These are my words from the night Americans attempted to overthrow the government of the USA, shared at a special prayer gathering at Meridian Street UMC. Yes, we are those people!
I lift up my eyes to the hills,
where does my help come from --- my help comes from the Lord.
Today is the celebration of the feast of the Baptism of Jesus --- it is the day we celebrate his breaking out into the world --- and yet . . .
We gather tonight facing an unprecedented time in our nation.
Senator McConnell
said during the joint session to certify the election of Joe Biden as the next
President of the United States.
"We cannot keep drifting apart into two separate tribes... with separate facts, and separate realities ... with nothing in common except hostility toward each another and mistrust for the few national institutions that we still share."
I stand before
you broken hearted, but filled with the trust that Joshua proclaimed:
I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
We stand at a
cross-roads --- and we must choose which way we will go:
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days
Tonight we will listen to scripture, pray together and seek God’s direction for each of us.
I invite you to settle in, breath in, and allow the spirit to speak to you.
Philippians 4:4-9
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Friends, my heart is tied up in knots.
As I know many of yours are as well.
There are no
simple ways forward --- all will require great pain.
But if we are willing to turn our hearts back to God --- I believe that we can do that.
Even saying that,
I know how trite that can sound.
I know that during the American Civil War soldiers on both side believed they were on the side of God
What God wants of us is come together and seek justice
This afternoon a song kept coming into my head
It was the song
that for me became my anthem following 9/11.
It is a song that causes me to look inside and ask myself what is my role in this.
The song is from
Pink Floyd and it certainly dates me.
They sing:
So,
so you think you can tell
Heaven
from Hell? Blue skies from pain?
Can
you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A
smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell?
Did
they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot
ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold
comfort for change? Did you exchange
A walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
The problem is --- I never want to look inside --- I would rather find the splinter in your eye than the log that is in my own.
IF we are to get
through this --- it is going to require ALL of us to look deep inside.
To
stop making everything a binary equation
To stop putting ourselves first
Instead we must
follow
FOLLOW JESUS
We need to ask
what Jesus asked:
what will it profit you to gain the whole world and forfeit your life?
Tonight is not the night for blame
Tonight is the night for us to recommit ourselves to the Kin-dom values of God
And to see each other as God’s children
Would you pray with me:
Loving God, we ask that you fill us with your Spirit of love and unity.
We ask for your help to set aside our differences and look to Christ.
We ask that you would help us to truly live a life of love.
We know that this is only possible through the power of your Spirit, so we pray for your Spirit to move across our land in fresh ways. Turn your people back to you. Draw others to come to know you. Thank you that you are always with us fill us with hope.
We pray for our families, for every relationship most dear to us, that you would guard our time, and our lives together.
We ask for your ability to quickly forgive hurts, for a renewed heart of compassion, for love and faithfulness to be evident in every decision and action.
O Lord, Our
deepest hope, our most tender prayer,
Is that we learn to listen.
May we listen to one another in openness and mercy
May We listen to our own hearts in love and forgiveness
May we listen to God in quietness and awe.
And in this listening,
Which is boundless in its beauty,
May we find the wisdom to cooperate
With a healing spirit, a divine spirit
Who beckons us into peace and community and creativity.
We do not ask for a perfect world.
But we do ask for a better world.
Give us the courage to make it so. Amen.
Holy God,
who created us for and from love,
in this time anxiety,
hold us close in your arms.
Comfort those who are afraid,
give courage to those who are distressed,
and warm those who feel the cold touch of loneliness.
Breathe in, with and through us
as we walk through uncertainty into a new future
knowing that you are with us now and await us there.
Send us out in
the name of the Prince of Peace who is our Lord and Savior.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment