Transforming Wounds Into Worship

Transforming Wounds into Worship

July 13th, 2025 – Communion Meditation

I’m delighted that Beth asked me to offer a communion meditation today based on my Christmas Eve sermon last year. Let’s reflect for a minute on how the last weeks or months have been. Life tends to be a bit of a mixed bag, doesn’t it? I hope we can each treasure some bountiful blessings, enriching experiences, rich relationships, joy-filled journeys, and memorable moments. I know that many, if not all of us, have also faced some overwhelming challenges, some really hard stuff: burnout, betrayal, fatigue, fear, anxiety, anger, cracked relationships, crushing losses, diagnoses, disappointments, negative consequences either from our own poor choices or from the words or actions of others. Life can be grand, and life can also knock the wind out of us sometimes. Some days we might wonder how we’re going to go on or even take the next breath.

God understands. Jesus, God-with-us, fulfilled all of the ancient prophecies including Psalm 147:3 – “He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds” and Isaiah 30:18, 26 (The Message) – “God’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you. He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you. God takes the time to do everything right – everything. Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones … On the Day God heals his people of the wounds and bruises from the time of punishment, moonlight will flare into sunlight, and sunlight, like a whole week of sunshine at once, will flood the land.”

None of us is very good at consistently receiving God’s love, loving God, or reflecting God’s love in the world. The reality is that we are all broken, we are all wounded. Have you ever looked closely at a tree that has been wounded and yet survived? The area surrounding the wound becomes covered with resin, a substance secreted in response to injury that holds the wounded place together and protects that vulnerable place from further damage. Humble resin produced in response to a wound releases a fragrance so sweet and desirable that it has been valued and sought after for over 5000 years. But that fragrance is only released through fire.

No matter how much we know or how careful we are, we cannot escape being wounded because we live in a broken world. We try to hold things together in the places in our lives in which we’ve received wounds. Today as we are focusing on the theme of suffering, I want to remind us that in God’s great love for you and for me, God invites us to let go of holding onto our wounds and instead to allow God to transform our wounds into worship, through the fire of God’s love. As God transforms our wounds into worship, the fragrance of Christ is released in our lives, and we are empowered as agents of healing and transformation to those around us.

Let us pray:

God, we come to you as your children today and hold our lives before you. We are tired of holding onto our wounds. We ask you, in your great love and mercy, to heal us. We surrender our whole selves to you, Jesus – the parts we are okay with, the parts we are ashamed of, the parts where things are going well, the parts that are a crisis away from disaster. We ask you, Christ Jesus, to transform our wounds into worship through the fire of your love. Come, Holy Spirit! Amen.

At the Last Supper, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to those with him and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” When you come forward, you will be given a piece of bread along with the words, “The body of Christ broken for you.”

Jesus then took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” When you come forward, you will also be given a cup into which to dip the bread, along with the words, “The blood of Christ poured out for you.”

I invite you now to come forward to receive the elements. Jesus Christ is present here with us. Let us celebrate the presence of the Lord and the body of Christ as we eat and drink together!