A Prayer for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.] Living, loving Father,

We remember how You have worked to bring us to this point today. You have been faithful to us in good times and bad, just as you were to those who have gone before us and to everyone who has ever looked to You. Even at times when it has seemed that all hope was lost, You have given us hope and life in abundance, giving us the water we needed when all we could see were rocks in the desert.

Lord, we will not forget Your faithfulness to us, that it was You who brought us into life and who has never left us alone in anything we have done.

When we forget You, we grumble, worried about our own needs being met. But when we remember You, and even learn to think like You, we realize there is a better way. We can look to the interests of others rather than our own. We can regard others as better than ourselves, rather than acting out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

We can live the kind of life that we have seen lived by Your Son, our Savior, Jesus, who emptied Himself to be one of us even though that led Him to the cross. It is to His name that we kneel with our knees, and that we confess as Lord with our tongues, together with all of creation.

Help us to recognize the people and works in our world today which resemble the way that Jesus lived and worked among us so long ago. And when we see them, help us to be quick to respond obeying His command to love one another and following His example of how that can be done.

It is as we continue to seek to learn to live our lives from Him, as His disciples, that we again pray the prayer that He taught us, saying

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,  on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

Depending on which system of ordering one pays attention to, this Sunday can also be referred to as Proper 21, or (in 2011) the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Regardless of the system, the readings are the same. So, the readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Exodus 17:1-7: The fifth of nine consecutive readings from Exodus. In this passage, the Israelites are grumbling against Moses (and, by implication, against God) for bringing them out of Egypt into the desert "to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst." God then provides water for them to drink out of a rock.
• Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16: Part of a psalm that recounts God's saving acts toward Israel throughout history. This week's section remembers how God miraculously saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and how he guided and provided for them in the wilderness.
• Philippians 2:1-13: The second of four consecutive readings from Philippians. In this classic passage, Paul encourages his readers to "let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus," and gives a description of what that meant for Jesus and what it can mean for the rest of us. The passage concludes with Paul's exhortation to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you..."
• Matthew 21:23-32: All of the gospel readings after Pentecost in Year A come from Matthew. This passage is the first of nine consecutive readings containing Jesus' teachings during the days of the week between his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Sunday) and his arrest (Thursday night). Religious leaders try to trap Jesus with a question about his authority, and he responds by trapping them with a question about John the Baptist. He then tells a parable of two sons, one who does what his Father asked and one who doesn't, making the point that "the tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of heaven ahead of you.

A Prayer for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, loving Father,

Who else is there like You? You alone are majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders. You are our strength. You are our might. You have delivered us from the captivity of sin and death to the freedom of life and salvation, and therefore we will always praise You.

Just as You have loved us and done everything needed for our deliverance, You have also done so for everyone we meet. So help us, Father, to see everyone around us not as people who can serve us and our desires, but as those who can serve You just as we are doing; not as people whom we need to correct in order to get our way, but as Your children whom you love just as You love us, remembering that we all alike will stand before You, bow our knees, and praise You with our tongues, because of how good, generous, and merciful You have been to each one of us.

We have seen this mercy most clearly in Your Son, Jesus. It was he who taught and showed us that forgiveness is possible regardless of the wrongs done to us, because, in truth, we all are indebted to You infinitely beyond our ability to repay. Help us to see the extent to which You have been merciful to us so that we may be merciful to others and so grow in the character of our Lord Jesus, who taught us to pray, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,  on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

Depending on which system of ordering one pays attention to, this Sunday can also be referred to as Proper 19, or (in 2011) the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Regardless of the system, the readings are the same. So, the readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Exodus 14:19-31: The fourth of nine consecutive readings from Exodus. This passage is the dramatic exit (exodus) of God's people from captivity in Egypt as they walk through the Red Sea on dry ground.
• Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21: A song of worship from Moses, the Israelites, and Miriam in praise of God's salvation, recognizing that it is God alone who has saved them from captivity.
• Romans 14:1-12: The fifteenth of sixteen possible consecutive readings after Pentecost from Romans. In this passage, Paul gives practical instructions on how to deal with differences among Christians regarding beliefs about how they should live, emphasizing that all of us will be accountable to God for how we live and that we do not need to take on the immense responsibility of passing judgment on others.
• Matthew 18:21-35: All of the gospel readings after Pentecost in Year A come from Matthew. This passage contains Jesus' parable of the servant who, having been forgiven a tremendous debt by his master, then refused to forgive a coworker's small debt. Jesus told this in response to Peter's question of how many times to forgive one of his brothers, "As many as seven times?... Not seven times, but I tell you, seventy-seven times." In other words, give up keeping count. Be merciful to others, for we have always been given much more mercy than we are asked to give.

Scripture Plaques You Won't Find at the Christian Bookstore, #12

[This post is one of a series of potential Christian plaques that we would never find at a Christian bookstore. See the rest of the list here.]

