A Liturgy of Lament for a Time of Drought

 

A Liturgy of Lament for a Time of Drought

A resource created for Eagle Lake Lutheran Church, Willmar, MN, in the early 1980s.   Feel free to adapt or edit for local use.    Pastor Larry Wohlrabe.

PRELUDE

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

ADDRESS TO GOD (based on Psalm 63:1)

P:  O God, thou art my God,

C:  I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee;

P:  My flesh faints for thee,

C:  As in a dry and weary land where no water is.

P:  O God, thou art my God,

C:  I seek they, my soul thirsts for thee.

 

HYMN:    “As Pants the Hart”

COMPLAINT (based on the weekly news reports and Psalm 51:10-12)

P:  It has been hot and dry for weeks.

C:  We cry out to you for relief, O God.

P:  Our governor says we could be in a “season-long, statewide drought.”

C:  We cry out to you for mercy, O God.

P:  Some crops are lost, and many that survive will suffer irreparable damage.

C:  We cry out to you for recovery, O God.

P:  Farm families are depressed and town-folks grow anxious.

C:  We cry out to you for hope, O God.

P:  This physical drought is beginning to leave us spiritually dry as well.

C:  We cry out to you for faith, O God.

P:  Our dryness reflects our powerlessness, our God-forsakenness, our sinfulness.

C:  We cry out to you for forgiveness, O God.

P:  Let us make confession to God.

C:  Have mercy on us O God, according to your lovingkindness;

            In your great compassion blot out our offenses:

Create us in us clean hearts O God,

and renew right spirits within us.

Cast us not away from your presence,

And take not your Holy Spirit from us.

Restore to us the joy of your salvation

And uphold us with your free Spirit.

 

CONFESSION OF TRUST (based on Isaiah 41:17-18 and Martin Luther’s Small Catechism)

 

P:  When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst,

C:  The Lord will answer them, the God of Israel will not forsake them.

P:  God will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys;

C:  God will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

P:  It may seem that God has abandoned us in this time of drought.

C:  But we know that we are not forsaken!

P:  We are bold, therefore, to confess:

C:  We believe that God has created us and all that exists.  God has given us and still preserves our bodies and souls with all their powers.  God provides us with food and clothing, home and family, daily work, and all that we need from day to day.  God also protects us in time of danger and guards us from every evil.  All this God does out of fatherly and divine goodness and mercy, though we do not deserve it.  Therefore we surely ought to thank and praise, serve and obey God.  This is most certainly true.

 

HYMN:  “He Leadeth Me”

 

WORDS OF ASSURANCE (based on Isaiah 55:10-11)

 

P:  For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth,

C:  making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

P:  so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,

C:  but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and prosper in the things for which I sent it.

P:  Hear the word of the Lord:

 

FIRST LESSON:   Job 38:1-11

 

SECOND LESSONS:    II Corinthians 5:14-21

 

SHARING WITH CHILDREN

 

GOSPEL:   Mark 4:35-41

 

SERMON

 

HYMN:    “Eternal Father, Strong to Save”

 

OFFERING

 

VOW OF PRAISE  (based on Psalm 7:17)

 

P:  God does not sleep through our trials and tribulations, our physical drought and our spiritual dryness.

C:  God hears us and provides for our every need.

P:  Let us give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness!

C:  Let us sing praise to the Lord, the Most High!

 

HYMN:    “Listen, You Nations!”   (Canticle 14 in With One Voice)

 

BENEDICTION

 

POSTLUDE