On this night, in the midst of the festival celebrating the freedom you gave our ancestors the Israelites, we give you thanks that still you free us and show us how to be a new kind of people. You call us to love one another the way you love us—extravagantly and without reservation, even to the end. We give you thanks that as Jesus’ re-defined this feast, we can see your abundance, your joy, and the true meaning of love—to be broken and poured out for others.
We want to live your abundant life, and we thank you that in this feast you have given us the strength for that journey. We want to live in your extravagant love, but we are afraid that the outcome won’t be any different for us than it was for Jesus—ridicule, pain, distress. Give us courage to claim you when others betray, courage to follow you when others desert, courage to love even when we are not loved in return.
You have broken yourself open to show us love and life. Help us to do the same, loving, serving, and caring for your world. We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake IL.
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