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This litany is inspired by Christ’s teaching on conflict resolution and unity as recorded in Matthew 18, the Lectionary Gospel text for this week.
God, we want to live in good conscience.
We want our actions to match our words.We want our relationships to reflect our love.
We want our lives to reflect the beauty of Christ.
This week's Lectionary litany draws on the passages from Genesis 45, as well as Psalm 133 and Isaiah 56.
God, sometimes your commands are baffling! You seem to expect absurd things from us,
Things which go against our grain:
To love our enemies,
To forgive our betrayers,
To provide for our oppressors,
To eat at a table with sinners,
To support sick and poor people,
To renounce violence,
To welcome foreigners
To embrace outcasts (1).
Your paradigm is so different from ours --
Your sacrificial love. Our self-absorbed defense --
We can hardly wrap our minds around it,
And yet it is the most compelling thing we’ve ever heard.
When Joseph saw his brothers after so many years
Who had sold him into slavery and ruined his life,
He wept
And welcomed them.
How very good and pleasant it is
For kindred to live together in unity! (2)
Help us to remember in the midst of conflict and dispute:
We are one.
We are the betrayer,
And we are the betrayed.
We are the poor,
And we are the oppressor.
We are the sinner,
And we are the sinned against.
We are the weepers,
And we are the wept upon. (3)
You, God, have welcomed all to your table; every human being, your own child.
Let us dwell together in unity.
Amen
(1) Isaiah 56:8
(2) Psalm 133:1
(3) Gen 45:14, 15
I was at an event recently in which someone asked the speaker, who happened to be Michael Wear, this question: What we should pray for 45? I thought what a good question it was, and resolved to try to answer it.
For my friends who love Trump, this will perhaps be easy for you to pray, and a good reminder to do so. But for my friends for whom Mr. Trump presents a fair degree of stress and difficulty, I hear that, and I'll say this: you don’t have to like him to pray this prayer.
In fact, praying this prayer (or one like it) is in itself an act of hopeful resistance. It is for some of us a tangible living-out of Jesus command in the Sermon on the Mount "love your enemies; pray for those who persecute you." It is a step toward embodying Jesus' best and most subversive ideas. It is moving in the direction of flooding the world with forgiveness.
Extra bonus points for praying this alongside someone with whom you disagree.
It may feel like sandpaper on your skin or sound like nails on a chalkboard at first. Sometimes the Good News does that. But I think it's a path to peace.
God, as you have made yourself known to men and women, over countless generations all over the world
So, make yourself known to Donald Trump.
As you have inspired good works, loving actions, peacemaking, and depth of feeling and thought in the hearts of humans,
So inspire Mr. Trump.
We ask for your merciful guidance on the 45th President of the United States.
Be to him a light.
Set his feet on the path of peace,
And his mind on selfless love.
Give to him a wide perspective and listening ears,
That he may seek the good of all whom he governs.
Instill in him a strong desire to do justly,
A love for mercy,
Humility,
Discernment,
Curiosity,
Willingness to learn,
Strength of character,
And wisdom from heaven.
Surround him even now with wise women and men of depth, character, experience,
And above all, of unflinching honesty and integrity.
Strengthen him even now with energy and zeal for doing good, robust heart,
And willingness to endure sacrifice for others.
Let the leader of this nation abound in compassion and integrity,
And all the people of the nation prosper under just government.
Where he is weak
Make your power apparent.
Where he is needy,
Provide for him.
Where he is vulnerable,
Protect him.
In the depths of his soul,
May he be filled with your love.
Amen