Litany for the Unworthy Servant

The Lectionary passage from the Gospels for Sunday October 2, 2016 is from Luke 17:5-10. I read it in the TNIV.

This passage feels disconnected to me. The disciples say “Increase our faith!” and Jesus starts talking about walking mulberry trees. Then suddenly he’s talking about an unworthy servant.

I feel bad for the servant in this scenario. He works all day in the field, and then has to come back and prepare a dinner and serve it to his boss before he’s able to rest and eat himself. Despite working all the stinking day long, he’s called unworthy, because he’s “only done his duty.” What, Jesus? What more do you want from a person who has labored all day, only to come home and labor some more at preparing a meal for his lazy boss?

I’m confused by this “unworthy servant” business. Seems to me like if you work all day, then you work all evening, you should get a rest and a thanks. But you only get thanks if you go beyond your duty? UNFAIR! And how this is tied to the disciples original question about faith? This feels like I will never measure up to Kingdom standards, even if I collapse at the end of the day with exhaustion.

 But maybe I’m getting it wrong. Maybe it’s an invitation, and not a noose around my neck. Maybe Jesus is inviting me to think beyond the bounds of my “duty.” Maybe faith is about thinking outside the realm of the probable or expected (moving mulberry trees with a word?). Maybe being a person of faith is less like being an employee, and more like being a freelancer of extravagant kindness?

What if the servant had worked all day, done his duty, fixed supper, served it up; and then also made a decadent dessert? Would he still be unworthy?

 

God of Extravagant Kindness:
You have gone above and beyond your duty to us.
You have given second, third, fourth, gazillionth chances.
You have given fullness of joy and life everlasting.

When we have given way to violence and chaos,
Still you regard us with love.
When we have made a mess of a culture based on exploitation and heirarchy,
Still you regard us with love.
When we have taken the legacy of Cain (1), and perpetuated it for millenia,
Still you regard us with love.
When we have rejected the Way of Peace that Jesus offers,
Still you regard us with love. *

Help us to see beyond the bounds of our duty:
Our immediate families,
Our work responsibilities,
Our debts and debates;
To the realm of the improbable and unexpected,
To the mountains that need moving within and without,
To problems of injustice that seem impossible to fix,
To the beggar outside our gate.

Help us to release into the world your Extravagant Kindness,
Your moving-mulberry kindness,
Your walk-on-water kindness,
Your decadent dessert kindness.

And may we, by imitating the love and grace of Christ,
Be regarded as worthy servants of God.
Amen

(1) Cain, who killed his brother Abel over a land dispute.

* Look, I know this section is heavy. But look what is going on in the world? Look at the violence and racial injustice. Look at what's happening in Charlotte. We have gotten a lot wrong and I believe God has things to say to us about it. We need to listen. We need to counteract the prevailing culture with extravagant love and kindness.

Litany for Compassion

The Lectionary text from the Gospels for Sunday, September 25 (Proper 21) is from Luke 16:19-31. It is the story of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar.

Here are things I’m coming to believe:

Compassion = Heaven on Earth

and

Compassion Bridges Chasms

 

God of Compassion and Love,
You care for sparrows and sinners.
Your heart is bent toward the disadvantaged
Your justice covers the rich and the beggar.

We acknowledge our obstacles in participating in your work:
Self-centeredness
Apathy
Disgust
Blindness
Pride.

These things keep us from seeing the beggar at our gate.
We need you to teach us your way.
We need you to forgive us
And have mercy upon us;
That we may, by having compassion, bring heaven to earth
And break down the walls of hell.

Give us courage to face the agony of those around us
And strength to help.
When we are asked to get our hands dirty, to stoop to lift the downtrodden,
Help us to be faithful and obedient.
 

Amen.
 

Litany for Spending Money

I’ve been going through Luke, and writing prayers each week for a few months now, and it has been a fruitful spiritual practice. To take the words of Jesus and inhale them so deeply that a congregational prayer may breathe out - well, I recommend it. Read Jesus, then pray about what he says: a formula for transformation.

The discussion has primarily been about money and possessions, about how difficult it is to have them and also participate authentically in the Kingdom of God as it was begun by Jesus. We are forced, in some ways, to acknowledge our disadvantages. We are at a disadvantage because we live in the U.S., and are by and large not debilitatingly poor; and it is the poor to whom the Kingdom is given (1). So by being born in an affluent nation with access to clean water and cheap food and clothing and the internet and iphones, we have to admit that our starting line is farther back; closer to that, say, of the Pharisees, if we’re counting.

When I admit that, I start to see the baggage that comes with it all. I wonder how to simplify. I wonder how to live well and prophetically in this culture and economy. I’ve talked before about all the ways we vote, and it’s an idea I tend to come back to. We have money (or at least we have credit) and we have to use it to survive so how can we use it to help the world survive as well? How can we spend money well, in a way that goes with the grain of the Kingdom of God and not against it?

I have a few ideas. First we can routinely give it away, as much as we can stand to. We can give it to our home churches, and to organizations that do good work, that feed hungry folks and fight injustice and care for orphans. I’ve even started keeping singles in my mom-mobile and giving them away to every panhandler I see at any intersection I pass (2).

Second, we can spend less and buy less unnecessary crap we don’t need so that we have more to give away and more to invest so we can give it away in the future. This is stewardship (3).

Third, we can think about what we are buying when we buy it. Are we supporting sweat-shop slavery when we buy fast-fashion? Are we supporting a sustainable food economy that cares for the earth and the health of the humans it feeds? Are we feeding our bodies in a way that creates health and peace in them? Are we supporting brands that pay workers a fair and living wage? Are we supporting companies that exploit people, animals, and the environment? Are we making peace with our dollar-votes?

These are questions I’m asking myself, and questions I think we have a responsibility to ask if we are trying to honor Jesus with our money. I don’t expect to ever do this perfectly. I don’t expect to ever have a leg to stand on to criticize how another person spends his or her money. I expect to spend the rest of my life on this earth trying to be faithful with money, failing and trying, failing and growing.

 

God of Love and Light,
Our whole lives on this earth, we must interact with money.
We acknowledge that whatever money we have, it’s because you have given it.
We acknowledge that with it comes responsibility.
We acknowledge that with it comes opportunity for doing good.

Help us in our weakness.
Help us when we are tempted to idolize money.
     We want to honor you above all.
Help us when we are tempted to be self-serving and ungenerous.
     We want your generous heart to beat within us.
Help us when we are tempted to gratify ourselves with false consolation.
     We want to be comforted by your presence.
Help us when we are tempted to become miserly and joyless.
     We want to enjoy the fruits of our work, and of the earth.
Help us when we are tempted to be apathetic toward the people who produce the things we buy.
     We want to care for those who are unseen.
Help us when we are tempted to be apathetic toward our own body- and soul-health.
     We want to glorify you in our bodies and care for them as temples.

May we be forces for good in this world,
Courageously examining the consequences of all we do, all we consume.
May we invest in treasures that last, both in this world and beyond it.
May we become peace-makers and peace-purchasers.
As you yourself are our peace (4),
So may we be the peace of the world.

Amen


 

  1. Matthew 5:3

  2. Matthew 5:42 “Give to anyone who asks of you.” I’m not mentioning this as a pat-myself-on-the-back. I’m sharing a practical idea of a way that scripture might come alive in our daily lives.

  3. Matthew 25:14-30, the Parable of the Steward

  4. Ephesians 2:14

Litany for Money

The Lectionary text from the Gospels for September 18, 2016, Proper 20 (25), is from Luke 16:1-13.

I recently listened to a sermon from Brian Zahnd entitled “How Much a Dollar Cost.” Every year he does a series called “Finding God on your iPod” in which he takes popular songs and examines what they might teach us as Jesus-following folks. Kendrick Lamar’s song “How Much A Dollar Cost,” is a rap song about a time that God spoke to Kendrick about reevaluating his attitude toward money. It is very compelling and I recommend taking a listen.

