Worship Service/Worship Resources
Worship Service for
Older Adult Month
“Vessels of Love: Love God,
Love Neighbors, Love Self”
By Frank Ramirez
Pastor of Everett (Pa.) Church of the Brethren
Theme
Growing older is not bar or barrier to the command
of Jesus to become vessels of love, loving God,
loving neighbor, loving self.
Selected Texts
Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Leviticus 19:1-3 15-18, 34.
Psalm 100
Matthew 22:34-46
Reading
Matthew 22:37-39
Suggested Hymns
From Hymnal: A Worship
Book, Brethren Press
Praise, I will praise
you Lord
My Jesus, I love thee
Take my life
Blest be the tie
Lord of our growing
years
Move in our Midst
76
522
389
421
479
418
Call to Worship
Come together, people of God. God’s Spirit is poured out on all of us, young and old,
women and men. Come with purpose! Come with hope! Prophesy. Dream. Envision.
Receive.
Prayer of Invocation
God of Love, author of our days, originator of our lives, we come before you as one
people, young and old, to worship you this day, celebrating your love and your purpose,
revealed in the words of our Savior. Move in our midst, God of life, God in all life, and
draw us closer together in your love. Amen.
Older Adult Ministry
(800) 323-8039 ext. 305
www.brethren.org/oam
www.brethren.org/OlderAdultMonth
Older Adult Month Worship service/resources
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Prayer of Confession
Ancient of Days, who makes all things news, we confess that we have become idolaters,
chasing after the false god of whatever we are not. When we are young we strive to look
and act what we imagine it means to be older. When we grow older we strive to look
what we think it means to be younger. Yet in everything there is a season and a time to
every purpose under your heaven. You have granted us days of endless variety, in
changing seasons, with growing perspective. Each year has its gifts, each decade its
delights, as every age has its challenges. May we repent of rejecting the gifts you give us
today, God of all seasons, so that we may not only perceive but also enjoy our passing
days to the fullest. This we pray in your name. Amen.
Words of Assurance
Hear the words of God, spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: For surely I know the
plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a
future with hope.
Prayer of Thanksgiving (based on Isaiah 40:31)
One: We all feel faint, we all feel powerless, we all grow weary, we all fall exhausted,
at one time or another, sooner or later.
All: But wait! Wait! For the Lord shall renew our strength, we shall mount up with
wings like eagles, we shall run and not be weary, we shall walk and not faint.
One: Let us give thanks to God for renewal.
All: Let us raise our hands and our hearts in thanksgiving, for the love that envelops
us, sustains us, redeems us, guides us, upholds us, renews us.
One: Amen.
Children’s Story
[For this story put a little honey on a wheat cracker for each child. (Check for food
allergies.) You may illustrate this story with public domain photographs of bees taken off
the internet, or with beekeeper equipment.]
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Children’s Story, cont.
In the days before processed sugar, honey was the only kind of sweetener available. And many
people still think it is the best sweetener. Honey cannot be manufactured. It is only made by
bees. In a beehive there are many tens of thousands of bees. Every bee works together for the
benefit of the hive, and a bee, once it is born, is never too young or too old to help!
When bees are first hatched and come out of the wax cell where they were raised, they will help
clean up the hive. They clean out the wax cells they used to live in so that the cells can be used
again. It is important to keep the hive clean so the bees don’t get sick. Then, when they’re a little
older they will take care of eggs and larvae before they hatch and start working themselves.
When they are a little older the bees receive the nectar and the pollen that the older bees are
bringing into the hive and then store it in the wax cells. They may take turns fanning the hive so
it does not get too hot, sort of like an air conditioner. Some will take a turn as guards, to stand
near the front of the hive and watch out for intruders. They will make the wax, and they will
cover the cells of honey with wax once they have thickened it by beating their wings.
When bees are older they will finally go out and collect the pollen and nectar from flowers that
they use for food, turning the nectar into honey. From the time they are very young until the
time they are very old, the bees help each other. There is something for every bee of every age
to do. Everyone is useful. Everyone helps.
