Sermon preached by Paul Oestreicher

This sermon was preached by Paul Oestreicher in Coventry Cathedral on the Sunday of Christ the King when he was made a Companion of the Community of the Cross of Nails

Sermon preached at Coventry Cathedral, Christ the King 27 November 2007

To preach and specially to preach here is an undeserved privilege. To dare to do it in God’s name is a fearsome challenge. Today is very special and for several reasons. It warms my heart that old and new friends from our twin city of Dresden are here. [Geliebte Freundinnen und Freunde aus Dresden, seid umarmt und verzeiht mir, dass ich nicht gleichzeitig Sächsisch und Englisch sprechen kann.] But most specially let me embrace with deep gratitude our Bishop on this his last Sunday as shepherd of this diocese. I cannot say My Lord, that would not be you, dear Colin. You have served us with humility, grace and humanity, and mostly with a light heart. Thank you. That you and Dean John have offered to make me a Companion of the Community of the Cross of Nails leaves me with a gift and a task. I shall try to deserve it.

And now, may my words, if that is possible, reflect the mind and the heart of Jesus.

A greater Paul than I, though we are told he was small of stature, wrote these words to the Christian Church in Philippi:

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God did not cling to divine status but made himself of no reputation, came as a servant, sharing our humanity.
[Philippians 2: 5-7]

In its wisdom, or possibly its lack of wisdom, our Church has made the last Sunday of the Christian calendar into the Feast of Christ the King …the king of our hearts and minds, if we have the courage to follow him, yes, yes, yes but ruler of this world as most people understand kingship, exercising power over us, no, no, no. Jesus stands and falls alongside the weak, the poor, the rejected, the exploited, the victims of every kind of inhumanity, Jesus, the suffering servant, then and now.

This young and disturbing Jewish rabbi from Nazareth, in whom some people, like us, glimpse God, God the otherwise unknowable mystery, this Jesus rejected power, wealth and influence and left us , astonishingly, as emancipated and free, free to make of the gift of life what we will, for good and ill. We do plenty of both. Yes, the prophets and saints and martyrs, Christian, and of every other faith and none, have given us a vision of what the good life is like, the hidden Kingdom that Jesus personifies. He preached it, he lived it and he lives it still, the risen Lord, risen in our hearts, but – and this we must never forget - not the triumphant victor over those who killed him. He did not return to humiliate Pilate and the Chief Priests. He appeared mysteriously only to those who loved him.
The crowned monarch over this world? Forget it … forget it, whatever some of the hymn writers might have done to give us false comfort. The King of the Jews was written in irony over the dying Jesus by his enemies. The irony was not a mistake. As men and women understand the term, ruling the world or even Israel as many had hoped was not his chosen role. Our God does not reign, is not responsible for the humiliation and rape of women down the ages, the Christian persecution of the Jewish people, the degradation of the people of Darfur, our murder of thousands of Iraqis…the list in all the yesterdays of history until now is endless. But just as real is the compassion and love of those who heal, of those who feed the hungry, tend the sacred earth, of those who teach, of those who care for friend and foe alike, of those who make peace. Jesus suffers with the world’s victims and rejoices with those who share God’s love with others.

Let this mind be in you that is also in Christ Jesus, but what is the mind of this Jesus who calls us his friends? Honesty compels me to face up to the fact that we fail to agree. What would he say and do now? We often come up with opposite answers. We can appeal to the Bible. We can appeal to the Holy Spirit. We can use our God-given intelligence and still come up with opposite answers - and hold them sincerely. The Bible has been used to justify slavery, the oppression of women, putting offenders to death, racism, anti-semitism, ethnic cleansing and genocidal war. Yes, they are all in that great compendium we call the Bible. Then what about the Holy Spirit leading us into the truth? Charismatic inspiration can also be used to justify almost anything. Even Hitler believed he was serving a divine purpose.

The search for what is right is never easy. I have been convinced by the life and teaching of Jesus and by my study of history and politics that being prepared to kill those who threaten me, my family or my nation cannot be justified, however good the cause. Going to war, is an option that is not open to me as a follower of Jesus. It pains me deeply that on solemn occasions that symbolise our national identity, members of the Royal Family feel obliged to appear in military uniform. Nearer to home, among my former parishioners in Blackheath were officers of the Royal Naval Academy training seamen to man nuclear submarines. Were they less Christian than I? Never, when sharing Communion with these men and their families, was I more aware of the truth of the words that introduce our Litany of Reconciliation: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, soldiers and pacifists together in one boat. The survival of the human race may depend on how that issue is resolved.

I have over time also come to believe with equal conviction that to deny sexual fulfilment to our lesbian and gay sisters and brothers is inhuman and unjust and is therefore also unchristian. I now worship in a highly successful Brighton parish which has had a succession of gay vicars and where about a third of the congregation are gay couples. The parish is part of the relatively new movement called Inclusive Church. I am only too aware of the pain that causes to many other Christians, the sort of pain I feel when I see a chaplain in battledress. I also feel the pain of homosexuals who still bear the wounds of centuries. Many, even today, feel the need to hide their true identity.

The American states went to war over slavery, a bitter civil war, Christian against Christian. On the meaning of homosexuality our world-wide Anglican Church is now engaged in a spiritual civil war. Need that really be so? We all believe that we have God on our side. In reality this conflict is not about one issue at all. It is about our differing visions of God. Do we worship the same Jesus? We may use the same language, yet mean quite different things. This is not just an Anglican problem. Even Rome with its centralised authority knows it only too well.

You dear Dean John, are about to honour me by asking me to become a Companion of the Community of the Cross of Nails. You will ask me to continue to serve and to advise this Cathedral in its God-given international ministry. This comes as something of a surprise and a challenge. Companionship then, and I should have known it, is not just an honour. What are its implications?

Given our theological differences, John, and they are not small, I began to pray and to reflect. An inner light began to shine brightly. An inner light, an old Quaker experience. I began to dream.

I have a dream – thank you Martin Luther King for that – I have a dream that this Cathedral with its divine call to reconciliation, born in the heat of war, born in the readiness to forgive the enemy, might become miniature model of what our embattled Archbishop Rowan longs for, a Church in which conservatives and liberals (forgive the shorthand) will embrace, embrace perhaps like wrestlers embrace, and that this Cathedral might be the ring where both are on equal terms but with an open end and no need for a victor, a Cathedral where Alpha which has found a home here and Inclusive Church can engage on equal terms. It will not easy. It will only work if we shed our liberal and our conservative fundamentalisms, our innate self-righteousness, if we are prepared to love each other, even when we find it hard to like each other.

I have a dream that all the Companions – and that will be an innovation – will share in this process and all the CCN centres actively become part of it. Most of them in America, in Germany, in South Africa are liberal in their attitudes but could be enriched by the new evangelical winds blowing through this Cathedral, but only if they are made to feel it is also their Cathedral. I have a vision that this Cathedral’s good friend Desmond Tutu who campaigns on Palestinian rights, black rights, gay rights and women’s rights … all of them derived from the Gospel…will be welcomed here by those who do not use the language of rights. I have a dream that the much needed successor to Canon Andrew and Canon Justin will have the gifts to embrace all people from near and far, to make all the people of Coventry and the rest of the world feel at home here, Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus and atheists too. Canon Peter Berry, still much loved, had that gift in large measure. Let not one school of thought define his Cathedral but only the all-embracing love of Jesus.

No one event will fulfil this dream. It is a process and an attitude of mind. It is recognising that serving humanity in God’s name, making peace, as Canon Andrew for example is trying to do in Iraq, serving the down-to-earth needs of human beings, matters infinitely more than our imperfect and differing attempts to define the mind of Christ. If we serve the needs of others, we serve him. Whatever our theology, we can do it together.

If we can live with paradox and imperfection and simply respect each other in our diversity and that diversity also finds expression in the Cathedral’s senior staff, then this Cathedral both locally and internationally will continue to be a beacon of hope and of adventure. George Fox, the founder of Quakerism famously said, live adventurously. He did. And so have a succession of Christian saints in the half century’s life of this young Cathedral and of this ancient Benedictine foundation. I think for instance of Allen and Mary Edwards and of Jane and Martin Williams. I hope they will not be embarrassed. There are many others who like them simply get on with it, live their faith, undeterred by our Church’s unseemly disputes.

I dreamed that our Cathedral’s angel has two wings, a right wing and a left wing, that our angel flies to Spring Harvest and to the Greenbelt Festival, to whereever young people look to find Jesus.

Today I venture to think that our long time Cross of Nails friends from Dresden really do feel at home here. Their Cathedral, Dresden’s Church of our Lady, that by its title sounds so Catholic and is so Lutheran has, I think, already become part of us. Anyway, Mary, the Mother of our Lord, belongs to us all.

And how wonderfully fitting that Eberhard Burger, a genius of structural engineering and a down-to-earth and up-to-heaven Christian who has rebuilt one of the cultural treasures of Europe, should have been honoured with a doctorate by Coventry University. Eberhard, it is you who honour Coventry and us this morning by your presence.

Our friendship with Dresden is a symbol of the unity of which we sang as this service began, sang in words written by George Bell, the great Bishop of Chichester who bravely in the midst of war, in the House of Lords, denounced the deliberate bombing of German civilians, the killing of some 40 000 people in Hamburg and
at least 25 000 in Dresden.

Bell’s words:

“So shall God’s will on earth be done
new lamps be lit, new tasks begun,
and the whole church at last be one.”

“Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus”…after all I have said, do I think that is possible? I will let a non-religious Jew who lived as a refugee from Hitler in London, who was one of the most deeply loving people I have ever known and who even refused to hate the Nazis who murdered his father, I will let him try to answer that question. Erich Fried became a cult poet among young Germans in the sixties and seventies. This poem, which I’ve translated, is probably his best known. It throws light into dark places:

IT IS WHAT IT IS

it is nonsense, says reason
it is what it is, says love

it is unhappiness, says reflection
it is nothing but pain, says fear

it is hopeless, says insight
it is what it is, says love

it is ridiculous, says pride
it is frivolous, says caution

it is impossible, says experience
it is what it is, says love

With that love in our hearts, we now gather as God’s companions at his table, entering into the mystery of His life in bread and wine, body broken, blood shed to heal a world that is dying to live. We hear the voice of Jesus, saying to his friends: Do this in remembrance of me.


Copyright Paul Oestreicher

A reflection on peace and the Bible by Canon Paul Oestriecher

The article that follows is by Paul Oestreicher and was circulated by him via email. It remains his copyright.

B E W A R E O F T H E B O O K
by Paul Oestreicher

There are two related ideas currently in circulation. The first is that religion is harmful because it has, throughout history, been the cause of a great deal of violence. That is true. The second is that if only the adherents of the three great monotheistic religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, all three ‘religions of the book’, took their sacred texts more seriously and lived by them, then these outbreaks of violence would stop. That is untrue.

