Confession and Assurance

This was in our bulletin at church yesterday. Adapted from Rev. Tod Loder's poem "Empty Me."


Gracious and Holy One, Creater of all things,
We come to you full of much that clutters and distracts us, stifles and burdens us, and makes us a burden to others.

Loving Father,
Empty us now of gnawing dissatisfactions, of anxious imaginings, of fretful preoccupations, of nagging prejudices, of old scores to settle, and of the arrogance of being right.

Eternal Son,
Empty us now of the way we unthinkingly think of ourselves as powerless, or as victims, predetermined by sex, age, race - as being less than we are or as being other than yours.

Sweet Holy Spirit,
Empty us of the disguises and lies in which we hide ourselves from other people and from our responsibility for our neighbors and the world.

Redeemer God,
Hollow out in us a space that you can fill with our transformed selves, peace, a whole heart, a forgiving spirit, holiness, and laughter. Fill us with yourself, we pray, for your sake, and the sake of the world.

(silence)

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasure at your right hand. (Ps 16:7-11)