Worship Night: February 8, 2022
REFLECTIVE PRAYER
”Liturgy for When You Are Stuck in a Rut”
Written by Bobbi Salkeld
It’s easy to think that all things are bad. The world is a mess. And we are divided. But that is not the whole picture. Every day, people choose love instead of fear. Sacrifice instead of greed. Friendship instead of suspicion. And the truth is, we all live in flux between these postures. We feel afraid, and we live with faith. We are moving forward with ease, and we’re stuck in the same old rut.
I invite you to a liturgy for when you are stuck in a rut.
I’ll guide you through an opening prayer. Then, I’ll read a passage of scripture two times for you to meditate on. Finally, I’ll set you into a space to imagine what it is like to live with trust and love – this is on offer whether you are stuck, getting unstuck, or noticing others who seem stuck too.
Let us pray.
For those who feel disconnected
Stuck in our heads – negative self-talk on repeat
Stuck in our bodies – with pain, isolation, and craving
Stuck in relationships – where we don’t feel seen, heard, or vibrantly alive
We pray:
Through our lives and in our worship
Move us to connection
Divine Maker, meet us in your creation
For those who feel divided
Stuck in our social media feeds – wide-eyed with shock and swarmed by injustice
Stuck in our narratives – where we are told we are too different to belong
Stuck in our worries – where we fear “the other” rather than seek to know them better
We pray:
Through our lives and in our worship
Move us to togetherness
Christ, our friend, meet us with your healing
For those who feel dismayed
Stuck in our gloom – where we can’t see the light of a new day
Stuck in the past – where we remember our shame and don’t notice our fierce resiliency
Stuck in wishes that haven’t come true – where what we want feels so out of reach
We pray:
Through our lives and in our worship
Move us to joy
Holy Spirit, breathe in us your rejuvenation
Amen
Listen to these words from the Gospel of Mark, and listen for how much “movement” happens in the story.
Mark 2:13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
Mark 2:15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Mark 2:17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
As I read this passage again, listen for one scene that jumps out to you or “sparkles” for your attention.
Can you imagine Jesus’ presence near to you, like he was near to the large crowd, to Levi the tax collector, and all those called “sinners” and the “sick”?
Can you imagine pursuing the presence of Christ as if it could shift everything for you? That just being near Jesus would get you out of a rut?
Can you imagine yourself feeling included at the dinner table – and when you look around, you see so many people surprised to be seated there too?
Receive this benediction:
You are not stuck in a rut.
Everything around you, and in you, and through you is moving with the aliveness of Christ.
Thanks be to God.
And peace be with your Spirit.
Amen.
