Hannah's Song
Hi all, sorry for being MIA. As you may know, I am in the upstate of South Carolina, and we got hit by Hurricane Helene. We are fine, the church building is (mostly) fine, and the congregation faired pretty well (lots of trees down, but not much major damage; the picture above is of someone’s driveway). All in all, we consider ourselves pretty lucky, especially when comparing ourselves to folx in western North Carolina and Florida.
Naturally, between loss of power and internet, pastoral care of my flock, and helping out others, this blog/podcast was not on the top of my list of priorities. I hope to be back next week with a more full offering, but in the meantime, here is a spoken-word poem reworking of Hannah’s song that I wrote a few years ago, feel free to use if you would like (note: the poem (especially the first rhyme) assumes pronunciation of the divine name, not something that I usually do now, but was when I wrote it).
Hannah's Song-
A Spoken-Word poem by Rev. Aaron Ochart
My heart lifts up my Lord and God YHWH,
The God who is exalted now exults me in my strength.
With my mouth, I deride those who have become my enemy,
Because they have been defeated,
I have been given victory.
YHWH is the onliest,
The holiest
The foundation for the loneliest.
Shut up your proud mouth,
With that arrogance do not speak.
YHWH is the God of knowledge
And your actions prove you weak.
God breaks the bows of those
Who in blindness think that they are strong;
And gives new life to feeble ones
Gives them the strength
To live and carry on.
The ones who only trusted in themselves
Now must sell
Their work for daily bread;
While the ones who used to beg and plead,
Now they have more than enough,
Engorged upon a table spread.
The one who pines,
And prays,
And cries,
And weeps with empty womb,
She is now surrounded by children;
While the one who bragged of many sons,
Her life is like an empty tomb.
YHWH, my God, is the one
Who orders birth and blade,
Only God can lift to paradise
Or leave in the mass grave
YHWH is the only one who ordains both rich and poor,
God lifts up high and brings down low
God settles every score.
YHWH sifts through the dust and the ashes,
Finds the poor and the cashless,
The human-life car-crashes,
The ones who others passes;
And lifts them high to sit with kings,
to sit above the masses.
YHWH lays the foundation of the world,
Fixes sky, and stars, and sun,
The heavens are God's handiwork, and numbers every one;
God put the heavens in their place,
Sets the pathways and the face
Of the moon and seasons,
knows every reason
You better be believin’
Or you surely will be grievin’.
The feet of the faithful,
God guards with watchful eye;
But the wicked ones,
The despicable ones,
Will be cut off and despised,
Cast out into utter darkness,
Friendless and alone,
They will wish, too late, they honored my God,
The God of Hosts upon the throne.
It is not through strength of hand,
Or our plans,
That we stand
In glorious victory,
But only in the Hand
Of the righteous Lion/Lamb
That we can ever be set free.
YHWH! Will shatter advisories
With disease,
Or the seas,
Against all enemies,
And bring them to their knees.
YHWH! The true God of thunder
Will greatly pull asunder
All those who crush those under
Their feet.
YHWH! Will judge young and old
Test the meek and the bold,
God's power to behold!
Through the righteous King of old,
The Anointed One exalted
All other power halted,
The One who cares for those assaulted.
Those who were brought low
God will grow
and the glow
Of that light will shine
On all of those below.
Liturgy
Call to Worship (1 Sam 2:1-10)
Leader: My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in my God.
People: There is no Holy One like the LORD, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.
Leader: The LORD makes poor and makes rich; God brings low, God also exalts.
People: God raises up the poor from the dust; God lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes.
All: My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in my God.
Prayer of Confession (Unison)
God of Justice, who lifts up and makes low. You have blessed us immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine, you give us all that we need each day. Yet we too often see your abundance as scarcity, and your blessings as reasons to boast. You love your children equally, but we are obsessed with ranking ourselves and others. We praise those who exalt themselves and who step on others to get more. We look up to those who horde what they have been given and despise those from whom they have stolen. We ignore the cries of those who have less, pretending that they have gotten all that they deserve. Help us to be more faithful stewards of your blessings, knowing that you have entrusted us with more than we need so that we can help those who do not have. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon (Luke 1:68-71, 1 Sam. 1:17)
Leader: Blessed be the Lord God, for God has looked favorably on us and redeemed us. God has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of God’s servant David, as was spoken in the mouths of the prophets from of old, that we might be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Go in peace; the God of our Lord, Jesus Christ, grant you the petition you have made. Friends, believe the good news of the gospel, in Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
People: Thanks be to God!