Receive, Lord, the offering of our lives: that every breath might be holy to you.
O God who is more ready to forgive than I am to be faithful,
I fall on my face before you, acknowledging my sin.
As the so called leader of a tribe of people known as your church
I fall into the trap of confusing the trappings of an institution,
the stylings of a program,
and the walls of a building
with your work in the world.
For sure, you work through the church, often in spite of us,
but you cannot be contained withing walls,
you are not limited by our imaginations,
you aren’t concerned with the things that we are concerned with.
We get caught up in the bricks and mortar,
the activities and programs,
and you, O Lord, are much more concerned with the state of our hearts.
We spend our energies on keeping up a building,
when you would rather we focus on our relationship with you and one another.
And I, a person who should know better, am as guilty as anyone.
God, I confess that sometimes I fall into thinking
that the success or failure of our church is my responsibility,
when it is in fact yours.
When I lament because it seems like I am out of tricks and programs to “help grow the church,”
it’s because I have failed,
failed to remember that YOU are what will help us grow or fail.
You’ve given me a responsibility,
and that is to keep our eyes focused on you.
So God, I ask your forgiveness,
for the moments when I pluck the fruit off the tree,
and think that I can hold the same power,
the same knowledge,
the same understanding as you.
I bow before you as your servant,
waiting….
Speak, O Lord when you are ready.
I’ll be here.
Only Wonder Understands 