Opening Litany for the 1st

Psalm 77:1-20 abridged and Anger by Fredrick Buechner

Pastor: I pray to you, Lord God, and I beg you to listen. In days filled with trouble, I search for you. And at night I tirelessly lift my hands in prayer, refusing comfort.

Congregation: I think of times gone by, of those years long ago. Each night my mind is flooded with questions: "Have you rejected me forever? Won't you be kind again? Is this the end of your love and your promises? Have you forgotten how to have pity? Do you refuse to show mercy because of your anger?"

Pastor: Then I said, "God Most High, what hurts me most is that you no longer help us with your mighty arm."

Congregation: Everything you do is right, and no other god compares with you. You alone work miracles, and you have let nations see your mighty power.

Pastor: The ocean looked at you, God, and it trembled deep down with fear. Water flowed from the clouds. Thunder was heard above as your arrows of lightning flashed about..

Congregation: You walked through the water of the mighty sea, but your footprints were never seen. You guided your people like a flock of sheep as you destroyed the chariot and rider who pursued them.

Pastor: I too want to see you anger visited upon my enemies, those who offend and affront my thinking and my way of life. I too want to see that righteous anger welling up inside you as it wells up inside of me.

Congregation: Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack you lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back – in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.
Buechner, “Wishful Thinking”

Pastor: Welcome to Worship at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church.

Congregation: Where we are Inspired by God’s Love to Praise, Nurture and Serve.