People's Prayers

Monday, August 17, 2020

Prayers of the People: Papyrus, Rock, Keys ~ 12th Sunday after Pentecost '20 Yr A

For Sunday, August 23, 2020, Readings: Exodus 1:8-2:10, Psalm 124, Romans 12:1-8, Matthew 16:13-20

Now a new king arose over Egypt...[who] commanded all his people "Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile...[When the Levite] woman...bore a son...she got a papyrus basket...she put the child in it among the reeds on the bank of the river...The daughter of Pharoah...took pity on him...she took him as her son. She named him Moses, "because," she said, "I drew him out of the water."
[Exodus 1:8a, 22a, 2:2a, 3a,b; 5a, 6b, 10b]

Our help is in the Name of the Lord, the maker of Heaven and Earth. [Psalm 124:8]

...by the mercies of God...present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship...Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed...that you may discern what is the will of God...We have gifts that differ according to the grace given us... [Romans 12:1b, 2, 6a]

[Jesus] said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him..."I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
[Matthew 16:15-16, 17a, 19]

Just as the well-worn literary device of "It was a dark and stormy night" alerts us to trouble ahead, so do the opening words of this passage of Exodus, "Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph." Of course we know the story of Moses and what is to come, we've seen the movies. Our ease with the story, however, can give way to distraction especially when the church service is online and we're sitting with coffee in hand, letting the reading roll on while we check an incoming Facebook post or a text message on our mobile phones. But the re-telling, of this and each of the other specifically appointed readings every week (as well as in the Daily Office), gives us a chance to find a new focus, or hear something we hadn't noticed before, or had forgotten. This is a the perfect time and opportunity to seek and discover the keys to unlocking the connections between the Hebrew and Christian Testaments.* By setting aside earthly distractions for at least the length of the Liturgy, and if we intentionally listen, hear, and consciously permit, ways to inform and shape our every-day-lives here and now will be more easily recognized. Reading them again for ourselves later will also add depth and possibly raise interesting thoughts and questions to encourage further contemplation.

Paul reminds us, in a most timely way, that we are one body in Christ with God-given, grace-filled gifts that we are to identify within ourselves and offer in service to God and each other. He says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God. He both admonishes and encourages us to look beyond ourselves to work together for God's purpose as the welcoming all-inclusive community of the many members in Christ.

When Jesus asks who others think he is, perhaps the disciples were wondering themselves if Jesus was some sort of re-incarnation of the prophets. But Simon Peter, gets the prize for getting the answer correct. Peter - a name meaning rock in Greek - is then awarded the keys of the kingdom of heaven to bind and loose on earth and in heaven. Did Peter, in that moment, feel the enormous weight of the responsibility? Binding and loosing is a rabbinical concept that, as Jews, the disciples - and Matthew - understood. In very simplistic terms it means as a communal judgment to bind as in obligation or to loosen that requirement. How does that apply to us in our lives today?

Many of us feel a strong obligation, or at least a commitment, to present ourselves in Church each Sunday - if only online as currently until again in person - but of course we are free to not view or attend. So what does a true obligation to the work of Christ actually mean? Ah, that's where discernment applies. Discovering what are and how to use our particular gifts, as well as offering them in the sincere attempt to follow God's will, is the work of a lifetime, our spiritual worship, our living sacrifice. Our human gifts are the keys to unlocking our spiritual gifts when used in preparation for the true life that is to come. All that was, is now, and all that is now, will come again. It is up to us, individually and collectively, to recognize the connections we share with the past and the future that help us to decipher the signs that we are on the right path or diverging from it. To paraphrase mystic/monk Thomas Merton's helpful and hopeful prayer that begins, "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going...," the fact that I think I'm following God's will does not mean that I truly am doing so, BUT, I do believe that God knows when I am sincere in my desire to please and fulfill my calling. * *
Sincerity of purpose is one key to the loosening of apprehension and the binding of trust. Connecting the lessons of the past and present is the key to the future of life everlasting.

* (As for a couple of biblical connections, the word for basket - as in the basket that Moses was placed in - is the same word as ark in Hebrew; ark is not just a vessel for water travel, it is a sanctuary, a safe place such as a box or a chest as with the ark of the covenant. In Exodus, all Hebrew boy babies were ordered to be killed by Pharaoh to prevent them growing up and revolting against him. Earlier in Matthew, Herod ordered all boys under 2 years old to be killed to prevent a Messiah from undermining his reign. Go forth and discover more each week.)

* * for the full text click here: Thomas Merton's Prayer

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ O Living God, our Maker and our Help, through the waters that birth us, and Moses was drawn from, that nourish the Earth and sometimes drown it, we struggle to navigate our lives between the raging and the calm. Let us not drift aimlessly through tide and torrent, but point ourselves toward the Light of Christ, the Incarnation of Your Holy Will for us.

O Lord, our God                                               

RESPONSE: Transform and Renew us

~ O Living God, our Maker and our Help, empower us to be vigorous in the pursuit of re-forming the attitudes, agenda, and actions from callous to compassionate on the part of the political leaders of this World, this Country, and this Community.  We pray especially for:  add your own petitions

O Lord, our God

Transform and Renew us

~  O Living God, our Maker and our Help, infuse hope, healing, and comfort in all who are lost in the grip of serious or life-threatening illness, and all who give of their strength in support.  We now join our hearts together to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

O Lord, our God

Transform and Renew us

~  O Living God, our Maker and our Help, open wide the gates of heaven as You receive in joy, those we now commend to the bliss of eternal life. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

O Lord, our God

Transform and Renew us

~ O Living God, our Maker and our Help, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials… add your own petitions

O Lord, our God

Transform and Renew us

~ O Living God, our Maker and our Help, we offer our special thanksgivings for those who guide, us by their teaching, preaching, and prayers, to discern our own gifts and discover our path to all that is good and acceptable to You. We pray especially for:  add your own petitions

O Lord, our God

Transform and Renew us

The Celebrant adds:  Holy and Immortal God, awaken us each morning with eagerness to offer ourselves in service to Your Supreme Will, to escape the snares of conforming to what is of this world, and bind ourselves to Your Kingdom. We ask through Jesus, Son of Man, our Blessed Messiah; and the Holy Spirit, our Counselor and Advocate, who together with You are one God, eternal, and everlasting.   Amen.

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Monday, August 10, 2020

Prayers of the People: With Only the Crumbs ~ 11th Sunday after Pentecost '20 Yr A

For Sunday, August 16, 2020, Readings: Genesis 45:1-5, Psalm 133, Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15: 21-28

Joseph said to his brothers... "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt...I will provide for you [in the land of Goshen]... and now your eyes...see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you...And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them... [Genesis 45:4, 11a, 12a, 15a]

Oh how good and pleasant it is when brethren live together in unity. [Psalm 133:1]

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means!...For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. [Romans, 11:1a, 29]

But [the Canaanite woman] came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." [Jesus] answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." [Matthew 15:25-28]

She is my hero. That Canaanite woman, that impure, foreign, woman, that non-Jew, that Gentile. I can imagine the scene - the disciples' rolling eyes and knowing looks of the she's one-of-them sort; their collective groans and oh please expulsions of breath in frustration, and finally asking Jesus to send her away as her shouts were annoying them. Can you see her, too? She's worrying about her child, seeking the help of the man she knows can work the miracle she and her child seek. Yet in her greatest moment of need, or perhaps because of it, she, of the lowliest stature, risks all to get a response from Jesus who then dismisses her, in effect, telling her she's no better than a dog. She gives a highly unexpected response that is food for thought for any of us who have diminished anyone - especially those we think of as not one of us - by a thought, a look, a comment, or especially an action that seeks to elevate ourselves above another. Jesus answers the ubiquitous question, What Would Jesus Do? THIS, THIS is what Jesus did: he heard her speak her truth to his power, and he acclaimed her for her faith and healed her daughter.
And Joseph is also a hero to me. Sold into slavery to a foreign land by his own jealous brothers and then rising to an exalted position in the court of the pharaoh. Let me count the ways of revenge he might have used on them. But he didn't. He found himself in a position to help his family despite their actions against him. He forgave them. He gave them his love and protection.
God has created us one and all with the free will to make what we can out of our human condition. Some days, some times of life, are clearly better than others for each of us, yet we all are God's chosen children. Luckily for the human race, God didn't give me or any of us the job of deciding who is the right sort, who is acceptable, or who belongs with the dogs.
Paul tells us, the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. God, in Jesus, did give me the responsibility of giving voice to faith, to use the gifts well, and to answer the call from the good in my heart, even if some days all I have are the crumbs of hope. Yet it is faith, however fragile at times, that is the key that opens the door and reveals the heart of the matter: We are to GIVE, FORGIVE, and BELIEVE. Let us seek those crumbs of hope, of faith, of love for it is in the seeking we will find that God’s door is always open.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Eternal God, Most High, by and in Your Creation, everyone is Your beloved. Free us from the rancor and hostilities of an us and them world, and fill us with the inner peace and the confidence of faith. Open the eyes of our hearts to see others as ourselves and know they, too, are completely Yours, never, ever discarded by Your choice.

Bless us, O Christ

RESPONSE: May our faith be great

~ Eternal God, Most High, grant us the tenacity to sway the minds and hearts of the leaders of our Planet, our Nation, and our Community, to be the models of justice, integrity, and peace, for Your purpose: kindred souls living together in unity. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Bless us, O Christ

May our faith be great

~ Eternal God, Most High, lighten the burden of all who are in the pit of despair, chronic pain, or serious illness, and preserve the health and patience of those who give them care. We now join our hearts together to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

Bless us, O Christ

May our faith be great

~ Eternal God, Most High, our earthly pain of loss is lessened knowing that our loved ones live again, in the ecstatic grace of eternal life in You. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

Bless us, O Christ

May our faith be great

~ Eternal God, Most High, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials… add your own petitions

Bless us, O Christ

May our faith be great

~ Eternal God, Most High, bestow an extra measure of blessing on our spiritual leaders, especially in these troubled times, for the innumerable ways they care for us and work to strengthen our faith in You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Bless us, O Christ

May our faith be great

~The Celebrant adds: Lord of All Blessing, Lord of All Life, open our ears to hear our hearts, open our hearts to hear Your Voice, and open our mouths to speak only Your love. We ask, in great faith, through Jesus, the Master of our Table, and the Holy Spirit, the Guide of our Souls, who together with You are One God, now and forever. Amen.

Monday, August 3, 2020

Prayers of the People: Steppin' Out ~ 10th Sunday after Pentecost '20 Yr A

For Sunday, August 9, 2020, Readings: Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b; Romans 10:5-15, Matthew 14:22-33

Now Israel [Jacob] loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was a child of his old age; and he had made him an ornamented tunic...his brothers...hated him. [Genesis 37: 3, 4b - Jewish Study Bible]

Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name, make known his deeds among the peoples...let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. [Psalm 105: 1, 3b]

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. [Romans 10:12]

But when the disciples saw [Jesus] walking on the sea, they were terrified...But...Jesus...said, "...it is I, do not be afraid." Peter [said]..."command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." [Peter] became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught [Peter], saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. [Matthew 14:26a, 28-, 30b, 31-32]

Jacob made his son, Joseph, a "an ornamented tunic," or, "a richly embroidered robe," or, a "long robe with sleeves" depending on the translation you read. The differences in description are because the Hebrew itself is not clear. But the story is known far and wide, by believers and non-believers alike, as Joseph and his coat of many colors, the coat being a symbol of a father's great love for his son and the jealousy wrought by extreme sibling rivalry. God is with Joseph throughout his entire ordeal and despite his brothers' treachery, Joseph survived many hardships and was able to repay his brothers in surprising ways as we'll soon see.

The constancy of God is a continuing theme in the Jacob saga and throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, no matter the whims and wastes of those God loves. The Psalmist reminds us to call upon his name and to search for the Lord and his strength.

Paul tells us that God in Jesus is Lord of all, of everyone, whether Jew or Greek or whatever the color of your coat - this was a shocking idea in those times, a notion that God doesn't dismiss or exclude those people who aren't one of us was quite radical - no wonder Paul ended up in prison! Imagine if we felt that way today - oh, wait, have you read the current news? It leads to the kind of betrayal Joseph's brothers visited upon him, it encourages violence, irrational hatred, and divides neighborhoods and nations. Yet Paul is adamant that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved [Romans 10:13]. Furthermore, we are the ones who are to proclaim Christ to all.

Just as God is Lord of ALL, regardless of human categorization of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, status in life, etc., Jesus calls - requires - us all to be out of the boat to get our feet wet in the realities of life's unpredictable times, tides, and weather. Nothing easy about it - just ask Peter. But praying for the trust to believe in our hearts, to speak our faith out loud in words and actions and bring Christ to others, will help us find the strength we need to pull ourselves and each other up from that sinking feeling of fear and doubt. Jesus bids us Come, step out in faith, and together we will know and share the calmer seas of the Good News.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Generous and Merciful God, the Constant who guides us through the calm and chaos of our earthly life if we believe in our hearts and call upon Your Holy Name. Amplify our faith, relieve our fears and doubts, and quicken our determination to answer Christ’s simple call, “Come.”

Jesus, Lord of All

RESPONSE: Our Strength and Salvation

~ Generous and Merciful God, renew us in spirit daily as we carry the message of Christ on our lips and hearts to the leaders of this Community, this Country, and this World for the peace, health, and well-being of all people everywhere. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Lord of All