Our God is an Awesome but not quite so offensevily described God...

So for a project I needed to reform "Our God is an Awesome God" to make the lyrics approachable to a broader group of Christians... here is said remake... This remake refashions the warrior God imagery, takes away the male exclusive language, and recognizes trinitarian  and incarnational doctrine.

 

When God puts on a show
It’s not just putting on the ritz
(Our God is an awesome God)
There's thunder in God’s dancing
And lightning in God’s midst
(Our God is an awesome God)
And the Lord wasn't joking when He came down from heaven
It wasn't for no reason that Christ shed His blood
To share God’s love with all is what we are believing, that

Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
Who reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
Who reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God
And when the sky was starless
In the void of the night
(Our God is an awesome God)
The Spirit moved in the darkness
And created the light
(Our God is an awesome God)
Judgement and wrath poured out on oppresors
Mercy and grace is given at the cross
I hope that we have not too quickly forgotten that
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
Who reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
Who reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
Who reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God

If Cranmer wrote in Rite II english

Celebrant:        Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known,

                        and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our

                        hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may

                        perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name;

                        through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Celebrant:            Lord, have mercy.

People:                        Christ, have mercy.

Celebrant:            Lord, have mercy.

All:                        Glory to God in the highest,

                           and peace to his people on earth.

                        Lord God, heavenly King,

                        almighty God and Father,

                           we worship you, we give you thanks,

                           we praise you for your glory.

                        Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,

                        Lord God, Lamb of God,

                        you take away the sin of the world:

                           have mercy on us;

                        you are seated at the right hand of the Father:

                           receive our prayer.

                        For you alone are the Holy One,

                        you alone are the Lord,

                        you alone are the Most High,

                           Jesus Christ,

                           with the Holy Spirit,

                           in the glory of God the Father.  Amen.

Celebrant:            The Lord be with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Celebrant:            Let us pray.

The celebrant says the Collect for the day.

People:                        Amen.

Celebrant:            O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world:  We

                        commend this nation to your merciful care, that, being guided

                        by your Providence, we may dwell secure in your peace.  Grant

                        to the President of the United States, the Governor of this

                        State (or Commonwealth), and to all in authority, wisdom

                        and strength to know and to do your will. Fill them with the

                        love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful

                        of their calling to serve this people in your fear; through Jesus

                        Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the

                        Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.  Amen.

The people sit. One Lesson, as appointed from the Epistles, is read,

Reader:            A Reading from____________.

A citation giving chapter and verse is added.

at the conclusion of the reading:

Reader:            Here ends the Epistle.

The people stand. The Gospel lesson is read by the priest

Celebrant:            The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ

                        according to__________________.

People                        Glory to you, Lord Christ.

at the conclusion of the reading:

Celebrant:            The Gospel of the Lord.

People                        Praise to you, Lord Christ.

All:                        We believe in one God,

                            the Father, the Almighty,

                            maker of heaven and earth,

                            of all that is, seen and unseen.

                        We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

                            the only Son of God,

                            eternally begotten of the Father,

                            God from God, Light from Light,

                            true God from true God,

                            begotten, not made,

                            of one Being with the Father.

                            Through him all things were made.

                            For us and for our salvation

                                he came down from heaven:

                            by the power of the Holy Spirit

                                 he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,

                                 and was made man.

                         For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

                             he suffered death and was buried.

                            On the third day he rose again

                                 in accordance with the Scriptures;

                                he ascended into heaven

                                 and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

                            He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,

                                 and his kingdom will have no end.

                        We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

                            who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

                            With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.

                            He has spoken through the Prophets.

                             We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

                            We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

                            We look for the resurrection of the dead,

                                 and the life of the world to come. Amen.

A sermon or homily may be preached.

Celebrant:            Let your light so shine before those you meet, that they may see your good                         works, and come to glorify God in heaven. 

An offertory is collected and a hymn or anthem may be sung.

Celebrant:            The Lord be with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Celebrant:            Lift up your hearts.

People:                        We lift them to the Lord.

