Delaware Maryland Synod
Lenten Worship Non-Lectionary
Midweek Services for Lent, 2015
Week 1 – Creation of the World
Focus
Human beings were created at the end so that they could take care of Earth’s garden that God had created; indeed so that they could serve and preserve it.
“Have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over the cattle and wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26).
They were to have dominion. The Hebrew word for dominion does not mean domination or exploitation but to take responsibility for, to protect and to serve, with earth as the domain for which humans were responsible. As a ruler over Israel would have responsibility to see that the people were protected – that justice was done for the poor, the widows, and the orphans – so humans were, and are, to care for the earth.
Scripture
Genesis 1:1-2:3 The Creation of the World
Responsive Reading
Psalm 8
1O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
4what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
5Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
7all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Contemporary Hymn
God of Wonders by Marc Byrd and Steve Hindalong
Lord of all creation
Of water, earth, and sky
The heavens are Your tabernacle
Glory to the Lord on High
God of wonders, beyond our galaxy
You are holy, holy
The universe declares Your majesty
You are holy, holy
Lord of heaven and earth (2X)
Early in the morning
I will celebrate the light
And as I stumble through the darkness
I will call Your name by night
God of wonders, beyond our galaxy
You are holy, holy
The universe declares Your majesty
You are holy, holy
Lord of heaven and earth (2X)
Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth (3X)
God of wonders, beyond our galaxy
You are holy, holy
Precious Lord, reveal Your heart to me
Father hold me, hold me
The universe declares Your majesty
You are holy, holy, holy, holy
Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth (6X)
Lord of heaven and earth
Lord of heaven and earth
Early in the morning
I will celebrate the light
and as I stumble through the darkness
I will call your name by night
God of wonders beyond our galaxy
You are holy, holy
The universe declares your majesty
You are holy, holy
Lord of heaven and earth
Lord of heaven and earth
hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth
hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth
God of wonders beyond our galaxy
You are holy, holy
Precious Lord reveal your heart to me
Father holy, holy
the universe declares your majesty
you are holy, holy, holy, holy
hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth
hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth
hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth
hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth
hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth
hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth
Traditional Hymn
ELW #713 Earth and All Stars
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you created the earth and all its inhabitants and you gave us the awesome responsibility to care for it. During this season of Lent, give us the strength and courage to sacrifice our wants for the needs of your creation. Make us aware of the impact our actions have on your Creation and bring healing to the earth where we have damaged it. Amen.
Fact Sheet
Climate change is the single biggest environmental and humanitarian crisis of our time. The Earth's atmosphere is overloaded with heat-trapping carbon dioxide, which threatens large-scale disruptions in climate with disastrous consequences.Climate change is the single biggest environmental and humanitarian crisis of our time. The Earth's atmosphere is overloaded with heat-trapping carbon dioxide, which threatens large-scale disruptions in climate with disastrous consequences. We must act now to spur the adoption of cleaner energy sources at home and abroad. Climate change is the single biggest environmental and humanitarian crisis of our time. The Earth's atmosphere is overloaded with heat-trapping carbon dioxide, which threatens large-scale disruptions in climate with disastrous consequences. We must act now to spur the adoption of cleaner energy sources at home and abroad.
Here's what the first six months of 2012 brought:
- The hottest January to June ever recorded in the continental United States.
- More than 22,000 daily high temperature records tied or broken.
- The largest drought declaration in over 50 years, with more than two-thirds of the continental United States in drought at the end of July.
- One of the most destructive freak derecho storms in history.
- Fires in Colorado that have destroyed more than 700 homes.
Unfortunately, the first half of 2012 is not the exception. It's becoming the new normal. In 2011, for instance, an unprecedented 14 disastrous weather events resulted in an estimated $53 billion in damage –- not including health costs. But the trend goes back much further. In fact, the 13 warmest years ever recorded have occurred since 1997, according to the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization. June 2012 also marks the 328th consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20th century average.
(Source: National Resources Defense Council NRDC)
Our Response
There is a concept of environmental tithing that is relevant to our vocation as stewards of creation. Most people are familiar with the biblical concept of tithing, the giving of a “tenth.” The biblical tithe has been used as a marker of responsible stewardship. This tenth is given back to God—to the church, to the poor, to other causes deemed expressions of God’s will—as a symbol that the whole belongs to God. We can also apply the tithe to the stewardship of our personal resources of Earth. Can we reduce our electrical use by ten percent? Can we reduce the gas for heating by ten percent? Can we reduce the water we use by ten percent? Can we eat ten percent less food that comes from a distance? Can we eat fewer meals with meat? Can we travel ten percent less than usual? Can we invest a tenth of our financial resources in funds that contribute to sustainability? Can we set other goals to reduce our impact on the environment by a tenth—or more? And if we can, could we then contribute the money saved toward further efforts at restoring Earth? Tithing is just a beginning as we contemplate all we can do on a daily basis at home, at work, and in society to foster and maintain a sustainable world.
