A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering

Coffee in the Morning by George Mendoza

Note: With Ash Wednesday and the season's First Sunday in the rear view mirror, the Lent train has left the station - but some of us might be chasing it down the track, hoping to jump on board! No problem: the Lent train makes plenty of stops and it's never too late to find a seat. Don't get down about the days you've missed, be grateful for the time that's still ahead!

Good morning, good God!

In the spirit of this holy season, Lord,
I want to offer you a contrite heart...

I don't understand the mystery of your mercy, Lord:
     that you love me, even in my sins;
     that you never fail to see the good in me
   even when I only see what's wrong;
     that you never cease to reach out
         to rescue me from my foolishness,
         to return me to your embrace,
         to mend what's broken, to heal what's hurt,
         to forgive what's sinful in my soul...

I don't understand your mercy, Lord,
I know I don't deserve it,
but I'm ever grateful for its mystery
moving in my mind and heart,
moving me to turn from away from sin,
to turn again to you,
and so this morning,
I offer you my contrite heart...

So great's your love for each of us,

so exquisite the delight you take in us,
so taken are you with all the ways we mirror
your image in our souls -
even when we forget,
when we deny, when we soil your beauty within us,
even then you call us return to you and to your grace...

I want to return to you, Lord,
with the heart I sometimes try to hide
when I've marred your beauty
mirrored in my soul:
and so I offer you my contrite heart...

I lose sight of your goodness within me
and I fear that you see only what I see -
my sin, my selfishness, my brokenness -
and so I offer you my contrite heart...

I forget that you come to meet me precisely
in the places where I'm rough-edged, that you might smooth me;
where I'm broken, that you might mend me;
where I'm weak, that you might strengthen me;
where I'm sick, that you might heal me;
where I've sinned, that you might pardon me...

And so I offer you my contrite heart...

And for the times, Lord, when I judge others,
when I only see their rough and broken parts,
when I miss their grace and goodness
reflecting and refracting your beauty within them:
for all of these times I offer you my contrite heart...

Help me to forgive those who've hurt me, Lord,
help me see your grace within them;
help me love in them what you love;
help me be gentle in receiving them
into my contrite heart...

Find, stir up, kindle and refresh your grace in me, Lord,
and with your mercy's help
draw me back to you and to your ways:
be gentle in forgiving the soul I place before you
for I offer you a broken, contrite heart...

Help me to trust, Lord, in the mystery of your mercy,
in the mystery of your heart's love for me...

I offer you my contrite heart, my God,
this morning, this day, this night
and in the week ahead...

A broken and contrite heart, Lord,
I know you will not spurn...

Amen.

(You might want to pray Psalm 51 after praying this Monday Morning Offering...)