World in Prayer

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, October 11, 2018

(Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, Prayers of the People Form VI)

In peace, we pray to you, Lord God.

               Silence

For all people in their daily life and work;
     For our families, friends, and neighbors, and for those who are alone.

For this community, the nation, and the world; for the victims of Hurricane Michael in the United States; for all of the participants in the #MeToo movement, which is erupting in India;
     For all who work for justice, freedom, and peace.

For the just and proper use of your creation; for scientists, doctors, and nurses; for those who are grieving; for those who are marrying or divorcing; for those celebrating a new birth;
     For the victims of hunger, fear, injustice, and oppression, 

For all who are in danger, sorrow, or any kind of trouble, especially those in China‘s Xingiang region, where camps have been legalized to “re-educate” Muslim Uighurs;
     For those who minister to the sick, the friendless, and the needy.

For peace and unity, especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church, as a Ukrainian sect seeks to separate from Russia;
     For all who proclaim the Gospel, and all who seek the Truth.

For bishops and other ministers; for priests and preachers; for rabbis and imams;
     For all who serve God in his Church.

For the special needs and concerns of this congregation.

               Silence

(The People may add their own petitions)

Hear us, Lord;

We thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of this life.

Silence

(The People may add their own thanksgivings)

We will exalt you, O God our King;
     And praise your Name for ever and ever.

We pray for all who have died, that they may have a place in
your eternal kingdom.

Silence

(The People may add their own petitions)

Lord, let your loving-kindness be upon each of us;
     We put our trust in you, for your mercy is great. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer, Thursday, September 13, 2018

“So we can say with confidence, with boldness, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’ ”  Hebrews 12:6

 

Precious Lord, take my hand,

Lead me on, let me stand,

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.

Through the storm, through the night,

Lead me on to the light.

Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home. 

                           Words and music: Thomas Dorsey   Tune: PRECIOUS LORD

Precious Lord, around and about this incredible world of yours, your children are being threatened by the forces of nature: in the southeastern United States by Hurricane Florence; in the Philippines and Hong Kong by Typhoon Mangkhut; in Hawaii by Tropical Storm Olivia. And our overwhelming response is fear, as we worry about the impending damage from wind and rain.. Uplift us, Loving God. Fill us with the confidence that whatever befalls, you are with us. God of grace and mercy, hear our prayer.

God of Peace, around and about this hurting world of yours, your children are threatened by ongoing wars and their sequelae. News of massive military drills being held by Russia and China; air strikes in rebel-held Idlib province in Syria by the Syrian government and the suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, resulting in 68 dead and 165 injured bring worry and suffering. The crackdown in China against minority Muslim groups, especially the Uyghurs, with tens of thousands being sent to political re-education camps causes deep concern and grief. And our overwhelming response is a sense of helplessness, as we see ourselves as unable to make a difference. Uplift these, your own, Loving God. Fill them with confidence and hope that whatever befalls, you are with them and our loving concern supports them. God of courage and hope, hear our prayer.

God of Compassion and Justice, around and about this wonderful world of yours, your children are reaching out to one another in love and daring which we celebrate: Harper Nielson, the 9-year-old Australian schoolgirl, daring to protest her perceived injustice of the national anthem; Elissa Montanti of Staten Island, New York, founding an organization, Global Medical Relief Fund, to bring children injured in war or by natural disasters to the United States for medical care unavailable to them in their home countries; the courage of the Supreme Court of India for their landmark decision to legalize and decriminalize consensual gay sex. Uplift them all, Loving God. Fill them and us with a sense of justice which gives us courage to stand up for what is right. God of all people, hear our prayer.

When our way grows drear,

precious Lord, linger near,

when our lives are almost gone,

hear our cry, hear our call,

hold our hands lest we fall,

Take our hands, precious Lord, lead us home.      Amen and amen

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, July 5, 2018

This week’s prayers are adapted, with permission, from a prayer written for U.S. Independence Day 2018 by Leslie Barnes Scoopmire.

