Prayer As We Gather: We huddle in this holy hour, Lord, seeking a more robust notion of prayer than the tepid “Mother, May I?” model of subservient cajoling often practiced in mainline churches. Help us supplant that spiritual anemia with a gutsy, in-your-face persistence like the widow in Jesus’ short story. As she refused to be dissuaded by a callous, dismissive judge who finally relented to “give this widow justice because she keeps bothering me, coming here and embarrassing me,” so too may we be among those God provides justice because we stubbornly “cry out to God day and night.” Jesus promised such adamant advocacy on behalf of the powerless would be quickly with justice, Lord. May it be so. Amen.*(Inspired by Luke 18)
Call to Worship:
I love your Instruction, Lord!
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies.
I have greater insight, more understanding because I guard your precepts,
I haven’t set my feet on any evil path.
You are the one who has taught me,
Your word is so pleasing, sweeter than honey in my mouth! (from Psalm 119, The Common English Bible)
Morning Prayer: It’s about time, Lord, and always has been. When prophet Jeremiah, speaking on your behalf, urged “The time is coming when I will build, plant, watch over my people, make a new covenant with them and engrave my Instructions on their hearts,” he was offering us a hint for how to properly tell time. Help us interpret our times correctly, in sync with your impeccable timing. Deliver us from sour-grapes laments which blame our failings on the missteps of our parents and grandparents. It’s time we grow up, Lord, time to accept responsibility for our own sins, time to plant your words deep within, time to rejoice that you are our God and we are your people, for we pray as Jesus taught us, saying …*(Inspired by Jeremiah 31)
Prayer of Confession: Forgive, Lord, our Biblical illiteracy. What apostle Paul took for granted in nudging his young protégé Timothy to “continue with the things you have learned since childhood, the holy scriptures that help you be wise,” we can no longer assume. We cannot continue what we never began. Paul saw it coming, “a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching but will turn their back on the truth, collecting teachers who say what they want to hear because they are self-centered.” The only thing worse than our current societal ignorance of scripture is the shallow, piety-spewing cultural Christianity many of us imbibed like mother’s milk, cloaking our racism and anti-Semitism beneath blithely misapplied words from the Bible. Have mercy, we pray. Amen.*(Inspired by 2 Timothy 3)
Assurance of Pardon: Take heart, for tucked away within Paul’s cautionary candor is his hope-filled reminder of scripture’s efficacy: “Every scripture is inspired by God, useful for teaching, showing mistakes and training character.” Thanks be to God for the opportunities inherent in a sturdy scriptural grounding: Bringing God’s word to life whether it is convenient or inconvenient, correcting, confronting, encouraging with patient instruction. What a privilege, what a joy, to heed Paul’s counsel: “Keep control of yourself in all circumstances, endure suffering, and carry out your service fully.” *(Inspired by 2 Timothy 3)
Thought for a Sabbath Day: “The reduction of God’s good news in Jesus to a magic salvation formula allows a consumer approach to salvation. Instead of requiring everything, the Salvation-Industrial Complex requires nothing.” - Pastor Ken Wytsma, Beaverton, Oregon