Let me explain. The first proposition needs no defence. The history of all three faiths is drenched in blood, blood ostensibly shed in the name of God. What then of the assumption that they all three are ‘religions of the book’. There is no dispute that without sacred texts they would not have survived. However the phrase ‘of the book’ needs to be unpacked.

I am no expert in comparative religion. This article does not call for that. I can only claim to have inside knowledge of Christianity. Some things are not complicated. Islam insists on the fact that the Koran was dictated by God. A degree of such infallible sanctity is attached to it, that to insult the book in any way, physically, verbally or in any other, is a capital offence. It is a direct insult to God. The Koran is divine. In principle it interprets itself. In practice that is not obvious.

The Hebrew scriptures, what Christians call the Old Testament, are not quite of that nature. They are indeed constitutive of Jewry, but they do need to be interpreted. There is a huge literature doing just that. It is the task of rabbinic scholarship. No part may be rejected, but great wisdom is called for to know the mind of God through it. The process of interpretation has divided Jewry. Orthodox Jewry rejects all liberal variants but the sacredness of the Torah itself is not in question. It is literally enshrined.

The Christian Bible, OT and NT, is, I contend, fundamentally different. It is an essential reference book of the faith. It is part mythology, part history, part poetry, part moral guidance and that does not exhaust what it is. It is a handbook to be treasured. It was not handed down from on high. The Church had to decide which texts were in and which were not. Taken together, they cannot simply be called the Word of God. Bibliolatry is another form of idolatry, the worship not of God but of a book.

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God…” In the beginning there was no bible. The Word, the logos, is the living Christ constantly made known in his Church and in our hearts by the Holy Spirit…the light that enlightens the world. That enlightenment is a process that goes on until the end of time.

The paradox is that the New Testament texts themselves attest to the fact that they are not the last word. The Spirit is the contemporary judge over all that has been written. Jesus said and the Spirit goes on telling us: “You have heard it said….but I say unto you.” Yesterday’s wisdom is not tomorrow’s. To the disciples Jesus said “there are many things you do not understand, but the Spirit will lead you to the truth”. He did not say “study the texts, it is all there” and significantly did not write any texts at all. Quite rightly we may therefore say “St Paul had a view of the role of women that we now recognise to be less than Christian”, to take a simple example. Once that is conceded there is no longer any need for theologians to sweat blood ironing out the many contradictions in the Bible. Given the world as it is, those contradictions make the Bible more, not less credible. They leave us with essential existential choices that give meaning to the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God’. We are slaves to no text and not a religion of any book.

How then does this connect with the violent face of religion? The Bible is full of violence in God’s name from the God-sent flood drowning everybody except Noah’s family (what’s wrong with an atom bomb then in a good cause?), drowning the Egyptian army to let God’s people get away (why not wipe out Gaza then?), ethnically cleansing the Canaanites ( Why not another little holocaust?) Not to speak of smashing children’s skulls and inflicting eternal punishment on all the enemies of God’s chosen people. And I haven’t mentioned the Apocalypse. What a horror film to outdo all horror films. (Directors note: God has written the best scripts!) All this and much more human beings have projected on to God.

God in Christ really has made all things new. That has proved to be too threatening to the churches. The ethic of loving enemies is what the Christian revolution is all about, loving our enemies and God’s. Jesus asked for them to be forgiven as they drove the nails into his hands and feet. When he preached in the synagogue of his home town and told the people of Yahweh’s preferential love for despised foreigners rather than for them, they tried to lynch him. This radical counter-cultural ethic is, I believe, unique to Christianity. It is the one thing Gandhi gratefully took from the Gospel, while the theologians argued away the challenge of the Sermon on the Mount: ‘Love those who persecute you.’ This was not for the real world in which Christian soldiers who put down mutineers were assured of a crown of glory, with no shortage of accompanying biblical texts. The Empire’s monuments are witness enough. So is the sword as a sign of the Cross on every British war cemetery.

I hear the protest. Didn’t Jesus violently drive the profiteers out of the Temple? Quite the opposite. This was the righteous indignation of one man overturning the tables of many with no weapon that could kill. The only person in that drama whose life was at risk was Jesus. Today that’s called non-violent direct action, like damaging a nuclear submarine. It wasn’t long before the authorities caught up with Jesus. Even then he did not return in triumph to humiliate the High Priests and Pilate. Secretly, mysteriously, he came back to give hope to those who loved him.

If the churches of the world embraced that ethic, that enthronement of God’s peaceful kingdom of which the prophets of Israel dreamed, they would be renouncing major parts of their history. It is called repentance. It would mean that at least one of the three great religions would cease to be a contributor to the violence that could destroy us all.

So, late in life, I have come to see that I can only with great difficulty, after the liturgical reading of scripture, automatically go on saying: ‘This is the Word of the Lord’. In many cases it will be. In many others, specially if taken out of its context, it will give the opposite message and be a license for much that is a denial of what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

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Paul Oestreicher is a Canon Emeritus of Coventry Cathedral
and a Counsellor of the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship.
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[1200 words]

copyright: Canon Paul Oestreicher

How young Christians in Belarus try to learn about one another ecumenically despite state control

Testimony given at the WCC central committee by a young Belarussian Christian

The Youth Christian movement in Belarus.

(This testimony reminded me of Natalka and her blog from Belarus and her involvement in Syndesmos the Orthodox youth organisaiton. It's easy to take free speech and freedom of worship for granted and not value it or even make use of it. Anyway enough editorialising here's what Raman said and wrote.)

I'm Raman from Belarus, Belarusian Orthodox church of Moscow patriarchate.
I’m a steward at this meeting and I’m very glad to have a possibility to speak now. I want to tell you about some of my impressions about WCC connected with student’s Christian movement in my country. First of all I was really surprised that I’m the only one person from Belarusian Christian churches among participants of WCC. I was really surprised by questions of some stewards from my team. They wondered if Belarus is an independent state? Does Belarusian language really differ from Russian? I had to tell them a lot about my country to make them realise that I’m not from Russia and my mother tongue is not Russian. Also, I asked the stuff to correct my badge from “Russian Orthodox church” to “Belarusian orthodox church”. It’s an important thing for many of young people of Belarus.
So, anyway, I want to tell you some words about SCM in Belarus. Nowadays we have the post-communistic regime of Aleksandr Lukashenka. Special intelligence services try to control everything that does not fit in the frame of the state post-communistic ideology. They try to stop and frighten young politicians, artists, cultural and church activists. They want to take under control every active person whose opinion is not in accordance with state ideology. Also active and independent Christians became a target for them.
Another thing is that our Belarusian Orthodox church started to cooperate with the Belarusian government. There are some new official programmes of cooperating in the educational sphere for student’s. Christian churches which don’t cooperate with government (I mean first of all our protestant churches) have many problems with state authority and police. Catholic and orthodox believers had the same problems when they try to confess their beliefs without official registration and permission. So, for example, if there are more than five persons having a Christian service in a private house, they would be punished according to the new Belarusian law regarding religious activity. Also Belarusian governmental TV-company create TV-programme about Protestant churches calling them a “sect”. And no other Christian church said any official word of protest to it because they don’t want to have problems with government.
There are a lot of youth fellowships in our churches as orthodox, protestant and catholic. Youth fellowship as a rule are doing caritative actions, holding meetings, discussions about what the most pressing questions about faith are for them. They organize pilgrimmages, camps for children and so on.
As for our ecumenical activity there is no good conditions for it in official way. A very few young people in our churches know about ecumenical programmes and organizations like the WCC. And there are a lot of young people who really do not hear anything about ecumenism at all.
In Belarus every religious act has to be registered and permitted at special state department. So I wonder if I manage to organize at least a one meeting of young people of different confessions in my city because I have to do it as my steward’s project. Thank you for your attention.

WSCF testimony on the importance of prayer in times of war from Iraq given by Youhanna Kamal Shawky

The following testimony was given by Youhanna Kamal Shawky at the WCC central committee on the World Day of Prayer for students.
The first part of this report tells of how youth in the Middle EAst managed to set up a leadership workshop in Iraq. The second half tells the stories of the young people themselves, how important it is for them to continue praying even when faced with terrible circumstances.

A Visiting Team from WSCF went to Iraq in November of 2002. This visit is what started a relationship between youth in Iraq and WSCF-Middle East. As a result of that experience Iraqi youth were introduced to the work of the organization. In an effort to fulfil the requests to establish and maintain a relationship with the organization, youth were invited to participate in annual conferences held in Syria , Jordan and Egypt.
The idea of a Leadership conference for Iraqi youth had already surfaced. In order to make the conference come to fruition, planning began. Iraqi youth met with Regional Secretary Elias Halabi to establish what type of conference the youth would be interested in having. Based on that meeting and information gathered from church leaders in Iraq a committee was formed and worked together to set the agenda for the conference.
The committee faced difficulty in maintaining contact with one another. It was virtually impossible for the team in Iraq to send and receive email, instead we had to rely on mobile phones. A local committee was established to coordinate with the Regional Office. The committee was comprised of participants from the past Conferences. When the areas of interest were selected the tasks of the desk was to identify speakers and trainers. Local preparatory meetings were held in Lebanon and Egypt to introduce the speakers and Trainers to the Iraqi reality and give them an introduction about the participants backgrounds and their expectations. The Regional desk insured the coordination between the groups in Lebanon and Egypt and specific material was gathered and adapted to the needs expressed.

The next business was obtaining travel permits for the Iraqi participants from the local authorities in Iraq as well permission from Jordanian officials. 31 participants were invited to attend and of that number 29 were able to participate.

The logistical planning was the simplest of the entire process. Though the entire process was painstaking, the conference was a monumental success.

Here is some Feelings and Feedback from the youth who participated in the Leadership programs :

Dina says :
“The Importance of Prayer during war.
What amazes me is that the experience of prayer during war time. Since the war started I noticed that people pray more and more and they turn to God. I think this is a good thing and very beautiful. For example one day during the war the shelling was very hard and close to my home. During that time we were sitting and playing cards with some relatives. During dinner a strong explosive shook the floor beneath us. I noticed that everyone was heading to the corridor and praying. Praying loud even screaming. They were expressing their fear and surrendering to God.

During the war and up till now there were many threats that the church building would be bombed. Never the less we find all people heading to the church each day. The church appears as if it is a feast. People are filling the churches, they meet and exchange ideas and thank God that they are still alive at this time.”

Mina says :
“One day I was heading to the college. Our college is situated one block from the Red Cross Center. Suddenly an explosion happened and I felt panic and I didn't k now what was happening. Dust and broken glass was everywhere around us. I managed to survive but it was like a miracle. However, one question remains in my head. Why an organization like Red Cross is targeted and it has nothing to do with the situation in Iraq.”
Sargon says :
“After the war I am working for an NGO. They asked me to go to the exchange office and bring some cash. When I finished and I was heading to my car I was attacked by robbers. They started shooting at me and they wanted to rob me. I jumped in the car and drove like crazy. They followed me and kept shooting at me in the car. I don't know how I survived and got away from them.”