(Inspired by the Preamble to the United States Constitution)

In peace, we pray to You, Lord, God:
from our rising to our resting
we give You thanks and praise for all your blessings.

  • We give you thanks for the 12 boys and their coach found alive after being trapped in a cave in Thailand by rising waters, for the divers who reached them with food and supplies, for all who are working to rescue them, and for the millions throughout the world who have held them in prayer during the search.
  • We give you thanks for the breakthrough in-vitro fertilization technique that may save the Northern White Rhino species – now down to two surviving females and no living males– from extinction; for all the gifts of this Earth, and all who work to protect and preserve them.

May we seek to form a more perfect union
with You and with each other,
loving our neighbors as ourselves,
sharing each other’s burdens,
seeking to relieve each other’s wants.

  • We pray for an end to the posturing and tit-for-tatting in the tariff wars started by U.S. President Donald Trump against Mexico, Canada, China and the European Union. We pray for sanity, caution, compassion and courage among U.S. leaders as Trump threatens to pull out of the World Trade Organization and violate its rules with impunity. We pray for all whose livelihoods are at stake.
  • We give thanks that all 329 municipalities in Bangladesh have agreed to join the United Nation’s Making Cities Resilient Campaign. Low-lying, densely populated Bangladesh is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, hit every year by cyclones that are becoming more frequent and more intense due to climate change. The UN Campaign will develop local action plans and improve infrastructures to prepare for disasters.

May we establish true justice as our foundation,
justice that builds and creates
rather than subjugates and destroys,
and work for an end to oppression, poverty, and prejudice,
remembering always the many mercies
we ourselves have received.

  • We pray for those who would want to make national criticism illegal. We pray for Poland, which has reduced the penalties in its controversial law against accusing the Polish nation of complicity in the Holocaust. In response to international pressures, jail time is no longer among the penalties.
  • We pray for the five people killed in a shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Md. (U.S.), and for the courage and commitment of the remaining staff in getting out that day’s newspaper anyway. We pray for the countries where a free press is banned, for those who spread fake news and inflame the public against the media, and for all truth-seekers and truth-tellers everywhere.
  • We pray for the day when ethics will outweigh profit-making in every business venture. We give thanks that Kenya’s public prosecutor has ordered the arrest of two farm managers and several government officials over a dam which collapsed and killed more than 47 people in May. The dam had been constructed by unqualified staff and also broke environmental laws.
  • We pray for the day when compassion will universally be valued more highly than conformity. We pray for North Korea, where a high-ranking military officer was executed for giving out extra rice and corn rations to his troops.

May we ensure tranquility
by defending and protecting each other
in compassion and mercy,
that true liberty may be a blessing for all
grounded in our common life together.

  • We pray for the success of the peace agreement signed this week between South Sudan and rebels, where the past five years of fighting have displaced one in three South Sudanese from their homes. We pray that the promised ceasefire holds, that safe passage is indeed provided through which food, water and medicines can reach those in desperate need.
  • We pray that Russia, the U.S., and Jordan will use their influence to broker an immediate end to the fighting in southwest Syria – as they did last in persuading the Syrian government and rebels to create a de-escalation zone along the Jordanian border.
  • We pray for the eventual safe home-coming for the Rohingya people, still trapped in exile in the no-man’s-land between Myanmar and Bangladesh. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited the camps earlier this week, hearing “unimaginable” accounts of atrocities.

May we work for the welfare of all
by giving of ourselves in unity, gentleness, and sacrifice,
rooted in God’s love,
grounded in the call to welcome and protect
those who turn to us for help or refuge,
and protecting the least among us always.

