re:Worship: August 2012

Here’s an opening dialogue suitable for the start of worship on Peace Sunday, or another occasion that focuses on our call to be peacemakers. It comes from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Opening Litany

Christ sets before us this day life and death

and calls for us to choose life that we and our children may live.

We accept life, so teach us to live.

Christ sets before us this day the challenge to seek peace and to pursue it.

We accept the challenge of peace, so enable us to pursue it.

Christ sets before us this day the call to be peacemakers;

to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to a suffering world.

We gather to embody God’s love and desire for peace for all people;

to hear and give voice to creation’s cry for justice and peace.

We gather to name and confront the influence of evil within and among us;

to repent of our silence and complicity with the powers of chaos and death.

We gather to join with the oppressed and troubled people of the world

in the struggle for liberation and peace;

to work for justice, healing and wholeness of life.

We gather to embrace the unity of God’s people and Christ’s church;

to make peace a reality.

~ from Prayer for Peace, adapted from materials from the World Council of Churches International Day of Peace. Produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Copyright © 2009 World Council of Churches. Posted on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America website. www.elca.org/

Opening Prayer: Peace Sunday

O God, you are a God of Life to us.

You show your Self as our source of compassion

as we struggle for whole relationships in the home,

our communities, our nation and our world.

We recognize your presence among us in our life and worship,

and ask your gentle Spirit to constantly open our hearts

to the ways of justice and peace.

We ask all of this in your Name,

because you alone are holy,

our true justice and peace.

~ from National Peace With Justice Week resources. Posted on Peace Points. http://lutheran_peace.tripod.com/ppworship.pdf

Benediction: To do the work of God

Here’s a closing commission inspired by Amos 5. It was written by Phyllis Tenney.

Benediction

(based on Amos 5)

Now, go forth from this place with renewed inspiration to do the work of God.

Seek good, not evil, love goodness, and establish justice.

This the greatest offering we can make;

letting justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.

Go in peace, with love for our neighbors.

~ written by Phyllis Tenney, a former BVS volunteer. Posted on the Church of the Brethren website. http://www.brethren.org/resources/

Litany of Confession: O Prince of Peace

Here is a peace litany written by an unknown 20^th century author.

Confession Litany: Peace

O Prince of peace,
from peace that is no peace,
from the grip of all that is evil,
from a violent righteousness…
deliver us.

from paralysis of will,
from lies and misnaming,
from terror of truth…
deliver us.

From hardness of heart,
from trading in slaughter,
from the worship of death…
deliver us.

By the folly of your gospel,
by your choosing our flesh,
by your nakedness and pain…
heal us.

By your weeping over the city,
by your refusal of the sword,
by your facing of horror…
heal us.

By your bursting from the tomb,
by your coming in judgment,
by your longing for peace …
heal us.

Grant us peace. Amen.

~ source unknown.

Prayer: Channels of Your Peace

Here’s a prayer of confession and commitment from the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.

Peace Prayer

Loving God, you inspire us with love for all persons

and concern for the well-being of all creation.

Give us today the strength and courage

to transform the compassion of our hearts

into acts of peace, mercy, and justice.

Forgive us for the arrogance that leads to moral blindness,

for desires for vengeance and retaliation,

and for willingness to sacrifice others for our own security and avarice.

Help us to renounce all forms of violence:

prejudice, unfair allegations, intolerance, and injury.

Give us the courage to resist threatening postures,

calls to arms, mobilization of troops and weapons, and

all actions that threaten the lives and livelihoods of innocent people.

Empower us to live out the caring presence

of the merciful and generous persons we claim to be.

Make us channels of your peace, bearers of healing,

women and men who hear and respond with alacrity

to pleas for justice in our world.

We ask all this in the name of Jesus

who came among us to show us the way.

— from the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Posted on the Center of Concern website. https://www.coc.org/

Prayer: God of Love, God of Peace

Here’s a prayer for peace and justice from John Birch.

