Wednesday, November 28, 2012


A PRAYER FOR THIRD ADVENT(NT)

Luke 3:15-18 (NIT)

15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with[a] water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with[b] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.


We didn't mind the water, John
It cleansed us
Made us feel better
Washed away our sins and shortcomings

The water was fresh...clean...refreshing
We danced in the water
splashed each other
laughed and played in the Jordan

We were alive and happy
We felt part of a family...a group...a movement
Danger was far away
Your baptism brought us together
where no harm could touch us

Now you proclaim another baptism
A baptism of  the Holy Spirit and fire.
No more water
The fire next time

A fire that will burn us
Igniting and blazing and consuming us
all that we are and all that we have
absorbing everything and everyone

Will our souls be singed
Our spirits be kindled in ways
that will frighten and scar us
Shaping us in new and terrible ways

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

It's his baptism, isn't it John
The One who is coming
The One
Jesus Christ, The Lord

His baptism of fire
will set us ablaze
to be a beacon in a world shrouded in darkness
a candle of joy amongst sadness and depression
a torch for peace amidst the slaughter of the innocent

A baptism that gathers
Brings together all who proclaim the Good News
of love and forgiveness
justice and wholeness

A baptism that separates
Winnows out all who demand control
Who practice selfishness and apathy
tyranny and violence

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

O Lord of the Baptism
Come, we pray
Drench us with the Spirit and the fire
So that we may be your candles in the windows of the world
that it may see your life and your words
In our lives.

Amen

Monday, November 26, 2012


A PRAYER FOR THIRD ADVENT(OT)

Zephaniah 3:14-20(MSG)

16-17 Jerusalem will be told:
    “Don’t be afraid.
Dear Zion,
    don’t despair.
Your God is present among you,
    a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he’ll calm you with his love
    and delight you with his songs.
18-20 “The accumulated sorrows of your exile
    will dissipate.
I, your God, will get rid of them for you.
    You’ve carried those burdens long enough.
At the same time, I’ll get rid of all those
    who’ve made your life miserable.
I’ll heal the maimed;
    I’ll bring home the homeless.
In the very countries where they were hated
    they will be venerated.
On Judgment Day
    I’ll bring you back home—a great family gathering!
You’ll be famous and honored
    all over the world.
You’ll see it with your own eyes—
    all those painful partings turned into reunions!”
        God’s Promise.


We are lost
and cannot find our way home

We have wandered from the joys of marriage
and the richness of family life
We have torn through broken relationships and shattered relationships
We have hurt and been hurt by selfish desires and need for control
We have been scared to show forgiveness and too proud to accept it

Bring us home, Dear God
to the richness and joy that the long and difficult work
that builds and sustains healthy relationships
and wholesome friendships
To learn anew to forgive and be forgiven

We are lost
and cannot find our way home

We are at sea in desires for security and wealth
We fear for our aging, our children, our savings, our health
We waste more than we need...abuse more than we use
We accumulate more than we share

Bring us home, Dear God
Teach us again the joy of giving
to those who need and they that hunger
To give of ourselves as well as our bounty
To sell all and follow you

We are lost
and cannot find our way home

We have taken the the road of warfare
falsely believing it leads to peace
We use drones and RPGs not prayers and petitions
to enforce our will and demand obedience
Nation building in our graven images

Bring us home, Dear God
Show us away the things that make for peace
Enable us to beat our swords into plowshares
and our spears into pruning hooks...
not take up sword against nation,
nor train for war anymore.

Bring us home, Dear God
Dwell among us again
Give us peace
Give us hope
Give us joy
Now and forevermore

Amen

Wednesday, November 21, 2012


A PRAYER FOR SECOND ADVENT (NT)


Luke 3:1-6  (NIV)

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:


“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
    every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
    the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”[a]


Hey God,
He's at it again

Down there at the Jordan
Hoopin and hollerin
like some backwater Bible thumper
from out of the rustic back waters
whoopin up a revival meeting

Do you see how he's dressed Lord
What a get up!
Some sort of camel hair's vest... cloak or whatever
No decent priest or rabbi would be caught dead
in that kind of get-up
living on honey and locust

And God
Did you hear what he was shouting about
Some nonsense about everything being turned
upside down and inside out
backwards and all calliwhompous

Did you catch the his grand finale, Lord
We will all there to see it
Front row seats for celestial blockbuster
Looks like we're invited for the Gala Opening
Wonder if it will get a good review  in the Times?

What's that God?
You sent him
Called him to be your prophet
Called him to go down to the Jordan
and speak to us
to hear the Word

You gave him the message, O Lord
A message that is unsettling but true
A reminder that you are no respecter of
our set ways and preferred arrangements
More of "afflicting the comfortable and
comforting the afflicted" stuff

We should know by now God
That this how you come
How you always come
Lowering the mighty and elevating the weak
Creating fog for the self assured
and guiding the paths of the cripple and the poor

Help us to see it, O God
Open our eyes that we may witness your salvation
May we perceive where you move and where you act
May we so act and so live
that our acts of kindness and mercy
show forth your coming
again and again

Amen

A PRAYER FOR ADVENT 2 (OT)

Malachi 3:1-20

3See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delightindeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiners fire and like fullers soap; 3he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.



2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

How can we endure you, Lord Jesus
We cannot last long when you come
We must hide
make ourselves scarce
not be noticeable

We are afraid of your judgement
 we will be found guilty
Guilty of lust and greed
apathy and selfishness
hatred and violence

2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

How can we face you, Lord Jesus
We will confront us with our sins and misdeeds
You will force us to look inside ourselves
see our coarseness and vulgarities

You will make us see whom we have love
and whom we have ignored
You will show us what difference we might have made
but we're too lazy and insensitive

For he is like a refiners fire and like fullers soap; 3he will sit as a refiner and purifier

Jesus, the refiner
You will purify our thoughts
and renew our souls
You will wash away the grime of our lives
and the sleaze in our souls
Your will burn away the crust around our hearts
and wipe the tarnish from our minds

Jesus, the purifier
You will wash us from top to bottom
Cleanse us inside and out
You will bathe us in the Spirit
so we may soar like eagles
You will expunge our warlike affections
and teach us the ways of peace

He will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.

Accept our offerings we humbly bring
May we perform acts of kindness
deeds of love
moments of comfort
words of forgiveness
and offer them up to you

May our very lives
Lived in shalom
Drenched in charity
Founded on love
Be our offering to you

3See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me,

Come Lord Jesus
Come and prepare the way for us to walk
Come and prepare our hearts for love
Come and prepare our lives for discipleship

Come Lord Jesus
Come Now
Come always
Come forever

Amen

Saturday, November 17, 2012


A PRAYER FOR ADVENT 1 (OT)

Jeremiah 33:14-16
New International Version (NIV)

14 “‘The days are coming, declares the Lord,
 when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.

15 “‘In those days and at that time
    I will make a righteous Branch sprout from Davids line;
    he will do what is just and right in the land.

16 In those days Judah will be saved
    and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it[a] will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior

We are an unrighteous people, Lord

We gamble our riches on comfort and ease
while others of your children are poor and lost

We build gated communities and mansions in which to hide
from the dangers out there
while others of your children are subjected
 to the storms and pillage
that stalks the streets

We consume and accumulate from the bounty and beauty
of your forests and rivers, grain and beast
while other of your children scrape and save
from the scraps that fall from our table

We are an unrighteous people, Lord
Forgive us,  Christ Jesus


We are an unjust people, Lord

We punish the outsiders, the alien, the stranger
and work to get them off our streets

We imprison the poor who cannot afford our "justice"
and lock them far away for their safety

We execute and destroy all who threaten our way of life
with our bombs and drones, injections and hanging trees

We are an unjust people, Lord
Forgive us, Christ Jesus

Come Jesus
The Righteous Branch of David
Disturb our comfort
Rattle our cages
Unsettle our familiar patterns

Come Jesus
The Righteous Branch of David
Establish your justice
so that the lame can walk
the blind can see
the poor are fee
and the orphan is cared for

Come Jesus
The Righteous Branch of David
Break our spears
Ground our fighters
Spread your Shalom over all the earth
Bind up the wounded
and care for those who mourn

Come Jesus
The Righteous Branch of David
Save us
Redeem us
Baptize us
and set us free

Amen

A PRAYER FOR ADVENT 1 (NT)


Luke 21:26-28, 30-31

People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near.

Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.



Everything is falling apart
Nothing seems to work right anymore
Nothing we do seems to make any difference

Everything we believe is challenged
Our hopes wither away
Our dreams vanish

We thought we had it figured out
Everything was in place
Our lives were set

Then comes all this end of the world stuff
It's all over the news
We are heading over the cliff

We need more notice
to get prepared
to set our lives in order
to welcome you properly

Can't you wait just a bit longer

Wait til we have had our fill
Drank to the winds and
danced in the rain

Wait til we have lived long enough
Travelled and played
Spent and enjoyed life to the fullest

Can't you wait just a bit longer

No

You don't work on out timetable
Check our calendars
Fit into our schedule
Do you Lord

You come when you will come

You come to disrupt and overturn and agitate
You come to shake our very foundations
You come to alter our convenient arrangements

We're not ready, Lord
Ready for your Kingdom to come
Ready for your Power to take charge
Ready for your Glory to shine

When Your Kingdom comes
You will shatter the bow and break the gun
You will heal the sick and cure the lame
You will comfort the mourners and raise the dead

When Your Power comes
You will overthrow the tyrants and dethrone the kings
You will impoverish the rich and enrich the poor
You will weaken the mighty and strengthen the weak

When Your Glory comes
Your brilliance will outshine the stars and celebrities
Your radiance will blind the famous and fake
Your light will brighten the shadows and dark corners

Each week we say, "We are bold to pray...
Your Kingdom come...
For the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory
Are yours now and forever..."

Maybe we should pray your prayer with more humility
more trembling
more awareness

May we live what we pray
May we be ready
for your coming, Lord Jesus

May we be ready for
Your Kingdom to reign over us
Your Power to guard and protect us
Your Glory to enlighten and lead us

Now and forever.

Amen