Epiphany 1 (First Sunday after Epiphany, Year C, 2022): Litany for God in the World

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Baptism of the Lord. This litany draws from the texts for the first Sunday after Epiphany.  It is, for me, a prayer of completion and gratitude. God-with-us is never far off. 


God, as we celebrate Epiphany -
The revealing of God-with-us,
God lovingly entered into the earth-realm,
God in human form,
God affirmed by heaven’s voice (1),
God sought and found by wisdom-seekers (2),
God companionable with creation,
God revealed as Love,
God participating in human life and ritual (3),
God’s Spirit present among us (4)...

Epiphany (Year C 2022): Litany for the Light of Love

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In the texts for Epiphany Year C, the epistle mentions “the wisdom of God in its rich variety” (Ephesians 3:10). Paul seems to grasp the winsome invitation of God’s welcome to humans of all kinds. The most unexpected people show up at the door - astrologers from far away who glimpsed the story in the stars; gentiles whom Jews like Paul would have avoided any religious sharing with; peasants with nothing to recommend them. “Nations shall come,” says the prophet Isaiah, drawn by the light of Love (60:3). You just never know when a king, or a beggar, might come knocking.

Where we thought we needed to be gate-keepers, we find we get to be greeters. Where once we saw foreigners, now we perceive fellow travelers. Let this expansive light (Arise, shine, for your light has come! - Isaiah 60:1) be our guidance here in this new year.


God, wise people the world over have sought and found you,
And experienced the Love that undergirds the universe,
That is the hallmark of your presence
And the stuff of your being.

Epiphany 4, Year B (2021): Litany for Caring for Each Other

Here is this week's litany from 2018: Litany for Unclean Spirits, which focuses on the text from Mark 1 in which Christ casts out the unclean spirit in Capernaum.

This time around, I'm dealing primarily with the text of 1 Corinthians 8, in which Saint Paul discusses what was apparently an issue: whether or not to eat food sacrificed to idols. He points out that all things have their existence in God as represented by Christ: “through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” Rather than splitting hairs about doctrine and correctness, he invites the Corinthian church to see all their decisions and actions first through a lens of love for others, urging them to “ take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

We too are invited into this tension: we live in liberation from dogma, yet we can choose to center our right action in Love for Neighbor. This litany leans into those themes. 

 

God, you have given all things to us,
Things in heaven and things on earth;
Placed the land under our stewardship,
And the people under one another’s mutual care…

Epiphany 2, Year B 2021: Litany for Truth-Tellers

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Y’all. I can’t make this up. This is the lectionary for this week.

Synopsis of 1 Samuel 3 and the preceding events:

Eli the priest has scoundrels for sons. His sons are, by their lineage, also priests; they are thieving and lying and raping - doing immeasurable damage to the priesthood and the nation - and Eli, though he pleads with them, cannot (will not?) control nor contain them. They are allowed to wreak havoc. A “man of God” gives Eli a message that his sons have doomed their whole family to destruction and penury.

Young Samuel is Eli’s acolyte. God isn’t often heard from, but one night Samuel hears a voice, which he and Eli figure out to be the voice of God. God gives Samuel a message: Eli’s family will be punished for the iniquity of the scoundrel sons - they’ll lose everything, confirming the other, earlier message.

Samuel is hesitant to tell his mentor the bad news - that injustice will and must be held accountable, if not by the priesthood, if not by the society, then by God; that the ones who have lied and thieved and assaulted WILL be held responsible. But he tells Eli the truth of the prophecy God has given him. Eli meets it with acceptance, and Samuel gains a reputation as a Truth-Teller.

Flip to the Gospel reading from John 1….

Jesus is in the process of gathering disciples. He’s got Philip, Andrew, and Peter. And from a distance he sees Nathanael. Jesus immediately identifies Nathanael as “an Israelite in whom there is no deceit,” as a Truth-Teller. Nathanael is a Truth-Teller and Jesus wants him.

Aaaand relate it to today...

