Here’s a prayer of
confession inspired by Jesus’ high-priestly prayer in John 17. It was written by Rev. Dr. Cari Jackson.
Prayer of Confession
(inspired by John 17)
Jesus prays for us,
for “those
who will believe in me through their word,
that they may all be
one.
As you, Father-Mother
God,
are in me and I am in
you,
may they also be in
us,
so that the world may
believe that you have sent me.”
As disciples of Christ,
we proclaim in our words the hope
“that we may all be one”,
yet often we become bound, even imprisoned,
by our fears or distrust of those
who seem different from us in some way.
When our fears bind us,
we forget our calling to be witnesses in the
world
of the love of God manifest in Christ Jesus
and in each of us.
The fear of difference causes us to retreat
and separate ourselves from others.
The fear of difference imprisons us in cells
of our own making.
Assurance of Pardon
Sisters and brothers, God is at work in us
and with us!
The glory that God has manifested in Jesus
Christ
is given to us even now
so that we may live and love as one,
for in Christ, we are one.
The promise of God is to guard the lives of
the faithful,
and rescue us from the hand of anything binds
us
and separates us from God, and one another.
Because God’s love manifest in Jesus Christ,
“the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last,
the beginning and the end” sets us free.
(Rev. 22:12)
We are free indeed! Amen.
~ from Free Indeed, written by
Rev. Dr. Cari Jackson. Posted on the United Church of Christ’s Worship Ways
Archive. http://www.ucc.org/worship/worship-ways/