In his sermon, Zahnd says (I’m quoting from memory here, so might be imprecise) that one of the greatest obstacles to the Kingdom of God that a person can face is economic self-interest. We can find this time and time again in the teachings of Jesus. The passages I’ve written along with from Luke over the past couple of months have continuously addressed this. Today’s passage does as well, but this time we are told outright: “You can’t serve both God and wealth. You have to choose.”

It’s a powerful message we can’t ignore. I can’t. The culture I live in values prestige and success and possessions and power; and the culture Jesus is asking me to invest in has an entirely different set of benchmarks. Resisting the one and embracing the other is not going to be convenient.
 

God, who sees behind appearances to the heart:
We know that one of the biggest obstacles we face in living out your kingdom
Is our own self-interest.
We know that we must learn to regard money as a tool
And not a prize.

Help us not to capitulate to the ways of the world, to resist:
Dishonesty and exploitation,
Vengeance-taking and competition,
Power-seeking and violence-wielding.

Yours is an altogether different economy
In which mercy is valued over judgement
Care for the least is valued over self-promotion
Meekness is valued over popularity,
Generosity is valued over accumulation,
Spiritual riches are valued over financial wealth.

Help us to understand your values
And live in light of them.
Help us to be faithful in the smallest responsibilities:
Acts of kindness
Gifts given generously
Words spoken gently,
Finances stewarded faithfully,
Peace offered freely;

So that when our destinies arise before us,
We are ready to meet them.

Amen
 

Litany for God So Loved the World

This week the Feast of Cross is celebrated in the liturgical calendar. The feast days commemorate the discovery by Saint Helena the mother of Constantine, of the cross on which Jesus was crucified; as well as the subsequent dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Most Protestant folk don't generally know about these feasts, and I only started learning about them when I began following along with the liturgical calendar and lectionary.  The Lectionary text from the Gospels for Holy Cross Day, which is in most traditions celebrated on September 14 (in others on September 16), for the year 2016, is John 3:13-17. 

I am including this text in my Lectionary litanies even though it is not a regular Sunday text, because it contains probably the most well-known verse in Scripture: John 3:16. If ever there were a text that should inspire and has inspired followers of Jesus to pray, it's this one. I find Eugene Peterson’s translation of it particularly compelling.

 

God, Creator and Lover of Humankind:
You’ve been reaching out to us since the dawn of our consciousness;
Extending connection and love,
Explaining yourself in ways each iteration of humanity could understand.

You are always convincing us of your love,
Mercifully covering our shame,
Making sacrifices to clothe our nakedness, (1)
Walking with us in the midst of our propensity for evil.

On our own we tend to choose death for ourselves
Even though you have been offering us whole and lasting life from the beginning. (2)

We still need to be convinced of your love
And of your loving nature.
We still need to look upon the person of Christ
And be reminded of what God is.

Your love reaches to the heavens.
Your faithfulness stretches to the skies. (3)

 

(1) Genesis 3:21
(2) “Whole and lasting life” is part of Eugene Peterson’s compelling translation of John 3:17
(3) Psalm 36:5


 

 

Litany for Goodness and Mercy

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:6)

 

God of goodness and mercy: we admit that we have gotten off-track.
We know we need to do justly,
Love mercy,
Walk humbly. (1)

We are enticed by retribution
And take vengeance for ourselves (2).
We are enamored by damnation
And forget about goodness.
We are in love with judgement
And disregard mercy.

We need a change of heart.
Christ, have mercy on us.
We need to look into your eyes and have our inner world transformed,
Before we begin work on the world around us (3).

Transform and renew us now (4)
Into the image of Christ,
Into a peace-making people,
Into a just and merciful people.

