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rcav.org/christian-unity

An Ecumenical

Celebration of

the Word of God

Reconciliation—

The Love of

Christ Compels

Us

(cf. 2 Corinthians

5:14-20)

2 Introduction to the Worship Reconciliation—The Love of Christ Compels Us

(cf. 2 Corinthians 5:14-20)

Commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation The churches in Germany decided to commemorate this anniversary as a Christusfest (an ecumenical celebration of Christ). The Reformation was the occasion of a renewed focus on salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We rejoice in God’s salvation centered on the cross of Christ, who overcomes division and draws us together. This worship openly con-fesses and asks forgiveness for the sins of division which followed the Ref-ormation. The service will celebrate Christ and his act of reconciliation, which moves the hearts of divided Christians to become ambassadors for Christ as ministers of reconciliation.

The Contents of the Worship Service The theme “Reconciliation – the Love of Christ Compels Us” celebrates the irrevocable reconciliation that we have received through faith in Jesus Christ. Christ's love becomes the driving force that moves us beyond our division toward acts of reconciliation. Through psalms and songs we gather in Jesus’ name in praise of God’s wondrous deeds. We confess our sins of division and make our plea for forgiveness. The proclamation of the Word highlights the reconciling ac-tion of Christ as “One who died for all” (v. 14). The faithful respond to this good news by accepting the call to be ministers of reconciliation.

Symbolic Actions in the Service

The Wall 1989 saw the fall of the Berlin Wall, that began with the Peace Prayer Movement in the German Democ-ratic Republic (East Germany) in which people placed candles in win-dows and doorways and prayed for freedom. Horst Sindermann, a member of the GDR Leadership un-til 1989, noted “We had planned

everything. We were prepared for everything, just not for candles and prayers.” This is why the division of Christians and the reconciliation we seek are represented by the construction and dismantling of a wall. This can become a symbol of hope of any situation in which a division seems

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VI. Ambassadors for Christ—Ministers of Reconciliation

Christ’s Commission

(The twelve pass the candlelight throughout the congregation until each person has a lighted candle.)

L: A lighted candle is a deeply human symbol: it enlightens the darkness, creates warmth, security and community. It symbolizes Christ, the light of the world. As ambassadors for Christ we will carry this light into the world, into the dark places where fighting, discord and division impede our united witness. May Christ's light effect reconciliation in our thoughts, words and deeds. Receive the Light of Christ and carry it into the dark places of our world! Be minsters of reconciliation ! Be ambassadors for Christ!

Blessing and Sending

L: We call out to you, most merciful God: Let all who seek reconciliation experience your help so they may proclaim your mighty deeds of Love! We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

L: May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

L: Go in God’s Peace.

All: Thanks be to God.

Hymn/Song “Sonne der Gerechtigkeit”, by Christian David (“Rise, O Sun of Righteous-ness”, translated by Frank W. Stoldt), or other song to be selected by the local planning committee.

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R2: Gracious God, we pray for our churches. Fill them with all truth and peace. Where faith is corrupted, purify it; where people go astray, redirect them; where they fail to proclaim your Gospel, reform them; where they witness to what is right, strengthen them; where they are in need, provide for them; and where they are divided, reunite them. Let us pray to the Lord:

All: Lord, hear our prayer. Spoken/Sung response (Allow enough time for the assistants to light their candles from the Paschal candle.)

R3: Creator God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus Christ, your Son. Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred that infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love. And even in our weak-nesses, work to accomplish your purposes on earth, so that every people and nation may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne. Let us pray to the Lord:

All: Lord, hear our prayer. Spoken/Sung response (Allow enough time for the assistants to light their candles from the Paschal candle.)

R4: Holy Spirit, Giver of Life, we are created to become whole in you and to share this life on earth with our brothers and sisters. Awaken in each of us your compassion and love. Give us strength and courage to work for justice in our neighbourhoods, to create peace within our families, to comfort the sick and the dying, and to share all we have with those who are in need. For the transformation of every human heart, let us pray to the Lord:

All: Lord, hear our prayer. Spoken/Sung response (Allow enough time for the assistants to light their candles from the Paschal candle.)

The Lord's Prayer Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, Forgive us our sins As we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial And deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, Now and forever. Amen.

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insurmountable. Thus the construction of a symbolic wall at the confes-sion of sin, the visible presence of this wall during the proclamation of the Word, and finally the dismantling of this wall to form a cross as a sign of hope, give us courage to name these terrible divisions and to overcome them with the help of God.

Directions/Material: Building up and tearing down the Wall “Division due to our sin”: after a brief introduction some members of the congregation will construct a wall of separation representing the sins and division that we confess. The wall remains standing during the service un-til the section headed “Respond in faith – live in reconciliation.” At this point the stones will be removed from the wall and placed in the shape of a cross. Depending on the size of the worship space, the following materials will be necessary for this symbolic action: 12 boxes of the same size (i.e. shoe boxes, transport boxes) covered in packing paper to make the “stones.” On the front side of each box a key term will be noted (lack of love, hate and contempt, false accusation, discrimination, persecution, broken com-munion, intolerance, religious wars, division, abuse of power, isolation, and pride). As each sin is named the stone is brought forward to build the wall. Following a moment of silence, the stone bearer makes the plea for forgiveness, to which the congregation responds “forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” After the proclamation of God’s word which concludes with the sermon, a prayer for reconciliation follows. As the wall is dismantled and the stones are laid in the form of the cross, a song of reconciliation or a hymn of the glory of the cross is sung. For worship services in small groups, an alternative liturgical action could be either to expand upon or to replace the wall with personal testimo-nies. These testimonies in the first part should name situations which have been hurtful to others. In the second part concerning the faith re-sponse, stories about reconciliation and acts of healing could be told. Candles Following the creed, four intercessory prayers are offered. After each pe-tition, three people light their candles from a central source of light (for example a Paschal candle) and remain standing around the cross until the section headed “Christ’s commission.” After the commission, the twelve pass the light throughout the congregation until each per-son has a lighted candle. The service concludes with a blessing and sending out.

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L: Leader All

R: Reader

I. Gathered in Jesus’ Name Processional hymn Procession with Bible/Lectionary

Opening

L: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen

L: Grace and peace from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ, be with you all. (2 Cor. 5:18)

All: And also with you.

Introductory Words

L: Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this year many Christians and churches will be commemorating the anniversary of the Reformation. Saint Paul reminds us that God has reconciled us through Jesus Christ and that the love of Christ compels us to be ministers of reconciliation. Let us worship and praise God together in the unity of the Holy Spirit!

Psalm 98 (sung) or a hymn of praise

II. Divided by our Sins (Confession)

Invitation to confession L: In the course of history, there have been many renewal movements in the Church, which is always in need of deeper conversion to her head, Jesus Christ. Sometimes these movements have led to unintended divi-sions. This fact contradicts what Jesus asks the Father in John 17:23: “that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” Let us confess our sins and pray for forgiveness and healing for the wounds which have resulted from our divisions. As we name these sins we will see how they become a wall which divides us.

Silence

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The Peace

L: The peace of the Lord be with you always. Let us give one another a sign of peace.

Hymn/Song

(Collection/Offering)

V. Respond in Faith—Proclaim Reconciliation

Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic and apostolic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Intercessory Prayers (After each petition, three people light their candles from a central source of light (for example a Paschal candle) and remain standing around the cross until the section headed “Christ’s commission.”)

R1: Almighty God, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to reconcile the world to yourself. We praise you for those whom you sent in the power of the Spirit to preach the Gospel to all nations. We thank you that in all parts of the earth a community of love has been gathered together by their prayers and labours, and that in every place your servants call upon your name. May your Spirit awaken in every community a hunger and thirst for unity in you. Let us pray to the Lord:

All: Lord, hear our prayer. Spoken/Sung response (Allow enough time for the assistants to light their candles from the Pas-chal candle.)

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away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are am-bassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Alleluia (sung)

Gospel Reading: Luke 15:11-24

Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer wor-thy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’ ” So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

Alleluia (sung)

Sermon

IV. Respond in Faith—Live Reconciled

(As the wall is dismantled and the stones are laid in the form of a cross, a song of reconciliation or a hymn of the glory of the cross is sung.)

L: Let us pray: Gracious God and Father in Heaven, we have heard your word that you have reconciled us to yourself through your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. By the power of the Holy Spirit transform our hearts of stone. Help us to become ministers of reconciliation and heal our churches’ divisions so that we may better serve as instruments of your peace in the world.

All: Amen

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L: Let us pray: God and Father in heaven, we come to you in Jesus' name. We experience renewal through your Holy Spirit, and yet we still con-struct walls that divide us, walls which hinder community and unity. We bring before you now the stones with which we erect our walls and pray for your forgiveness and healing. All: Amen.

(As each sin is named the corresponding stone is brought forward to build the wall. Following a moment of silence, the stone bearer [R] makes the plea for for-giveness as the congregation responds “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”)

L: One stone in our wall is “lack of love”. (The stone with the key term “lack of love” is placed.) R1: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for whenever we have failed to love. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

L: One stone in our wall is “hate and contempt”. (The stone with the key term “hate and contempt” is placed.) R2: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for our hate and contempt for one another. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

L: One stone in our wall is “false accusation”. (The stone with the key term “false accusation” is placed.) R3: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for de-nouncing and falsely accusing one another. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

L: One stone in our wall is “discrimination”. (The stone with the key term “discrimination” is placed.) R4: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for all forms of prejudice and discrimination against one another. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

Sung response: “Lord, forgive us”. (Local committees choose their own sung responses)

L: One stone in our wall is “persecution”. (The stone with the key term “persecution” is placed.) R5: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for per-secuting and torturing one another. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

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L: One stone in our wall is “broken communion”. (The stone with the key term “broken communion” is placed.) R6: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for per-petuating broken communion among our churches. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

L: One stone in our wall is “intolerance”. (The stone with the key term “intolerance” is placed.) R7: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for banishing our brothers and sisters from our common homeland in the past and for acts of religious intolerance today. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

L: One stone in our wall is “religious wars”. (The stone with the key term “religious wars” is placed.) R8: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for all wars that we have waged against one another in your name. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

Sung response: “Lord, forgive us”.

L: One stone in our wall is “division”. (The stone with the key term “division” is placed.) R9: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for liv-ing our Christian lives divided from one another and astray from our com-mon calling for the healing of all creation. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

L: One stone in our wall is “abuse of power”. (The stone with the key term “abuse of power” is placed.) R10: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for our abuse of power. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

L: One stone in our wall is “isolation”. (The stone with the key term “isolation” is placed.) R11: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for the times when we have isolated ourselves from our Christian sisters and brothers and from the communities in which we live. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

L: One stone in our wall is “pride”. (The stone with the key term “pride” is placed.) R12: Gracious God, the love of Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for our pride. We humbly pray: All: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

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Sung response: “Lord, forgive us”.

L: Let us pray: Lord, our God, look upon this wall that we have built, which separates us from you and from one another. Forgive us our sins. Heal us. Help us to overcome all walls of division and make us one in you. All: Amen.

Hymn/Song/Meditative music

III. Be reconciled to God—Hear God’s Word

First Reading: Ezekiel 36:25-27

I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your un-cleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 18:25-32 (sung)

R: Response: I love you, O Lord, my strength. All: I love you, O Lord, my strength. R: With the loyal you show yourself loyal; with the blameless you show yourself blameless; with the pure you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you show yourself perverse. For you deliver a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. All: I love you, O Lord, my strength. It is you who light my lamp; the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. By you I can crush a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God — his way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God except the Lord? And who is a rock besides our God?— the God who girded me with strength, and made my way safe. All: I love you, O Lord, my strength.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-20 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed