Here is a prayer I wrote for last Sunday (Dec 19, 2021) as a worship leader at the church I now attend as a participant. Since I received many affirmations, I have decided to share it more broadly. Feel free to use it in your context. Leader: God of truth, we notice that there are many ladders in the world that people are climbing: the ladder from poverty to wealth, from low status to high status, from powerlessness to powerfulness, from hunger to fullness, from little to plenty, from suffering/boredom to pleasure, and many more ladders. Leader: Thankfully, God, you are not found in these paradises for within your Kingdom there are no ladders to climb. They simply don’t exist. These ladders are human creations. This is why, Lowly and Humble God, that we are surprised to find You at the base of each of these earthly ladders inviting us to climb back down and join You with all the other people there, and to bring all our earthly treasures with us. Here, You say is where Heaven is found. Here there are no ladders, no us and them, no rich and poor, no vaccers and anti-vaccers, no divisions of any kind, just Your children seeking to grow and mature, as best as we are able, to become Christ-following people of Yours. Leader: Now, we understand why You, through Apostle Paul, invited us to have the same attitude as Christ Jesus had. To emptied ourselves just as Jesus emptied himself, to humble ourselves and climb down our ladders and become humble human beings…just as Jesus did, even if it meant suffering and death on a cross for him. Gracious God, through Apostle Paul, You taught us that when Jesus climbed down his ladder and discovered the secret to becoming a fully divine and human person, he also discovered Paradise for You, Creator God and all of Your people elevated him up and worshiped him for who Jesus had become: You, God, in human form (Phil. 2: 5-11) God of Christmas, when we contemplate the nativity scene, we realize that in this scene there are no ladders. We see wealthy wise astrologers with lowly poor shepherds, a teenage mother, an older father, and farm animals all gather round your baby Christ Child, a humble human incarnation of You, God, on earth. May your spirit, God, guide our souls as we contemplate, for a moment, what it means for us to empty ourselves, to climb down whatever ladders we may be climbing, and become a part of what You, God, are doing on earth.
How are we already in touch with our poverty of spirit and humility, like the shepherds? How are we allowing Your Spirit to guide and shape our lives? (pause) How can we become like the wise astrologers who climbed down their ladders to become part of God’s paradise? What treasures could we give to support the expansion of God’s paradise on earth, especially during this current challenging time of COVID? (time, our abilities with our hands, mind, heart, body, etc., wealth, possessions, influence, relationships, fruits of God’s spirit, etc.) We pray this, and much more, all shaped by the Attitude of Christ within us. Amen. Here is the link for the Powerpoint of this prayer if you wish to share it with your community of faith. Gord Alton MDIV RP CASC Supervisor-Educator
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