  • We pray for those whose homelands are no longer a place of safety. We pray for those from Africa trying to reach Europe, for those from South and Central America trying to reach the United States, for the many refugees trying to find someplace – anyplace – where they will be welcome.
  • We pray for the countries in the European Union that have reached a deal in principle on how to handle African refugees and migrants, but differ sharply on the implementation details, with no country yet willing to set up the “secure migrant processing centers” called for in the agreement.
  • We pray for the families separated by the U.S. “zero-tolerance” policies against would-be immigrants and asylum seekers. We pray for the children – some as young as toddlers – expected to represent themselves in immigration court.
  • We pray for all who have settled into new countries, only to find that those, too, are not places of safety. We pray for the 3-year-old refugee in Boise, Idaho (U.S.) who died after a man with an extensive criminal background stabbed her, five other children and three adults at her birthday party. We pray for all migrants who face distrust and anger, and all who harbor suspicion and hatred towards them. We pray for all who want to live together in peace.

May we secure the blessings of life, liberty, and happiness
and free ourselves
from all that chains us-
fear,
want,
suspicion,
jealousy,
division,
injustice-
and fully embrace and celebrate each other
in all our diversity.

Bless us and keep us, O God,
that we may dwell in peace, equality, and security all our days. AMEN

World News This Week in Prayer, Thursday, June 28, 2018

Dear Lord,

In the Northern Hemisphere, we expectantly “roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer…”* but there is a parent and grandparent duty.  We plan exciting activities for little ones in our care, for camps and vacations and community programs. In this season of school year endings we watch and wait for exam results with our teenagers and give thanks for the achievements of adult graduates. Yet we weep with parents separated from their infants and children by borders and systems for achingly interminable periods.  We pray for their reunion and an end to this unnatural separation and detention in the U.S.  Open the hearts of guards and administrators to their moral duties in this humanitarian crisis.

In the Southern Hemisphere, celebrating, with the PM of New Zealand, the birth of a daughter who, she says “will be brought up by the international community.” We pray for those who do not understand the idea of extended family.  For those extended families of great grandparents, grandparents, godparents, foster parents, cousins, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, brothers and sisters all, raising children to wonderful achievements, we give thanks.

In all corners of this world, we pray for those who live and grow in what society calls dysfunctional families, for those stressed by life’s circumstances, for those caught in the waiting and busyness, for those who cannot even see a future.  We know that for as many as are well-rounded personalities there are also those for whom things go badly wrong and their suffering is great; may the Christian family extend it’s care and compassion and bring the Hope which arises from Your Great Love of each and all.  We pray for those who thought life would include a better day.  May the Holy Spirit bring a gentle lightheartedness and may those “lazy, hazy, … days” settle about them.

We pray for those battling the expanding wildfires on Saddleworth Moor, England, especially those for whom the area brings up memories of the horrific murders fifty years ago of children and youth.  Lord have mercy.

We pray for the twelve boys and their soccer coach lost in the Tham Luang Cave, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand; for their families and the many rescue workers and divers. May we heed the words of the governor exhorting rescuers to care for them as if they were their own. Lord illumine their paths.

We pray for the Rohingya as more information emerges about the part played by Myanmar officials in their expulsion.

We pray that the ceasefire agreed in South Sudan will happen and will hold.

As the football world cup continues in Russia we pray for all who have hospitably opened their homes to visiting fans and for those who seek to use the game to bring communities together, especially in Sydney, Australia.

With three rescue ships full of migrants and one finally allowed to dock in Malta, with borders being closed and calls for automatic deportation of those who think they have reached sanctuary we pray for all who work in border control; migration and volunteer aid agencies.  For those who live on the margins and those who witness and tend to them, bring Your strength.

Lord, hear these prayers.

For your world and all that we appreciate, care for and love,

We pray in your name.

Amen.

* Lyricist Charles Tobias

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs., May 17, 2018

“Let us hear of joy and gladness,
that the body you have broken may rejoice”
                     -Psalm 51:8, adapted

We are your body, O God. Wonderfully made, and full of promise. We are your body, O God, broken, yet full of promise.

We are too often broken in our relationships with one another. Quick to believe the worst of others, quick to spread suspicion and allegations, quick to be manipulated into anger, fear, distrust.

