The silence, O God, reminds us that we stand alone before you. 

And so we give thanks for the anonymity of our congregational singing and worship.  Like the crowds gathered by the road as Jesus passed by, we rejoice in the energy and power of our shared love for you. 

All of us as together offer you our devotion, our praises, our hopes, as well as our failures and our sins.  And we know that you are glad to look upon your people here in your house.

But then the silence comes.  And we are reminded of who we are when we are not singing and worshiping.  We are reminded of our sins.  And the thought comes to us that perhaps your love for this your church is diminished by our failings as your servant.  And so we ask you to forgive us–all of us–to be sure, but also each and every one of us.  Forgive the failures that come to mind in the silence.

In the resounding music of the organ, in the strong voices of the choir, we hear the world as it should be, full of your victorious power and beauty.  And for this world we give thanks.

But in the silence our minds are pestered by images of the world as it really is, images of tornados, wars, inhumanity, greed, hatred.  And so we ask for the presence of your healing and comforting Spirit in our lives and in our world.  And we ask for your strength as we seek to be faithful in closing the gap between the world that you want and the world that is.

In the hugs and handshakes of the people around us we feel the loving warmth of your kingdom.  But in the silence we remember those who are not here to enjoy this moment.  And so we pray for those who are sick, and we pray for those around us who grieve the loss of hugs and handshakes from people they have lost to death.

We confess that the silence sometimes unsettles us, but we pray that you would not allow it to overcome us.  Help us to remember that you are Lord of our praises, but also Lord of our silence.  And so we offer you now all that we are and all that we hope to be.  We offer you our Sunday morning worshiping selves and our Monday morning doubting selves, confident that you love us, welcome us, and forgive us in both places.

Amen.

Copyright © 2004 Broadway Baptist Church