Father-God,

We tear down these idols in our lives, only to find that they have returned again and again.

We fight against what we want to do and find that we end up doing the very things we don’t want to do.

We look at the way we sacrifice for financial gain and self promotion.

We may speak the words of generosity and simplicity but sometimes we just want more and better. We’re tired. We just want comfort.

We catch a glimpse at our obsession with self, our insensitivity towards others but our heightened sensitivity to anything related to us and we’re horrified.

We realize for all our talk about trusting You and relying on You, we are sometimes mainly propelled by our short-lived determination and weak will-power.

Is this really who we are?

 

This is our grief, our lament.

We confess and repent.

 

Life is hard.

Following You is hard.

Realizing who we are is hard.

 

But today is not the end of the story.

This is only the middle of the story.

And what we can see right now is only a tiny part of the story.

We are pots of clay – that cannot be denied.

 

And if that is our confession, then this is our proclamation!

We have Christ living in us.

That changes things!

The power and beauty and truth of Christ – that cannot be denied.

Your revolution of Love has not yet been completed.

We haven’t read the last pages of the story yet.

 

We don’t understand this all.

We don’t understand everything that is going on around us and within us.

But we do know some things.

We know that You are with us.

We know that You can be trusted.

We know that You promise to work things out for good.

And we know that You love us.

 

For what You did on the cross for us – thank you.

We bring our shortcomings and failures to the table

in exchange for You and Your glory and the reminder that life is not always what it seems.

What looks like death may be Life.

What looks like bread and wine may, in fact, be the grandest feast we’ve ever had.

 

God – be with us.  Be with us as we get up each morning and do our work and live the lives You’ve given us.  Be with us as we live together as a community and may Your Life and Love be evident.

 

In the name of Jesus

we pray

Amen.