PRAYERS AND LITANIES

Worship Resources for Peace with Iraq

Leo Hartshorn
Minister of Peace and Justice
Mennonite Mission Network

Call to Worship

- Based on Acts 10:34-38:

We come together to worship the God of Abraham and Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael, Moses and his Ethiopian wife, The God of all nations, races, and peoples. O God, hear the cries of your people from many lands.
	For God shows no partiality, But in every nation anyone who fears God And does what is right is acceptable to God.
We know the message God sent to Israel and to the church. God sent Jesus, who is Ruler of all, preaching peace. That message spread from Judea to all parts of the world.
	We gather to proclaim and hear Jesus' message of peace, And like him we will seek to do good and
Heal all who are oppressed by evil, poverty, war, and injustice
	By the power of God, who is judge of the living and the dead.

Invocation

God of desert and oasis, of rich and poor, of saint and sinner, we lift our prayer to you, O Most Holy One. We come to this holy space not to block out the world nor its cries and groaning. Rather, we come to integrate our world into our worship, our politics into our prayers. We come because this world, broken and mended, struggling and strong, is the world you love in all its wild diversity. We are a people of incarnational faith. Since Jesus stepped into the muck and mire of the human predicament, we come to you not to escape the harsh realities of the front page and TV newscasts, but to be empowered by your Fiery Spirit to immerse ourselves, once again, into your wounded world, so in need of healing and wholeness, peace and liberation. Come, God of water and fire, cleanse us, ignite us, to be your people of peace.
Amen.

Prayer of Confession

What can we say, Merciful God, in the face of the facts?
	U.N. sanctions of Iraq have directly contributed to the death of thousands upon thousands of Iraqi children from preventable diseases.
	One in eight Iraqi children die before their fifth birthday.
	One in three Iraqi children suffer from chronic malnutrition.
What can we say, Merciful God, in the shadow of our situation?
	As citizens of the most powerful empire on earth, we have been complacent in the midst of such death and devastation.
	As a people of power and privilege, we have too often left politics to the politicians, preaching to preachers, and the affairs of other nations to fate.
	As Christians, we have lived as if our primary allegiance is to state, instead of the Savior.
What can we say, Merciful God, in light of the words of your Child, Jesus Christ?
	Let the little children come unto me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs (Matthew 19:14).
	But I say unto you, love your enemies…so that you may be the children of your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:44-45).
	Truly I tell you, just as you did it to the least of these…you did it to me (Matthew 25:40)
What can we say, Merciful God, but:
	Forgive us.

Assurance of Forgiveness

God of mercy and grace, we seek genuine mercy that renews our spirits to right the wrong, to love the unloved, to free the oppressed. Deliver us from cheap grace, grace without repentance, grace without the cross, grace without transformation. Cleanse us with the water of your Spirit. Blow upon us with the wind of your Spirit. Ignite us with the fire of your Spirit. Assure us that, in spite of our weakness, failure, and sin, we are still your forgiven and forgiving community, through the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayer for Peace

Eternal God, maker of heaven and earth, we pray the people of Iraq. We ask that your mercy and grace reach those who have suffered from war, continued bombings, and sanctions. Hear the cries of the thousands who grieve the death of their children, the death of family members, the death of security and well-being. We pray for the people of the U.S. and Canada, that we would support efforts to create peaceful relations with Iraq and resist any possible invasion, which will only bring further devastation to a suffering people. We pray for our political leaders, that they will have the wisdom to provide a security not based upon the threat of power, but the vulnerability of compassion, and the vision of being world citizens. We pray for justice and peace, a justice that tears down walls that divide nations, a peace that builds bridges of hope between peoples.
Amen.

Benediction

The peace of Christ be with you.
	And also with you.
We have heard God's voice Beneath the human word. We have seen the way of Jesus
	In his deeds of kindness.
We have touched by the Spirit
	In prayer and song.
We go forth
	To witness to what we have seen and heard.
We go forth
	To proclaim the peace of the Risen Christ.