A Prayer for our Country on Pentecost Sunday May 31, 2020

As Trinity pre-recorded its service earlier in the week, please pray with me for our country in this Pastoral Prayer for May 31, 2020:

Lord, have mercy. 

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

How long, O Lord, how long will racism ravage our hearts and our communities?

How long, O Lord, how long will African-American young men fear for their lives?    

How long, O Lord, how long will structures of racism prevail in our cities, neighborhoods, and schools?

How long, O Lord, how long will these protests-turned-riots perpetuate senseless acts of vandalism and violence?

Give wisdom, O Lord, give wisdom to police, mayors, governors, and the federal government.

Give solidarity, O Lord, give solidarity between Christians of all races that the church might be a harbinger of the Kingdom of Heaven where every tribe and language and people and nation gather around the throne of the Lamb who was slain.

Christ, for these acts of racism, you died. For these acts of violence, you died. For the reconciliation of brothers and sisters of different races, you died.

Lord, we praise you that the image of God is stamped upon each and every human life. Lord, we praise you that the image of God is perfectly found in every race and ethnicity and that the diversity of ethnicities and races and languages serves to magnify your excellent greatness.  

We praise you, O Lord, that you are a God that brings hope out of despair, peace in the midst of chaos, reconciliation out of strife, and justice in the midst of violence. Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit be poured out in abundance on Pentecost Sunday. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

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In the aftermath of a significant uptick of white supremacy in our country which culminated in Charlottesville in August 2017, I wrote “On Race and the Gospel: Pastoral Reflections”. Many of those scriptural and theological truths can be reiterated again during these days.