Prayer of Confession, P+19C

Call to Confession 

How can we say, “We are wise,
    and the law of the Lord is with us,”
when, in fact, the false pen of the scribes
    has made it into a lie?
The wise shall be put to shame;
    they shall be dismayed and taken;
since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
    what wisdom is in them?  (Jeremiah 8:8-9)

Let us confess our falsehoods to God and seek God's mercy:

Prayer of Confession 

God, forgive us!
We claim to love your law 
and to meditate on it all day long,
but what we really do 
is pluck verses that support our theses 
and use them out of context
as weapons against things
we dislike.
We pretend that we are, indeed,
wiser than those who think differently from us,
that we are more knowledgeable
than those who have studied scripture longer
and more in depth,
that we have more understanding 
than those who have lived by your Law of Love
their whole lives long.
Our arrogance is disgusting,
yet even as we live lives completely contrary
to your law,
we claim to be sinless,
and we are the worst kinds of sinners,
for we know what is right
and we not only choose to do the opposite,
we cheer on bigotry and prejudice and xenophobia
and abuse of power
IN. YOUR. NAME.
Lord, in your mercy, 
hear our prayers.
For the sake of all that is holy,
open our eyes to the harm we are doing,
open our ears to the cries of those Jesus called beloved,
open our hearts to your transforming power,
and get us out of the mess we have created.
May it be so.

Assurance of God's Grace

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:11-13) Hear the Good News: In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven! Thanks be to God!

Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us forgive one another.
The peace of Christ be with you.
Please extend the peace of Christ to all whom you encounter.