Holy God:
We have come to your house to meet with you, to learn from you, to be your people together. We have taken your name, we have accepted your call.
You have given us life, you have given us ourselves, and so we belong to you. You have made us in your image and likeness, shed your blood for our redemption, and so your have given yourself to us. Each of us is a carrier of your glory, though we often fail to see your refleciton in ourselves and each other.
For, we confess before you, we are broken. We are broken by what we have done to ourselves. We are broken by what has been done to us.
Some of the actions that have broken us are exteme and horrific. But most of them are petty and largely insignificant. We have made them significant because we have held on to them. We have allowed the harm done to us to define us. We have held to offenses as if they were our best friends. We have sometimes traded friendship for the love of a grudge.
Holy God, allow us to be recipients today of your amazing grace. Allow us to receive the reality of your forgiveness. Wash us from every stain, cleanse us from every memory of our brokenness begin expressed in behavior that makes us ashamed. Your steadfast love endures forever. May we finally see your mercy outlive our unwillingness to accept your forgiveness.
As freely as we have received, may we freely give forgiveness and grace. Those who have harmed us do not deserve to be forgiven. No matter. We do not deserve forgiveness either, but you freely forgive us. Those who we have no desire to forgive do not understand the depth of the harm they have caused us. No matter. We do not understand the consequences of the harm we’ve caused, either. And yet, you forgive us.
So Lord, let today be a day of healing. Help us, through the grace we have received, to finally let it go. To finally be free. To finally live in joy. To finally live together as you intended. To finally live in the peace that the death of your Son and the giving of the Spirit in the church promised.
Amen.
