I've been preaching my way through the psalms of ascent at a retirement village and in Psalm 124 and 125 we looked at Communal laments. Looking at how on a personal and societal level things are not at all good. One of the amazing things about these communal laments is that they contain some of the strongest affirmations of faith and hope in God... Lament goes along with trust.
This week I'm preaching on Daniel chapter 5 which is a passage about the spirit moving in world history. It is again a passage that deals with the worst of human sacrilege and the decline and decay of empire, and in the middle of that God's sovereign hand, offering last minute grace but also changing empire. In the middle of that Daniel is faithful and willing to move and be where the Spirit moves... In my own inadequate way I've tried to tie this all together in a prayer for the service this Sunday... In the face of terror attacks at a concert in Manchester, continued civil war in Syria, famine in eat Africa, North Korean missile tests and the seeming swirl and whirl of political change.
The affirmation of the prayers of ascent and Daniel are that God is in control. That we are called to live out our transformative faith in Jesus Christ amidst this with the ministry of reconciliation, humble service and selfless love of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
It would be
easy to find ourselves shaken to the core,
Distort and full
of despair as we see what is happening around us
Bomb blasts
murder teenagers and children die in civil war
Famine and conflict
join hands to kill with hunger’s cruel grip
The dangerous
bravado of sabre rattling with nuclear tipped missiles
The unsettling
swing of ideology, and polarizing, politics of popularity
Amidst the
wrestle to know truth from well-constructed fake,
Lurching from
crisis to crisis, climate change and super bug
It is easy
to wonder where it’s all going, spinning out of control
But amidst
histories crazed forward dance
We stop and
proclaim God’s hand is at work
The sovereign
Lord, creator of all, is in control
Working his
purposes by the Holy Spirit, in this world
Calling his
people to follow Christ and to reconcile
Amidst it
all God has sent his Son, his kingdom has come
Not in the
clash of army or over whelming force
But in
humble service and sacrificial love
In Jesus
life, death and resurrection
God is at
work, his plans for good and not for harm
His desire
for people to be forgiven and made whole,
For justice
and righteousness to flow
For those
whom he has called and made his own
To see what
the Spirit is doing and join right in
To be peace
makers and Christ light bearers
To love one
another as Christ has loved us
Witnesses to
the hope and good news of Jesus Christ
Living as
Kingdom of God citizens in the realms of this world
Righteous and
Holy, God
The one who
rules above the storm,
We give you praise
for who you are, both sovereign and loving
We declare
your goodness and grace that has bought us life
We pray for
your forgiveness, for wrong done and good left undone
We thank you
that in Christ the slate is wiped clean
We pray for
the renewing presence of your spirit
That we
might be your people, and do your will
That we may
live, and speak and act to your glory
Amen
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