Listen up, you people of Israel;
all you who count Jacob as your ancestor;
Listen to what the LORD has to say:

What was wrong with me that so turned off your ancestors
that they kept as far away from me as they could?
What was it that sent them off
on a merry-go-round of worthless distractions
that bled them of substance and character?

Not once did they look for my help again,
or remember how I had rescued them from slavery.
They forgot how I guided them through the wilderness,
through hostile deserts and treacherous valleys;
how I got them safely across impassable land;
blackened, fearful terrain with no water;
uninhabited places where nobody survives.

I brought you safely into a rich and fruitful land;
a land laden with good things, yours for the picking.
But you barged in and destroyed all I had given you;
turned a precious heritage into a polluted wasteland.

Even your religious leaders showed no interest in me!

They taught the law without getting to know me.
They defied me as they governed the people.
They preached a message of other gods
and set their hearts on shallow and futile things.

So now I, the LORD, am taking you to court.
I’m laying charges against you
and against your children and grandchildren.

Whoever heard of such a thing?
Search the earth from one end to the other.
Scour the history books and see.
What other nation has ever changed its gods?
They are loyal even to false gods!
But my people have squandered their crowning glory
by trading me in for shallow and futile things.

I, the LORD, call the heavens to sit as jury,
to be appalled by this case;
to weigh evidence that will shock and disgust.
For my my people have added crime upon crime.
They have turned their backs on me,
their only source of fresh, flowing, life-giving water;
and they have taken to digging their own water-holes;
stagnant puddles that stink and leak.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We sing our lungs out to you, God,
for you make us strong;
we shout for joy, celebrating you,
the God of our ancestors.

You are the LORD our God;
the God who rescued us from the land of slavery.
When we come to you with our hungers,
you fill us with all that we need.

But we have repeatedly failed to listen to you;
though we were your people,
we dug our heels in against you.

You stood aside and let us have our way;
we made our own bed and you left us to lie in it.

You longed for us to listen to you;
for your people to get back on track.

If we had only been willing to cooperate,
you’d have been ready to sort out our enemies.
Those whose hostility to you was taken out on us
would have been sent cowering away,
never to be seen again.

If only we had responded to your call, LORD,
you would have spread a banquet before us
feeding us with the sweetest and best of everything.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

See to it that love continues to run both ways in all your dealings with one another. Don’t limit your hospitality to your friends. Some people who have welcomed strangers into their homes were actually opening their doors to God’s messengers without realising it. Keep standing up for those who are in detention, just as you would if you were locked up with them. Imagine yourselves in the shoes of those who are being harshly mistreated and work for them accordingly. Don’t let out of sight mean out of mind!

See to it that the vowed life of marriage is treated with the respect it deserves. Protect the sacredness of the sexual intimacy within vowed relationships. God will sort out those who drag sex into the mire of selfishness, dishonesty and betrayal.

Keep the lust for money right out of your lives. Be satisfied with what you have, trusting in God’s promise to never let you down or abandon you. We can say with confidence:

“The Lord looks after me;
I’ve got nothing to fear.
What harm can anyone do me?”

Remember your leaders through whom you heard God’s message. Watch the way they live and note what comes of it. Model yourselves on their example of faith. Such examples don’t go out of date, because Jesus Christ is the same now as he always was and always will be. Let us continue to offer the gift of praise to God through Christ. Keeping God’s name on our lips is a real gift, but it is not the only gift that matters. Don’t overlook the importance of sharing what you have and working for the good of others, because these too are gifts that delight God.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Once on the Sabbath day, Jesus was invited to a dinner at the home of one of the leading members of the devoutly religious Pharisee party. Throughout the evening, he was being closely watched by everyone there.

Noticing how most of the guests were angling for the best seats at the top of the table, Jesus turned the scene into an illustration, saying, “When you are invited as a guest to a formal dinner – a wedding banquet or the like – don’t rush to park yourself in the number one seat. There may be some more prominent celebrities on the guest list, and when one of them turns up, your host will come and ask you to vacate your seat for them. You’ll have egg all over your face in front of everyone, and there may be nothing but the scummy seats left for you. If looking good in public is so important to you, it would be a much better strategy to park yourself down in the back corner somewhere. Then when you are seen down there, your host will come and say, ‘Come on, my friend, we can find you a better seat than this.’ You’ll get a much better write-up in the social pages for that! The fact is that those who big-note themselves will be knocked off their perches, but those who avoid the limelight will end up as everyone’s hero.”

