Confession and Assurance Outside

But thus says the Lord:

Seek shalom wherever you are, and pray to the Lord

for your shalom shall be found in the shalom of the community.

We find ourselves in exile caused by relationships, economics, and failing health.

But thus says the Lord:

Seek shalom wherever you are, and pray to the Lord

for your shalom shall be found in the shalom of the community.

We feel used by people and systems, sometimes even abused.

But thus says the Lord:

Seek shalom wherever you are, and pray to the Lord

for your shalom shall be found in the shalom of the community.

We thirst for God's promised justice through swift vengeance.

But thus says the Lord:

Seek shalom wherever you are, and pray to the Lord

for your shalom shall be found in the shalom of the community.

We strive to protect our families and our interests from any wrath.

But thus says the Lord:

Seek shalom wherever you are, and pray to the Lord

for your shalom shall be found in the shalom of the community.

We long for the day when passive peace will prevail.

But thus says the Lord:

Seek shalom wherever you are, and pray to the Lord

for your shalom shall be found in the shalom of the community.

May our actions embody our prayers

for the healing of the community

and therein may we find our long awaited wholeness.

Amen.

Litany of Confession and Promise

Our youth offer prophesy of challenge and judgement,

We nod politely with clenched teeth and closed eyes.

Invited to dream dreams,

We prefer the familiarity of the past.

Winds of vision swirl around us,

We close the windows and bolt the doors.

Even on us,

Even here,

The Spirit will pour forth.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come.

Based Habakkuk. Copyright Katherine Hawker, 1998.

For ignoring the vision

breathed by the living Spirit

churning deep within our souls;

Lord have mercy,

Lord have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

For refusing to look at the vision

alive within those

who look or act or sound different from us;

Christ have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

For choosing familiarity, ease, and comfort

rather than risking the opportunities

afforded in the vision

Lord have mercy,

Lord have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

Invitation to Pardon

If the vision seems to tarry

wait for it;

it will surely come…

We are too often stuck in the past,

nursing old wounds, rehearsing sins of long ago

allowing our visions for today and tomorrow to be stalled.

Lord have mercy,

Lord have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

We are gathering into barns (and bank accounts)

preparing educationally, spiritually, and emotionally for the future;

denying the pleasure of life today with eyes focused on tomorrow.

Christ have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

We are so intent on caring for our nuclear families

we miss the presence of Christ in the homeless, the aging, the vulnerable

who live just outside our doors.

Lord have mercy,

Lord have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

For refusing to hear you cry

pouring forth in Honduras and Nicaragua,

Lord have mercy,

Lord have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

For refusing to hold your hand

held out by the neighbor across the aisle,

Christ have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

For refusing to wipe your tears

falling on the face of our parent, our child, our partner,

Lord have mercy,

Lord have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

Prayer of Confession

For the ways in which we bury your light

underneath layers of busyness and denial.

Lord have mercy,

Lord have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

For the times we fail to recognize your light

in the eyes of the hungry, the outcast, the stranger.

Lord have mercy,

Lord have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

For the opportunities not taken to share your light

with our children and parents and neighbors and friends.

Lord have mercy,

Lord have mercy,

Have mercy upon us.

Lenten Petition

Inspired by a prayer in the Iona Community Worshipbook and the Hebrew Scriptures, cycle A. Written for Evangelical United Church of Christ, 2002. Copyright Katherine Hawker.

Because temptation is woven into the fabric of our lives,

and we know the weariness of forty days in the desert,

and the beckoning power of sweet fruit,

and the vain promises of the world,

we need you, God.

We need you, God.

Because we see the broken before the whole,

and the half empty cup, and the unfinished task,

and the thirst in freedom’s quest,

we need you, God.

We need you, God.

Because we trust in what we can see,

and we are blinded by our prejudices,

and we do not know what we do not know,

we need you, God.

We need you, God.

Because our need for correctness exceeds our need for truth,

and our excuses preempt the cry of the wounded,

and our celebration of blessing is mindless of those displaced,

we need you, God.

We need you, God.

Because you came among us,

and breathed into our sinewy souls,

and healed our pain and let us wound you,

and loved us to the end,

and triumphed over all our hatred,

we need you, God.

We need you, God.

Awesome God, when we catch sight of the totality of your claim on our lives;

our believing waivers.

When we hear the absurdity of your unbreakable covenant with us;

like Sarai and Abram, we laugh.

When we face the foolish wisdom of the looming cross;

like Peter, we suggest an alternative.

Meet us in our disbelieving, loving God,

move us gently into the deep waters of faith.

Written for Evangelical United Church of Christ, 1999. Copyright Katherine Hawker.

Your Word cried out as the tanks rolled over the students in Tiananmen Square.

We tried not to listen.

Your Word rings as the students in Colorado work for the release of slaves in Sudan.

We suggest the futility of the project.

Your Word startles the calm when babies squeal and youth demand their place.

We struggle to control the intrusion.

Your Word shouts in this place.

Your Word cries out in our day.

Your Word is never far from us.

Gracious God,

speaking, moving, acting God

forgive us

cleanse us

and move us to a new beginning.

An arrangement of Isaiah 58. Katherine Hawker, 2004.

Shout out, do not hold back!
We lift up our voices like trumpets!

Day after day we seek God and delight to know God's ways.
We strive to be a faithful people in a righteous nation,
We pledge: One nation under God.
We follow the ways of God, seeking righteous judgements,
We read: In God we trust.
We delight to call on the name of God.
We pray: God bless America.

Does God hear us when we pray?
Does God recognize our pledge of allegiance?
Does God even notice our religious attempts?

Is such the fast that God would choose,
a day to humble oneself?

A prayer of confession, a season of Lent.

Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?

A culture of shame, a deep seated self-loathing.

Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this the fast that I would choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?

When we share education with every child
and work for a society where no one is hungry,
when we hold out hand to the lost
and step out in faith.

Then our light shall break forth like the dawn,
and our healing shall spring up quickly;
Then we shall call, and the Lord will answer;
we shall cry for help, and God will say, "Here I am."