A communion liturgy for reconciliation after the election.
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! All this is from God, who reconciled us to God’s self through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to God’s self, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making their appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the one who knew no sin to be sin, so that in Christ we might become the righteousness of God. — 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NRSVue)
Welcome
God’s ministry of reconciliation through Christ was Christ himself. In the incarnation, God stood in solidarity with us. Jesus didn’t just heal the holy or feed the faithful. Jesus didn’t only minister with people who looked like him or agreed with him on every issue. Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation was a ministry of presence to all people. This is the ministry to which we are called.
Outside and within the Church, we may find ourselves more aligned with Paul, Apollos, Cephas – or even Trump or Harris — but we all belong to Christ. We reject God’s reconciliation through Christ when we cling to our divisions more than we cling to Jesus. It’s not our differences but our divisions that proclaim Christ isn’t enough to bind us together as one Body.
As citizens of this country, I believe we are called to work together. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to continue our ministry of reconciliation; starting within the Church, starting with ourselves.
In this room, we interpret Scriptures differently, and we voted differently. But in this room, we have also professed that together we are one congregation in the Body of Christ. And individually, despite our lack of uniformity, we belong to one another.
Our work as individuals and the Church doesn’t change based on the outcome of elections. God’s Kingdom still needs to increase in the world. The oppressed still need to hear good news; the brokenhearted bound up, captives liberated, and prisoners released. The mourning still need comfort and the ancient ruins rebuilt. Oaks of righteousness still need to be planted.[1]
However we cast our ballots on Tuesday, we have a responsibility to stand in solidarity with the Church, seeing all through the love of Christ. We are called to welcome one another as Christ welcomed us. Our shared Christian vocation and call demand that we recognize the image of God in all.
Christ does not demand that we vote one way or the other, or that our government’s laws fall one way or the other. Christ’s command is that we love as we have been loved.
Because we are in Christ, we have these responsibilities in Christ:
- Regardless of race, sexual identity, geographical location, or political party, we are called to outdo one another in showing honor to each other.
- We are not called to seek our own advantage but that of the other.
- We are called to consider everyone as equal and associate with those who have no status.
Called by the name of Christ, we are sent out to love as Christ.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
God of goodness and mercy, you pursue us without rest. You called to us in the Garden after we chose knowledge rather than you. You brought us through the wilderness when we complained and preferred captivity. You led us with leaders like Deborah and Samuel even though we failed to trust in you. For your faithful and sovereign love, we give you thanks.
Jesus, you stood in solidarity with us in your humanity. You chose to come to us so that we could be reconciled to you. You trusted us with your human frailty in the form of an infant. You chose death so that we could understand life. For your compassion and grace, we give you thanks.
Holy Spirit, you continue to form us into disciples and Christ’s Body, the Church. When we build barriers between one another, you work to tear them down. Through your truth, you remind us that regardless of political party or country, we belong to a Kingdom. You reassure us in our fear and teach us to trust in you despite the uncertainties of this world. For your truth and communion, we give you thanks.
Holy Spirit, we come to this Table looking for the communion with Christ that sustains us and the communion with one another that so easily to escapes us. We ask that you once again heal us by making the loaf and cup we share the communion of the body and blood of Christ. As we eat and drink together, may Christ’s communion be our communion so that we may share it with the world. To you be the glory, forever and ever.
As a sign of our fellowship and communion with Christ and one another, we now join our voices to pray, using the words most familiar to each of us: Our Father…
Invitation
The Sacrament of Communion is the ultimate act of reconciliation. What does God’s act of reconciliation through Christ look like? It looks like sharing in the broken body and the spilled blood of Jesus. In our sharing, we proclaim that we stand on level ground with one another with Christ as our head.
Despite our differences, this Table declares our reconciliation in Jesus Christ and reminds us with our communion with one another. It is here that we affirm that we all belong to Christ. We once again turn to the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians (10:16-17):
Because there is one loaf, we, many as we are, are one body; for it is one loaf of which we all partake.
When we break the bread, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
When we give thanks over the cup, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?
Before his death, Jesus was anointed with nard. This sweet scent went with him as he completed God’s act of reconciliation by accepting death at the hands of the world and responding with life at the hands of God. In the words of Teresa of Avila:
Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless His people. —Teresa of Ávila (attributed)
After you receive the elements, you are invited to be anointed as the body, hands, feet, and eyes of Christ in the world.
The Lord’s Table is prepared for all those who desire to be fed by Jesus. Come and be nourished so that you may share in Christ’s ministry of reconciliation.
Prayer After Communion from 2 Corinthians 5:14-19
The love of Christ controls us, because we believe that one died for the sake of all; therefore, all died. Jesus, you died for the sake of all so that those who are alive should live not for themselves but for you, the one who died for us and was raised.
We pray, then that from this point on we won’t recognize people by human standards but through your eyes. Because we are in Christ, we are part of the new creation. The old things have gone away: and look, new things have arrived!
We give thanks for this meal we have shared, proclaiming that all of these new things are from you, God, who reconciled us to yourself through Christ and who gave us the ministry of reconciliation. With fear and trembling and trust in you, and the ministry of reconciliation to which we are called. Amen.
[1] See Isaiah 61:1-4.
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If you are looking for more liturgical resources, please consider checking out my books:
Prayers for the People: Scripturally Based Prayers for Worship
Come to the Table: Communion Liturgies of Invitation to Celebrate and Experience the Love of God is a collection of communion liturgies inviting worshippers to experience and respond to the Gospel. These meaningful liturgies enhance and reinforce the biblical message of the day. Worshippers are welcomed to the Table to experience the Word in preparation to go out into the world and live it. Come to the Table includes liturgies for the entire liturgical year providing pastors with a valuable resource in worship planning.
Bless you. Your words are healing to my soul.🙏🏻
Thank you Michelle. I needed to hear this liturgy.