Then Jesus turned to the one who had invited him and said, “When you are throwing a party, don’t just invite your friends, family and well-heeled neighbours. They will all return the favour sometime and so, rather than being a gift, your party will become something you are repaid for. Instead, invite people who are always being left out – the down-and-outs, the misfits, the refugees, the disabled. You’ll find that far more richly rewarding, and although they can never repay you, when God’s people are all raised from the dead, you’ll be more than repaid.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures, from which the first reading is usually chosen, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative.

The weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm.

Arrogant pride is born when people turn their backs on the Lord.
It is conceived in hearts that are cut off from their Maker.

Arrogant pride has its roots in sin,
and those who are addicted to it spew forth corruption.

That’s why the Lord brings terrible disasters on them
and wipes them out completely.

The Lord topples arrogant rulers,
and hands their authority to humble people.

The Lord tears out arrogant nations by the roots,
and replaces them with unpretentious peoples.

The Lord rids the planet of arrogant empires,
leaving nothing but scorched earth where they stood.
Some of them were destroyed so completely
that even the memory of them was erased.

Human beings were never intended to become arrogant.
Violence and hostility were not part of their creator’s design.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Don’t go big noting yourself
or nominating yourself for the honours lists.
It is far better to have others calling for your promotion
than to be dismissed as completely up yourself.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We are singing your praises, LORD!

How good life is for those who respect you, LORD,
for those who gladly do what you want them to do.

Their children will follow in their footsteps,
doing what’s right and going from strength to strength.

You fill their homes with good things,
and guarantee their good reputation.

Their generosity, tolerance, and integrity shine forth in a dark world,
lighting up the way for others to follow.

LORD, you see that things go well
for those who conduct their business fairly
and lend generously to those in need.

You guarantee a firm footing for people of integrity;
their reputation will long outlast them.

Bad news will not break them,
for they have an inner strength grounded in you, LORD.
With their trust in you, they are calm in a crisis;
fearless in the fight,
and they always end up on top.

You will honour their strength
and make their integrity a lasting legacy,
for they have been open-handed, especially to the poor.

All this throws corrupt people into a snarling rage.
Bitterness consumes them
as their dreams crumble to nothing.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right to offer you our sacrifice of praise, O God,
for despite our poverty, brokenness and blindness,
you invite us to feast with you forever.

You created all the earth
and led your people out of slavery into a plentiful land
to feast on finest wheat and pure wild honey.

When we abandoned you — our fountain of living water —
going instead after things which were worthless and defiled,
your love for us remained constant,
and in mercy, you never abandoned us.
Instead you sent us your child, Jesus Christ,
who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
His witness to your all-embracing love
so offended the values of the world
that he was tortured to death,
but you raised him to new life,
and now, through him,
you are teaching us to share and do good
so that our lives may be a pleasing sacrifice to you.

Therefore with .....

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We thank you that even when we abandoned you
— our fountain of living water —
still in your love and mercy you never abandoned us,
but raised us with Christ to share and do good
so that our lives may be a pleasing sacrifice to you.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We offer you our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, O God,
for despite our poverty, brokenness and blindness,
you honour us with your righteous ones.

You created all the earth
and led your people out of slavery into a plentiful land
to feast on finest wheat and pure wild honey.

When we abandoned you — our fountain of living water —
going instead after things which were worthless and defiled,
your love for us remained constant,
and in mercy, you never abandoned us.
Instead you sent us your child, Jesus Christ,
who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
His witness to your all-embracing love
so offended the values of the world
that he was tortured to death,
but you raised him to new life,
and now, through him,
you are teaching us to share and do good
so that our lives may be a pleasing sacrifice to you.

Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ
has given himself for us, saying:
”I will never leave you or forsake you.
Those who humble themselves will be lifted up.”

Sisters and Brothers,
  your sins are forgiven;
    be at peace.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go now and walk in all God’s ways.
Keep your lives free from the love of money
but let love between people continue and be honoured.
Show hospitality to strangers.
Pray for those who suffer torture and imprisonment
and do not neglect to do good.

And may God be your strength;
May Christ Jesus be for you a fountain of living water;
And may the Holy Spirit raise you to life
with all God’s righteous ones.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
   In the name of Christ. Amen.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net