May we scatter seeds of goodness and mercy wherever we go,
And live in the light of your presence always. (5)

Amen

 

  1. Micah 6:8, which Phyllis Tickle says is the motto of the Great Emergence.

  2. Romans 12:19

  3. Matthew 7:3

  4. Romans 12:2

  5. Psalm 23.6

Litany for Lost and Found

The Lectionary reading from the gospels for September 11, 2016 is from Luke 15:1-10.

Now this, this is the Jesus my heart loves. This is the Jesus I understand and am compelled by. This is the Jesus I think of when I think of Jesus. This is the Jesus at whose feet I fall (as opposed to wanting to wring his neck). This is where the kingdom, for me, becomes a living breathing soulful thing. Go and read the passage, and see if your heart doesn’t leap up too.

Loving God, finder of lost sheep,
Friend to sinners and rejects;
We look to your son, Jesus
The embodiment of perfect Love.

We confess that we have been so preoccupied with the ninety-nine
That we have overlooked the one.
We confess that we have judged and marginalized, pushed to the fringes
Those beloveds whom society has rejected.

If we have been the one rejected or lost,
Help us to forgive the ninety-nine.
If we have rejected our own selves, or deemed ourselves unworthy of your attention,
Let your love find us.
If we, in our pain, have been resistant to your love, blaming you for our rejection,
Open our eyes to the truth of your welcome.

Grant us now hearts of compassionate mercy,
Full of lovingkindness.
May we go out into the world, offering hope, offering mercy, offering love,
Offering an invitation to a joyful feast:
(ALL:) The Kingdom of God, open to all.

Amen

 

(Incidentally, I wrote a song entitled "All Sinners" about this very topic. You can find it here. )

Litany for 9/11

Sunday marks the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. This litany will also be posted on Godspace. I have reposted it here for the sake of my catalog.


God, we remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
We know that you remember them too, and are keeping them in your care.

We acknowledge the pervasiveness of violence in our world:
    Sometimes it explodes with intent to kill
And has its success, as on 9/11.
And sometimes it creeps in subtly:
    In attitudes and mindsets, in worldviews and passing words.
We find it even here in our own hearts.

Cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and restore us to justice.
We rely upon your mercy.

Grant that we may forgive those who have committed atrocities against us
And remember them also to your merciful love.
We hear your words to us: “Do not resist an evil person;” (1)
We are baffled and astonished at this instruction.
We have no paradigm for understanding a peaceable kingdom,
Other than your example.

Console us in our grief, Oh Lovely One.
Speak to us in our confusion.
Guide our feet on the path of peace. (2)
Be to us a light in darkness,
A lamp of peace drawing us lovingly in.

Amen


(1) Matthew 5:39
(2) Luke 1: 78-79
 

Litany for Guidance

“For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.” Psalm 48: 14

God, we find ourselves at a moment
When a decision must be made,
A direction must be chosen.
We seek your light and your guidance.

We desire to honor you in all that we do
In each breath we take,
Every goal,
Every action,
Every thought,
Every interaction.

We acknowledge that our choices matter,
But that you are Author, Creator, Beginner.
We acknowledge our smallness
And our potential.
We acknowledge that we are connected to a great big world
Parts of a body.
We acknowledge that acts of love reverberate
To all the world (1).

May all we do, and all we choose,
Be done and chosen with love;
That we may be, not a clanging cymbal or gong,
But a beautiful music filling the earth.

Help us to bravely step out into the path of peace (2),
Trusting in your help along the way (3).

Amen
 

1) Psalm 119:64 “The earth is filled with your love, Lord; teach me your decrees.”
2) Luke 1:78,79 "...because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."
3) Exodus 3: 11,12 "Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

Litany for Doing Hard Things

The Lectionary reading from the gospel of Luke for Sept. 4, 2016 (Proper 18, year C) can be found here.

Wow, Jesus, you really know how to throw down a challenge. Sometimes it feels like you are just trying to make things hard. Why can’t we have a nice gospel? Something pleasant, with sparkles and comfortable pillows and cocktails? But no, you are here going on about “carry your cross” and “hate your father and mother.” I thought I was supposed to honor my father and mother! To love them!