Last week we had a mob, incited by the lies of political leaders and conspiracy theories, ransack the US Capitol, killing 5 humans, endangering countless others, and proving that years of lies and deceit are bearing evil fruit and that, like the sons of Eli, those responsible must be contained and held accountable lest they bring the whole country down into their eventual destruction. OK!

I wait to see what will be done. I pray that faith communities will awaken to their duty as Truth-Tellers. And that we, as individuals, will be those “in whom there is no deceit.” Our theology matters, and conflating the message and work of Christ with deceitful narratives of Christian Nationalism, Christo-fascism, White Supremacy, and violence is bad theology that leads to harm.

This litany is inspired by these texts, but I have thrown a lot of other references in.



God, we pray for our faith community,
As a whole and as individuals,
That we will have the courage to hold fast to truth,
Even when truth is inconvenient,
Even when truth convicts us,
Even when truth is difficult,
Even when truth is not what we’d hoped,
Even when truth is hard to tell …


Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord, Year B: Litany for the Unorthodox


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It occurs to me, upon reading the account of John the Baptist baptizing the Christ in Mark 1, and the discussion between Paul and some disciples that happens in Acts 19, that what John was doing was pretty radical. I’m always tempted to overlook him as a character in the story, but the story seems to find its way back to quirky, weird old John the Baptist again and again. In the Advent scriptures he’s referred to as the “voice of one calling in the wilderness.” And in today’s scriptures he’s subverting the whole religious system of the day by proclaiming forgiveness of sins by way of repentance, changing course, and baptism, i.e. ceremonial/ritual washing.

The faith tradition he’s part of has taught that forgiveness comes through animal sacrifice via official priestly and religious channels. But John is going around all official channels. John is sidestepping ALL accepted protocols regarding how to live: he lives outside the community, dresses and eats oddly, and preaches an alternative form of spiritual practice. And Jesus comes along and adds veracity to John’s unorthodox work! He allows himself to be baptized by John, aligning himself with unofficial, unverified spiritual practice and procedure. Then the Spirit validates the work too, coming in the form of a dove to add weight to Jesus and John’s claims!

John seems to stand in his own authority, trusting his instincts, making it up as he goes along, doing what resonates for him because he has no roadmap; he is in uncharted religious territory, making way for a Christ few people seemed to really expect to arrive, and helping usher in a new paradigm of faith and action.

I have a hunch that we are in uncharted spiritual and religious territory too.



God, we find ourselves in need of extra creativity in these times -
When the old ways don’t seem to be working anymore,
When the problems we face are vast and unsettling,
When our energy and ingenuity have been depleted.

Epiphany (Year B): Litany for Sages

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In the past I haven’t posted a litany for the day of Epiphany. But my love for this season has grown and deepened, and I find myself praying to become like the wise men from the east who were able to perceive a far off occurrence: a new and powerful embodiment of Divine Love in the world. I want to be that attuned, that attentive. And to be part of that embodiment. 

So I offer this prayer, along with my greetings in this new year. May you be well, happy, and full of life and joy. 



Arise, shine,
For your light has come.
The glory of God has risen upon us.
Let your heart thrill and rejoice. 



Epiphany 3 (Year A): Litany for Fishing for People

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This week’s Lectionary gospel is Matthew’s account of the calling of Andrew, Peter, James and John to leave behind their fishing vocation, and take up a new one allied with the Community of Heaven. Jesus famously says: “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Which is a wry and funny thing (in my opinion) for him to say. I’m envisioning us here, gently swept up, netted into a new paradigm of love. 


Oh God, we hear the Good News from Christ:
Change your mind! For God’s Community is right here,
And we take this news to heart,
Putting all our energy into making the transition…

Epiphany 2 (Year A): Litany for What We’re Looking For

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In preparing to write this litany I was reading through some commentaries, and one point in particular, made by Dr. Audrey West, struck me (especially in regards to my recent sermon at PeaceWilco): that the first quote Jesus utters in John’s gospel account is a question. “What are you looking for” (NRSV), also translated “What are you seeking?” The two disciples, one of whom is Andrew, reply with their own urgent question “Where are you staying?” 