Celebrant:            Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

People:                        It is right to give him thanks and praise.

Celebrant:            It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and every

                        where to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of

                        heaven and earth.

The proper preface for the day is then read by the Priest.

                        Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and

                        Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever

                        sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name:

People:                        Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

                        heaven and earth are full of your glory.

                             Hosanna in the highest.

                        Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

                            Hosanna in the highest.

Celebrant:            Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us

                        for yourself; and, when we had fallen into sin and become

                        subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus

                        Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human

                        nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the

                        God and Father of all.

                        He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself,

                        in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole

                        world.

                        On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our

                        Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks

                        to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take,

                        eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the

                        remembrance of me.”

                        After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given

                        thanks, he gave it to them, and said, “Drink this, all of you:

                        This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you

                        and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink

                        it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

                        We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in

                        this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Recalling his death,

                        resurrection, and ascension, we offer you these gifts.

                        Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the

                        Body and Blood of your Son, the holy food and drink of new

                        and unending life in him. Sanctify us also that we may faithfully

                        receive this holy Sacrament, and serve you in unity, constancy,

                        and peace; and at the last day bring us with all your saints

                        into the joy of your eternal kingdom.

                        All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ. By him, and

                        with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor

                        and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

                        As our Saviour Christ commanded and taught us we are bold to say:

                        Our Father, who art in heaven,

                                    hallowed be thy Name,

                                    thy kingdom come,

                                    thy will be done,

                                                on earth as it is in heaven.

                                    Give us this day our daily bread.

                                    And forgive us our trespasses,

                                                as we forgive those

                                                    who trespass against us.

                                    And lead us not into temptation,

                                        but deliver us from evil.

                                    For thine is the kingdom,

                                        and the power, and the glory,

                                        for ever and ever. Amen.

Celebrnat:                        The peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                                    And also with you.

Celebrant:                   Christ our Pascal lamb was offered up for us, once for all, 

                                    when he bore our sins on his body upon the cross, 

                                    for he is the very lamb of  God, that takes away the sins 

                                    of the world; wherefore let us keep a joyful and holy 

                                    feast with the Lord.

                                    Jesus said, “The first commandment is this: Hear, O Israel:

                                    The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your

                                    God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your

                                    mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: Love

                                    your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment

                                    greater than these.”   Mark 12:29 31

                                    Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Silence is kept.

All:                                    Most merciful God,

                                    we confess that we have sinned against you

                                    in thought, word, and deed,

                                    by what we have done,

                                    and by what we have left undone.

                                    We have not loved you with our whole heart;

                                    we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

                                    We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

                                    For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

                                    have mercy on us and forgive us;

                                    that we may delight in your will,

                                    and walk in your ways,

                                    to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Celebrant:                        Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins

                                    through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all

                                    goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in

                                    eternal life.  Amen.

                                    If you seek God then hear the Word of God.

                                    Come to me, all that travail and are heavy laden, and

                                    I will refresh you.  Matthew 11:28

                                    God so loved the world, that God’s only begotten Son was given,

                                    to the end that all that believe in Jesus Christ should not perish, but

                                    have everlasting life.  John 3:16

                                    This is a true saying, and worthy to be received by all who hear,

                                    that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

                                                                                                            1 Timothy 1:15

                                    If any sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus

                                    Christ the righteous; and he is the perfect offering for our

                                    sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole

                                    world.  1 John 2:1 2

All:                                    We do not presume to come to this your Table, O merciful

                                    Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold

                                    and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather

                                    up the crumbs under your Table. But you are the same Lord

                                    whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore,

                                    gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ,

                                    and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him,

                                    and he in us. Amen.

Celebrant:                        O Lamb of God,

All:                                    That takes away the sins of the world,

                                    have mercy upon us.

                                    O Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world,

                                    grant us your peace.

The ministers receive the Sacrament in both kinds, and then immediately deliver it

to the people.

The Bread and the Cup are given to the communicants with these words

The Body (Blood) of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you in everlasting life.  [Amen.]

when all have received:

Celebrant:                        The Lord be with you;

People:                                    And also with you.

