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Ordinary Time

another confession for September 11

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Submitted by Rev. Rebecca Page Lesley, Suffolk Presbyterian Church

Merciful God, you teach that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. We confess that we mostly just love ourselves. We see those who are different than we are and we harbor fear and suspicion. We forget that they too, are your beloved children. O God, have mercy on us.

In our search for safety, we have put others at risk and though many lives have been lost, we have not found the security we seek. Forgive us, Lord, for our misplaced sacrifices. Have mercy on us.

Christ teaches that we should forgive, but we like to hold on to grudges and they become our own weapons of mass destruction. We seek to be controllers of rather than partners in our relationships—even our relationship with you, O Lord. Have mercy on us. Forgive our faults, strengthen our weaknesses, and lead us forth in love.

confession: struggling against

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Submitted by Rev. Shannan Vance-Ocampo, Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church, North Plainfield, NJ.

Too often we wrestle and we struggle. With ourselves, with our friends and family, where we work, with the world around us. And we confess that we struggle against you, Loving Lord. As we push back against all sorts of things we fall into the trap of thinking that we can be gods. We can fix or control, we can change someone or something else. We beat our heads against the wall, grow more and more frustrated, and finally fall down in exhaustion. It is an endless, vicious cycle—and so often O Lord we fall into it. On this day, remind us of the opportunity you always hold before us to do something new and something different. To let go, to relinquish the controls we so tightly cling onto. To trust You, and to believe once again that you are with us. Help us in this time of worship, O Lord, to stop the struggle and begin to believe again. Amen.

Confession: Anxious Weeding

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a prayer of confession for any of those weedy stories, submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake, IL.
One: God, you scatter seeds of hope, abundance, and new life.
All: But we have mixed some of our own seeds—
seeds of fear, greed, apathy.
One: Then seeing our mistake, we have tried to purify the garden,
we have pushed out brothers and sisters,
built walls that isolate, and made rules that hurt.
All: Forgive our anxious weeding, O God,
and help us repair the garden of your kingdom.
One: Show us how to cultivate fruitfulness and hospitality,
a place of peace and grace.
All: Teach us to trust your skill, master gardener,
and to see your kingdom come. Amen.

prayer of confession: sowing and harvesting

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submitted by Rev. Andy James, First Presbyterian Church, Whitestone, New York
based on Matthew 13:24-30

Gracious God, you sow good seeds in the field to make the world blossom and grow, but we lay waste to your crop. We toss other seeds into the field that only choke the life you share. We pull up the weeds when the time is not right and destroy the good wheat in our world. And sometimes we would rather even destroy the whole field than claim the good crops that you have given us. Forgive us for tending your field with such carelessness and bad judgment. Show us your intentions for us and our world once again, and so open us to the good harvest that you share with us and all creation.

confession: scattered

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Prayer of Confession (using Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 as inspiration), submitted by Rev. Rebecca Page Lesley, Suffolk Presbyterian Church

We watch in horror, loving God, as you scatter seed with abandon, never even looking to see where it will fall. We think we could do it better—plowing and planting in only the best soil, carefully measuring out just the right amount of seed, fertilizer and water. “No waste, no want,” we say. We fear that there will not be enough and so we hoard what we have been so generously given by you, saving what we should be sharing. O God, forgive us for not trusting your ways and for doubting your extravagant abundance. Our own roots are shallow and we quickly fall away in the heat of the day; the weeds of our lives choke our commitment to you. Release us from our fears so that we may bear fruit for you and grow in us a desire to live abundant lives, flowering with generosity and mercy…

(…moment of silent confession.)