Many of us will find this to be really good news with college football season beginning next week.

I previously never thought the word "couch" was in the Bible. To my surprise, it shows up 17 times in the NRSV. So I know the place I will start working on making my life more Biblical...

A Prayer for the Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.] Living, loving Father,

We give You thanks today as we call upon Your name. You have done so much for us, and for all who have gone before us, that it is our joy to sing Your songs and tell Your stories, so that we will always remember Your faithfulness.

Although we do not understand why, You have issued a call to each one of us, to know You, follow You, and play a part in Your work in the world. On our own, we are incapable and still stuck in bondage, yet as we open our eyes to Your presence and listen to Your call, You promise to be with us as we go about Your work. May we all know the desperation of having things to do for You that are much too big for our own powers.

As we follow along in Your ways, we will realize that whether or not Your call to us involves things that appear to be big, following You always reveals parts of us that need Your healing touch, and these things are always the core of Your work in our world. Teach us to let love be the center of who we are, loving You and others deeply, learning, as was the way of our Master, Jesus, to bless those who seek to do us harm.

It is from the matchless example of the life that He lived among us as Your Son that we best learn how to love, how to keep our minds on Your things rather than on the ways of the world around us, and how it is in giving up our own lives that we find real life.

So it is again today, as His students, who have heard His call to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him, that we take the step of praying the prayer that He taught us, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,  on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

Depending on which system of ordering one pays attention to, this Sunday can also be referred to as Proper 17, or (in 2011) the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. Regardless of the system, the readings are the same. So, the readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Exodus 3:1-15: The second of nine consecutive readings from Exodus. This is God's call to Moses from the burning bush, including Moses' initial objection to the call and God's assurance that he would go with Moses to deliver his people from Egypt.
• Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b: Part of a hymn that recounts God's work to save his people from the time of Abraham until they settled in Canaan. These verses of the Psalm call the reader to worship God for his deeds among the people, how Jacob's descendants multiplied and were oppressed in Egypt, and that God sent his servant Moses to free them.
• Romans 12:9-21: The thirteenth of sixteen possible consecutive readings after Pentecost from Romans. This passage is a list of instructions from Paul on living in the way of Christ, centering on the command to live genuinely loving lives.
• Matthew 16:21-28: All of the gospel readings after Pentecost in Year A come from Matthew. This passage is the beginning of how "from that time on" Jesus prepared his disciples for his death. Peter objects to what Jesus says, receives a strong rebuke from Jesus ("Get behind me, Satan..."), and Jesus gives the call most often repeated in the gospels: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me..."

A Prayer for the Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.] Living, loving Father,

We call upon You, because we have found that You answer us. Incline Your ear to us and hear these words that we pray.

You save those who seek refuge in You, and we pray that just as Your love has always been steadfast toward us, that You would show it to all those who seek You today.

Although we have striven with You and sought to have our own way, You have blessed us. We deserve Your condemnation, yet in Your mercy, instead of condemning, You have given us Yourself.

Your loving faithfulness is not new to us, but for thousands of years You have been working in Your people to bring about good in this world.

This loving work of Yours came to a climax in the life, death, and resurrection of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus. He showed us that although we may feel unable to do Your work in the lives of others around us, all things are possible with You. You are able to take what we have to offer, bless it and multiply it for the good of others. So it is as students of Him who fed the crowds with five loaves of bread, and who abundantly gives us all that we need to live fully in You, that we pray again in the way that He taught us, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,  on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

Depending on which system of ordering one pays attention to, this Sunday can also be referred to as Proper 13, or (in 2011) the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost. Regardless of the system, the readings are the same. So, the readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Genesis 32:22-31: The eleventh of thirteen possible consecutive readings after Pentecost from Genesis, and the fourth of six on the life of Jacob. This passage is the account of Jacob wrestling with God, during his return to face his brother, Esau, whom he had wronged, after leaving his father-in-law, Laban, who had wronged him. In this passage, God informs Jacob that his name will be changed to Israel.
• Psalm 17:1-7, 15: A bold prayer to God for deliverance, which concludes with an echo of Jacob's experience, "As for me, I shall behold your face... when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness."
• Romans 9:1-5: The ninth of sixteen possible consecutive readings after Pentecost from Romans. This passage represents a shift, as Paul moves from an explanation of the Christian way to exploring the implications of Israel rejecting it.
• Matthew 14:13-21: All of the gospel readings after Pentecost in Year A come from Matthew. In this passage, Jesus feeds 5,000 men, plus women and children, with five loaves and bread and two fish.

A Prayer for the Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, Loving Father,

We give thanks to You, O Lord, and we call upon Your name today. We sing praises to You, we glory in Your holy name, and we cannot help but to speak of the wonderful things You have done. We seek You, O Lord, and Your strength. Today, as always, we seek Your presence.