Here is where it becomes helpful for me to read commentary.

I am trying to catch the spirit of this, and indeed the spirit of every challenging thing Jesus is saying in this journey through the gospel of Luke. And I am struggling with it, wrestling with what is black and white on the page, and what is meant, and all the hidden context I don’t necessarily see from a 21st century perspective.

I am coming to terms with the fact that I am slow. And that it will most likely take me my whole life to wrap my brain around what Jesus is explaining to me, which is, as best as I can describe it now, this: the goodness of the Kingdom is not in material things, nor is it necessarily in those relationships which come easily to us - among people who are like us, the same skin color, the same language, the same economic status. The goodness of the Kingdom is in the invitation, the giving-away, the sharing, the awkward feast, the open-handed posture, the asking for help, the venturing out, the making connections, the lost and found, the embracing Other.

 

God, We hold our lives loosely before you
Offering them up to you.
You have asked us to trust in you.
We trust in you.
You have asked us to be loyal to you.
We give you our loyalty.

Help us to get our priorities straight
To honor you with everything we own, and everything we relinquish.
We entrust you with the people we love
Understanding that your love is greater.

We acknowledge that following Jesus won't always be easy.
We acknowledge that we will be asked to Do Hard Things.

Help us to become willing
To follow you,
To endure whatever suffering we must encounter,
To humble ourselves,
To let go of things that hold us back,
To risk our security,
To embrace awkwardness,
To go all-out for love.

Everything we have, every relationship, every possession
Is nothing compared to the richness of your kingdom.
Everything required of us in following you,
Is nothing compared to the joy of your presence.

May we faithfully follow the example of Christ,
And live in his light.

Amen

 

A Bilingual Litany: Litany for Wars (English/Arabic)

My friend Sara, who is from Jordan, helped me with some Arabic phrases for bilingual litanies. "Emnahna al salam" means "grant us peace."

em-NAH-HH-nah AHL sa-LAHM (you make the H-sound as a syllable)

I encourage you to try saying the phrase out loud, even if the words feel strange in your mouth, to speak in solidarity with those Arabic-speakers whose nations are at war and in deep suffering. Your willingness to discomfort yourself in this small way then becomes its own kind of prayer: stumbling, mis-pronounced, and self-conscious, but heart-felt. I have Syria in mind for this litany, but the name of any war-torn nation may be substituted.

God, wars rage and nations are in turmoil.
Emnahna al salam.
Only the power of God can turn hearts and minds toward peace.
Emnahna al salam.

In your mercy, look upon the people of Syria.
Emnahna al salam.
Look upon the poor and vulnerable;
Emnahna al salam.
Look upon the sick and wounded;
Emnahna al salam.
Look upon the government and political leaders;
Emnahna al salam.
Look upon those whose pockets are lined by war;
Emnahna al salam.
Look upon those who are caught up in violence and cannot see a way out.
Emnahna al salam.
Bring your justice and mercy swiftly.
Emnahna al salam.

Spoil the plans of those who instigate trouble because of greed and power-hunger.
Emnahna al salam.
Rescue those who are suffering from violence and unjust government.
Emnahna al salam.
Fill the hearts of those who can help with compassion and strength.
Emnahna al salam.
Empower leaders whose hearts understand the goal of Love, and who enact justice.
Emnahna al salam.

May the spirit of Christ, the Prince of Peace, be strong in that region.
Emnahna al salam.

Amen

Little Litanies: Psalm 23

I’m teaching my five-year-old this version of Psalm 23 that I wrote/mashed up. It’s a mix of influences from the NIV and the MSG, and some simplifications of my own invention. I wanted to create a version that a very young child can connect with, but that retains some of the beauty and imagery of the original and can serve as a touchstone prayer for comfort and encouragement and a reminder of the loving presence of God. I also wanted it to be accessible to a kid who is not being raised in an agrarian society, and for whom metaphors are not yet obvious (1).