What are we looking for? This is a deep, compelling, beautiful question. I believe it resonates to us today. What are we looking for? In our addictions, our people pleasing, our unrest, our endless consumption, our entertainment? 

Are we looking for peace? Connection? To be seen? To be free? To be accepted? It’s not  always an easy question to answer. Not even Andrew and his friend answered it - basically, whatever it is we think you’ve got it, Jesus. But it bears consideration for mindful, spiritual people of all traditions. 


God, so many of us are searching and longing
For a good life,
For community and reciprocal relationships,
For acceptance,
For peace and freedom from worry,
For safety,
For engaging work,
For abundance….

Transfiguration Sunday (Year C): Litany for Impatience

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A number of things are informing this week’s litany. One is the newest climate change news. Another is the UMC General Conference, which I’ve been following intently. And of course there’s the rest of the news in general. So as I read these Lectionary passage for the week, gosh I feel impatient! Ready for justice to be served. Ready for righteousness to prevail. Ready for the earth to be set right. I hear Jesus’ words “You faithless and perverse generation! How long must I be with you and bear with you?!” and I resonate with them. I resonate with that feeling of mixed longing and exasperation that I hear in those words.

This week is Transfiguration Sunday. We pay attention to the similarities between the story of Moses coming down glowing from Mount Sinai (Exodus 34) and of Christ’s transfiguration on the mountain, when he glows with light, and the voice of God from heaven affirms him (Luke 9). The text says that the disciples were “weighed down with sleep,” but somehow they manage to stay awake and glimpse the glory of Christ’s glowing light. And we pray for the courage, patience, and fortitude to stay awake long enough, and for our consciousness to be expanded enough, to see it in our time.



God, we are heavy with sleep,
Struggling for a glimpse of your glory (1).
We are impatiently and desperately waiting
For heaven to come on earth. ..

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Epiphany, Year B (Week 5): Litany for Healing

God, we look to you as Healer.
Heal us, oh God.

We look to the message of Christ for our hope:
The Kingdom, the Way of God is near.
You give power to the faint,
And strengthen the powerless. (1)
You heal the brokenhearted
And bind up their wounds. (2).

From our physical infirmities
Heal us, oh God.
From our spiritual blindness,
Heal us, oh God.
From our emotional woundedness,
Heal us, oh God.
From our weakness and corruption,
Heal us, oh God.
From our mental illnesses,
Heal us, oh God.
From our brokenness and trauma,
Heal us, oh God.
From our carelessness and apathy,
Heal us, oh God.
From our generational burdens,
Heal us, oh God.
From our hatred and violence,
Heal us, oh God.

Those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,
They shall mount up with wings like eagles
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint. (3)

We wait for you,
God, our healer.
Amen.

 

  1. Isaiah 40:29

  2. Psalm 147:3

  3. Isaiah 40:31

Epiphany, Year B (Week 3): Litany for New Creation

This litany contains references to selections from the Lectionary texts for January 21, 2018 (Year B).

God, even now, in ways we can hardly comprehend
The old is passing away.
Your voice, the voice of Christ, speaks to us:
“The time is fulfilled
the kingdom of God has come near;
turn from evil, and believe in the good news." (1)

All around the world there is turmoil
There is suffering, hunger, and war.
Here in our midst there is upheaval:
In our government, society, and streets.
But we see the subtle ways in which you work:
New creation steadily appearing.

Help us, oh God, to pay attention
To the nearness of your Kingdom,
To the rhythms of your working,
To the newness of life around us,
To the opportunities in our midst,
To the mystery of Christ within us.

For the present form of this world is passing away. (2)
New Creation has already taken hold
And is working and growing behind the scenes,
Beyond the screen of what our eyes can see.

Trust in God at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before God;
God is a refuge for us.
Power and steadfast love belong to God. (3)

Amen

  1. Mark 1:15

  2. 1Corinthians 7:31

  3. Psalm 62:8,12