This week, USA Today released the first analysis of the 3517 Facebook ads placed in the U.S. by a Russian organization leading up to the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. The overwhelming majority were designed to inflame race-related tensions, stir up distrust of immigrants and Muslims, or deepen religious divisions. These and similar efforts – they succeeded.

Spirit of compassion,
forgive.
Spirit of wisdom,
make us whole.

We are often too quick to break the covenants – spoken and unspoken – between nations.

Only a few days after agreeing to talks between North and South Korea, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reneged on the deal, claiming that drills between the South Korean and U.S. air forces are a rehearsal for an invasion of the North.

Spirit of compassion,
forgive.
Spirit of wisdom,
make us whole.

Our ability to understand is too often broken by our allegiances, our preconceptions, our maneuvering for power. Wounds get passed on, taken for granted, for generation after generation. Injustices overlaid with religious overtones and political interests keep compounding.

This week, just one day before Ramadan (the Muslim holy period of fasting, praying and helping others in need) began, the U.S. embassy in Israel officially relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. On the same day, Israeli forces shot and killed 60 Palestinian protesters along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, injuring hundreds more. The Israeli government alleges terrorists wanted to use the protests as cover to cross into its territory and carry out attacks, and that the use of force was justified and unavoidable. Palestinians are crying foul, saying that Israel is attacking civilians. Many Western governments are accusing Israel of human rights violations. Some evangelical Christian groups are triumphantly proclaiming that relocating the embassy to Jerusalem is a sign that Christ is about to return. Anti-Semitism is increasing in many countries; anti-Muslim sentiment is also growing.

Meanwhile, in both Israel and Palestine, thousands and thousands are living in fear. Hundreds on both sides are mourning loved ones they have lost.

Even so, You, O God, know that we are wonderfully made, and full of promise.

Spirit of compassion,
forgive.
Spirit of wisdom,
make us whole.

“Let us hear of joy and gladness,
that the body you have broken may rejoice”

In all times and all ways, let us hear of joy and gladness, O God. Remind us of the joy with which you created us. Remind us of the love in which you hold us. Remind us of the path on which you lead us. Teach us that there is a way out of these abysses. Remind us that all our brokennesses will be made whole.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, 19th April 2018

We call ourselves to remember, dear God, that you are one. We call you to hear our prayer as we struggle for focus. Our world, your world, changes so drastically. We pray for the immediate survivors of the deaths of the famous, like Barbara Bush in the United States and Winnie Mandela in the Republic of South Africa, and of the humble. We pray that we may take from our sharing of all these lives, at whatever distance, things that in surprising ways, can be made to work together for good. We pray that we grow in depth and concentration in our love for you, for we know we are all part of the working together.

We pray for a centering vision for our leaders and for ourselves. As the world works toward a first face-to-face meeting between the heads of North Korea and of the United States, we pray for the wisdom of the negotiators. We pray for abundance of life for all Koreans, North, South and in diaspora.

We pray that diplomatic relations between the United States, United Kingdom, France and Russia persevere in negotiations towards a peaceful solution to any interference in the Syrian civil war so that the innocent civilians of this war-torn country suffer no more.

We pray for a corrective vision for histories, our own history as well as the history of others. We see anti-Semitism rising in Germany, Hungary and elsewhere. We see the presence of alternative views legislatively outlawed in Poland and ridiculed in the United States. We pray that outrageous claims may be replaced by a still more outrageous calm, in our hearts, in our minds, in our speech and in our communities.

We pray for an inclusive view of ourselves and others. Even baboons have worked collaboratively to escape a biomedical research facility with a record of fines and violations in the United States. We pray for refugees and for those who receive refugees. We pray for ourselves, that we may entertain angels unaware.

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, April 12, 2018

[Jesus] stood among them and said to them, ‘Shalom be with you.’ ~ Luke 24:36

God of creation and creativity, you’ve given us the gift of language and communication so that we might speak of and learn about you, however feeble our understanding might be. We often take the gift of words for granted, forgetting the deep richness of meaning in the words you speak to us. Remind us especially today and always of the meaning of Jesus’ words to his disciples and to us: “Shalom be with you.”

