This week is a vacation week for me, but I’ve been thinking over this week’s scriptures because they are among my favorites. As a result, I offer this prayer based on Romans 9:12-21 with a nod to the Exodus passage.
Wash us all with your love, Holy One, that our love may be genuine
Teach us to hate all that mars the beauty of your creation
greed, pettiness, violence, entitlement, war, oppression, self-righteousness
the list goes on and we know it as well as You do if we stop to pay attention
Remind us that all our neighbors carry Your image
never should it matter where they come from
or by what name they know You
May our love be genuine
Stir in us Your Holy Spirit, that our zeal may never lag
Call us to serve You fully, making all our ground holy
hope that comes from You will enable us to endure all things
even as we open our doors to strangers, offer sanctuary in Your name
Guide us to a day when hospitality is the only way we greet one another
without worry or fear, judgment or disrespect
for in the other we will see the One
May our zeal never lag
Create clean hearts in us, O God, that we may be overcome by good
Show us how to be the Body of Christ that is needed right now
letting go of yesterday’s vision, opening to today’s needs
seeking wisdom, patience, courage and acceptance
Save us from our the limits of our selves and free us to find the abundance of You
may our actions match our prayers for all to live in peace
with food, drink, and safety for all of creation
May we be overcome by good.
RCL – Year A – Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – August 31, 2014
Exodus 3:1-15 with Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c or
Jeremiah 15:15-21 with Psalm 26:1-8
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28
