8th May 2016 – Easter 7C

JOHN 17:20-26 (IN LAMENT OF UNITY)
It’s often been said,
be careful what you pray for.
Pity about the unity
Jesus prayed for in his disciples
and those who would follow.
Love God with all your heart,
mind, soul and strength,
and your neighbour as yourself:
live the faith of our ancestors
as I have lived it.

It hasn’t quite turned out
that way.

The Way became an empire
outside its ancestral faith;
an empire that grew –
“Be baptised or die.”
Death, torture, hatred, abuse,
annihilation of culture, creed and language,
in the growth of empire,
the spread of ‘good news’;
an empire that grew –
and has divided
and divided
and divided
internally and externally.

The ‘good news’ itself is divided.
Compassion, healing and love abound
in care for the widow, orphan, alien,
heretic or LGBTI
(but conditions,
even prohibitions,
often apply)

Jesus wasn’t into structure, organisation,
simply a way of living love.
But an empire needs organisation,
structure,
hierarchy,
protocol,
order,
control.

All a poor fit with Jesus’ prayer.

Dare we pray for a way
by which we can unscramble this egg?
Or pray for a new egg?

Be careful what you pray for.
            © Jeff Shrowder, 2016.
 
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