7 Letters, Guide: Renunciation Reflection #5
Take Communion
Leader Note: Begin this time by taking communion together, whether as a full meal or some version of the bread and the cup before or after your meal. If you don’t already have a Communion liturgy, have someone read through this prayer based on the Lord’s Supper in Luke 22 and the Wedding Supper in Revelation 19:
All-loving God, we praise you and rejoice in your presence. We come to this table together with hope and longing love, sharing the Lord's Supper, to eat and drink a foretaste of that future Wedding Supper. Jesus, we are making ourselves ready: tuning our hearts and training our appetites to desire you and you alone. Infuse our lives with your presence as we share your body, broken for us, and your blood, poured out for us. You wait with longing for us to drink anew in your kingdom, so we say: Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly.
Read This Overview Aloud (3 minutes)
Throughout the season of Lent, we are engaging in the practice of Renunciation: giving up a particular (often good or neutral) appetite that we tend to use as a substitute for something God already wants to give us. And, as a reminder, we will spend the remainder of this teaching series reflecting on our practice of Renunciation in light of the themes found in one of the seven letters in Revelation.
Tonight, we’ll reflect on Jesus’ letter to the church of Philadelphia, in which he commends and encourages them by saying that he sees how they have kept to his way and endured struggle for the sake of love.
Ultimately, the practice of Renunciation aims to open us up to more of God’s love so that his love permeates our everyday lives. Because love is the goal, the prayer is that our practice of Renunciation (and our accompanying practice of reclamation) will produce lasting change in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. We want to both experience God's love in the present and to allow it to transform us going into the future beyond Lent. So tonight, we will join the church of Philadelphia and do just that.
Do This Practice Tonight (20 minutes)
Leader Note: Feel free to work through the following questions as a whole Community or in smaller groups, so long as everyone has an opportunity to share.
How has your practice of Renunciation been going this week? (e.g. Where did you feel God’s presence? Where did you feel resistance?)
How have you experienced the love of God more deeply during your practice of Renunciation?
With just a short time left, is there anything you hope will continue from your Lenten Renunciation into your everyday life with Jesus? (e.g. a new way of thinking, a changed relationship with technology, or a different pace of life, etc.)
Read The Practice for the Week Ahead (1 minute)
Our Practice for the week ahead is to continue our Renunciation and Reclaiming through the season of Lent. Remember, Renunciation is about joy and desire! Because we are human beings, we will always be susceptible to reaching for something that God wants to give us. In our Renunciation, we are asking God for what he already desires for us and learning to receive from him rather than taking it for ourselves. So, this week, let’s resolve again to renounce our good or neutral appetites and receive God’s kindness and love.
End in Prayer (5 minutes)
Leader Note: Close your time together in blessing prayer for one another, asking God to continue growing each person through the Practice of Renunciation.