You have been faithful to us, even when we have been unfaithful to You. Even if we have tried to make deals with You, perhaps deceiving ourselves and others in doing so, You have never acted as we do, returning deception for deception, but You have always only been loving and faithful to us.

Although others surely fail us, regardless of the things that happen, the good and the bad, when we look back upon them, we can see that, incredibly, You have managed to use them all for our good. Indeed, the very worst that people can to do us cannot separate us from the love that You have shown us so clearly in the life of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus.

It was He who showed us most fully what Your love is like. It was He who taught us about life in Your kingdom, and how it is easily worth any price we may have to pay. And it was He who taught us how to pray, so again today we join together as His students, praying the prayer that he taught us, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,  on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

Depending on which system of ordering one pays attention to, this Sunday can also be referred to as Proper 12, or (in 2011) the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost. Regardless of the system, the readings are the same. So, the readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Genesis 29:15-28: The tenth of thirteen possible consecutive readings after Pentecost from Genesis, and the third of five on the life of Jacob. In this passage, Jacob, who has been a deceiver of his father and brother, now becomes the deceived by his father-in-law, Laban.
• Psalm 105:1-11, 45b: A portion of this psalm, which recounts God's acts in the history of Israel, which recalls how God worked through the first families of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in faithfulness to his promises to them.
• Romans 8:26-39: The ninth of sixteen possible consecutive readings after Pentecost from Romans, and the third of three consecutive readings from the great passages of Romans 8. In this passage, Paul concludes a major section of his argument and description of the Christian way with the strong declaration that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
• Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52: All of the gospel readings after Pentecost in Year A come from Matthew, and this is the third of three consecutive readings of Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13. This passage actually includes five short parables about the kingdom of heaven: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, ...yeast, ...treasure hidden in a field, ...a merchant in search of fine pearls, ...a net that was thrown into the sea."

A Prayer for the Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, loving Father,

You, O Lord, know all that there is to know about each of us. You have searched us, known us, and yet still love us beyond our understanding. Even if we attempt to flee from You, there is nowhere we can go where You are not. In every corner of our world, You are there.

There have been many times when we thought ourselves to be alone. It often feels like, if You are anywhere in our world, it could only be somewhere far away from wherever we are and whatever we are going through. But regardless of how it feels, You are here, even if we have been completely unaware.

At other times, it feels like we have awoken to an entirely new life in an entirely new world, where Your loving presence surrounds us like the air that we breathe. Your Scriptures and Your friends throughout history have testified that this is how things really are, all of the time, so help us, in this moment, to know that You are here.

Help us to experience how profoundly good it is to have a living, loving Father who is always near and who calls us His own beloved children. Everyone in our world, even our world itself, needs to know this in the deepest ways possible. So use us, here in this world, in these bodies, to increase Your hope in our world.

We hope in the face of sometimes hopeless situations, only because we have come to trust in Your loving wisdom, since You let a variety of things grow together, so that in the end, as many as possible can join us along Your way being transformed to the point that our lives shine like the sun in Your kingdom.

As completely as we know how, we open ourselves to You to have Your way with us, to reveal to us things we need to know about ourselves, showing us if there are any wicked ways in us, and leading us in Your everlasting way.

The one who has best taught us to live this way is your beloved Son, our Savior, Jesus. It is as his students that we again take the step of following him by praying the prayer that He taught us, saying

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,  on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

Depending on which system of ordering one pays attention to, this Sunday can also be referred to as Proper 11, or (in 2011) the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. Regardless of the system, the readings are the same. So, the readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Genesis 28:10-19a: The ninth of thirteen possible consecutive readings after Pentecost from Genesis, and the second of four on the life of Jacob. This passage is the story of "Jacob's ladder." As Jacob was running for his life from his brother, Esau, after swindling him out of his birthright and their father's blessing, he has a dream of a ladder reaching to heaven, is spoken to by God, and becomes convinced of God's presence with him.
• Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24: David's prayer that God would search him, know him, and lead him along further in his ways, combined with praising God for being ever-present everywhere in the world.
• Romans 8:12-25: The eighth of sixteen possible consecutive readings after Pentecost from Romans, and the second of three consecutive readings from the great passages of Romans 8. In this passage, Paul explores the meaning and implications of our identity as God's children, being given the privilege through our adoption to call God "Abba, Father," and being given a role in bringing his hope into the midst of a cosmos "groaning in labor pains."
• Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43: All of the gospel readings after Pentecost in Year A come from Matthew, and this is the second of three consecutive readings of Jesus' parables in Matthew 13. This passage contains Jesus' parable of the weeds and the wheat, which a landowner allowed to grow together so that the wheat would not be uprooted. It also skips ahead in the chapter to Jesus' explanation of the parable to his disciples, as he explains its application to the end of the age and how, in the end, God's righteous children will come to "shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father."