God of Love, God of Peace

God of Love, God of Peace
This fractured word
Cries out in pain
Burns deep into my soul
And challenges me
To make a difference

God of Love, God of Peace
God of this world
Scarred by grief and tears
Ignorance and fear
Soften hearts of stone
And begin with mine

God of Love, God of Peace
Create within me
A heart for people
A desire for change
For new beginnings
To start this day

A Prayer for Our World

Let the rain come and wash away

the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds

held and nurtured over generations.

Let the rain wash away the memory

of the hurt, the neglect.

Then let the sun come out and

fill the sky with rainbows.

Let the warmth of the sun heal us

wherever we are broken.

Let it burn away the fog so that

we can see each other clearly.

So that we can see beyond labels,

beyond accents, gender or skin color.

Let the warmth and brightness

of the sun melt our selfishness.

So that we can share the joys and

feel the sorrows of our neighbors.

And let the light of the sun

be so strong that we will see all

people as our neighbors.

Let the earth, nourished by rain,

bring forth flowers

to surround us with beauty.

And let the mountains teach our hearts

to reach upward to heaven. Amen.

~ written by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner

A Prayer for Peace

Here’s a prayer for peace written by Jack Knox, pastor of Salem Mennonite Church in Oregon.

Prayer for Peace

Gracious Lord, we dream of a world free of poverty and oppression, and we yearn for a world free of vengeance and violence. And we pray for your peace.

When our hearts ache for the victims of war and oppression, help us to remember that you healed people simply by touching them…, and give us faith in our ability to comfort and heal bodies and minds and spirits that have been broken by violence.

When the injustice of this world seems too much for us to handle, help us to remember that you fed five thousand people with only five loaves of bread and two fish…, and give us hope that what we have to offer will turn out to be enough, too.

When fear of the power and opinions of others tempts us not to speak up for the least among us, help us to remember that you dared to turn over the tables of money changers…, and give us the courage to risk following you without counting the cost.

When we feel ourselves fill with anger at those who are violent and oppressive, help us remember that you prayed for those who killed you…, and give us compassion for our enemies, too.

When we tell ourselves that we have given all we can to bring peace to this world, help us to remember your sacrifice… , and give us the miracle of losing a little more of ourselves in serving you and our neighbors.

Walk with us, Lord, as we answer your call to be peacemakers. Increase our compassion, our generosity and our hospitality for the least of your children. Give us the courage, the patience, the serenity, the self-honesty and the gentleness of spirit that are needed in a world filled with turmoil and terror. Amen.

~ written by Jack Knox, pastor of Salem (Oregon) Mennonite Church. Posted on Glocal Christianity: the blog of Matt Stone. http://mattstone.blogs.com/

Prayer: A Response to War

Here’s a prayer of petition written by a Christian, a Jew and a Muslim.

A Response to War

Eternal God
Save us from weak resignation to violence
Teach us that restraint is the highest expression of power
That thoughtfulness and tenderness are marks of the strong.

Help us to love our enemies
Not by countenancing their sins,
But by remembering our own
And may we never for a moment forget
That they are fed by the same food,
Hurt by the same weapons,
Have children for whom they have the same high hopes as we do.

Grant us the ability
To find joy and strength not in the strident call to arms
To grasp our fellow creatures
In the striving for justice and truth.

~ prepared by a Christian, a Jew and a Muslim (August, 1990). From A Collection of Prayers for Peace, posted on the World Council of Churches website. http://www2.wcc-coe.org/

Prayer: Longing for Peace

Here’s a prayer for peace written by David Tonghou Ngong.

A Prayer for Peace

Dear God, we hear of peace only as a faraway dream;
we long for it in our lives, in the lives of our families,
our friends, and our countries.
But with each passing day
the prospect for peace
seems to be increasingly tantalizing.
Restlessness seems to be
the order of our present existence:
our inner restlessness rooted in various anxieties,
our societal restlessness rooted in
the evils that go on around us,
the restlessness of our world
plagued by conflicts of all sorts.

