A Prayer for the Table…

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Diana R.G. Trautwein

It’s table time, again, Lord,

when we come together as your family,

broken and bruised as we are,

and take a little bite

and drink a little sip

and remember who you are

and what you’ve done for us.

Some of us are a little surprised to find ourselves here,

to tell you the truth.

We’re here to see and be seen,

to do the Sunday church-going thing,

and the call to the table is not what we had planned

on, not what we’d planned on at all.

And some of us are here today out of habit –

today is Sunday; on Sunday we go to church;

therefore – we are in church.

And we know enough to track that this is the 1^st

Sunday of the month, so…

it’s time for communion.

And we’ll take the bread and we’ll sip the juice…

because it’s familiar and comfortable

and it’s comforting –

it’s what we do on this day.

But some of us are here today because we just plain have to be here.

Participating in this sacramental meal is not just important,

it’s crucial.

It’s a lifeline that we grab with fierce gratitude and a ready

admission of our deep need for it.

And so the whole motley crew of us gathers around your table, Lord. All of us together,

the looky-loos,

the regulars,

the desperate ones.

And the miracle of this table is this:

we’re all welcome here,

we’re all invited,

we’re all included.

Any one of us who has faith the size of a mustard seed,

our scripture for the morning told us;

anyone with just the tiniest bit of hope and belief

that Jesus’ broken body and shed blood can

change us and shape us and re-make us-

any of us

and all of us

are invited guests at this, the table of the Lord.

Thanks be to God!

So, Lord, we’re all crowding around now,

we all want to be ready.

Will you, then, hear first our prayers of confession and need

as we offer them silently to you?

–Silence–

And then, we want to offer our prayers on behalf of others

who are in trouble, looking for healing and help.

Will you hear our prayers for these dear ones we name

out loud right now?

And finally, Lord, we all want to say a huge ‘thank you,’

for this table and what it means to us.

Thank you for simple gifts that take on sacred meaning.

Thank you for the story that these simple gifts tell.

Thank you for Jesus. For his life, for his death, for his

resurrection from the dead, for the new life he

makes possible for us.

Continue to change us more and more into the image of that

crucified, risen one we worship and in whose name

we pray today and always, even Jesus Christ. Amen.