A Repeat of 1/18 CS because we didn’t do a CS on 1/18. Ask the kids to bring up their bulletins.
So today we’re gonna look at something in our bulletin – and talk about it.
Right before we do communion – before I start talking about the Last Supper – and the words Jesus gave us to say – there’s this little bit of conversation between me, as the pastor, and everyone out there in the congregation – including you. And there’s a bit that I say – it goes “The Lord be with you” and then everyone says “And also with you.”
What’s the next part that I say after that? (Help them find it in the bulletin – Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord).
Now this part of the worship is important and it is very old – and it’s called the Sursum Corda (Latin for Lift Up Your Hearts). The ancient church developed this over 1700 years ago. If you go back into the writing we have from that early time, all ancient worship dealing with communion include this back and forth. And it sets the stage for communion – its where we greet each other (the Lord be with you), and there’s an invitation for us to life our hearts to God, and then a reminder that we should give thanks to God for all that we have – and this t leads into communion – into the Lord’s Supper – where we either receive the bread and the drink – or receive a blessing here at the rail.
Now, I want to focus on the word heart today. When you hear “heart,” what do you think of? (Wait for answers. Help them with answers if they need it.)
Now, when the ancient church was first around, they didn’t know as much about the human body as we did. They didn’t know what the heart was and how it worked. They thought the heart was the center of us. Our thoughts, experiences, even our soul lived there. Our heart was everything that made us who we are – and so, when we say that we should lift up our hearts – we’re saying that we’re suppose to lift up everything we are and we have to God.
Now, if we’re suppose to lift everything to God – to show them to God – what things can we bring to God? (our selves, what we own, our money, what we have, our thoughts, etc).
Now, we usually think we can only bring the things we own – and good things to God too. And that’s right. All that we have that we find as blessings – they are gifts from God. And we should bring them to God and say thank you.
But there’s more, I think, than just the good things. I think we’re also allowed to bring our bad stuff too. You know, when we were angry or hurt someone or we weren’t nice. Maybe we yelled at our sister or said something we shouldn’t. We usually don’t bring those to God – we usually want to keep them away from God – but I think we should bring them to God. We should bring all of us to God because, in Holy Communion, we are invited to God’s table – and it doesn’t matter if we’re not perfect. We’re invited to be with Jesus – because you, and me, and everyone out there – we’re all worth being known and loved by God.
Thank you! I’ll seeya next week.
Each week, I share a reflection for all children of God. The written manuscript serves as a springboard for what I do. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship on the 3rd Sunday After Epiphany, 1/25/2015.