In the same way there are things we do when we are very young to help out around the church
or at home. Then there are things we do when we get a little bit older. We are always help to
help each other and to help ourselves, because that is the way God wants it. And that, like
honey, is a very sweet thing!
The Psalm (based on Psalm 100)
One: Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
All:
Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
One: Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people,
and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with
praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.
All:
For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to
all generations.
Older Adult Ministry
(800) 323-8039 ext. 305
www.brethren.org/oam
www.brethren.org/OlderAdultMonth
Older Adult Month Worship service/resources
page 4
Stewardship Message
In the musical My Fair Lady the flower seller Eliza Doolittle is taken under the wing of
Professor Henry Higgins and is taught to speak English properly – or if not properly, then
in a manner that allows her to walk with kings and princes, if she chooses. But she learns
along the way that words are empty unless people mean what they said. Exasperated
with language, she tells a suitor that she’s sick of words. Don’t talk of love, she sings,
show me!
Today’s gospel passage which tells us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and
strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The Hebrew word for love implies that if
we truly love, we will act! Love is action! But what if we say we love, and never get
around to doing anything about it? It’s like what James, the brother of Jesus, said in his
letter: “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them,
‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs,
what is the good of that?” (James 2:15-16)
Fortunately, we are able and enabled to act out our love at all ages and stages of life. The
person who volunteers in a soup kitchen, who visits the sick or those in jail, who doesn’t
make excuses about not wanting to visit nursing homes because they are so depressing,
who champions children and the victims of domestic violence, that person loves their
neighbor as themselves. There are tasks we can perform in these great missions
regardless of what age we are. This is how we demonstrate that they are loving God with
all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
We have a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, people like Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day,
Martin Luther King, Dan West, Helena Kruger, and many others, whose lives
demonstrated visibly both love for God and love for neighbor. In this time of offering, let
us give our gifts of wealth, time, and energy to God’s kingdom, and to heaven’s king!
Offertory Invitation
Bring forward gifts for God’s work, thankful that in every age, and for people of all ages,
there is work to be done, and blessings to receive.
Offertory Prayer
Receive our gifts this day, and not only the visible gifts we place upon your altar as living
worship, but the gift of our will and intent, as we pledge to ourselves and to you that we
will work tirelessly for your kingdom, seeking out those opportunities for service
consistent with our abilities and endurance. Amen.
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Message: “Vessels of Love: Love God, Love Neighbor, Love Self”
Alexander Mack, Jr. (1712-1803) was the great figure of the early Colonial era of the
Brethren. He was the co-pastor of the Germantown congregation for decades, until his
death past the age of 90. As he grew older he wrote a poem every year on his birthday,
often reflecting on how old he had become and how soon death must arrive. In his letters
he referred to himself as an aged stranger in the world. But despite his awareness of his
growing years he continued to work tirelessly among the Brethren, exhorting them to
love each other, working to reconcile and to be reconciled, and insuring that the poor and
struggling were cared for. He not only reached an advanced old age, but a very useful
one. If Mack was aware that the clock was always ticking, that only made each day more
precious and offered more opportunities to serve God and humanity.
The early Brethren were always engaged in a lively conversation about scripture, seeking
truth, and convinced they would find it, but only if they studied scripture together. This
conversation with and about scripture was mirrored after the ancient rabbis, the great
Biblical scholars whose words were recorded in the Talmud, who engaged in a similarly
fascinating discussion about the many laws contained in the Torah, the first five books of
the Bible. They discussed the meaning of each law, its application, exceptions – but they
always returned to the question – which Law is the greatest?
So perhaps it was natural that someone, eventually, would ask Jesus that question. And
as it turns out, Jesus had something to say. But there were some who questioned
whether he was qualified to answer.
This is reminiscent of the movie The King’s Speech, in which speech therapist Lionel Logue
helps the future King George VI confront his problem with stammering. At one point,
however, Logue is nearly fired because he doesn’t have a degree. Logue had learned how
to treat speech impediments in a practical, not a theoretical, way, working with World
War I veterans who had post-traumatic stress syndrome. Though he had no degree he
knew far more than many who did.
