The Liturgy Speaks the Gospel
I attended a business event in Downtown Kingston one morning in late November, 2018.
A Minister of Religion stepped forward to offer the opening prayer as is customary in Jamaica.
He did not offer a prayer. He went through a series of actions that put a smile on my lips because I recognised it as a scaled down version of the Morning Prayer liturgy that is driven by passages from The Bible.
The Morning Prayer tradition has scripture lessons assigned for each day of the year. Taken together, they provide a lesson. After a few years of following this practice, worshippers become familiar with the The Bible, the Old Testament and also the New Testament.
For example, the format for the Fouth Sunday in Lent which fell on March 22, 2018, the four readings covered hope provided by God's promise through Jesus.
1. It told the story of the anointing of a shepherd and youngest boy in a family to become the leader the nation needed;
2. The reading is reassurance of God's presence in your life, a told through the Shepherd's Psalm;
3. The evangelist Paul's letter of hope through Jesus, the light of the world;
4. The parable of the Blind Man as the authoritative source that Jesus is the Light of the World.
The cleric that morning downtown could not follow the liturgy of Morning Prayer as he had been allotted five minutes, and this is how he used it. He said:
“Revelations reign upon the earth. Reading from the book of Revelations, chapter 5.
'Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals'.
"Recently, I was walking on the streets and saw art on the roadside. It was the Jamaican flag, but a lion was carrying the Jamaican flag and my mind went back to a song that I know very well, I will teach you.
'The Lion of Judah shall break every chain,
The Lion of Judah shall break every chain,
The Lion of Judah shall break every chain,
He will give us the victory, again and again'.
“As we come together at this conference, think of the goal and think of the victory at the end. In scripture, the Lion of Judah was Jesus himself, he was slain on the cross, and became victorious and there was the resurrection after death. Have that picture this day as we say the National Pledge.
"Before God and all mankind, I pledge my heart, my mind my body in the service of my fellow citizens. I stand for justice and for peace. To work and think so that Jamaica may advance the welfare of the whole human race.
And that puts together why we are here today, Amen.”
In five minutes, the Reverend delivered an opening sentence, scripture reading, hymn, prophetic homily, intercession and benediction. The hopeful message was that the seminar will achieve its purpose.
The purpose of the seminar was to help development practitioners overcome social barriers and that the lifestyles of people living in depressed communities will dramatically improve and keep getting better.
The reverend himself is assigned to an extremely tough neighbourhood.
/ghd
March 23, 2020
I attended a business event in Downtown Kingston one morning in late November, 2018.
A Minister of Religion stepped forward to offer the opening prayer as is customary in Jamaica.
He did not offer a prayer. He went through a series of actions that put a smile on my lips because I recognised it as a scaled down version of the Morning Prayer liturgy that is driven by passages from The Bible.
The Morning Prayer tradition has scripture lessons assigned for each day of the year. Taken together, they provide a lesson. After a few years of following this practice, worshippers become familiar with the The Bible, the Old Testament and also the New Testament.
For example, the format for the Fouth Sunday in Lent which fell on March 22, 2018, the four readings covered hope provided by God's promise through Jesus.
1. It told the story of the anointing of a shepherd and youngest boy in a family to become the leader the nation needed;
2. The reading is reassurance of God's presence in your life, a told through the Shepherd's Psalm;
3. The evangelist Paul's letter of hope through Jesus, the light of the world;
4. The parable of the Blind Man as the authoritative source that Jesus is the Light of the World.
The cleric that morning downtown could not follow the liturgy of Morning Prayer as he had been allotted five minutes, and this is how he used it. He said:
“Revelations reign upon the earth. Reading from the book of Revelations, chapter 5.
'Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals'.
"Recently, I was walking on the streets and saw art on the roadside. It was the Jamaican flag, but a lion was carrying the Jamaican flag and my mind went back to a song that I know very well, I will teach you.
'The Lion of Judah shall break every chain,
The Lion of Judah shall break every chain,
The Lion of Judah shall break every chain,
He will give us the victory, again and again'.
“As we come together at this conference, think of the goal and think of the victory at the end. In scripture, the Lion of Judah was Jesus himself, he was slain on the cross, and became victorious and there was the resurrection after death. Have that picture this day as we say the National Pledge.
"Before God and all mankind, I pledge my heart, my mind my body in the service of my fellow citizens. I stand for justice and for peace. To work and think so that Jamaica may advance the welfare of the whole human race.
And that puts together why we are here today, Amen.”
In five minutes, the Reverend delivered an opening sentence, scripture reading, hymn, prophetic homily, intercession and benediction. The hopeful message was that the seminar will achieve its purpose.
The purpose of the seminar was to help development practitioners overcome social barriers and that the lifestyles of people living in depressed communities will dramatically improve and keep getting better.
The reverend himself is assigned to an extremely tough neighbourhood.
/ghd
March 23, 2020
