Prayer of Repentance / Penitence
God of the homeless with no place to sleep or even store their worldly goods,
God of the beggar to whom we have not given money,
God of the hungry who sell and eat lumps of soil as their food,
God of those who sell their bodies,
God of the men and the women who pee in the streets….
SING: Jesus – remember me, when you come into your kingdom, Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom
Jesus, who looked at the thief and the beggar with love, who invited the thief into your kingdom, who asked the sick and the poor what they need
We repent as the church, your disciples who say – do not come to us, the Lord is too busy…
Our church is too clean, our communion is too holy
Lord Jesus, who looked at the rich young ruler and felt pity,
Forgive us, for denying you 3 times, many times
Forgive us, for the way we have come
Listening to people’s stories, buying them a piece of soap maybe
Coming as shining lights – glimmers of hope
We say a generalised prayer for the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the motherless
With our eyes closed in holy prayer
And as we open our eyes, we see the 7 we started to pray for have become 77,
Gathering around, asking us to pray ???
And then, looking at the time, we look away and move on
To our next appointment.
As we leave, we hear their desperate questions– when are you coming back to visit us?
SING: Jesus – remember me, when you come into your kingdom, Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom
Our God, we come before with broken hearts, contrite hearts
Your heart is breaking for them, and for us – you are their glimmer of hope, our glimmer of hope.
We pray not for the homeless and the poor, the sick and the vulnerable
We pray for ourselves, who should be their answer to prayer….
Challenge us to not walk away sadly like the rich young ruler or the Sadducee
Transform our hearts and our lives, transform our church, turn us inside out
That we may respond without fear,
But with open hearts, open pockets, open homes and open churches.
SING: Jesus – remember me, when you come into your kingdom, Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom