Bearing the Burden: Lent 2002

A Litany from Christian Peacemaker Teams

One: Jesus said to his disciples, then and now, "take up your cross and follow me". Take up the cross - the instrument of Roman torture and death, a symbol of imperial occupation and oppression - take up that cross and follow me! Do not let it stop you from following, do not let it make you afraid or send you fleeing back into the comfort of conformity to injustice. Do not fear, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Bear, therefore, with one another, the burdens of injustice, oppression, and violence.

All: We bear one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ. We accept the burden of the Prince of Peace. (Gal. 6:2; Mt. 11:30)

One: "Worship God, and God alone!" Jesus insists. The temptation of conquest violates and humiliates those who stand in the way of the worship of greed and power. Homes are demolished and vineyards uprooted to make way for the expansion of worldly kingdoms. Farmers weep over the loss of their livelihood; mothers hide their faces from the nightmares of their children.

All: We bear one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ. We accept the burden of the Prince of Peace.

One: "Truly I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God", Jesus told Nicodemus. Jesus knew that to see with new eyes and dream with new visions involves a rebirth and a turning away from old visions and systems of life. Visions of victory against our enemies through violence and humiliation threaten all people with a loss of humanity and dignity.

All: We bear one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ. We accept the burden of the Prince of Peace.

One: "Unbind him and let him go," Jesus called out to those amazed to see Lazarus, bound with bandages, emerge from the tomb. Bondage to injustice and domination keeps people bound to the forces of death. The weak are imprisoned in their homes, villages, countries - unable to escape the tight grip of the oppressor. Even the powerful become incapable to break away from their own tomb of tyranny.

All: We bear one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ. We accept the burden of the Prince of Peace. Dear Lord, when you entered the seat of power in Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, you showed us that your reign does not fit the worldly mould of power and glory. We pray for clarity to know what following the humble Christ means in today's Jerusalem, the places of power in our home countries and communities. Show us how to be instruments of your peace in situations pervaded by hostility, and beacons of hope pointing towards the light of your resurrection. Amen.