24B*
A Call to Worship
Palm Sunday, Lent 6B 2015
Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29

Holy and Faithful Presence of God, we come to praise and exalt your glorious name.
We celebrate God’s faithful love, and we give thanks for God’s goodness and grace.

Holy and Mysterious Presence of God, we come to honour the reality of God with us.
We celebrate God’s faithful love, which is beyond our capacity to measure or know.

Holy Community of God, we come into the fellowship of your Presence to celebrate
the reality your faithful love, and how you show that love by being very present to us.
We celebrate God’s faithful love with joy-filled thanksgiving and praise as together we
sing: “… This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it… Give
thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” Hallelujah! Amen!

Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Let all Israel repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.”

19 Open for me the gates where the righteous enter,
and I will go in and thank the LORD.
20 These gates lead to the presence of the LORD,
and the godly enter there.
21 I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory!
22 The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.
23 This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.

24 This is the day the LORD has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Please, LORD, please save us.
Please, LORD, please give us success.
26 Bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD.
We bless you from the house of the LORD.
27 The LORD is God, shining upon us.
Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you!
You are my God, and I will exalt you!
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.

Prayers of Praise and Thankfulness
Palm Sunday, Lent 6B 2015
Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29

Holy and Faithful Presence of God, we come to praise and exalt your glorious name
as we celebrate God’s faithful love, and we give thanks for God’s goodness and grace.
In our need and in confidence, we called for God’s presence to be with us to guide and
direct us; and through God’s gracious mercy, and with the support of God’s people, we
have survived our crisis! We give thanks because not only did we survive, but we were
wrapped around by the Holy Presence of God; which encouraged and blessed us far
beyond what we had imagined as ever being possible. Therefore, on this day that the
Lord God has made, we joyfully celebrate the many blessings given us by our Holy God.

Holy and Mysterious Presence of God, we come to honour the reality of God with us in
our day-to-day living; and that unique and “strange” Presence is expressed in many ways—
through people and creation; through memories and in the liturgies of a life time; and in
those precious moments of God dealing and communicating directly with us as we pray.
We will never fully understand the ways and words of God, but in faith, hope and trust—
we cling to the knowledge that if we do not understand, that God does understand and
responds to our prayers and needs, because God is always and forever faithful to the love
that is experienced through the warming and enlightening presence of God shining on us.

Holy Community of God, we come into the blessed fellowship of your Presence to celebrate
the reality your faithful love, and discover once again how you show that love by being very
present to us. We come, too, into the fellowship of faithful believers who show their care and
compassion that is initiated by the Lord God, as an expression of God’s-Own-Self. Together,
we celebrate God’s faithful love with joy-filled worship, thanksgiving and praise because you
are our God, and we will praise you! You are our God, and we will exalt you because of your
goodness and mercy; so take our sacrifice of praises as we offer them on your holy altar in an
attitude of humble, yet confident worship as we celebrate God’s eternal and faithful love for us. Amen.

A Personal Meditation
Palm Sunday, Lent 6B 2015
Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29

“Presence” is an interesting and often contradictory phenomenon with a person’s
sense of “presence” being bestowed on them by other people through election; by
birth or marriage; by arrogant self-belief; or by a person’s humble and beautiful gifts
and graces. “Presence” is usually gained through respect offered by others to that
person such as in royalty; an authority given by right appointment or promotion;
or as in some religious orders and denominations, as a response to a “calling” by
God that sets that person “apart” for holy duties. A sense of “presence” can also be
experienced for the “wrong reasons” because of a person’s evil life-style, violence
or manipulative practices that people choose to initiate or promote. “Presence” can
also be acknowledged as naturally present in people’s special gifts or skills, training
or the beauty of their character and their caring attitudes towards vulnerable people.

Creative pause: Name people who have “presence” - because God has blessed them.


A sense of “presence” can also permeate places, such as ancient churches where
the walls seem to have absorbed the holiness of people and the liturgies practised
there. I have personal memories of holy places where I absolutely experienced the
knowledge that God’s people had worshipped God there in times past. Old gaols
and penal settlements also seem to have absorbed the despair of their inmates—
such as Port Arthur in Tasmania, Southern Australia where British convicts were sent
as punishment – often for acts of minor theft because their children were starving.

Creative pause: Name places that have positive or negative senses of “presence”.


In his 2005 book “Worship in Ancient Israel - an Essential Guide”, Professor Walter
Brueggemann writes: “...Israel’s worship is conducted in confidence that YHWH
[God/Jehovah] is present in holy times and holy places for genuine communion, and
for direct interaction in response to the prayers and praises of Israel... the Psalms,
moreover, give evidence of Israel joyously entering into presence...” “...The praise of
Israel, the glad, exuberant ceding of life over to YHWH, sings of YHWH’s actions
and YHWH’s wondrous character. These praises, surely sounded in Temple worship,
are addressed to YHWH [and] affirms YHWH’s presence with Israel...”1 Brueggemann
then continued to write about God’s absence. This psalm is all about God’s presence—
however, and wherever we experience that priceless gift of generous love and mercy.

Creative pause: In confidence, let us celebrate this great gift of God’s presence.


1 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann
from “Worship in Ancient Israel – An Essential Guide”
Chapter 5, page 73 & 77
© 2005 Abingdon Press
201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville TN 37202-0801 USA

Acknowledgements:
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

*Revised Indexing Scheme from 'Consultation on Church Union' (COCU).

I acknowledge and give heartfelt thanks for the theological inspiration available from the writings of
Professor Walter Brueggemann; and through the resources from the internet and “The Text this Week” (Textweek).

If the Prayers and/or Meditations are used in shared worship, please provide this acknowledgement:
© 2015 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year B. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au
www.thetimelesspsalms.net

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: palmsundayb_2015.pdf