God, you’re my shepherd.
I am your sheep.(2)
You give me everything I need.

You let me rest in green meadows
And drink from peaceful waters.
You refresh my soul.
You guide me so that I can honor you.

Even if I’m in a dark, scary place,
I’m not afraid because you are with me.
You comfort and encourage me.

You prepare a party for me,
And ask me to invite my enemies. (3)
You put oil on my head. (4)
My blessings are overflowing.

My whole life is full of your beauty and love,
And my home is with you. (5)

Amen

 

  1. For instance, just recently I had drawn a picture of a cucumber wearing a t-shirt that said “Eat me” and put it in her lunchbox. Her response: “Why did you give me a picture of a cucumber with no pants!?!...<a pause for consideration>...OOOooh, because you put cucumbers in my lunch and you wanted me to eat them!”

  2. This line is not in the original Psalm. I added it, again because the metaphor is not obvious to a digital-age five-year-old.

  3. Yep, I’m taking a liberty here. I’m mixing in the sermon on the mount (Matt 5:44). I used to think this line was about gloating. Now I think it’s about inviting.

  4. My kid is familiar with this concept, because I anoint her head with essential oils regularly.

  5. These two lines are much like Eugene Peterson’s in the MSG.



     

Litany for Kindergarten

Oh God, ever-present and ever-loving
Be near to our little ones
As they venture out
Into the wide world.

May their first steps be confident,
Their first interactions pleasant,
Their first impressions positive,
Their first lessons lasting.

We have tried to raise them well, to teach them to be
     Smart,
     Kind,
     Generous,
     Brave, and
     Strong;
And to instill in them their belovedness
     By you
     And by us.

Bless us with wisdom to parent them well in this new season,
Neither hovering nor disconnected;
Attuned, but acknowledging and encouraging their emerging selves;
Gentle, caring, and patient always.

We ask you to bless and keep them
To protect them from harm
To keep them from temptation,
And rescue them from evil.

Be a friend to them, present and accessible.

We entrust them to you in the hours that they are out of our care,
The same as we entrust them to you when they are with us.
Again and again, we entrust them to you.
Their whole lives long and beyond, we entrust them to you.

Amen


 

Litany for Freedom

The lectionary reading from the Gospels for August 21 is from Luke 13:10-17.

I love this part of the story. I get a smile on my face every time I read it. In part because I enjoy breaking rules and sticking it to The Man. It’s the stage-3, rebellious teenager in me. No actually I wasn’t very rebellious until I became an adult and I started to see the cracks in the whole faith-schematic that I was a part of. I came to adulthood in a denominational world of fundamentalism, rules-adherence gospel, and church power struggle. Pastors were routinely “voted out,” having had factions rise up against them from within churches. Families who didn’t follow the rules were made unwelcome.

I witnessed all this. I witnessed an aversion to ecumenicalism, resistance to anything “tainted” by any other theological perspective, and unwillingness to build community bridges. My perception of the church was colored by the fact that there was always drama and disagreement within it. Calvinism was gospel and the gospel was Calvinism, and war was a valid tool for spreading it. The message to me as a young woman was: God is happiest with you if you are married, mothering children at home, submitting to your husband, being quiet and dressing modestly. My interests in theology and leadership were misplaced, so I was told, so I shut them down for many years. I don’t say all this as a judgement; I say it as part of the story of what I experienced as a young person, and what brought me to where I am today.

Eventually that vague sense of dread became a personal revolution. I came to a place in which I said: I don’t want this anymore. This is not good news. I am not sure who I am, but it isn’t who they say I am. Scratch it all, start again. But keep Jesus, I like him even though he confounds me every time I open the book.

Jordan and I married and moved far away from home. We flipped a coin to decide where. We landed by the grace of God in the bosom of a little community that was trying to follow Jesus together, to be emotionally healthy, to work through disagreements in raw but authentic ways. The little church was, of all sacrilegious and heretical things, pastored by a woman! We were a bundle of misunderstood theology, church resentments and wounds, and in the midst of a great deal of life-shock; but gradually we moved toward healing and towards Jesus.