Rita says :
“The war period was very difficult for me. My mother and elder sister traveled to Syria to apply for an emigration Visa to Canada. The war started they were forced to stay there. I stayed for 8 months with my father and brothers. This was a very tough period for me. I am not used to the idea of being separated from my family members. Especially my mother and sister in a difficult period like war. Now what is making the situation more difficult is that I have to work in a very difficult situation in addition to that.”

Nora says :
“After the cease fire, I thought that everything was gone. We lost everything, even our beloved church. We were not able to access our church because it was in a very dangerous zone. All our activities stopped, all clubs were shut down until further notice. After the war we felt things will never go back to live again. With the help of God I was able to overcome this reality, I started by excepting it and moving on with my life. Being at this conference gave me knew hope and knew will to live and revive many good things in my life. I want such activities to continue endlessly."

At Last ,
What is amazing is that despite all these challenges and despite the reality these students live in they succeeded to form the Ecumenical Youth Committee IRAQ which is now working trying to relieve the hard reality that youth is living in.
We pray for them all and pray for peace all over the world .

Lenten sermon on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christians and Pagans

Lenten Morning Prayer Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, 25 February 2008

Reflection on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Christians and Pagans”[1]

Epistle Reading: Romans 5:1-11; Gospel Reading: John 4:5-15

The following reflection was prepared and given by two young women pastors, Simone Sinn and Rolita Machila, both currently work in the Lutheran World Federation in the Department for Theology and Studies.

Lent – a time to concentrate on what is essential in our faith and for our lives

Lent is a time when we try to refocus our attention on what is important in life and try to concentrate on what really matters. The gospel story for this week is a prime example of concentrating on what is essential: The central element is water. The meeting point is a well in a desert place. The scene concentrates on two people, Jesus and the Samaritan woman. They interaction is focuses on the issue of water, real water and water as symbol for what essentially sustains life.

For many Christians, Lent is related to the practice of fasting, traditionally understood as abstaining from food, or from certain types of food. There are also creative other forms of fasting. The principle behind this Lenten practice is to do something externally that helps concentrate body and mind on what is essential.

Sometimes we loose sight of what is important, because our lives are filled up with so many things: various job-related, family-related and community-related activities, material goods of different kinds, responsibilities, worries, needs, questions and concerns.

Lent is a time to concentrate on what is important in our lives and in our faith.

Reading of a poem, written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in July 1944:
People turn to God when they're in need,
plead for help, contentment, and for bread,
for rescue from their sickness, guilt, and death.
They all do so, both Christian and pagan.

People turn to God in God's own need,
and find God poor, degraded, without roof or bread,
see God devoured by sin, weakness, and death.
Christians stand with God to share God's pain.

God turns to all people in their need,
nourishes body and soul with God's own bread,
takes up the cross for Christians and pagans, both,
and in forgiving both, is slain.

Three fundamental questions in “Christians and Pagans”
In a succinct way, this poem sheds light on three fundamental questions: In the first part: What does it mean to be human? In the second: What does it mean to be Christian? And finally: Who is God? Three different encounters between people and God, interrelated and yet distinct.
The poem is entitled “Christians and Pagans”. One translator, however, rightly remarked that the poem should in fact be called “Christians and Others”, as the contrast for Bonhoeffer is really between the true Christian disciple and those others of "normal" religiosity, who still maintained their traditional expectations of how God should act to assuage their pains and griefs.
People in need
The first encounter with God is provoked by human need: „People turn to God when they're in need“. We know this situation well when we, individually or as a community turn to God, ask for help and plead for change. In just a few words, Bonhoeffer describes the human condition, the urgent need of people to turn to someone who can change their desperate situation. These moments of prayer, these situations of addressing one’s cry to God are very existential moments. We want God to react and intervene.

People, both Christians and others, go to God when they are in need. They expect a lot from God, but they also hold on to doubt.

There is a delightful story that I like. A solitary traveller fell over a cliff in the night. Luckily he managed to grab hold a bush near the top, and hung there for dear life in darkness shouting: “Is anybody down there?” After a while, a voice said: “Yes, I am down here. Let yourself go. Trust me. I will catch you. I am God.”

There was a long pause as the traveller thought, then he shouted: “Is anybody else down there?” God asked: “Where is your faith, why do you doubt?”

God in need
There are situations in life where it is difficult to trust in God. We want to see God in power and might, but, as says the second part of the poem, we find God poor, degraded, without roof or bread, see God devoured by sin, weakness, and death. The story goes as follows: There was a young man who quit his job, left home, and opted for not having a well-ordered life any more. He wanders around and is constantly on the move, surrounded by strange friends and dubious people. He has no money. He spends his days with talking, discussing, eating and drinking. This man does not become very old. He provokes enmity, endures hardship and ends at the cross.

God is not a hero. God is in need. The idea of the almighty God is dismantled. We are forced to rethink how we talk about God’s power and might.

This section concludes with “Christians stand with God to share God's pain”. This is a rather unusual definition of what it means to be Christian. As a Lutheran I have often heard the sentence “Here I stand, I can do no other”. This attitude of standing against, being a true protestant is familiar to me. – But now, Bonhoeffer talks about “standing with”, of being in solidarity. It is very clear that this is not just a social attitude, a certain political stance, or a sudden feeling of pity with someone, but it is a deeply spiritual attitude. “Christians stand with God to share God's pain”.

