Lectionary Year B
August 6, 2000
John 6:24-35
Step IV: Hermeneutical Bridge
(JEA) C. HERMENEUTICAL BRIDGE
PRAYER
Dear Lord, sovereign of the universe, caring/loving Father of all
your creatures, Source of all that is beautiful and true, we magnify and
exalt your holy name this morning together with all the heavenly hosts. We
add our voices of praise to the chorus of thanksgiving... we earth-creatures
who acknowledge our sinfulness yet who also rejoice in the redemptive
sacrifice of your Son, Jesus Christ, our great high priest, who makes our
approach to you possible and indeed our haven of peace and safety; it is his
righteousness we claim as our own this morning accepting with grateful
hearts his invitation to come to him lest we should remain hungry and to
trust in him lest we should remain thirsty. He announced of old to us and to
all people that your seal, oh Father, rested upon him and that you had sent
and commissioned him to bring life to the whole cosmos. We yearn for the
Bread of Life which he offers; we eagerly anticipate the sacramental table
of blessing which you have prepared for us this Lord's Day where we eat the
bread and drink the cup of your eternal sacrifice. As we partake of the
elements of this feast be Thou, oh Christ, the Bread of Life to us that we
may never hunger and thirst again.
You know our state this morning; you can make better sense than we can of
our complex thoughts, needs, and hopes. We sense deep down, even if we do
not fully understand, how great is our need for peace, for rest, for the
tranquil state that all is well between us, our God, and one another. Bless
us anew this morning with the faithful visitation of your Holy Spirit, who
brings faith's assurance that we are forgiven all our sins of commission and
of omission in the cross of Christ. Set us free to love and to serve you,
and in so doing one another, to love and to serve those others for whom,
like us, you gave your life. Hence our prayers this morning are not only for
ourselves but also for our loved ones, our families and our friends near and
far. From some we are separated this day by considerable geographical
distances; from some the separation is not physical but mental and spiritual
and emotional; from others it is the result of our mortality. Close the
gaps, heal the wounds, comfort the hearts, bridge the frustrations, absorb
the pain, fill the emptiness, still the hunger and thirst as only you can do.
Intercessions and Lord's Prayer. Amen.
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