Yesterday, our church celebrated the first Sunday of Advent with reflections on what we're longing for in the world for Christ to come and make right. I wrote a prayer to share.
Here it is:
Here it is:
Lord Christ, on the night you were betrayed, you prayed for those
who would believe in You, for the Church, to be one in unity as you are one
with the Father and the Spirit. We wait for you to bring your peace and love
into our world again through our lives and in the realization of your kingdom
on earth. Jesus, we wait for you to make us One.
We have failed most miserably as your Church in loving one another
radically. We have chosen to hold onto pride, comfort, and success instead of
humbling ourselves to serve those who have offended us, doing things
differently than we would have. Instead of dealing with hurts, wrongs done, and
differences, we have erected walls of denominations, branches, fellowships, and
organizations where we can do things the way we want to. Forgive us, Lord, and
teach us, Holy Spirit, to be faithful servants who keep awake and do your work
until you come again, though Christ’s return will be on a day when we do not
expect and at an hour that we do not know. Jesus, we wait for you to make us
One. (Matt 24:45-50, Mark 13:32-33)
You revealed beautiful humility as you submitted to the will of God
the Father throughout your life on earth. And yet we choose over and over again
to hold onto our rights, to allow resentment to build, to use the law against
one another. God, help us instead to choose to rather be wronged! You suffered on behalf of the world which you so
loved. We cause suffering to brothers and sisters who are Christ-followers but
who eat unclean food, who are weaker – or stronger – than we. Forgive us, Lord,
and grant us, Holy Spirit, love that builds up our brothers and sisters. Jesus,
we wait for you to make us One. (Phil 4, 1 Cor 6:7, John 3:16-17, 1 Cor 8:1,
11-12)
Your bride, the Church, Gomer, who turns away, distracted by the
money, the prestige, the good life (good family?), the dreams we hold onto when
You are dreaming for us radical self-forgetting, obedience, quickness to
listen. Henri Nouwen wrote “Hope frees us from the need to predict the future
and allows us to live in the present, with the deep trust that God will never
leave us alone but will fulfill the deepest desires of our heart.” Jesus, we
wait for you to make us One. (Hosea)
God, as we are in Christ, side-by-side with all others who have
believed His message, may we fix our eyes so attentively and adoringly on Jesus
that we are not distracted by the brother or sister who stomps on our toes.
God, we long for the day when we can celebrate every success of those around us
without judgment, when we choose to fellowship with the weak, living with the
compassion that Christ modeled. Jesus, we hold onto you together, as we wait
through this long night for your coming as our groom and the wedding feast of
the Lamb. Jesus, we wait for you to make us One. (Heb 12:1-3)