Where does this happen? How do we experience that? We might be drawn into God’s story by listening to the biblical accounts of Jesus’ life, passion and death during the time of Lent, by breaking the bread at the Lord’s table on Sundays, by standing with the least who are hungry, thirsty, who are foreign or naked on all days of our lives. “Christians stand with God to share God's pain.” – A big sentence that still needs further meditation and spiritual exploration, but sometimes also the simple self-critical question: Do we Christians actually do that? Where is our attention actually geared towards?

The poem does not get stuck in the question of Christian identity but draws our attention to who God is and how God acts. In the movement of this poem it becomes evident that God is not just the antidote to our sinfulness and suffering, but God involves Godself in our suffering. In protestant theology we often find this polarized image of the sinful human being on the one side and the merciful and gracious God on the other. This poem shows that there is a much more intimate dynamic: God existentially shares our existence, God’s incarnation involves Godself in our suffering and in return also calls us to participate in God’s suffering. The bible and the cross are in the midst of the community.

God turns to all people in their need

The theocentric focus of the third part widens the horizon and sheds a new light on the relationship between Christians, pagans and God. “God turns to all people in their need”. As Paul says in his theological argumentation in Romans 5: God takes the initiative and responds to the human need in a way that reconciles all human beings with God and one another.

“God turns to all people in their need.” Jesus went up to the Samaritan woman and draws her in a conversation about her life. The woman actively engages in that reflection about what really matters in life. She gives her heart to Jesus and recognizes who Jesus is. In him, she realizes that God nourishes body and soul. God’s own bread is the source of life. This experience creates a sparkling faith in the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Amen.


[1] As translated in "A Testament to Freedom: The Essential Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer," ed. Geffrey B. Kelly & F. Burton Nelson (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1990), p. 549.

Liturgy for third week in Lent

The following liturgy was put together by Rev. Simone Sinn and Rev. Rolita Machila from Zambia. Both are currently working in the Lutheran World Federation's department of theology and studies.

Third week of Lent ~ Morning Prayer in the Ecumenical Centre on 25 February 2008
“Encountering God”

With the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle we pray for France and Germany
Bible Readings according to the Revised Common Lectionary

Welcome

Opening Responses
In the beginning when it was very dark, God said: Let there be light.
And there was light. (Gen 1:3) (The Candles are lit)

In the beginning when it was very quiet, the Word was with God.
And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2) (The Bible on the Altar is lifted and opened)

When the time was right, God sent his Son.
Born of a woman, he came among us. He shared our human existence.
(Gal 4:4) (The Cross on the altar is lifted)
(As the congregation begin to sing the Bible and cross are carried into the congregation and placed amongst the people)

Hymn Praise to the Lord, the Almighty the King of Creation

Prayer
Our Father, who has set a restlessness in our hearts
and made us all seekers after that which we can never fully find,
forbid us to be satisfied with what we make of life.
Draw us from base content and set our eyes on far-off goals.
Keep us at tasks too hard for us that we may be driven to Thee for strength.
Deliver us from fretfulness and self-pitying;
make us sure of the good we cannot see and of the hidden good in the world.
Open our eyes to simple beauty all around us
and our hearts to the loveliness people hide from us
because we do not try to understand them.
Save us from ourselves and show us a vision of a world made new. Amen.
(Eleanor Roosevelt)

Epistle Reading: Romans 5:1-11
1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9 Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Taizé Chant: El Senyor es la meva Forca / Meine Hoffnung (first Portuguese, then German)

Gospel Reading: John 4:5-15 (please stand)
5 So Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. 7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, "Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" 13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." 15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."

Taizé chant: El Senyor
In the Lord I’ll be ever thankful, in the Lord I will rejoice! Look to God, do not be
afraid, lift up your voices, the Lord is near; lift up your voices, the Lord is near

O ma joie et mon espérance, le Seigneur est mont chant. C’est de lui que vient le
Pardon. En lui j’espère, je ne crains rien. En lui j’espère, je ne crains rien.

Reflection

Christen und Heiden ~ Christians and Pagans ~ Poem by Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1944

Christen und Heiden Menschen gehen zu Gott in ihrer Not,
flehen um Hilfe, bitten um Glück und Brot,
um Errettung aus Krankheit, Schuld und Tod.
So tun sie alle, alle, Christen und Heiden.

Menschen gehen zu Gott in Seiner Not,
finden ihn arm, geschmäht, ohne Obdach und Brot,
sehn ihn verschlungen von Sünde, Schwachheit und Tod.
Christen stehen bei Gott in Seinem Leiden.

Gott geht zu allen Menschen in ihrer Not,
sättigt den Leib und die Seele mit Seinem Brot,
stirbt für Christen und Heiden den Kreuzestod,
und vergibt ihnen beiden.

Christians and Pagans[1]
People turn to God when they're in need,
plead for help, contentment, and for bread,
for rescue from their sickness, guilt, and death.
They all do so, both Christian and pagan.

People turn to God in God's own need,
and find God poor, degraded, without roof or bread,
see God devoured by sin, weakness, and death.
Christians stand with God to share God's pain.

God turns to all people in their need,
nourishes body and soul with God's own bread,
takes up the cross for Christians and pagans, both,
and in forgiving both, is slain.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, July 1944

Intercessions

at the phrase "We turn to you, O God” we will sing the Taizé chant Oculi nostri.