That church broke all the rules we had been taught. Talk about our feelings? Emotional health is important? Reconciliation is a thing? Women can do stuff and the wrath of God won’t descend? We don’t have to choose between faith and science?! There are other ways of approaching scripture?!! ...So many yes’es and so many broken rules that healed our sore hearts, and so much freedom.

So when Jesus does this in Luke 13: breaks the Sabbath, which is a gift and an invitation to be free, and sets a woman (a woman!) free from literal physical bondage on entirely the WRONG DAY OF THE WEEK; I just want to dance a jig, and often do. I think of that woman, how Jesus took hold of freedom on the day which most people considered their hands to be tied: Oh, we can’t do anything to help, it’s the Sabbath too bad so sad we won’t risk incurring God’s anger for one little woman. And Jesus said nope; you’ve got it wrong, the Sabbath is meant to free you not to bind you, the Kingdom is here now and everyday I’m letting freedom ring! Hallelujah! The entire crowd was rejoicing (verse 17), and so am I! Oh, hallelujah.

If you have been freed, or are hankering for freedom, I invite you to pray.

Jesus, so often we miss the point of your invitations.
We strap them to ourselves as weights and constrictions
When you meant them to free us.

You invite us to Sabbath
To rest
To contemplation
To community.

You invite us to think differently
About rules
About assumptions
About what the Kingdom of God looks like.  

You invite us to your revolutionary idea
That the Kingdom is now
That freedom is now
That Resurrection is resurrecting everything.

Help us to go to the scripture, to the rules, hand in hand with you.
     You guiding our thinking,
     You keeping our foot from stumbling
     You pointing out the most important bits.
Help us there to find all the freedom we expect from you
     Peace in every encounter,
     Love in every interaction,
     Joy in every invitation.

Amen

Litany for Changing Times; and, Why I Often Want to Wring Jesus' Neck

The Lectionary reading from the gospels for August 14, 2016, Proper 16, is from Luke 12:49-56. I found it helpful to read Eugene Peterson's translation of it, to get the spirit of it.

I nearly gave up on this week’s gospel Lectionary passage. <Why, Fran? Why did you nearly give up?> Because sometimes Jesus frustrates the hell out of me. I have been following Jesus, with various fits and starts, for something like 26 years. Obviously, something about him compels me. Yes, he does. He is the most compelling character in history, the most pivotal person ever to walk the earth. His coming initiated changes even the secular world admits have profoundly affected the course of history. Not only that, but I really do believe he was/is God in human flesh, walking among us.

Yes I find him compelling, but actually engaging with him can sometimes be a little crazy-making. How can I simultaneously want to worship at someone’s feet and wring his neck? (1) (I am not the only person who occasionally wants to wring his neck, seeing as how an entire group of people did a whole lot worse than that, killing him for no real reason except they found him frustrating. I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek here but not too much.)

My journey through reading the gospels is, every single time I go to them, heavy with questions. Why did you curse that fig tree, Jesus? Why did you write in the dirt? Why did you say you didn't come to bring peace, when a few chapters later all you seem to say is "Peace be with you" (*pulls hair out and emits swear-words*)? And this passage is no different for me. Frustrating and compelling in equal measure.

But what I find very comforting here is that Jesus seems to acknowledge my frustration. He just comes right out and validates it: yep, the good news I have to tell you is going to disrupt you, and go against your grain and be counter-cultural and antagonize the powers that be and make you feel uncomfortable feelings and puzzle you and confront all the darkness in you and it’s going to be great so come on let’s go; oh and by the way I’m shifting the entire paradigm of the universe and all your ideas about economy and power and justice are going to need to go out the window.

Thanks, Jesus. Thanks for that. And I don’t mean that sarcastically at all. I’m actually trusting you more because you’re not pulling any punches here.

