17B*
A Call to Worship
Transfiguration Year B 2015
Psalm 50: 1-6

God, who is our Gracious Partner in a holy relationship with us – we worship you!
The voice of God is calling us to gather with our sisters and brothers before God!

God, whose holiness shines with glorious radiance – we revere and praise you.
The voice of God is calling us to stand up and be counted as God’s own beloved.

God, whose presence amongst us in worship is experienced in many different ways—
sometimes with holy splendour and amazing displays; or in the stillness of silence.
The voice of God is calling us as God’s faithful people to the sacrifice of giving thanks
for God’s mercy and grace; and for us to recommit ourselves as God’s own people. Amen.

Psalm 50: 1-6

1 The Lord, the Mighty One, is God, and he has spoken;
he has summoned all humanity from where
the sun rises to where it sets.
2 From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines in glorious radiance.

3 Our God approaches, and he is not silent.
Fire devours everything in his way,
and a great storm rages around him.
4 He calls on the heavens above and earth below
to witness the judgment of his people.

5 “Bring my faithful people to me—
those who made a covenant with me by giving sacrifices.”
6 Then let the heavens proclaim his justice,
for God himself will be the judge.

Prayers of Confession and Penitence
Transfiguration Year B 2015
Psalm 50: 1-6

God, who is our Gracious Partner in a holy relationship with us, we come
to worship and give you our thanks, but also to offer you our sacrifices of
confession, regret and penitence. We confess that we try to bargain with
you to ensure that there is a win/win situation that satisfies us all, including
God. Help us to understand that we cannot manipulate God to our way of
thinking and planning, and then to so righteously to sing: “O Lord hear my
pray’r, O Lord hear my pray’r; when I call answer me. O Lord hear my pray’r,
O Lord hear my pray’r; come and listen to me.”1 Help us Lord, not to turn
this song into a demand, rather than a prayer for God to please listen to us!
God said: “...Bring my faithful people to me - those who made a covenant
with me by giving sacrifices….” God, we bring you our sacrifice of confession!

God, whose holiness shines with glorious radiance – we revere and praise
you this day for your great mercy and loving generosity; but also to offer you
our sacrifices of confession, regret and penitence. O God, so often we struggle
with regrets because we act or speak quickly and without thought, and we
bring harm and pain to people we love and for whom we have a responsibility.
We give thanks for the gift of a conscience, that reminds us that our actions
and words have consequences, not only to ourselves but also to others. God
said: “...Bring my faithful people to me - those who made a covenant with
me by giving sacrifices….” God, we bring you our sacrifices of deep regret!

God, whose presence amongst us in worship is experienced in many ways—
sometimes with a sense of awe and wonder at God’s holy splendour; or in the
stillness of silence as we savour God’s presence in a very personal way. It
is in those holy moments that we feel the sorrow of shame, and the sadness
of regret and penitence; that we also realise the possibilities for change, and
the blessedness of God’s forgiveness of our selfish habits and sinful and ways.
God said: “...Bring my faithful people to me - those who made a covenant
with me by giving sacrifices….” God, we bring you our sacrifice of penitence!
Holy God, we pray that you will restore and renew us as your faithful children,
and your beloved people within this community of faith and committed witness. Amen.

A Personal Meditation
Transfiguration Year B 2015
Psalm 50: 1-6

What does God‘s voice sound like when it speaks in judgement? I recently
preached a sermon on God separating the sheep and goats from each other
in judgement; but my sermon emphasis was on God’s love for “goats” as well
as “sheep”, and that the voice of God in judgement was one of compassionate
love! I was then chastised by a retired minister for that interpretation. That same
day, I was thanked for that interpretation by a parent who worried over God’s
reaction to her troubled son’s behaviour, because he had thoroughly “gone
off the rails”, and his mother asked if it was really true that God would or could
be loving in judgement, as well as in receiving our praises? I reaffirmed to her
my conviction that the God of steadfast love always judges us in sorrowing love.

Creative pause: What does God’s voice in judgement sound like to you?


The psalmist sang about God inviting people to hear another of God’s revelations:
“...Bring my faithful people to me - those who made a covenant with me by giving
sacrifices….” They were called together to hear and learn about another divine
revelation about God’s-Own-Self, and to hear from the God who “...commands,
guides and assures....”2 and who also checked up on their theology, and how it
was expressed and accounted for in their worship and their ethical living. God’s
expectation of those covenant-related people was that their worship would be
one of sacrificial thankfulness, and not necessarily that of killing of animals and
birds, which God had already claimed and owned by being God’s own creations!

Creative pause: Do you think of your acts of thankfulness to God as a “sacrifice”?


God initiated a covenant relationship with the community of the people of Israel—
and that special relationship was/is “...... a gift – rather than being born of some
divine need – that suggests a divine hope for the community to encounter wholeness
of life. The sacrificial system is a gift in the context of the covenant relationship
that is an avenue of worship rather than a way to manipulate the divine....”3 The
people of Israel had had a long association with neighbouring people who worshipped
other gods rather than the One True God; and Israel’s neighbours believed that their
own “gods” were quite effective because if you treated them “right” they then returned
the favour! I think that at times we all think that God “operates” in that same way, as
we all try to manipulate God to act in approving all our prayer demands! God’s “big
picture” is very different to our “little picture”; and God’s plans are very long-term
when compared to our “little” perspective on life, faith, worship, commitment; and
the sacrificial giving of thankfulness as steps on the way to wholeness of life with God.

Creative pause: How manipulative are your prayers and acts of worship?


1 From “Together in Song” #741
“O Lord hear my pray’r”
© Words Jacques Berthier
Ateliers et Presses de Taizè Ltd
Used with Permission,
Word of Life International License #2425T

2 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann
from “Worship in Ancient Israel – An Essential Guide” Chapter 3, page 26
© 2005 Abingdon Press
201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville TN 37202-0801 USA

3 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann
& William H Bellinger Junior
from “Psalms”
Psalm 50, page 233/4
© 2014 Cambridge University Press

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: transfigurationb_2015.pdf