Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Pastoral Prayer: Listen & Testify

I offered this as the pastoral prayer in worship at Central Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky on January 18, 2015. The previous week we celebrated the Baptism of Our Lord and remembered or anticipated our own baptisms. The theme of the week was "The Darkness of Incivility" particularly pertaining to racial strife and conflict. 


Holy God,
Fresh from the waters of baptism, secure in the knowledge of our beloved-ness, we meet our first faithful challenge: to listen.

Not to interject
       or interrupt
       or even to interpret.
To listen.

Teach us to listen before speaking, for we've had the microphone too long.
And before we endeavor to give voice to the voiceless, let us listen to their stories from beginning to end.

For the un-named, voiceless, hidden parts of our own stories, we pray for the courage to testify; that in sharing we may find that we are not alone.

Teach us what it means to accompany one another.
What does it mean to accompany Nigerians as they are slaughtered by militants?
What does it mean to accompany the French as they mourn?
What does it mean to accompany those whose homes are ravaged by typhoons?
To accompany those whose neighborhoods are controlled by poverty, fear and violence?

We know that when we open our hearts we will receive what we need to live faithfully. So break open our hearts. Give us eyes to see clearly, ears to listen carefully, hearts to receive, and tongues to speak wisely.

Teach us to listen first. To pass the mic. To testify. To pray and to support.

You are relentless in your love for us, and for this we give you thanks.

Amen.

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