St. Nicolai Notes

Prayer for December 5-11, 2021
Sermon Text: Luke 3:1-6

That we may answer the call to rearrange our lives and our world for your coming

God of all, the Voice crying in the wilderness still cries out in our day. We still hear the urgent exhortation to level mountains, fill in valleys, and straighten out crooked places. We still hear the promise that “all people” will see your salvation.

We know, God, that the exhortation of your prophet was not just about landscaping and roadbuilding, but that his words echoed those of other prophets who called out to your people, in other eras. They called your people to practice justice instead of injustice, to eliminate the vast inequality of resources that makes life excessively full for some and unbearably empty for others. We know that your prophet was calling us to lives rearranged and transformed by your forgiving, compassionate, generous, just, and peaceful reign among us. And we know that the salvation the Voice announced was preparation for and pointer to Jesus, the Christ, in whom we have witnessed the drama and glory of your salvation, and have seen the full embodiment of your love.

We rejoice in You! We rejoice that You have not abandoned us to our failed efforts to create the good life on our own and in competition with one another, but have shaped us anew for shared life in Jesus. Amen.