Move | RISE UP!

Reading Notes

NRSV texts, artwork and Revised Common Lectionary Prayers for this service are available at the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.
Leccionario en Español, Leccionario Común Revisado: Consulta Sobre Textos Comunes.
Lectionnaire en français, Le Lectionnaire Œcuménique Révisé

Calendar Notes

From today to February 4, the color is green.
February 11 (Transfiguration) is white and gold.
Beginning Ash Wednesday (February 14), the color is purple.

For your Planning Team

Planning This Service

It’s week three in this six-week series. We’re now moving into “mid-series” in this six-week season. The core task mid-series is to sustain the series energy and and continue to develop the thematic thread. Energy always matters, but mid-series, it’s development of the theme that tends to matter more.

There are two primary kinds of movement in this week’s Scripture reading from Jonah. One is physical movement. Jonah moves from Spain to Iraq, and then keeps moving a full day’s journey into the heart of Nineveh. The other movement is the dramatic acts of repentance by the people and even the livestock of Nineveh. Instead of facing being overturned, as Jonah’s prophecy announced, they instead turned over a new leaf. In a way, one might propose even a third kind of movement, God’s own movement of intention concerning Nineveh from judgment toward mercy in light of their repentance.

The core response to today’s theme is found in the prayers of the people. Prayer becomes the primary way we begin to embody the action of “Move” in worship today. We pray with people who must move, or are called to move, or who by their position are involved in moving others. We also pray for ourselves, for the Spirit’s work to move us all from captivity to sin toward perfection in love in this life. We posit this as a possible altar call, a call to come forward to pray, as the response to the bidding prayer shifts from unison spoken response to ensemble and congregational singing.