People's Prayers

Monday, June 11, 2018

Prayers of the People: Confidentially ~ 4th Sunday after Pentecost '18 Yr B

For Sunday, June 17, 2018, 4^th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B, Readings: 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13, Psalm 20, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, [11-13], 14-17; Mark 4:26:34

...for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
[1 Samuel 15:7b]

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble, the Name of the God of Jacob defend you…Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will call upon the Name of the Lord our God. They will collapse and fall down, but we will arise and stand upright. [Psalm 20 1, 7-8]

We are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord -- for we walk by faith, not by sight. [2 Cor 5:6-7]

With what can we compare the kingdom of God...It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." [Mark 4:30-32]

Early in the Hebrew Testament reading for this week, Samuel is grieving over Saul’s abysmal kingship. God was sorry that he had made Saul king as he disobeyed God’s decrees and decided to do only as he wanted to do and in his own way. It’s an interesting and rare moment that God regrets a decision. The only other time we’re told about is in Genesis 6 when God regretted the creation of humanity and so, enter Noah. For me, it’s comforting to know that there are times when God’s mind is changed about a prior decision. While we only know about two of them from the Bible, perhaps there are more?

God is then preparing Samuel to find a new king for Israel and explains the criteria to him. Mortals look at outward appearance and make judgments while God looks on the heart and from that vantage point, God guides the uncertain Samuel to choose Saul’s successor. David, who while the smallest seed of Jesse, had a confident heart when the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him at his anointing. And then immediately we are confronted with Paul’s assertion in the beginning of this 1st Corinthians passage, that “We are always confident…” I am often far from confident in my faith at times. In retreating to the passage just before this one, I was able to find a bit of my internal footing, that is, Paul tells us just before that we [are to] look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. [2 Cor 4:18] It’s all seems very cryptic but it then weaves into Paul's reminder this week that being at home in this earthly body, that is seen and also temporary is life away from the Lord. We are called to seek our eternal, and not yet seen, home with our Lord God, and in so doing we become a new creation in Christ.

Jesus carries it further in his likening the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed, a very tiny seed that grows into a shrub or tree so large that birds can nest in its branches. The parable of the mustard seed appears in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, and has always resonated with me, especially later on in Luke and Matthew when Jesus says that all we need is faith the size of one of these very tiny seeds and mountains can be moved [Luke 17:6]. Just how small is that exactly? Well some varieties yield seeds the size of the period that ends this sentence. Only that much, or rather that little faith? Ok then, I can do that with a good heart and a little more confidence.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer God, You brought forth and seeded the Universe giving life in all of its forms. Foster our willingness to tend our own spiritual gardens by weeding out temptation, feeding with prayer in action, and prospering the work of our souls for Your service.

O Lord our God

RESPONSE: Grant us clean, faithful, confident hearts

~ Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer God, answer us in our day of trouble and cultivate the growth of virtue, decency, empathy, and righteousness within the souls of all who govern in this World, in this Country, and in this Community. Implant any change of heart needed to bring about the full and equal flowering of all people, everywhere. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord our God

Grant us clean, faithful, confident hearts

~ Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer God, may all who are weakened by severe illness, depression, or desperation, nest in the comforting shade of Your healing embrace, as You fortify those who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need…add your own petitions

O Lord our God

Grant us clean, faithful, confident hearts

~ Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer God, in the beauty and abundance Your Earth provides, we can merely glimpse and give continuous thanksgiving for the brilliance of eternal life, where those we love now live anew and thrive forever. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord our God

Grant us clean, faithful, confident hearts

~ Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer God, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently…add your own petitions

O Lord our God

Grant us clean, faithful, confident hearts

~ Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer God, enhance the special combination of humility and confidence in those chosen to serve as leaders in Your Church. Guide them as they guide us to vibrantly bloom as a new creation in Christ. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord our God

Grant us clean, faithful, confident hearts

The Celebrant adds: O God, Most High, instill the wisdom within each of us to know that however small and humble our beginnings, as we walk by faith and not by sight, we will surely reap the fullness of life eternal from the seeds of Your infinite love and grace. We ask through Jesus, our Christ, in whom all Creation is new, and the Holy Spirit whose Wisdom enriches the roots of our souls, who together with You, are One God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Prayers of the People: Out on a Limb ~ 3rd Sunday after Pentecost '18 Yr B

For Sunday, June 10, 2018, 3^rd Sunday after Pentecost, Year B, Readings: Genesis 3:8-15, (11:14-15); Psalm 138, 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1,
Mark 3:20-35

[God] said, “…Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?...Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” [Genesis 3:11b, 13]

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart…and praise your Name, because of your love and faithfulness…Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe…The Lord will make good his purpose for me. O Lord, your love endures forever. [Psalm 138:1a, 2b, 8a, 9a]

Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace…may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God…So do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. [2 Corinthians 4:15-16]

The crowd came together again, so that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind."…And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “…And if a house is divided against itself, the house will not be able to stand.”…A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you." And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
[Mark 3:20-21, 23a, 25, 32-35]

Many years ago, I was a young military spouse living in Fort Benning, Georgia. A military base is self-contained and as complex, or more so, as any well run city with all the usual infrastructures within its unique mission and industry. One of the more surprising elements when I first arrived was the special team of soldiers deployed daily to remove snakes hanging from the limbs of trees in the housing areas. With a hundred thousand residents that includes soldiers, families, children, and household pets, having them drop from trees is not ideal, to say the least, especially as there are a few poisonous varieties. This memory surfaces whenever I hear the Genesis story of the tempting, trickster, dangerous serpent, often depicted in trees.

Snakes are mentioned over 80 times in the Bible as deceptive creatures that lure us with the promise that something God has forbidden us is actually good. While I cannot imagine being lured by a snake in this life, insert shivers here, we cannot judge a snake by its scales. Eve and Adam in turn wanted to eat that fruit and gave into the temptation having received encouragement and permission from the serpent.

Snakes in many guises are everywhere. We even call someone who sells potentially dangerous, medically untested remedies, a "snake oil salesman." Still today advertised "snake oil" is a hugely profitable business and we all fall prey at one time or another, when the message, the promise is just what we want to hear. And so it is in all facets of human life. We are drawn to those who promise that all difficulties and troubles will be resolved if only we buy the whole truckload of what they're selling. We line up against those who try to tell us that we are only looking at a mirage because we like our sales person better than theirs. We become that divided house that Jesus speaks of. And he would know about household division.

Even Jesus with his storied ancestry arrives in his home territory with less than a happy welcome from his family. Mary, his mother, and the brothers of Jesus think he's crazy and needs to be physically restrained. Perhaps Mary and her other sons were embarrassed by Jesus, in the sight of others, for not following an expected career path. Most families I know or know of have tales about embarrassing or alienating relatives who have befouled the family tree and perhaps even been disowned. It is no easy feat to understand, support, and accept a member of the family who has gone in unexpected and inexplicable ways. And so a household divides. Jesus defines family for himself, and by extension for us, as those who do the will of God. And how are we to determine what is the will of God, and what is the True Source and not the snake oil? How do we stand together when we understand things so differently. We won't know for sure that we've made the right choices until ... And, until, whenever I feel I'm out on an uncertain limb of Christ's family tree, I go back constantly to my favorite prayer by Thomas Merton:

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that, if I do this, You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.

~ From: Thoughts in Solitude¸ Thomas Merton

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Lord God Almighty, as by Your Will we were created, keep us safe in the midst of trouble. May we may not fall prey to human serpents that would lead us by charm and guile down the tangled garden path of earthly wants. Renew our inner nature each day that we may seek and make good Your purpose in this life that prepares us for the next.