Category Archives: Prayer

A Needed Prayer

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I found this prayer in the Mission Yearbook For Prayer And Study today and knew that I needed it — and needed to share it with others.

May God bless you:
With a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
With holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people
With the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hands to comfort them and transform their pain into joy
With enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you can, with God’s grace, do what others claim cannot be done.

Amen.

What Would Calvin Do?

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I pray that all who live n the US who are eligible to vote today will do so, and I pray that all Christians will pray before they cast their ballots. As a Presbyterian, I belong to what is called the Reformed Tradition. Started by reformers like John Calvin, the Reformed tradition stresses God’s sovereignty over all things, but our responsibility to pray for God’s will to be done in the world and act on what we feel God is leading us to do as we strive to make the world more like the Kingdom of God.

How does that translate into actions such as voting?

Here’s a reflection from the Presbyterian Mission Yearbook For Prayer And Study for today that may help answer that question:

During debates over regulating cigarette smoking, a tobacco executive attending worship for the first time asked the pastor if someone from his conglomerate would be welcome. The pastor asked, “Do you think you are that much worse a sinner than these other worshipers and me?” Both smiled, distinguishing corporate policy from personal identity and affirming space for different outlooks in that church.

Today’s lectionary passages focus on judgment executed and judgment deferred, good themes for Election Day. In Luke 13, Jesus points to natural and human-caused disasters to ask if those who suffered were worse than their neighbors. Both kinds of disaster should prompt repentance – not something most elected officials do in public. It is often easier to judge others and vote against them than it is to consider the nature of a good society and one’s responsibilities in it. At our best, like that tobacco executive, we acknowledge our own interests, dreams, and resentments influence our decisions, but they are not the whole of us. Many organizations opposing shared sacrifice spend more on political contributions than taxes, but conscience puts the survival of future generations ahead of the concerns of today’s powerful.

The Reformed approach is almost always to seek to reform, not abolish the state. The purpose of the state is more than shared defense. The magistrate or government, in Calvin’s view, is “ordained of God” not only to be an “avenger unto wrath,” but “a minister of God for those doing good unto praise” (Institutes IV, 20, 4). As the report to the 174th General Assembly (1962), “Relations Between Church and State,” terms it, “The civil ruler is a co-worker with the ministry of the church for the accomplishment of the divine purpose . . . the magistracy fundamentally exists, in short, not because humans are wicked but because God is gracious.”

- Rev. Christian T. Iosso, coordinator, Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, General Assembly Mission Council

So — what would Calvin do? What I pray every Chrisitan in America will do — pray and vote.

Memorial Day.09

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Memorial Day.

A holiday for many. I’m working on odds and ends at the Church office today but for some it’s a day off. However you spend your day today, remember the reason for today. Many have given their lives for the freedoms we enjoy as Americans — and many continue to give their lives so that we and others can continue to enjoy freedom.

On Memorial Day I always remember a poem I learned in the fifth grade — John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

You can read the story of the poem here.

As we remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, and especially this year those who continue to fight for freedom, I offer this prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

As we remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, we think of how they have followed in the footsteps of your son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Please hold our service men and women in your strong arms. Cover them with your sheltering grace and presence as they stand in the gap for our protection.

We also remember the families of our troops, and ask for your unique blessings to fill their homes and your peace, provision and strength to fill their lives.

May the members of our armed forces be filled with courage to face each day and may they trust in the Lord’s mighty power to accomplish each task. Let our military brothers and sisters feel our love and support.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.