media will be gone

with the false and the imitation

The sorcerers will all be forgotten

A good man named Strong 

once said of the pharmakon

he will drug you into living an illusion

thinking you can force God

to give up your fortune.

But heaven has no place for the pharmakon.

A good man named Strong 

once said of the pharmakon

he will drug you into living an illusion.

He thinks he can sway God

to heighten his fortune.

But heaven has no place for the pharmakon.

— TMS, August 9, 2021 

First Sunday of Advent (Year B)

    

For those opting for Year B this year ...

Isaiah 64:1-9

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Mark 13:24-37

CALL TO WORSHIP

God is faithful!  Come together and wait for the advent of the Lord.

We lack nothing for the vigil.  We keep watch and wait.

Stay awake!  For you do not know when the Lord will return.

With signs in the heavens,

with power and glory, Christ will come.

Take heart!  By the grace of God you have been blessed.

We will endure to the end, that we may be found blameless

when Jesus Christ comes again.

OPENING PRAYER

Eternal God, who comes to us in different forms and at different times,

we await your coming again: Let the heavens be opened!

Let every creature on earth behold your grandeur and your glory!

We anticipate your arrival with worship in our hearts,

with eager, expectant eyes, and with lives ready to be changed

by your holy presence among us.

For the rest of this liturgy, see When Heaven Stands Open.

The lectionary and the liturgical year can lend shape to all kinds of things

With Year B fast approaching, allow me to reiterate, yea, demonstrate, that I have long found the Revised Common Lectionary a very helpful, valuable, and inspiring tool, not just for preaching, liturgy, and prayer.

But I encourage you to compare the Table of Contents and the titles here with the Sunday lections in Year B:

... and the track list here to the Sundays of the Christmas cycle (Advent through Transfiguration).

A Prayer of Confession on behalf of the whole world (as well it should be)

In the Series Foreword to Liturgical Elements for Reformed Worship, I explain that the Reformed tradition views the corporate Prayer of Confession is not limited to the confession of personal sins or even the sins of the church, though it certainly includes both. More broadly, it is a confession of the sin of the whole world, a continuation of Jesus' own intercession on the cross in which he says, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." In that spirit, then, let me offer this Prayer of Confession from When Heaven Stands Open, not because any person of genuine faith could have had a hand in the mayhem in Boston, but so that we might recognize and confess the sickness of whole human race, honor those who are suffering, direct our thoughts to the redeeming suffering of Christ, and cry out for healing. And to those who do not see the sense of such prayer, and even to those who would scorn it and thus demonstrate that do not know what they are doing, let me simply say, "In the name of Jesus Christ, you are welcome anyway."

Prayer of Confession (Proper 24/Ordinary 29, Year B)

Merciful God, with tears and cries you offered yourself for our release, yet our pettiness perpetuates grief and suffering. Forgive us, O Christ, for failing to recognize you in those we hurt or tear apart. Forgive us for holding ourselves and each other hostage in judgment, anger, contempt, and criticism. May your Spirit flow through us once again.

What? Another book on heaven?

Well, yes! Here's a handy flier from the publisher of my LERW series, with description, blurbs, and contact information for anyone who would like to request a review copy. Feel free to print, display, and share. Meanwhile, paperback and/or e-book copies can be ordered here.

Meanwhile, for those who wonder if preaching is still relevant ...

there's this. (Having just linked to the NYT positively, it only seems fair to balance things out a bit. Some of the comments are, as you might expect, ... ahem, ... rather biased, but some are also pretty hilarious.)

When Heaven Stands Open

Announcing the release of When Heaven Stands Open: Liturgical Elements for Reformed Worship (Year B), the first in a series of four lectionary-based worship resources. Available now from Cascade Books and in e-book from Amazon. [NB: Print version coming soon to Amazon and other distributors. Watch for updates and for more volumes to come.]

With many thanks to Gary Neal Hansen, Beth McCaw, and Chip Hardwick for their gracious endorsements.

UPDATE: The print edition is available at Amazon here.