Remind us that the shalom of God means a commitment to peace for all people. Bring calm and reason to world leaders who threaten one another economically, politically, and militarily, especially in Russia, China, and the United States of America. Send people of good faith and compassion to negotiate healing and peace in places of long-lasting and complicated conflict like Syria, Palestine, Myanmar, Central African Republic, South Sudan, and so many other countries around the world where your children continue to suffer.

Remind us that the shalom of God means a commitment to justice for all people. Send your shalom to all governments leaders who are committed to improving lives and working for the prosperity of all. Make us aware of the fragility of our human hearts, so that we can guard against further instances of corruption like those currently playing out in South Africa and Brazil, where key government leaders have been charged or convicted. Remind us of our own role in creating communities of equality, where all people can live in safety and wholeness.

Remind us that the shalom of God means a commitment to health for all people. Bring healing to all who suffer illness in mind, body, and spirit. We pray especially for those who have been abused like Yoshitane Yamasaki, a man in Japan who was kept in a cage by his father for 20 years, and childless women in Guinea, where a scammer sold harmful herbs that made the women’s stomachs swell and told them that they had become pregnant. We pray also for the grieving families of the children who died in a bus crash in Himachal Pradesh, India.

Remind us that the shalom of God means a commitment to wholeness for all people. Embolden us to fight for change as we remember the empty and broken feelings of those who have lost loved ones to violence: the families of students killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, USA; the families of those killed and injured in Muenster, Germany, when a van drove into a crowd; and the families of those who mourn the senseless deaths of people they love due to gun violence, terrorism, and hate.

Remind us that the shalom of God means a commitment to safety for all people. Fill us with compassion for people who live in danger every day in Douma, Syria, where gas attacks threaten lives, and in Offa, Nigeria, where violent robberies have become routine.

Remind us that the shalom of God means a commitment to your future kingdom in all its fullness. Give us the boldness to pray as you taught us, “Thy kingdom come,” and then to act on that prayer, working for peace where there is war, justice where there is need, health where there is illness, wholeness where there is loss, and safety where there is fear and danger. Fill us with your shalom, so that we can carry your message of hope, love, and joy to the ends of the earth.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, February 15th, 2018

It seems very odd, Lord, that people call for January to be a month to try being vegan when Lent was a period, 40 days, in the time before world trade hit our food markets when it was a necessity.   We pray for those to whom being vegan is not a life style choice but a necessity forced on refugees, rough sleepers and displaced people.  We think especially of those in the Cape provinces of South Africa where drought is forcing extreme measures as water may run out in a matter of weeks.

It seems very odd, Lord, that people think shooting in a school will solve their problems rather than ask you.  We pray for all those dealing with the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, USA, for those who grieve, those who are injured and those treating trauma, giving thanks for all who cope as the incident unfolds.

It seems very odd, Lord, that people rake over old scandals rather than seek your moral code for how to live together as a society.  We pray for the people of Haiti and other countries where foreign aid workers have inflicted life style problems to the detriment of those they were sent to help.  We pray for the Governments of both donor and recipient countries especially those who, lacking perspective, trash all that has been achieved.

It seems very odd that prescription drugs are sold illegally for uses they can’t possibly treat, promote household chemicals as cures for fatal illnesses, while others poach endangered species and prey on people for body parts.

We pray:

for the women of Pakistan, trying to open bank accounts but whose spinal fluid was abusively taken.

for the churches of Limpopo province, South Africa, where insecticide was used on their congregations.

for those who are willing to pay, and those who take their money to poach, for the short terms gains from shark finning, rhino and elephant poaching.

We ask that things seen as of little media interest in the face of –

  • the political crises in South Africa and Israel;
  • the collapsing health care in Gaza, Syria and Jordan;
  • the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh;
  • the banking investigation in Australia

may be recognised as the major events they are for the future of our whole world.

