Lent is upon us

A liturgy for Lent

by Ken Sehested 

Call to worship

The season of Lent is upon us. Listen for your instructions!

Now is the time to flee Pharaoh’s national security state for the insecurity of the wilderness.

Now is the time to listen for the Word whose hearing bypasses the ears of princes and high priests but is heard only in the wilderness.

Now is the time to head into the wilderness to confront the Deceiver, led by the Spirit and sustained only by angels.

Fear not, for God will sustain you. Your clothes will not wear out, your feet will not swell. God will feed you with manna and will bring water from the rock.

We look to the wilderness! For there the Glory of God shall appear!

Call to prayer

A voice cries out, “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

“I am about to do a new thing!” says the Beloved. “Do you not perceive it?”

God will comfort all your wasted places. You will find joy and gladness, thanksgiving and songs of delight.

Come, oh people of mercy. Through your prayers and your practices, come into the desert to find the One your heart most desires. Worship in the wilderness. You will find what is needed: sustenance for your soul and nourishment for your body. Though your feet be tired, your heart will find rest.

Call to the table

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness, and we tremble, demanding to know:

Why have you led us from the prosperous land of shopping and shiny plastic things and homeland security to this discomforting and inconvenient place?

To here where our wanton craving is exposed?

To here where the misery of the world is no longer distant or hidden?

To here where water is scarce, food insecure, shelter foreclosed and the future uninsured?

To here where banks fail, investments shrink and terror threatens?

Can God spread a table in the wilderness?

These are the questions we bring to your table, O Christ. Faith and fear alike wrestle over our hearts. We believe; help us in our unbelief.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org