Here’s
a pastoral prayer inspired by Jesus’ teaching about salt and light in Matthew
5: 13-16. It comes from the Ministry Matters website.
Pastoral
Prayer
(inspired by Matthew
5: 13-16)
Gracious
God,
we
thank you for the light that shone in Jesus,
revealing
unto us your holiness and our righteousness.
We
deplore this gap, yet we rejoice
that
you chased the darkness that kept it hidden from our eyes.
By
your light we are both encouraged and condemned.
We
are reassured to see your face turned in our direction,
bidding
us to come unto you.
But
we shudder at the sight of us turning our backs on you,
resisting
the light that could mirror your glory.
We
thank you, O God, for leaving your light in the world
even
though we have not always heeded your summons
to
become the light of the world.
Instead
of illuminating your character, we have blurred it.
You
have commanded us to love you with all our being,
but
we have consigned our love to the pigeonhole of religion.
You
have commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves,
but
we have been too preoccupied with ourselves to find them.
You
have called us to be peacemakers,
yet
we have encouraged the arms makers
with
our fears and our fortunes.
You
have summoned us to be wall breakers,
yet
we have supported the wall makers
with
our silence and our sympathy.
We
have seen the light, but we have refused to walk in it.
Yet
we long, O Lord, to keep your law and do your will.
We
ask forgiveness for our rebellion,
not
merely for the sake of the joy we have denied ourselves,
but
also for the joy we have denied others.
Keep
ever before us the needs of the world into which you sent Jesus
and
for whose sake he gave himself to the uttermost.
Let
us feel its pain as our own,
seek
its good as our own,
and
work for its transformation
in
the name and spirit of him who came into the world
not
to condemn but to redeem it.
We
listen now, O God, for your word.
Let
its message illumine our minds
that
we may will as Jesus willed.
Let
its spirit quicken our hearts that we may love as Jesus loved.
Let
its power speed our steps that we may do as Jesus did.
~ posted on the Ministry Matters website. http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/article/entry/4658/worship-elements-february-9-2014
