Hello,
Yesterday at 6:45 when I drove down our ½ mile lane to reach the main
road, I encountered an unusual number of animals. At the top of the hill a fox ran across my path and dodged
into the tall grass, the eyes of a herd of a dozen deer caught my lights, and
at the bottom of our hill another fox scurried to cover. I suspect that these neighbors of mine
are there every morning, but it wasn’t until the later autumn dawn that their
lives intersected with mine.
Truth is, I am sure, that for a variety of reasons there are a lot of
people whose lives rarely intersect with mine. People who live in the pre-dawn darkness of poverty. People who have fallen into deep holes
– some of their own making, and some that just happen to be in their
paths. People for whom the
weariness of life has left them in prisons of exhaustion and fear.
I was asked to offer an invocation at last month’s county commissioner’s
meeting. I have been asked to do
so before, but because of conflicting schedules, this was the first time that I
was able to do so. The invitation
to bring the invocation came about a week ahead of time, and for about a week I
pondered what I should offer.
Realizing that I live in a diverse community, I was cognizant that many
who would attend that meeting (turned out to be over 50) might not share my
faith convictions, so this was my prayer:
Gracious God,
As we gather at this meeting
open our eyes to that which is
difficult to see,
open our ears to the voices that
are hard to hear,
open our minds with wisdom and
compassion for those who are often forgotten,
and open our hands to reach out to
those who have slipped through the cracks.
Amen
Although this was the first time that I offered that prayer at a
commissioners meeting, it isn’t the first time that that prayer has come across
my lips. The words may not have
been exactly the same, but the substance of its petitions are part of prayers
that I pray over and over again in my church. The reason that I pray this prayer in my church is that I
see that Jesus did what my prayer asks for God to do in us. Jesus did not turn away from the things
that are difficult to see, difficult because they are hidden, or difficult
because they are revolting. Jesus
did not close his ears to those who were hard to hear, hard to hear because of
the softness of their voices, or the obnoxiousness of their tone. He kept his mind open to those whom the
world had prejudged and discarded.
Jesus took up in his arms those who had slipped through the fingers of
the world.
I know how powerful are the hands of the world at work to shape and
mold. That is why I pray that God
would use his power to shape and mold with the grace that was exhibited in
Jesus. Christians, after all, are
the ones who bear the name of Christ into the world. So, I pray that my county is one that all people are
remembered, seen, heard and helped, but even more so I hope that is true for my
church. So, I pray this prayer
over and over again amongst the people of God that I serve, in order that if
you are one of whom this prayer speaks, you will find in us a place where you
are treated with Christ-like care.
Have a great day.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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