Week 2 – Land
Focus
In Genesis, God creates Adam from the adamah (earth) and human beings are commanded to care for it.
On Ash Wednesday, we are reminded ritually with the words, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
Land was the tangible sign of a sacred covenant between God and Israel.
The land is a “new Eden” where God will pitch his tent (tabernacle) and walk among the people.
Scripture
Gen15:18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”
Lev 20:24 But I have said to you: You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God; I have separated you from the peoples.
Deut 8:7-20
For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper.
You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you. Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Responsive Reading
Psalm 104 verses 1-15
1Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
3you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind,
4you make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
5You set the earth on its foundations,
so that it shall never be shaken.
6You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7At your rebuke they flee;
at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
8They rose up to the mountains,
ran down to the valleys to the place that you appointed for them.
9You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
10You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills,
11giving drink to every wild animal;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
they sing among the branches.
13From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
14You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth,
15and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.
Contemporary Hymn
“Indescribable” by Laura Story
From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming
Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing, God
All powerful, untamable
Awestruck we fall to our knees
As we humbly proclaim
You are amazing, God
Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet, conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom
Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing, God
All powerful, untamable
Awestruck we fall to our knees
As we humbly proclaim
You are amazing, God
You are amazing, God
Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing God
All powerful, untamable
Awestruck we fall to our knees
As we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God
Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing, God
Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart
And You love me the same
You are amazing, God
You are amazing, God
Traditional Hymn
ELW #824 This is My Father’s World
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you have given us a land flowing with milk and honey, but we have not taken care of it or used it wisely. Forgive us when we are careless and put our needs ahead of the needs of all you have created. Restore the land where we have damaged it by strip mining, over-farming, over-development, fracking, drilling, and many other ways. Teach us to live in harmony with all you have created. Amen.
Fact Sheet
PESTICIDE USAGE
- 78 million households in the U.S. use home and garden pesticides.
- Herbicides account for the highest usage of pesticides in the home and garden sector with over 90 million pounds applied on lawns and gardens per year.
- Suburban lawns and gardens receive more pesticide applications per acre (3.2-9.8 lbs) than agriculture (2.7 lbs per acre on average).
- Pesticide sales by the chemical industry average $9.3 billion. Annual sales of the landscape industry are over $35 billion.
- Included in the most commonly used pesticides per pounds per year are: 2,4-D (8-11 million), Glyphosate (5-8 million), MCPP (Mecoprop) (4-6 million), Pendimethalin (3-6 million), Dicamba (2-4 million).
- A 2004 national survey reveals that 5 million homeowners use only organic lawn practices and products and 35 million people use both toxic and non-toxic materials.
HEALTH & EXPOSURE RISKS
- Of 30 commonly-used lawn pesticides, 19 have studies pointing toward carcinogens, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 with effects on reproduction, 15 with neurotoxicity, 26 with liver or kidney damage, 27 are sensitizers and/or irritants, and 11 have the potential to disrupt the endocrine (hormonal) system.
- Pregnant women, infants and children, the aged and the chronically ill are at greatest risk from pesticide exposure and chemically induced immune-suppression, which can increase susceptibility to cancer.
- Scientific studies find pesticide residues – such as the weed-killer 2,4-D and the insecticide carbaryl – are tracked in or drift inside homes, where they contaminate air, dust, surfaces, and carpets and expose children at levels ten times higher than pre-applicationlevels.
CHILDREN & PESTICIDES
- Children take in more pesticides relative to body weight than adults and have developing organ systems that make them more vulnerable and less able to detoxify toxins.
- The National Academy of Sciences estimates 50% of lifetime pesticide exposure occurs during the first 5 years of life.
- A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute finds home and garden pesticide use can increase the risk of childhood leukemia by almost seven times.
- Studies show low levels of exposure to actual lawn pesticide products are linked to increased rates of miscarriage, and suppression of the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems.
- Exposure to home and garden pesticides can increase a child’s likelihood of developing asthma.
- Studies link pesticides with hyperactivity, developmental delays, behavioral disorders, and motor dysfunction.
- Children ages children ages 6-11 have higher levels of lawn chemicals in their blood than all other age categories. Bio-monitoring studies find that pesticides pass from mother to child through umbilical cord blood and breast milk.
(Source: Beyond Pesticides)