Dear God, we hear of peace only as a dream;
a dream we would love to be part of,
a dream we long to have in our hearts, in our neighborhoods,
in our countries, and even in our churches.

We pray this morning, dear God,
that we may experience that peace
that passes all understanding,
we pray, O God, that we may experience You,
the Peace of the world.

Penetrate the grieving heart,
accompany the lonely one,
remember the forgotten,
reclaim the strayed,
make music out of the
disharmony of conflict and chaos.
Let our restless hearts rest in you, O God.
This we pray in the name of the Christ,
who beckons us into the vision of Peace.

Amen.

— written by David Tonghou Ngong, and posted on the Lakeshore Baptist Church website. http://www.lakeshorewaco.org/

Prayer for World Peace

Here’s a prayer for peace from Rita Snowden.

For World Peace

Bless, O God, all who dedicate their powers today

to the making of peace in the world;

Bless all who give their training and experience

to feed and clothe and house the destitute;

Bless all who lend their energies and skills

to teach impoverished people to till, water and harvest their land.

And give us all a lively concern for the underprivileged,

and show us practical ways for helping.

For Christ’s sake. Amen.

~ written by Rita Snowden

Congregational Prayer: Psalm 99

Here is a pastoral prayer based on Psalm 99. It was written by Isaac, a Mennonite pastor, and posted on his Rusty Parts blog.

Congregational Prayer

(inspired by Psalm 99)

“The Lord reigns,” says Psalm 99. “Let the nations tremble; God sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.”

Let the nations tremble… God, why should the nations tremble? They tremble, the Psalmist says, because you love justice. In a world of injustice, in a world where peace and forgiveness are scarce, we pray for your merciful justice to reign. Across the earth there are places that desperately need your justice. I’ll lift up a few of them that are in the newspapers today: May your peace settle on the land of Afghanistan; may your peace settle on the land of Iraq; may your peace settle on the people of Palestine; and may your peace come to this country where we live.

Your peace is not of this world; your peace makes the nations tremble because they are permeated by violence—even their justice depends on violence. So God, we pray for your Spirit to come with power: to bring good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, liberation for the oppressed, the year of the Lord’s favor. Come Lord Jesus, shake the foundations of worldly powers with your justice, establish your kingdom of sacrificial love on earth as it is in heaven.

God, may our lives also tremble with your righteousness. Transform us into servants of your justice. May your mercy flow through our lives. In a world of greed, may we display your generosity, your gracious giving. In a world of deception, may we be truthful people—even when it’s inconvenient. In a world of quick fixes and cheap hope, may we be people of patience. In a world where everyone is quick to point fingers, may we be people who confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.

This world of self-destruction is the same world that resounds with your grace. Give us eyes to see the mysterious movements of your grace. And give us the strength we need to join in your work of redemption. This evening, give us new life. Save us from our sins. Set us free from our selfishness. May your Holy Spirit lead us in the way of Jesus, so that we may be good news for our friends and neighbors and the strangers we meet along the way. For we are servants of your kingdom, ministers of your grace.

~ written by Isaac, a Mennonite pastor. Posted on his blog, Rusty Parts. http://www.rustyparts.com/wp/

Start with Peace: A Prayer

Here’s a prayer for peace from the Sacred Pauses blog.

Start with Peace: A Prayer

Christ Jesus,

We are at times like strangers on this Earth

when faced with the suffering

of so many innocent people.

But – like on the morning of your resurrection –

you come to us and say to us:

“Peace be with you.”

Enable us to believe in your presence,

this hidden treasure.

You send us out, then,

to communicate your Peace.

It renews the face of the Earth.

Amen

~ posted on the Sacred Pauses blog. http://www.sacredpauses.com/