Iraq/Syria Liturgy
Our gathering last night was dedicated to praying for the ongoing crisis in Iraq and Syria. The following 'liturgy' was curated with these events in mind, and used to guide us through a prayerful response to what is happening.
The songs used can be found here:
The prayer of confession used is taken from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.
Introduction
Song: Holy Holy
News footage plays
Reading
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:33-34 NIV)
Lament
Song: Teresa
slides of news footage play on screen
Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
Reading
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. (Psalm 22:1-5, 11 NIV)
Song: Dry Bones
Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
Confession
Song: We Confess
On behalf of the western world, we recognise that in this crisis we are far from blameless. For the times when our nations have too quickly chosen war, for the conflicts of interests that come from engaging in the trading of arms and oil, for the times that our leaders have been slow to withdraw support from dictators. Let's pray this prayer of confession together.
Corporate Prayer:
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of you Name. Amen.
Father, forgive us, for we do not know what we are doing.
Communion
Reading
At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ). When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:33-39 NIV)
Having cried out to you and confessed to you our sin, we will now come forward to meet with you in the way that Jesus showed us on the night that he was betrayed - in the breaking of bread and pouring out of wine. We do this in fellowship and solidarity with all the other believers across the world who are gathering together to pray for the crisis in Iraq and Syria. As we do this, we enter into communion with the prince of peace, the messiah who refused to bring about his kingdom through the means of war, who rejected violence as a way of settling conflict, who chose to die on a cross rather than kill those who saw him as an enemy. We pray for life to break out in this crisis, as it did on the third day after Jesus was killed. With humility we pray life for those affected by this conflict, be they believers or not - May you protect them and heal them. Finally, though it is so hard, we pray for the perpetrators of these crimes agains humanity. We believe that your love can melt even the hardest of hearts. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
Come forward and receive communion.
Songs (during communion): God of the Moon & Stars, Wounded Healer