Gracious God, we come before you in our human need.
We pray for those women, men and children who lack basic material goods like bread, clean water, clothing and shelter.
We pray for those who are ill and whose body suffers.
We pray for those who feel left alone in their suffering.
We pray for those who lack basic social relations, those who miss father and mother, those who miss their children, those who miss close friends.
We pray for those who lack basic spiritual nourishment, whose soul cries out to you from the desert.
We pray for those who suffer from the burden of their guilt.
We turn to you, O God. -

Oculi nostri

We pray for those who have lost orientation in their lives and who have no sense of what really matters.
We pray for those who have lost hope and who need new encounters that spark new visions and renewed courage.
We pray for those who have lost the ability to share in the suffering and pain of others.
We pray for those who are overwhelmed by their workload and who are burnt out.
We turn to you, O God. -

Oculi nostri

We pray for pastors, teachers and all Christians who preach and teach your liberating and empowering Gospel message.
We pray for the ecumenical movement and the ecumenical organisations locally and internationally. We pray for the programs and projects planned in this house and for us as staff.
With the ecumenical prayer cycle we pray for the countries and churches of France and Germany.
We pray for the migrants in these countries,
we pray for the political and economic leaders,
we pray for the people engaged in social, political and environmental movements,
we pray for the churches and people of other faiths.
We turn to you, O God. -

Oculi nostri

We are drawn into your Gospel story, a story of healing and of suffering, a story of wholeness and of brokenness, a story of fullness and of need.
God, help us share your pain in this world, help us share your bread and your grace.
We turn to you, O God. -

Oculi nostri

Lord’s Prayer said by each in their own language

Hymn
Bless now, O God, the Journey
by Sylvia G. Dunstone
326 in the new ELCA book of worship With one Voice

Sending Forth

Let go of what you have.
Say goodbye and turn your face to what lies ahead.
You have a long way before you.
God says, “I will be with you.”
Let us encourage one another on our way together.

Let us go in the strength which God gives us.
We will go gently into the land that you, O God, will show us.
We will go together, looking out for signs of your presence.
Christ has gone before us.
Christ is waiting for us, there where we are.
(Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, In God's Hands p. 96)

Hymn:
1. Nita mwimbiya Bwana, kwa ku wa yeh yeh amenionah (3 times then repeat “amenionah” 8 times)
2. Nita mwimbiya Bwana, kwa ku wa yeh yeh ana ni penda (3 times then repeat “ana ni panda” 8 times)3. Nita mwimbiya Bwana, kwa ku wa yeh yeh ana ni juwa (3 times then repeat “ana ni juwa”

[1] As translated in "A Testament to Freedom: The Essential Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer," ed. Geffrey B. Kelly & F. Burton Nelson (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1990), p. 549.

An Anglican order for Imposition of Ashes

Ash Wednesday 6 February 2008 ~ Chapel of the Ecumenical Centre 17.00

Ash Wednesday is a solemn day of prayer and penitence that begins the forty-day season of Lent. During Lent we prepare for the celebration of the Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Lent is also a time when we journey with those in our community and around the world preparing for baptism at Easter.
On Ash Wednesday we confess our sin in a litany of penitence. During Lent’s forty days we are invited to observe the traditional Lenten disciplines of fasting, prayer, and works of love.
We receive the sign of ashes as an external mark of penitence. Ashes are an ancient symbol of repentance and mourning, reminding us of our mortality. We recall God’s words to Adam and Eve following their disobedience: You are dust, and to dust you shall return. The use of ashes also calls to mind the words of the funeral liturgy, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” By honestly facing our need for forgiveness and healing, we turn to the springtime of God’s mercy and grace.
With the cross on our brow, we journey through Lent, longing for the baptismal waters of Easter, our spiritual rebirth.

Gathering
Greeting
L The Lord be with you. C And also with you.

Prayer of the Day
L Almighty and ever-living God, you hate nothing you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and honest hearts, so that, truly repenting of our sins, we may receive from you, the God of all mercy, full pardon and forgiveness, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever Amen

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come.
Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain-offering and a drink-offering for the Lord, your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy.
Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, “Where is their God?” ’
L The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Psalm 51
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
‘Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
L The gospel of the Lord.
C Praise to you, O Christ.

Silence is kept

Agape 83 ~ Seigneur Rassemble-nous dans la paix de ton Amour, strophes 1-5 en français

Invitation to the Lenten Discipline
L Friends in Christ, every year at the time of our Lord Jesus Christ’s Passover from death to life, with the church throughout the world we celebrate our redemption from sin, death, and the devil. Lent is a time to renew our life in the paschal mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection, in which we participate through the sacramental life of the church. It is also a time to prepare candidates for baptism.
We begin this holy season by acknowledging our need for repentance and for the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We show our resolve to amend our lives with the sign of ashes, which speak of our mortality and symbolize our repentance.
I invite you, therefore, to observe a holy Lent, committing yourselves to self-examination and penitence, prayer and fasting, almsgiving and works of love; and to attend to the word of God and receive the sacraments of Christ as we journey through these forty days to the great Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Confession of Sin
L Let us stand before God, our creator and redeemer, and confess our sin.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ We have been proud and overbearing. We have asserted our own importance and been jealous of others. We have despised the weak and slandered those we envy and dislike. Lord, have mercy.
C Christ, have mercy.
L Our Lord Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.’ We have been angry in our hearts and in our words. We have returned evil for evil. We have done violence ourselves and condoned the violence of others. Lord, have mercy.
C Christ, aie pitié.
L Our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘ Blessed are those who weep, for they shall be consoled.’ We have not borne our own sorrow and suffering with the patience which comes from faith. We have failed to show compassion and care for others who suffer. Lord, have mercy.
C Christ, erbarme dich.
L Our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be satisfied.’ We have cared little for the injustice, inequality, and poverty around us. We have hungered and thirsted for our own comfort and safety, and turned away from the injustice done to others. Lord, have mercy.
C Christ, have mercy.
L Our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’ We have looked on our neighbor’s faults and weaknesses with a hard and intolerant eye. We have failed to show understanding and sympathy, but judged harshly and too soon. Lord, have mercy.
C Christ, aie pitié.
L Our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ We have been suspicious, distrustful, and insincere in the thoughts of our hearts. We have spoiled the joy and beauty of our senses and our love through lust and self-indulgence. Lord, have mercy.
C Christ, erbarme dich.
L Our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.’ We have broken the loving peace of friends and families with quarrelling and selfishness. We have disturbed the peace of our land with violence and civil strife. We have filled the world with wars and the fear of fear. Lord, have mercy.
C Christ, have mercy.
L Our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘Blessed are those who suffer persecution for the sake of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ We have neglected in our prayers and in our charity those who are persecuted for their faith, their beliefs, or their race. We have encouraged or left unrebuked those who, in word or deed, deny the equality of the children of God. Lord, have mercy.
C Christ, have mercy.