We pray for those killed and injured in the tragedy of incidents and life-affecting disasters –

  • in the plane crash in Moscow, Russia;
  • in the helicopter crash at the Grand Canyon, USA;
  • in the bus crash in Hong Kong;
  • in the train crash in central Austria;
  • in fighting and air strikes in Syria,

and may all those involved in rescue and emergency aid operations be recognised for the vital work and care they administer.

Lord, it might seem odd to us that we do so little: a smile here, a hug there, a donation, a prayer. Help us not to forget that the small thing we do today enables another to do a bigger thing tomorrow until all becomes part of your vast generosity.  Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, April 6, 2017

The Scottish theologian, William Barclay, suggested using ‘the mind of God’ instead of ‘the Word’ for Jesus.  And so John 1:1, 2-5, 14 reads

In the beginning was the mind of God,… 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….. 14 The mind of God became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Philippians 2:5 says: ‘Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus’.

Father/Mother God, as we try to come to rest before You, we come not alone but accompanied by the throngs of people near and far who impact our lives and consciousness. Help us to be still and put aside our need to fix things, sort out situations, come up with solutions, and allow Your Holy Spirit indwelling in us, to be freed to be…as You are.

God, indwelling in us, help us to be still and know, in the depths of our being, that You are God.  May Your mind be in us as it was in Jesus.

From the throng surrounding us come people across the globe who are suffering from violent events in nature during this last week…

In particular we hold to Your light and loving care those killed and rendered homeless by floods, cyclones, landslides, droughts, famines and snow storms in New Zealand, Australia, Mocoa in Columbia, Catacaos in Peru, Somalia, Yemen, New England in the USA. As well as the immediate tragic events, the long-term consequences can be catastrophic.

Lord, you have given us humans custody of Your creation and as provision for our needs, but not our greed-bloated wants.  Inspire and move us to do what we can now for those in great need, and to amend our lifestyle choices to provide a healthy legacy for our children and grandchildren. Give wisdom to lawmakers to provide protection for this, our shared planet, so richly endowed by you.

Lord God, may Your mind be in us as it was in Jesus.

We give thanks for the very promising progress by scientists in London, UK in making a working and cost-effective desalinization filter from graphene oxide.  Almost 800 million people desperately need access to clean drinking water, the lack of which  currently causes the death of  1000 children every day.

Jesus, You are the spiritual water of life.  Help us to work together to provide water essential for physical life and health for our sisters and brothers throughout the world.

Lord God, may Your mind be in us as it was in Jesus.

We hear again and again of gas attacks and hate-fueled violence in Syria, Russia, Chechnya, Pakistan, the UK, and so many other places, attacks on your children created in Your image, yet perpetrated by others made in Your image who have chosen to turn away from Your reality of truth, light and love.  Lord, have mercy on the perpetrators and all of us who condone such evil by our silence and inaction.  We give thanks for those medics and others who seek to bring help and care in the middle of such carnage and devastation.  Help us to seek Your mind as to the way forward, to bring light into the darkness.  Guide our political leaders to know Your mind as they struggle to deal with these situations, that they may not be guided solely by fiscal and trade benefits which seem to help our nations in the short-term.  You are inviting us to live with the long-term infinite viewpoint which is Yours beyond time and space and is one of justice and righteousness.

Lord God, may Your mind be in us as it was in Jesus.

As we come to Holy Week, where we have the greatest evidence of love conquering evil, Archbishop Desmond Tutu reminds us in his prayer:

“Goodness is stronger than evil;
love is stronger than hate;
light is stronger than darkness;
life is stronger than death.
Victory is ours, victory is ours
through Him who loved us.”*

Lord God, may Your mind be in us as it was in Jesus.  AMEN

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, January 19, 2017

At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of the extremist.  … But as I continue to think about the matter I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction from being considered an extremist.  Was not Jesus an extremist in love – “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.”  Was not Amos an extremist for justice – “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”  Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ – “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”  Was not Martin Luther an extremist – “here I stand; I can do none other so help me God.”  Was not John Bunyan an extremist – “I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.”  Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist – “This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.”  Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist – “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal.”  So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist we will be.  Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love?  Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice – or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?

