God of justice, God of mercy, as one we confess our failings:
Under the guise of seeking unity, we force uniformity
and reject all those who are just too different from us to fit in.
Convict us. Embolden us. Teach us the long repentance road.
Under the guise of protecting the peace, we enable injustice,
Appeasing the majority while the minoritized are thrown aside.
Convict us. Embolden us. Teach us the long repentance road.
When our violence manifests in hateful words or striking hands,
In guns leveled against the oppressed and walls erected against the stranger,
Convict us. Embolden us. Teach us the long repentance road.
When our violence manifests in words swallowed, in hands tied,
Standing by when we should jump in, holding our tongue when we should speak out,
Convict us. Embolden us. Teach us the long repentance road.
When we do violence to our own spirits
By allowing shame, or self-hate, or resentment to smolder unaddressed,
Convict us. Embolden us. Teach us the long repentance road.
Friends, our remorse is a sign of God’s grace already at work within us.
Assured of God’s mercy, we are free to seek new ways of being together.
God’s Word forgives and redeems us. God’s Breath revitalizes us for the journey. Empowered by this good news, let us share God’s love with one another.
I wrote this for a virtual service on August 16, 2020 (15A Proper), a service that centered around themes of reconciliation and interdependence. I preached on Genesis 45:1-15, exploring Joseph’s gender nonconformity as a source for the brothers’ violence against Joseph; how Joseph was brought from suffering into thriving and was celebrated for the very gifts that the brothers had hated; and how Joseph as the wronged party got to choose how and when reconciliation would take place.
Meanwhile, I wove that theme of reconciliation into my liturgy alongside our need for community and to draw the circles of our community ever wider, drawing from the alternative reading Isaiah 56:1-8.
Binary-Breaking Worship 