A period of silence is kept.

L Most holy and merciful God,
C we confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our fault,
by our own fault,
by our own most grievous fault,
in thought, word, and deed
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
L Restore us, O God, and let your anger depart from us.
C Favorably hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.

Imposition of Ashes
L Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth. Bless these ashes and those who receive them. May this sign of our mortality and penitence remind us that only by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ are we given eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
C Amen.

People may come forward to receive the ashes. Ministers mark the forehead of each person with ashes, using the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

During the imposition of ashes we sing Agape 46 ~ La ténèbre n’est point ténèbre devant toi

L Accomplish in us, O God, the work of your salvation,
C That we may show forth your glory in the world.
L By the cross and passion of your Son, our Savior,
C Bring us with all your saints to the joy of Christ’s resurrection.
L Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
C Amen.

Lord’s Prayer
L Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us, each in our own language…
Peace
L The peace of the Lord be always with you.
C And also with you.

Sending
Agape 70 Ososo ~ verse 1 in Korean, verse 2 English, verse 3 German, verse 4 French

Blessing
L Go forth into the world to serve God with gladness; be of good courage; hold fast to that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honour all people; love and serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever.
L Go in peace. Remember the poor
C Thanks be to God.

Morning prayer for Ash Wednesday

The following is a short form of morning prayer for Ash Wednesday
You may wish to change the "wash me whiter than snow" part of Psalm 51 to "polish me to be shine brighter than diamonds".

ASH WEDNESDAY
The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit:
a broken and contrite heart you will not despise. Psalm 51.17

KYRIE ELEISON
In the wilderness we find your grace;you love us with an everlasting love.
Lord, have mercy.
All: Lord, have mercy.

There is none but you to uphold our cause;our sin cries out and our guilt is great.
Christ, have mercy.
All: Christ, have mercy.

Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed;restore us and we shall know your joy.Lord, have mercy.
All: Lord, have mercy.

PSALM 51 responsorial
1 Have mercy on me, O God, in your great goodness;
according to the abundance of your compassion blot out my offences.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my faults and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,
5 So that you are justified in your sentence and righteous in your judgement.
6 I have been wicked even from my birth, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
7 Behold, you desire truth deep within me
and shall make me understand wisdom in the depths of my heart.
8 Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean;
wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
9 Make me hear of joy and gladness, that the bones you have broken may rejoice.
10 Turn your face from my sins and blot out all my misdeeds.
11 Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
12 Cast me not away from your presence and take not your holy spirit from me.
13 Give me again the joy of your salvation and sustain me with your gracious spirit;
14 Then shall I teach your ways to the wicked and sinners shall return to you.
15 Deliver me from my guilt, O God, the God of my salvation,
and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness.
16 O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
17 For you desire no sacrifice, else I would give it;
you take no delight in burnt offerings.
18 The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 58 v 1 – 12
Gospel Reading: John 8.1–11

Glorious God,
your thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are your ways our ways.
You look at the ugliest soul and see, still unstirred, the wings of an angel.
All: We scan the finest of our neighbours anxious to find the flaw.

You view time in the context of eternity, and so find a place for waiting,
for yearning, even for suffering, even for dying.
All: We demand instant results;
and look for tomorrow before savouring today.

You know that only one who suffers can ultimately save,
that is why you walk the way of the cross.
All: We fear that vulnerability which defies our power;
that is why we allow for crucifixion.

Your thoughts are not our thoughts
All: Neither are your ways our ways.

And yet we know that your way is the ladder to heaven,
while, left to our own devices, our ways slope downwards to hell.
But we are here, not to have our worst confirmed, but to have our best liberated.
So we pray

All: Forgive in us what has gone wrong,
Repair in us what is wasted,
Reveal in us what is good.

And nourish us with better food than we could ever purchase:
your word, your love, your inspiration, your daily bread for our life’s journey,
in the company of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
All: Amen.

Make our hearts clean, O God;
All: and renew a right spirit within us.

Lord of all life, help us to work together for that daywhen your kingdom comes and justice and mercy will be seen in all the earth.
Look with favour on your people, gather us in your loving armsand bring us with all the saints to feast at your table in heaven.
Through Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,all honour and glory are yours, O loving Father, for ever and ever.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER (spoken quietly in our own language)

BLESSING
Christ give you grace to grow in holiness, to deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow him;and the blessing of God almighty,the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,be among you and remain with you always.
Amen.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.