What he said has proved, in the two millennia since, to be true. What Jesus has to say has been divisive. If you don’t feel like admitting it, just look at the sheer number of denominations of Christianity in the world: it’s estimated to be somewhere around 33,000! (Phyllis Tickle also told me that.) Nobody can agree on how to do faith. But even that is beautiful. We have this beautiful diversity of thought and expression and culture and language and art; all because we disagree.

Still, the times are changing, then as now. And we must interpret them. Some of us will get the paradigm shift, or parts of it. Some of us will recognize that what is breaking in is the Kingdom of God, but some of us will think it’s a burglar. Some of us are going to wage war in Jesus name even though he told us that peacemakers are God’s people. Some of us are going to see grace and choose rule-following anyway. Some of us are going to lock the doors of the church against people we don’t approve of and who make us uncomfortable, even though Jesus actively sought those people out. Some of us are going to fall down and worship Jesus, and some of us are going to want to wring his neck.

 

God, things are changing.
The world is changing.
We feel uncertain and shaky.
We feel anxious.

Questions have arisen that we’ve never had to deal with before.
Give us wisdom.
Shifts in culture and technology have brought problems we’ve never had to face before.
Give us discernment.

We are divided in our opinions of how to move forward.
We want unity.
We disagree on policy.
We want compassion.

We know that the Kingdom that Christ began on earth
Is progressing.
The good news
Is expanding;
The momentum of your will being done on earth as it is in heaven
Is unstoppable.

Even as all around us changes
Your love endures forever.
Even in war, and climate change, and social media, and cultural shifts
Your love endures forever.
Even in theological and political disagreement
Your love endures forever.

Help us to love one another as never before;
Better than before.
Help us to not be defensive or closed-minded,
But open to the Kingdom coming in unexpected ways.

Amen.

 

(1) Some are taking good-natured issue with my irreverence in suggesting (or admitting) that I might sometimes want to "wring the neck" of Jesus Christ. I assure you I mean this in the most affectionate way. Kind of like how I sometimes want to wring the neck of my fitness coach when she invites me to do yet another set of burpees. It's an invitation; one that will benefit me if I commit to it -- I will be stronger, fitter, more apt to live a longer, more vibrant life. But there, in the moment, I have some strong feelings about those burpees, and a strong initial resistance to overcome in order to get them done. (YOU MUST BE CRAZY I CAN'T POSSIBLY DO MORE THAN I HAVE ALREADY DONE YOU ALREADY MADE ME DO A GAZILLION SQUATS AND 700 V-UPS AND YOU THINK I CAN POSSIBLY DO MORE BURPEES NOW OK I'LL DO IT.)

This is what I mean. When Jesus digs in to my points of resistance and it's infuriating and I hate him for half a second for challenging me on them but in the end I am committed and if I can just surrender one more inch to his goodness I will get a priceless treasure, even if it is only simple joy. At least this is what happens to me when I go to the gospels. I don't know what happens to you.

A for-instance on points of resistance: the whole sell-your-possessions thing. I have a boatload of resistance to that one and I'm guessing I'm not the only one because several people have told me they hated that post.  Don't wring the messenger's neck, folks; Jesus said it, not me.

 

Litany for Worship

Ruler of heaven and earth:
We exalt you!
We come into your presence with singing and thanksgiving,
Because you are Good! (1)
You have reached out to us with open arms.
Your love endures forever! (2)

Heaven and earth are yours, created by you.
We belong to you!
Your beauty and power astound us.
We want to see your glory! (3)
For you are above all things and before all things,
In you all things hold together! (4)

Everything in the world that distracts and tempts us
Is nothing compared to you!
Everything that would keep us from your love,
You have overcome! (5)
Everything we need
You have provided!

For you are gracious and compassionate
Slow to anger and rich in love. (6)
We want to be in your presence always, every minute, every day.
We worship you, and you only.

Amen

(1) Psalm 100: 4,5
(2) Psalm 106
(3) Psalm 63:2
(4) Colossians 1:17
(5) Romans 8:39
(6) Psalm 145:8