Do you know what I have done for you? – John 13:12c
And new things I now declare – Isaiah 42:9b
The word of the Lord stands forever – Isaiah 40:8b, I Peter 1:25
Lord, we see what you have done for us, but sometimes it is difficult as we do not know or understand exactly what this is. We only see that something has happened, something is different.
Then there are the times, over generations, when we have acted as if we were gods. When failures to understand and then to correct, once we have understood, catch up with us, we are quick to blame you and slow to mend our ways. As the effects of global warming are felt around the world it is easier to say “an act of God” than “an act of humanity.”Forgive us our failure to be proportionate and well balanced in our assertions. We do not know what you have done when in your steadfast love you declare this new thing: we are forgiven.
The word of the Lord stands forever.
You take the work of human hands and, against all sense but out of unconditional love, you make good what we have done and declare new things. As we face the worst damage that hurricane Harvey is wreaking on Texas, Louisiana and regions in the US; as most States in India and Mumbai suffer collapse of buildings and flooding; regions in Nepal and one-third of Bangladesh cope with monsoon flooding which has killed more than 1,200 people and made millions homeless; as heavy rains flood Niamey, the capital of Niger, Africa; as the second tropical storm in days hits Southern China and Hong Kong; we pray that out of all this horrendous upheaval new attitudes, new ways of living, new things will grow.
Lord, declare new things, now.
The word of the Lord stands forever.
It is strange to those safe in developed countries that even flooded Bangladesh becomes a refuge to the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar fleeing nationalist persecution. It is strange to us in Europe that crossing the Mediterranean in unsafe boats seems a better chance at living than remaining in so many third world countries. It is strange to us in our wealth that Brazil is now opening environmental reserves to destructive mining in parts of the Amazon. Give us a new understanding of wealth and safety and plenty — so that we do not take more resources than we need from our planet.
Lord, declare new things, now.
The word of the Lord stands forever.
As we see the heroes in their little boats in the southern states of the US; as we see the heroes of conservation protecting endangered species in Nepal; as we see heroes pull people from the seas of southern Europe and those who give them clothing, food and respite; as we see those heroes who continue the work of caring long after the journalists have gone – in Freetown, Sierra Leone dealing with the disastrous landslide; among rescue workers in the Alps landslide in Bondo, Switzerland; with medical workers in Yemen – we know that you are constantly declaring the good news of your love for all this, your world.
Lord declare new things, now.
The word of the Lord stands forever
Amen
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