Celebrant:                        Let us pray.

All:                                    Almighty and everliving God,

                                    we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food

                                    of the most precious Body and Blood

                                    of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ;

                                    and for assuring us in these holy mysteries

                                    that we are living members of the Body of your Son,

                                    and heirs of your eternal kingdom.

                                    And now, Father, send us out

                                    to do the work you have given us to do,

                                    to love and serve you

                                    as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.

                                    To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit,

                                    be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Celebrant:                        The Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep you hearts                                                      and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus                                                     Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the                                                    Son, and the Holy Spirit, be amongst you and remain with you                                                                always. Amen

The congregation departs a hymn may be sung.

Pride, Rainbows, and Lenten Paraments

So this morning I walked into the primary worship space of my seminary. It was decked out in the colors of Gay Pride in a way I have rarely seen, and I have personally decked out several worship spaces for Pride Eucharist, the problem is that it was decked out this way for a Lenten Worship. I was hurt, I was angry, I wanted to cry. I have talked to others and realized that I was not alone in this reaction.

Worship is all about expressing the meaning of symbols. On the first Sunday of Lent this year, one of the symbols presented to us is the Rainbow, the sign of the First Covenant of God with all the people of the earth. It is the symbol that no adversity we face is meant to annihilate and destroy us and that God will never seek so to do. It is the symbol that outside of any law code, level of sinfulness or holiness, or decree of judgment there is God’s overwhelming Love, Mercy, and Peace to all.

It is a good symbol to have as the church enters Lent. It reminds everyone that the reason of the present adversity and penitence is so that we can become more fully aware of God’s love. It is the spring gushing from a rock that will follow us throughout our Lenten dessert journey until we reach the festival Oasis of Easter.

So while it is a symbol that frames lent it is not a Lenten symbol. It is not a symbol of penitence. It is not plain, austere, and hesitant it is beautiful, full, and loud. For many people it might be only slightly jarring to find it presented in the midst of a Lenten service and with the context of the Genesis’ reading and proper explanation of why it is there and what our penitence means… it could work.

Except for me. For me and for most of the LGBT community, the Rainbow is the universal symbol of inclusion, love, and acceptance. It is the same meaning as embodied in the story of Genesis but for us the meaning is exponential. We who have truly been locked up for years in the arks of our closets struggling against the storms of a world that does not tolerate us, of family that rejects us, of isolation and fear; we who have spent years scared to have any association with a Rainbow in fear it might “out us”; we who have to struggle and overcome a world telling us we are not made beautifully. When the dove finally brings us that branch, when we have finally found that dry land, when we have finally seen the rainbow and know that we are beautiful individuals that are loved. There is nothing like that symbol. It is one of the primary contexts in which I understand Easter.

Yes, I do roll my eyes at the LGBT community’s over use of Rainbows. But deep down it is one of those deep visceral symbols, a symbol of new life, of light, of truth. It is like the word A--e-uia, often overused but a powerful symbol that we hold back from use in Lent for the sake of being able to fully enter it later.

I do not know if I am going to be able to worship in that space for the time being. The symbols are so jarring that I cannot really enter into any space but emotional fervor. The lack of understanding around the meaning of the symbol of the Rainbow and how inappropriate it is for Lent in a community that includes LBGT members leaves me in a space I cannot even really define.

Defining a Radical Parish Ministry

            I have no illusions of ever taking part in the parish model that the church created in the fifties. I have been told not to expect it from every angle. As far as I can tell no one has a clear understanding of what priest will actually be doing in thirty years. I do, however, have three basic expectations for the new setting.

            First congregations whose disappearance will have no affect on the surrounding community will have disappeared. Congregations must take ownership of their parishes and become centers of community organizing and services. The time of the Christian Social Club is over the time of the Christian Societal Servants must return.

               Second we must realize that assimilation is futile. Congregations must be expected to change themselves as much as they change others. We must stop bowing to the idols of our ritual proclivities and narrow interpretations of truth, adiaphorae, and walk into the Unknowable Truth.

            Third we must stop attempting to evangelize. Instead we must begin a pilgrimage of discovering how and where God is acting in the lives outside of the church institution. This involves not only stopping to listen but also interviewing and in the end responding from our resources.

            Obviously these are not three linear points but three points in a circular relationship to each other. This is my interpretation of the current popular phrase “missional” but I feel is the same call to reform that has rampantly existed throughout the history of the church.   

Inclusive Eucharist

Inclusion in the Eucharist…

I have had this insane thought. Let us change the rule “Only the baptized can receive the Eucharist” to “The Eucharist can only occur when all who wish to receive are baptized”. Maybe I am insane but if there is someone sitting in your parish pew who is not baptized but wants to receive communion then it is a problem with the parish and not with the person. The parish is the one with the power in the situation.

I remember a Sunday a bit back when I was at an Episcopal Church with a group of guys who where all actively engaged in building a relationship with God but were not yet baptized. Now this was not my regular church and I was rather shocked when the Priest came out and made a very emphatic statement about how only baptized Christians should take communion. It was as close to a “we are going to check membership at the communion rail” statement I had hear in the ECUSA. Now the guys looked at me for some sort of clue as to what to do and I said we will go up and get blessed. Now they were confused and one said “but you are baptized” and I said “sure, but I am here with you”.

As far as I can tell when the religious establishment draws a line between people who are in and people who are out, Jesus wants us to be with the people who are out. The problem with inclusive Eucharist is that instead of the people of God making a sacrifice, which means making themselves holy, to be with those who the church has put on the outside we are instead seeking a way to not actually give up any of our power or comfort for the sake of this other, for the sake of the very person we are supposedly present in the world to sacrifice for.

What would this mean in practice? At the end of the offertory the priest asks “is there any one who wishes to take communion with us who is not baptized” and if there is any one then there is no communion. The community recognizes the value of the new individual by recognizing its incompleteness in not having that one in their midst and thus recognizes it is now unable to have a Eucharistic moment. Or if that is too much to ask that there be a group of baptized Christians who place themselves aside each Sunday and instead of partaking of the Eucharist gather to pray and have community near the Baptismal font and make a catechumen community there. If there are non baptized to come to that group or not that group places itself apart as a sign to the greater community that even in the midst of the Eucharist we are not yet fully whole and the kingdom is not fully come.

I am not sure it is the best solution, as far as I can tell this is a situation where all things are messy and mixed. But I have not heard it before and I think it considers being on the table.

Gender Fluid Language not Inclusive Language in Liturgy

God has Gender. If nothing else God has attributes that humans will continue to frame in the context of Gender even if at some point we take up a mode of Gender that is completely fluid.

A lot of the hold up about God around issues of Gender comes about due to bad science. God is held as progenitor and it was not until the past five hundred years that science began to consider a different hypothesis than the male semen holds all things requisite for life. Science now has proven that human’s limited progenatorial act requires equally male and female biological aspects. This is of course not contrary to the earlier creation myth of Genesis where humanity is first made in the image of God and only then divided into to distinct sexes and it is only after the Edenic state that gender roles came into play.

So viably over a millennia bad science and societal habits enforced its understanding upon the earlier myth leaving us in the state of considering gender polarized and dualistic. There is Male, there is Female, and there is Neuter in between. Or in the case of language there is Male, there is Female, and there is Inclusive in between. What Inclusive language can quickly, and rather sadly, become is language that excludes any gender reference. And, because of how we conceptualize gender, this means that we quickly move from descriptive roles like “father” to descriptive gerunds like “creator”. Which force God out of an incarnational setting and into a remote abstract setting. 

What I want to suggest is that we start looking at Gender as a fluid dynamic in regards to God, and viably ourselves as well. We need to stop attempting to have “Inclusive Language Liturgy” and allow for “Gender Fluid Liturgy”. We need to stop making people worship a God that forces them to ritually neuter themselves. Instead we must create liturgy that allows each person to worship a God that reflects both that person’s gender identity but also makes an Icon out of the gender identity of others.