Jesus has no degree, or its first century equivalent, but he certainly had an answer for
that question. Jesus quoted not one law, but two, demonstrating that the Biblical
requirement of love has a vertical and a horizontal component. We lift up our eyes and
love God, and look around and love our neighbor.
Older Adult Ministry
(800) 323-8039 ext. 305
www.brethren.org/oam
www.brethren.org/OlderAdultMonth
Older Adult Month Worship service/resources
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The first is drawn from Deuteronomy 6:4, a verse so important it is recited at every week
in synagogue service. It is known as the Shema, from the Hebrew word for “Hear!”
It begins with a basic statement of faith that was alien to much of the ancient world
which worshipped several gods. God is one, and because God is one, we are to worship
God with our heart, soul, and strength. And Jesus, interpreting the law for his listeners,
many of whom came from the Greek world, added ‘mind’ as well.
The second law is taken from Leviticus 19, one of the most important and least read
chapters of the Bible. While much of Leviticus is taken up with worship practices,
questions about clean and unclean, and rituals, the nineteenth chapter focuses on the
way the word becomes flesh and dwells among us, through us! It is about living ethically
every day, all the time. And when Jesus culled from that chapter the injunction to love
our neighbor as ourselves, he knew that his listeners, versed in the law, would remember
that verse begins with the reminder that we are not to take vengeance or bear a grudge
against our people, which would be the practice of people everywhere when wronged,
but instead respond with love.
By choosing these two laws Jesus was saying that we can’t have one without the other.
We must love vertically – looking up to God with love because of who God is. We must
love horizontally – looking around at the people who surround us, and loving them
because they are God’s.
Vertical, horizontal? Sounds like a cross to me…
The cross! The emblem of the love of God for humanity, a love that vertically connects
heaven and earth, and horizontally connects all of us with each other. We love because
God first loved us. We love all, because Jesus loved all of us enough to die for us all.
Jesus has laid it out for us. Love God. Love your neighbor. But he added – as yourself!
Love your neighbor as yourself.
If Brethren have a hard time doing anything it is loving themselves. We look outward so
much, towards God, towards our neighbors, we forget we are worthy of love, and that it
is up to us to love and care for ourselves. That is also doing honor to God. I said that we
Brethren have a hard time admitting to this. We’re actually likable most of the time. But
we criticize ourselves and our churches and our denomination. What is a neighbor to
thing, someone we intend to help, if we don’t demonstrate that we’re pretty nice people
too? Would you want to be loved by someone who doesn’t remember to love
themselves?
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This is especially true for us as we grow older. We start to define ourselves by what we
cannot do, or what we can no longer do, instead of recognizing God loves us as we are,
and that as we are, we are worthy of being loved.
Growing older is not a bar or barrier to the command of Jesus to become vessels of love,
loving God, loving neighbor, loving self. If anything, it should provide us with the
perspective – and the sense of humor – to see ourselves and others as we are, and as we
are, worthy to be loved.
(For quotations from the poems and letters of Alexander Mack, Jr.,
go to the index of the sourcebook The Brethren in Colonial America.)
Prayer of Intercession
One: For those who struggle with accepting their age, for those who wish to be older,
who pine to be younger, who are dissatisfied with what they are today…
All:
Help us, Timeless God, to enjoy the time wherein we dwell, celebrating what we
can do, instead of what we are not able to do. May we find beauty in each sunrise
and sunset, and meaning in every door that opens as well as in every door that
closes. Help us, through love for you and love for our neighbors, to love ourselves
as we are. Amen.
Commissioning
People of God, go forward in faith, with hope, in love with God and with each other.
Benediction
Receive God’s blessings and take them with you into the world to share with others, to
care with others, to dare with others, to demonstrate God’s audacious plan to save the
world. Amen.
Prayer
Gracious God, let us understand that we are worthy to seek your grace. Help us to know
that we are worthy of accepting your gift of love to us. Help us to know you and become
vessels of your unending love and examples to others. In Christ’s most holy name, Amen
Older Adult Ministry
(800) 323-8039 ext. 305
www.brethren.org/oam
www.brethren.org/OlderAdultMonth