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Invitation to Worship
Come, let us sing to Adonai, let us praise the God of all Creation!
O Holy ONE + open my lips,
~And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
LABOR DAY HYMN
All may sing or alternate the verses of any Morning Hymn .
All our work and all our being
come from you, Creating Lord.
May each task which lies before us
show your gracious will outpoured.
Help us as we build your kin-dom
know we labor not in vain;
give us sure and deep conviction
for the tasks that you ordain.
Some may nurture those who hunger,
tend and heal the broken heart;
set our flagging spirits dancing,
spark our vision through their art.
Others teach and offer counsel,
bear life’s burdens, ease its care;
strive for justice, peace, and freedom
for all people ev’rywhere.
Let us labor in the knowledge
that no task can be too small;
that the God who stretched the heavens
no less shaped the least of all.
Give us strength, God, to accomplish
what you set our hands to do,
that by serving those around us,
we return the gift to you.
Text: Michael Morgan, alt.; Tune: NETTLETON 87.87.D
PSALMODY
Antiphon
The wages you failed to pay the workers are crying out against you.
The cries of the laborers have reached the ears of Almighty God.
Psalm 89/90
Adonai, You have been our refuge,
From one generation to the next.
Before the mountains were born,
the earth and the world brought forth,
from eternity to eternity
you alone are God.
Truly we are consumed by our folly,
filled with terror at the outcome of our sin.
You seem to keep our faults before you,
our hidden sins in the light of your face.
Our life ebbs away under such guilt,
our years end like a sigh.
Seventy is the sum of our years,
or eighty, if we are strong;
Most of them are toil and sorrow;
they pass quickly, and we are gone.
Teach us to count our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Relent, Adonai! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Fill us at daybreak with your mercy,
that all our days we may sing for joy.
Make us glad as many days as we have been humbled,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
Show your deeds to your servants,
your glory to their children.
May the favor of Adonai be ours.
Grant success to the work of our hands!
Grant success to the work of our hands!
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
And to the BREATH of Love;
as always before,
so now and evermore. Amen.
The wages you failed to pay the workers are crying out against you.
The cries of the laborers have reached the ears of Almighty God.
READING Deuteronomy 24:14-15
You shall not exploit a poor and needy hired servant, whether one of your own kindred or one of the resident aliens who live in your land, within your gates.
On each day you shall pay the servant’s wages before the sun goes down, since the servant is poor and is counting on them. Otherwise the servant will cry to Adonai against you, and you will be held guilty.
Silent Prayer
Responsory
R. Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker; *those who are kind to the needy honor God. V. God has chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the reign of God* those who are kind to the needy honor God. V. Glory to the Abba…
Canticle of Zachary– Luke 1:68-79
Antiphon
The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few.
Let us ask the Owner of the Harvest to send reapers into the fields.
Blessed + be Adonai, the God of Israel,
Who visits this people to set us free
Raising for us a sign of salvation
In the house and family of David.
God promised throughout past ages
In words of holy prophets
To save us from our enemies,
And from the control of our oppressors.
Adonai favored our ancestors
And remembered the sacred covenant.
The pledge to Abraham and Sarah
Is now renewed for us;
That freed from the grip of our foes
We might worship without fear
And be both just and holy
For the rest of our days.
And you, child, called “prophet of the Most High,”
Will go ahead to prepare the way,
By teaching this people of salvation
Through forgiveness of their sins.
For the loving compassion of the Holy One
As the Rising Sun will shine upon us
To illumine the darkness and dispel death’s shadow
To guide our feet on the way of peace.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
And to the BREATH of Love!
As always before,
so now and evermore. Amen
The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few.
Let us ask the Owner of the Harvest to send reapers into the fields.
Litany of Intercession
As the sun rises to bring in the new day, we pray for those whose work keeps them inside buildings or deep in mines, away from the natural light and brightness of the day.
We pray for the men, women and children who must work in jobs that disregard their human dignity and exploit their labor.
We pray for the unemployed and the underemployed who seek ways to use their talents, to participate in God’s creation, and to support their families.
We pray for the owners and managers of companies, who make decisions regarding safe work conditions and adequate wages. May they place the best interests of workers and of the planet ahead of profit and prestige.
We pray for national and local union leaders who are chosen to represent and speak for workers. My they be guided by the grace and wisdom of the Holy Spirit to serve with honesty and integrity.
We pray for men, women and children who suffer from our lack of solidarity in their daily struggle to survive. May we be aware of our responsibility to be in relationship with our brothers and sisters throughout the world.
We pray for those who have lost their lives while working, that they may enjoy rest from their labors; and that their families may receive support, sustenance, consolation and peace.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Dear Abba …
Closing Prayer & Blessing
(Based on a Prayer by Deborah Holbrook, Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ)
On this Labor Day, with our kitchens full of too many tomatoes and zucchini the size of bowling pins, we come to you in gratitude for such abundance.
On this Labor Day, with the excitement of the new school year, we come to you in hopeful gratitude for minds of all ages anxious and willing to learn.
On this Labor Day, when many are crossing seas and borders seeking new and better lives and only desiring work, hope and shelter for themselves and their families, we come to you in painful gratitude for our safety.
On this Labor Day, when so many are incarcerated, we come to you in embarrassed gratitude that our own sins have not been found out.
We gather in your presence to reaffirm that your first charge to us is not to
convince one another nor condemn one another nor convict one another–
But to love one another. And we ask for your help in the name of him whose example we strive to follow, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in trusting God’s Love, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may abound in hope. ~Amen.
Let us bless Adonai. ~Thanks be to God.