What does this actually mean in practice?

Any reference to the community that is worshiping needs to not limit itself to one gender. So references to “man” or “mankind” still need to go. Oddly this is an easier prospect with Episcopal Rite I services than Rite II. But do not go with stereotypical inclusive language abstracts like “people”. So “and to give thanks for all men” should NOT become “give thanks for all people” BUT “give thanks for all whom you have made” or “give thanks for all God’s children”. Strive always to use the option that is less remote and more experiential.

Reference to God should be gender fluid, all over the place, but not disharmonious within the context of a single liturgy. This means at times a whole liturgy can refer to God within the context of male roles. It also means that a whole service can be made that can refer to God within the context of female roles: God the Mother Hen who calls us to the protection of her bosom [Gospel Image], Jesus the Holy Wisdom [Haggia Sophia] who calls us to her marriage bed [Wisdom Literature], the Holy Spirit who is the sea that gives us both tempest and calm. Or in most cases a harmonious use of both as appropriate to some larger context of the service.

In the end it is a matter of approaching liturgy not with the idea of erasing Gender but with the idea of enfranchising the Mythic Truth that the Image of God is most truly reflected in spaces where Gender is fluid and dialectic and not ones where Gender is at odds, dualistic or removed.

Ad Orientem, what we have lost...

This is not a call to return to Ad Orientem, or a celebration of the Eucharist where the Priest and the People all face the same way. It is only a brief musing over a few things that have been running through my mind as of late. It is really just meant to be a moment to highlight a few things to consider as we go about worship.

The major complaint I have heard about Ad Oreientem celebration is that it makes the Priest and the Eucharist “remote” or “detached” or “not connected”. This is a good critique and it is true that the old style was usually too remote, too detached, and too not connected. The problem, however, is that the Heavenly Banquet needs to be a bit remote, detached, and not connected to our comfy American largesse. If I am in worship and there is not some sense I have left my day to day and entered into a space that takes me out of that there is a problem. Liturgy needs to reflect that transition.

I also hear “the priest doesn’t speak to me” and “God doesn’t need to hear it the people in the pew do”. Most of the complaints I hear about worship in the Episcopal Church is that we do not allow the laity to behave as if they were at a concert or movie theatre. Our pews are not that comfortable, we are constantly standing or kneeling or bowing, and a few lucky of us even get to genuflect upon occasion. The laity are not supposed to be the receptive audience of a worship experience but the primary participants. The clergy are not there to speak to the congregation but with the voice of the congregation.

When the deacon proclaims the Gospel it is the Gospel the congregation is supposed to be proclaiming to the world at large. When the priest preaches the Gospel it is the supposed to be the words that clearly state and illumine the inner working of the Gospel in the hearts and minds of the congregation. When the Presider celebrates the Eucharist it is the statement of the community as to what it strives at its deepest essence to be, participants within the heavenly banquet. The entire event is a statement of the community about its nature about what it believes and what it is. The community, and individuals there in, only “receives it” in as much as it comes to hear itself more clearly.

Part of the offering every participant in a communal ritual act, like the Holy Eucharist, is asked to do is offer up part of themselves for the community, part of this is to allow the leaders to speak on their behalf. This is actually what is occurring during the Sursum Corda, it is the space where we become unified in voice, heart, and mind with the words of the celebrant. In our world of “I statements” and “every one has their own opinion and it is rude to talk as a collective” this is a difficult act if entered into fully. That is why we try to hide it away, but by doing so I feel we have lost much.

Which is not to say we need to return to Ad Orientem but that we need to find effective ways to make this reality a part of our circular worship so that we come back to all worshiping in one voice instead of a clergy that has all the mojo and a laity that watch the show. It is also not to say that there are times when I have walked into church and had only the capacity to receive. It is to say that what I received was in part that which is God working in me and calling me and refreshing me that I have such trouble hearing by my lonesome.