Light

Forgiveness and Hope

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Christ is Risen, Lawrence OP, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
 
 
Our God, whose Son is the light of the world,
    in his penetrating light, we acknowledge our darkness;
    in his constant grace, our careless love;
    in his generous giving, our sordid grasping;
    in his equal justice, our dire prejudice;
    in his fortitude, our fearful failure;
    in his inclusive love, our deep divisions;
    in his pure sacrifice, our soiling sins.
 
But in his Cross is our forgiveness,
  and in his resurrection our enduring hope.
This pardon and the promise we now claim,
  in penitence and faith, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
Horton Davies, 1916-2005, Professor of Religion Princeton University
 
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And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, 
    the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. 
And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, 
    he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

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Transfiguration Prayer

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Transfiguration of Christ, Carl Bloch, Wikimedia Commons
 

O God,
We open our eyes and we see Jesus,
the months of ministry transfigured to a beam of light,
the light of the world,
your light.
May your light shine upon us.

We open our eyes and we see Moses and Elijah,
your word restoring us, showing us the way,
telling a story,
your story, his story, our story.
May your word speak to us.

We open our eyes and we see mist,
the cloud of your presence
which assures us of all we do not know
and that we do not need to fear that.
Teach us to trust.

We open our eyes and we see Peter’s constructions,
his best plans, our best plans,
our missing the point,
our missing the way.
Forgive our foolishness and sin

We open our eyes and we see Jesus,
not casting us off,
but leading us down, leading us out –
to ministry, to people.
Your love endures forever.

We open our ears and we hear your voice,
‘This is my beloved Son, listen to him!’
And we give you thanks.

Amen

 
William Loader, New Testament Professor emeritus in Australia
 
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And after six days Jesus took with him 
  Peter and James, and John his brother,   
  and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  
And he was transfigured before them, 
  and his face shone like the sun, 
  and his clothes became white as light.  
And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, 
  talking with him. 
And Peter said to Jesus, 
  “Lord, it is good that we are here. 
  If you wish, I will make three tents here, 
  one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 
He was still speaking when, 
  behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, 
  and a voice from the cloud said, 
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
 
 

Defend me from all temptation

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Temptation on the Mount / Duccio / Wikimedia Commons
 
Defend me from all temptation, 
    that I may ever accept the right and refuse the wrong.
Defend me from myself, 
    that in your care my weakness may not bring me to shame.
May my lower nature never seize the upper hand.
Defend me from all that would seduce me,
    that in your power 
        no tempting voice may cause me to listen,
        no tempting sight fascinate my eyes.
Defend me from discouragement in difficulty and from despair in failure,
    from pride in success and from forgetting you in the day of prosperity.
Help me to remember that there is no time when you will fail me 
    and no moment when I do not need you.
Grant me this desire: 
    that guided by your light and defended by your grace,
        I may come in safety and bring honor to my journey’s end
        by the defending work of Jesus Christ my Lord.
 
Norman Shawchuck, 1935–2012, American United Methodist pastor
 
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And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, 
    “God is tempting me.”
 God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 
Temptation comes from our own desires, 
    which entice us and drag us away. 
These desires give birth to sinful actions. 
And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
 

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Your prescient eyes saw me

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photo by Jason Hogan   on Unsplash
 
There was a time when I did not exist,
    and you have created me;
I did not implore you for a wish,
    and you have fulfilled it;
I had not come into the light,
    and you have seen me;
I had not yet appeared,
    and you have taken pity on me;
I had not called for you,
    and you have taken care of me;
I did not raise my hand,
    and you have looked at me;
I had not prayed to you,
    and you were merciful to me;
I had not uttered a sound,
    and you have heard me;
I had not groaned,
    and you have lent an ear;
 
With prescient eyes you saw
    the crimes of my guilty self,
    and yet, you have formed me.
And now, I who have been created by you,
    and saved by you,
    and have been tended with such care,
Let me not completely perish by the blow of sin –
    that is but the slanderer’s invention;
Let not the fog of my stubbornness
    triumph over the light of your forgiveness;
Nor the hardness of my heart
    over your forbearing goodness;
Nor my mortal carnal being
    over your most perfect fullness;
Nor my material weakness
    over your unconquerable grandeur.
 
Gregory of Narek, c.950 – c.1003, Armenian mystic and theologian
 
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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
    who has blessed us in the heavenly realms 
    with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world 
    to be holy and blameless in his sight. 
In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, 
    in accordance with his pleasure and will
    to the praise of his glorious grace, 
    which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
 

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give us the light of reconciliation

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Chapel Of Reconciliation, Michael McLaughlin Photography, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
 
Lord, God our Father, 
through Jesus Christ, your Son, 
in the power of your Holy Spirit, 
    give light to our eyes, that we may see your light, 
    the brightly shining light of reconciliation! 
For this is the greatest sickness, 
    when one cannot see the light, even during the day.
Free us from this sickness, 
    us and all Christians who celebrate Easter either well or poorly,
    the entire human community, both near and far,
    who are again and again being confused and endangered anew!
 
Bless what comes to pass in this church and in other churches 
    and communities that are now still separated from us,
    that it may be a testimony to your name, your kingdom, and your will!
Reign also over all the various concerns of the government authorities,
    administrations, and courts here and all over the world!
Strengthen the teachers in consideration of their high task 
    for the growing generation;
  the people who write newspapers,
    conscious of their grave responsibility for public opinion that they influence;
  the doctors and nurses,
    for genuine attentiveness to the needs of those who are in their care!
Substitute your comfort, your counsel, and your help 
    for all that would accuse the many lonely, poor, sick and confused among us!
And let your mercy be apparent and powerful to all who are here in this house,
    along with their families!
We place ourselves and all that we lack and that the world requires
    in your hands.
 
Our hope is on you.  We trust in you.
You have never let your people be put to shame,
    whenever they earnestly called on you.
What you have begun,
    you will surely finish. Amen.
 
Karl Barth, 1886 – 1968, Swiss Reformed theologian
 
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From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. 
Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, 
    we regard him thus no longer. 
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 
The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself 
    and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 
  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, 
    not counting their trespasses against them, 
    and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

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Let me be like the Calm Sea

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
photo from Pxhere
 
Lord, I saw the sea attacking the rocks, sombre and raging.
From afar the waves gained momentum.
High and proud, they leapt, jostling one another 
    to be the first to strike.
When the white foam drew back, leaving the rock clear,
    they gathered themselves together to rush forward again.
 
The other day I saw the sea, calm and serene.
The waves came from afar, creeping, not to draw attention.
Quietly holding hands, they slipped noiselessly
    and stretched at full length on the sand,
    to touch the shore with the tips of their beautiful soft fingers.
The sea gently caressed them,
    and they generously returned streams of light.
 
Lord, grant that I may avoid useless quarrels 
    that tire and wound without achieving results.
Keep me from these angry outbursts that draw attention
    but leave one uselessly weakened.
Keep me from wanting always to outstrip others in my conceit,
    crushing those in my way.
Wipe from my face the look of dark, dominating anger.
 
Rather, Lord, grant that I may live my days calmly and fully,
    as the sea slowly covers the whole shore.
Make me humble like the sea, as silently and gently, 
    it spreads out unnoticed.
May I wait for my brothers and match my pace to theirs,
    that I may move upward with them.
Grant me the triumphant perseverance of the waters.
May each of my retreats turn into an advance.
Give my face the light of clear waters.
Give my soul the whiteness of foam.
Illumine my life that it may sing like sunbeams
    on the surface of the sea.
But above all, Lord, may I not keep this light for myself,
    and may all those who come near me return home 
    eager to bathe in your eternal grace.
 
Michel Quoist,1918 – 1997, French Catholic priest and writer
 
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A fool gives full vent to his spirit,
    but a wise man quietly holds it back.

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Shine brightly, star of God

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image / Stern von Betlehem / wikimedia commons
 
Shine brightly,
star of God,
and guide our wandering world
to where a prince of Peace is born.
 
Where children wish upon a star
or wise men scan the universe in hope
let your bright beams
surround their dreams
and guide their hesitating feet
to where a miracle is born.
 
Enable each of us
to make a New Year’s journey
leaving behind the prejudices and fears
of yester-year,
embracing a fresh openness
by which we welcome all world pilgrims
whose journeys end in worship and humility.
 
Be a sign today
of mercy and of love
like a rainbow in spring
or the bright summer sun,
and show us how our lives
can include the forgotten and forlorn,
    the grieving and the hurt.
 
And we will offer
to our God
now seen and touched in straw-filled bad 
the best gifts in the world:
our joy, our grief, our life.
 
David Jenkins, minister in the United Reformed Church UK
 
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When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

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prepare us to receive your gift

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Adoration of the Shepherds / Gerard van Honthorst / Wikimedia
 
Lord, may you now let us this year once more approach the light, celebration, and joy of Christmas Day that brings us face to face with the greatest thing there is: your love, with which you so loved the world that you gave your only Son, so that all of us may believe in him and therefore not be lost, but may have eternal life.
 
What could we possibly bring and give to you? So much darkness in our human relationships and in our own hearts! So many confused thoughts, so much coldness and defiance, so much carelessness and hatred! So much over which you cannot rejoice, that separates us from one another and certainly cannot help us! So much that runs directly against the message of Christmas!
 
What should you possibly do with such gifts? And what are you to do with such people as we all are? But all of this is precisely what you want to receive from us and take from us at Christmas – the whole pile of rubbish and ourselves, just as we are – in order to give us in return Jesus, our Savior, and in him a new heaven and a new earth, new hearts and a new desire, new clarity and a new hope for us and for all people.
 
Be among us once again, on this final Sunday before the celebration, as we together prepare to receive him as your gift!  Make it so that we may rightly speak, hear, and pray, in proper, thankful amazement about everything that you have in mind for all of us, that you have already decided regarding all of us, and that you have already done for all of us! Amen
 
Karl Barth, 1886 – 1968, Swiss Reformed theologian
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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

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Send your Word, O Lord

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Church of the Light / Bergmann, CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
 
Send your Word, O Lord, like the rain,
Falling down upon the earth.
Send your Word.
We seek your endless grace,
With souls that hunger and thirst,
Sorrow and agonize.
We would all be lost in the dark
Without your guiding light.
 
Send your Word, O Lord, like the wind,
Blowing down upon the earth.
Send your Word.
We seek your wondrous power,
Pureness that rejects all sins,
Though they persist and cling.
Bring us to complete victory;
Set us free indeed.
 
Send your Word, O Lord, like the dew,
Coming gently upon the hills.
Send your Word.
We seek your endless love.
For life that suffers in strife
With adversaries and hurts,
Send your healing power of love;
We long for your new world.
 
Yasushige Imakoha, translated by Nobuaki Hanaoka, Japan
 
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As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
    will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
    will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
    and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
    for an everlasting sign,
    that will endure forever.”

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increase our hope in your promises

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image / pixabay
 
Merciful Lord, the comforter and teacher of your faithful people,
  increase in your church the desires which you have given,
  and confirm the hearts of those who hope in you
  by enabling them to understand the depth of your promises,
    that all your adopted children
    may even now behold, with eyes of faith,
    and patiently wait for,
    the light which as yet you do not openly manifest;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
St. Ambrose, c.339-397, Bishop of Milan
 
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His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

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