Babylon will burn and the corporate lament shall not drown the cries of those below their lines.
To be fair we might all benefit from ugly truth ‘less we are so damn sure that our greed is just.
There is no social capital in hell; yet beyond that fiery lake is a beach to a city with an open gate.
So I look up and behold the God who came down. So I look down and behold the souls bought at a price.
Now mercy brings me to this promised land but Jesus reserved stern words for the mercied who would not mercy.
The world watches social capitals work and billionaires go green to make a deal while the devil lies.
The Uyghurs cry out with Able. With Lazarus they sit at the end of the drive waiting for golden warriors but we are playing
games in social capitals.
***I felt enormous dismay at the interview confession with Chamath Palihapitiya in which he says, “Nobody cares about the Uyghurs.” This is a response to our common and dangerous situation: not caring.***
We humble ourselves before you. There is no one righteous. No not one. You are proved right when you judge. Jesus, born, crucified, and buried, has been raised to life as judge of both the living and the dead. We stand before Him and declare, He is Lord.
In Him you have mercied us. In Him you have forgiven us. In Him you have graced us with your Presence. Thank you for delivering us from the kingdom of darkness and securing us in the Kingdom of Your Son. We have crossed over from death to life. We enjoy now and for eternity your communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Yet, we live and breath in a broken world. Our systems reek of death. We can’t get it right. We are drawn to call evil good and to dispose of what is true. We hate our brothers and sisters. Oh Lord help us.
Oh Lord help us. Our thoughts and feelings conform to Babylon and all her empires. We strive for power. But may our strivings cease for we know in Christ there is the victory.
Oh Lord help us. Your Spirit seeks to shape us into the image of Christ, but we are reluctant to be so humble. Why do we resist the way that would release the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control of Jesus into our lives and into our relationships?
Oh Lord. Help us.
We lift up our brothers and sisters in Christ and their neighbours — we seek your intervention. Empower your church to love others with real presence, the proclamation of the Gospel and in refreshing works of service in Hong Kong, in New York, in Minneapolis, in Toronto, in Sanaa, in Mbandaka, in Sao Paula, and in Vancouver.
Oh Lord Help us. We need you.
And so we pray as you taught us. (Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer) Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one; for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
The Prayer of the People from the Origin Weekend Broadcast on 5 June 2020.
