A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering

Image: George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

We come this morning with our arms full, Lord,
because today we offer you the Church,
the whole Church,
the beautiful, blessed Body of Christ:
your faithful sons and daughters,
born again in baptism and in the grace of the Holy Spirit...

We offer you the Church, the mystical Body of Christ,
in all its beauty-
but a beauty marred and scarred
by our sin and selfishness,
our carelessness and conceit,
our hunger for power and desire for self-promotion...

You call us to serve one another,
and we make victims of the innocent,
children of adults
and hirelings of our siblings in Christ...

You call us to be pure of mind and heart,
and we sully ourselves and others
for the sake of passion and prestige...

You call us to be channels of your peace,
and we cripple the souls of the young,
betray the faith of elders
and choke the trust of believers...

You call us to be merciful to one another
and we set ourselves up as judges,
handing down verdicts we pray
you would never hand down on us...

You call us to be just in all our doings,
and we fail to be accountable
to you, your Word, your law
and your people...

You call us to be a city set on a hill,
shining for all,
and we grow content with the darkness;
you call us to be yeast
to make the dough rise
but our leaven is old and impotent;
you call us to be servants
to our neighbors
but our selfishness leaves others in need…

You call us to be the Body of Christ,
Corpus Christi,
but we shame you, Lord,
whose Body we are…

Lord, have mercy!
Christ, have mercy!
Lord, have mercy!

Be merciful, O Lord, and spare your people!

Help us turn our hearts to you, Lord,
so that with honesty and humility
we might stand before you as we are,
each of us and all of us together,
to offer you the Church, ourselves,
for help, for healing, for holiness...

Help us turn our hearts to you, Lord,
so that with eyes wide open
to the truth of justice and compassion
we might confess our sins, do penance
and amend our life as Church...

Help us change our hearts
and offer them to you, Lord,
in the crucible of hard times…

Let your Cross be our only hope
as we let go self-righteous ways
and learn to surrender anything
standing in the way of your will and your Word.

Let your Holy Spirit counsel us
to offer you the Church
and its history, traditions and customs,
its forms, methods and practices
to be weighed and judged afresh in the light and grace
of your saving, sacred and merciful Heart...

Preserve everything that is right and just, Lord,
and change what needs to be turned around,
turned upside down or inside out
that the Church might be what you call us to be
and nothing more and nothing less than this:
the Body of Christ…

We offer you the Church, Lord,
which is ours only because it is yours
and we are your Body,
the Body of Christ…

We pray you will save us
from harm already done
and help us flourish anew
in your grace and your peace,
in the power of your name,
and for the sake of your Gospel...

We offer you your Church, Lord,
this morning, this day, this week and always,
as we wait in joyful hope until you come again:
for the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen.