"Blessed Are You, O Sovereign Lord...." - 17 December 2023
Blessed are you, O
Sovereign Lord, God of our ancestors: to you be praise and glory forever. You
called the patriarchs and matriarchs to live by faith and to journey in the
hope that you are the God of your word. May we, similarly, be obedient to your call,
be ready and watchful to receive your Son and live forward in hope-filled trust
and joy.
Thank you that in the
fullness of time you sent your Son, born of a woman, born under the law, born
into a low condition, who underwent the miseries of this life. Therefore, we
implore you to look in on those who find this time of year a grief and hardship
due to painful memories, sorrowful losses, adversarial family relations, broken
promises, and impending privations. May the Gospel-hope ricocheting around the
walls and halls in the Christmas carols, lift their hearts and faces to look up
to you and rejoice in Spirit-birthed confidence.
As your Son was born in a
time of great conflict, of oppression, of “might-makes-right,” of faith and
religion used as a moralizing machete, of frustrated national ambitions, of
revolt and rebellion, and he came as the beginning of a new way of being human;
we entreat you to hear the weeping of those who are in despair; see the
blood-splattered walls and streets; take notice of the horrors in our world;
and guide the directions, decisions and dealings of earth’s leaders. In the
words of Jeremiah, may they do “justice and righteousness, and deliver from
the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence
to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood”
(Jeremiah 22:3).
We are grateful that the
Word, who was with God and was God, became flesh and dwelt among us, and that
even from his infancy grace and truth came through him. We pray for your Church
in all places, we pray for this congregation, as well as Christ UMC, 1st
UMC in OKC and Yukon, Goodrich, and Korean 1st UMC. Preside over your Church with your
protection and direction; prevail within your Church to remove
all heresies and schisms, to build up holy unity, and to foster wholesome compassion;
and project
from your Church the
hope of that first Christmas, all wrapped in swaddling cloths, laid in a manger
and announced in angelic splendor.
And, Father, your Son was born at the end of tiring travels and journeys. It reminds us to pray for those travelling and soon to be travelling. Keep them safe and sound going and coming. And finally, please turn our family gatherings into times of pleasure and peace. May that crabby Uncle, ornery Auntie, sour parent, angry adult child, or offended sibling be overcome by the Prince of Peace. And where we should, help us to be effective peacemakers.
Please hear our prayers, which we present to you in the name of Jesus our Lord. And now we join hearts and voices together to pray as he taught us, saying, Our Father…
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