God of Justice,
God of Compassion,
God of Sacred and Scandalous ways,
We have so much still to learn.
By your grace, we have come to know love more deeply than once before –
its mess, its complexity, its stubborn and tender truths transform us more each day.
Through fires that refine and valleys of death, you have guided us.
You draw us into the heart of Wisdom,
Saving us from the lies of destruction.
Turning us towards hope that liberates.
But still, O God, we struggle to trust in you..
And so, when we are afraid. Or hurt. Or weary…
We betray the very One who brought us thus far.
We confess, we still shame Jesus, when he turns over tables.
We confess, we still condemn Jesus, when he breaks the rules to which we are loyal.
We confess, while Jesus is torn from the arms of his mother by ICE,
killed by his own lovers – so afraid of desiring trans women,
and sitting lonely on the street with no family to welcome them home,
our loyalties are often elsewhere.
Our priorities are not your own.
Search our hearts, O God, and see if there is any fear within us.
Meet us there with your good news that sets the captives free.
Forgive us from the harm we have done as we seek to harm no more.
(pause in silent prayer)
Beloveds, God does not abandon us to the systems that destroy.
God does not bind us to our regrets.
Or forever hold us to what we once believed.
God says, come and follow!
Know forgiveness and sin no more.
Love abounds. And Justice shall be manifest!
Wherever new life is desired,
may the peace of Christ be welcomed among us.
Thanks be to God who leads us on paths of resurrection.