– Martin Luther King Jr, “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” (1963)

God of honor and power, mercy and grace, we give You thanks for the witness of Martin Luther King, Jr., who worked all his life to bring true justice and love to our world.  He reminded us that You know our hearts, O Creator, and You know our love of extremes.  We have filled this world You love with extremes and extremism: Extremism in religion, extremism in the language we use to describe and categorize Your children, and extremism in political and social positions.  Yet Dr. King reminds us that we are all extremists, that we all have passions and perspectives to defend and express.  Help us to be aware of our extremisms, Lord, and fill our hearts with the right kinds of extremism.

Make us extremists for love, O God.  Give us the capacity for the radical kind of love displayed by Your Son and his true followers.  Make our hearts overflow with love for all of Your children, and equip us to work for those who most need to see and feel Your love.

  • Renew our compassion for the refugees who risk their lives to cross the dangerous Mediterranean Sea in hope of a better life. As we hear news of another set of capsized boats off the coast of Libya that have left over 180 people dead or missing, may we push beyond the calluses of repetition and feel Your holy anger at the loss of these beloved mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters.
  • Increase our dedication to bringing peace to war-torn places around the world. Inspire us to use our time, our talents, and our treasures to transform the lives of people who live in fear and insecurity every day.  As we hear news of an error by the Nigerian Air Force that resulted in the deaths of 100 people in a refugee camp, may we be filled with resolve to work for real and meaningful change to the circumstances of Your suffering children.
  • Rekindle our commitment to remembering the humanity and value of every life. As we hear news that the search for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 has been suspended may we pause to remember Your call to love the unloved, to remember the forgotten, and to serve the least and lost.
  • Stir our hearts toward peace and reconciliation. As many churches around the world observe a week of Prayer for Christian Unity, may we seek ways to overcome cultural and theological barriers that prevent us from seeing the humanity of our neighbors.  As we hear news of dozens of bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers in the US and England, may we be strengthened in our commitment to fight prejudice of all kinds, so that all people might live in peace and safety.

Make us extremists for justice, O God.  Give us eyes to see beyond our own comfort and our own commitments.  Shatter our illusions that what we are accustomed to is what ought to be, and make us Your hands, feet, and voice in the world as we work, march, and speak out on behalf of the oppressed.

  • Deepen our reliance on Your just and righteous rule for our lives. As the US faces the inauguration of a new president who has promised to turn his policies inward, and as the UK continues to feel the political and economic consequences of its Brexit decision, may we recall the fleeting and imperfect nature of the princes of this world, and may we put our trust in Your everlasting and righteous rule over our lives and our world.
  • Focus our minds on the work for justice to which You call each of us. As news of scandal and corruption plague the leaders of this world in places like the US, South Korea, The Gambia, and Russia, may we commit ourselves fully to meaningful action in our own contexts.
  • Give us patience and wisdom as we tackle the complicated and messy conflicts of our world. As the two-state solution in Israel-Palestine comes under increasing scrutiny and as skepticism increases, may we find the strength and tenacity to lean into difficult situations and resist the temptation to over-simplify.  May we be extremists for peace as we work toward true reconciliation that can only come from You.
  • Reawaken our dedication to justice for those who are marginalized. As we hear news of a school shooting/suicide in Monterrey, Mexico, by a 15-year-old student suffering from depression, may we commit ourselves anew to advocating for programs and funding to help those with mental illness.

Make us extremists for the good news of Your Son, O God.  Remind us that this news is only good when we shed our extremism for hate and reject our extremism for the preservation of injustice.  Make us Your messengers of extreme love and extreme justice in the world.  Give us strength to support each other as we live Your call to action through prayer and protest,  marching and meditation, and in aiding the distressed and oppressed.  May our hearts, overflowing with the love You give us and committed to the justice You bring, shine Your light into all the world, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.