September 20, 2023
“So What’s New?”: A Prayer
O Lord, the online headline read, “AI Developers Creating God”
and I couldn’t help but think,
“So what’s new?”
because
humankind has been creating you
ever since you first created humankind,
creating you in their image,
creating you to be the you
they want you to be;
and so now
we’ve got
the right-wing you, the left-wing you,
the middle-of-the-road you;
the Republican you,
the Democratic you;
and
we’ve got
the loving you,
the wrathful you;
the sweet you,
the severe you;
the peaceful you,
the AK47 you;
the authoritarian you,
the loosey-goosey you;
the judgemental you,
the anything goes you;
the no cross, no cost you,
the suffering you;
the no sin, no sweat you,
the punishing you;
the powerful you,
the namby-pamby you;
the let me entertain you,
the somber you;
the joyous you,
the grim you;
the Vending-Machine-in-the-Sky you,
the Great Scoreboard-in-the-Sky you;
and on and on;
we’ve got
plenty of you’s to go around;
one for every believer and
unbeliever too;
one for every church;
one for everyone;
one for the lunatic right,
one for the loony left,
one for everyone in between;
lots of you’s,
too many you’s,
you on a leash,
you in the back pocket,
you safe and tame, simply
a blessing machine at everyone’s beck and call.
But that is not the you that is you, O Lord, not the you
Scripture proclaims,
Jesus revealed,
Paul preached;
not the you
countless believers
down through the centuries came
to know,
to love,
to obey;
not the you
who is
Creator of all,
Lord over all,
God above all;
the you
who loves with a mother’s fierce love, the fierce love that
protects a child,
gives all to save a child,
wants the best for a child,
demands the best from a child,
punishes a child, forgives a child,
loves with a love that
covers a multitude of sins;
the you
who has the power
to heal what most needs healing within us;
to work through suffering and death and bring life;
to raise us up out of all that is dead and wrecked
and ruined and help us live strong and
brave and glad;
to save us from ourselves and
to deliver us unto joy;
the you
who commands obedience,
who commands love for the neighbor,
who commands compassion for the other;
the you
who is Lord over all,
over all nations, especially our nation,
there in the words repeated by millions,
and so the you
who supports no
political agenda or party or candidate, but expects us to
follow your agenda of doing justice and righteousness and
showing hospitality to the stranger and
mercy to the outcast and caring for
your creation;
the you
who comforts and consoles,
who confronts and challenges,
who calls us and compels.
O Lord, forgive us for creating you in our image, creating
a convenient you who conveniently supports
what we conveniently believe
when convenient;
forgive us for creating a you that
gives you a bad name, a you of
pious platitudes,
political palaver,
boring blather,
empty earfuls,
moralistic mouthings;
forgive us
for creating a cultural you who
requires nothing,
expects nothing,
asks nothing,
exists to make people feel good,
a divine cheerleader;
forgive us for creating a you
who goes along with
fine Christian folk
who go along with
lies, prejudice, hatred,
because
they’ve always gone along
with lies, prejudice, hatred,
rather than going along with Gospel;
grace us with
the courage,
the strength,
the faith,
to turn away
from all the
little gods of our own making and return to you, our
Maker and Redeemer, and
live reflecting your image,
live with obedience to your will,
live with love for the you that is
truly you.
And we pray, O Lord, for those we pray for week after week,
those in danger of being forgotten by us in our busyness
or weariness or preoccupation with ourselves;
those who are battling illness or disease;
those who are suffering and hurting;
those who are dying;
those who are grieving;
those who are lost and alone;
and for the hungry, the homeless, refugees everywhere.
Be their Comforter and their Sustainer, their Healer
and their Hope, their Strength and their
Salvation.
O Lord, it’s nothing new, people wanting, hoping, trying
to create you;
what would be new is
people wanting, hoping, trying
to be what they were created to be
and be recognizable to you as
one of your own,
and be recognizable to others as
real human beings.
Amen.
