GREETING
Blessed are those who love you and enjoy your company, God;
for beauty, peace, joy, life and your love will be theirs forever.
Be our blessing today, God of grace and glory. We do love you.
HYMN 678 “Rise to Greet the Sun”
PSALM 131
PRAYER
(Consider some of the following concerns of people for prayers of thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. Follow with your personal prayer list.)
The faith to trust God to be God The arrogant
Those who trust other things above God The willful
Those who trust only themselves The violent
People who are humble Those who rely on force
People who are gentle Not having to reply with anger
People who are patient with others Not having to reply with force
People who are submissive to God Those leaning on God’s strength
People who are waiting for God Inner strength
Thankfulness for small things Gentle strength
People who take time for small things Quiet strength
People who do not take time for small things God’s protection
That we do not have to be big or great in the world God’s healing
Those who are relying on God’s justice The joy of inheriting the earth
Those enduring injury with patience _____________________________
Those enduring injury without resentment _____________________________
Victory of the meek over the mean _____________________________
THE LORD'S PRAYER
SCRIPTURE LESSON
(Choose a passage of scripture to read. It can be a chapter, a paragraph, or a particular story. Daily lectionaries are available online or in print that assign a lesson each day from the gospels, epistles, Old Testament and psalms on a three-year cycle. Or you can create a plan to read a book of the Bible, or the whole Bible. Then follow the steps below.)
Read a passage of scripture. Read it out loud, very slowly and carefully as if for the first time. Continue reading until a word, phrase or sentence captures your attention. Stop there to repeat the word, phrase or sentence over and over, listening to it deeply in your heart.
Reflect on why the passage got your attention. Consider the area of your life to which this may apply. Is God saying something to you in this passage? Take time to listen carefully to whatever God may be saying to you.
Respond to God in prayer (or with journaling, music, art or whatever you choose) about what you have heard. Ask questions. Open yourself to God’s will for you.
Rest in God’s company. Be still and quiet. Move beyond thinking, practicing interior silence. Let yourself be open to God’s presence. Savor this moment with God.
PRAYER
Meekness goes against everything we have learned, God.
“Be forceful, aggressive, persistent, a real go-getter!
Do not wait for it to come to you. Make a decision.
Then put everything you have into making it happen.
If you can dream it, you can do it, if you work hard.”
But Jesus teaches us the opposite. “Blessed are the meek.”
He says they inherit the earth by being mild and quiet.
How does that happen, God? They will be run over!
Everyone else will get there first, ahead of the meek.
Unless, of course, you plan to step in and help them.
There lies the truth, God. You relieve and lift the meek.
A God of justice, you hate the abuse of timid people.
Even more, you are a loving God who sees their need.
Your heart goes out to people whom others trample.
You see gentle, pliant souls and your love takes over.
Helping them inherit the earth will fill you with great joy.
Your blessing and glory will be in watching the meek,
surprised and bewildered, as you put them in charge.
Do they know that even now the Creator of the Earth
sees their plight and stands by them? Probably not.
What a wonderful blessing you plan for these mild souls.
How our world will change with the meek in charge!
Peace and quiet, gentleness and humility will reign.
Gone will be the arrogance, aggression, and violence.
No longer will one person force their will on others.
When the meek inherit the earth, will they be vengeful?
No. Vengeance is not the path of truly meek people.
They submit themselves to you and your ways, God.
They feel no need to crush or humiliate cruel people.
“God forgive them,” the meek pray for wrongdoers.
God, give us the meekness that comes from trusting you,
and the foundation of love you built into our world.
Instruct us in love. Grant us compassion for others.
Let us prize those unwilling to fight for themselves.
Partner us with those shivering in the shadows, God.
Then our lives too can prove the virtues of your blessing. Amen.
SILENCE AND COMMITMENT
(Pause to reflect and listen. Work to push out of your mind any distracting or irrelevant thoughts. Concentrate your thoughts on the words of the hymns and choruses you have sung, the prayers you have spoken and the scriptures you have read. Be aware of what you are feeling. Listen for anything that God might be saying to you in this time you have spent together. As God responds to your prayer-time, seek guidance for how you can best respond to God’s will. Then commit to serving God’s will for you.)
HYMN 438 “Forth in Thy Name, O Lord”
CLOSING PRAYER
God who takes yesterday’s evil,
and turns it into today’s blessing,
help us to see what Christ sees
when troubles trample over us.
Help us live today trusting you
to know the way to all goodness.
Send us out in faith to see you
working to turn evil into good.
Reveal to us the many wonders
you initiate everywhere around us.
Help us hold to the eternal truth
that you will love and care for us,
and this day can bring us no evil
that you cannot turn to a blessing. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
