Lord, our God, you know who we are: People with good and bad consciences; satisfied and dissatisfied, sure and unsure people; Christians out of conviction and Christians out of habit; believers, half-believers, and unbelievers.
You know where we come from: from our circle of relatives, friends, and acquaintances, or from great loneliness; from lives of quiet leisure, or from all manner of embarrassment and distress; from ordered, tense, or destroyed family relationships; from the inner circle, or from the fringes of the Christian community.
But now we all stand before you: in all our inequality equal in this, that we are all in the wrong before you and among each other; that we all must die some day; that we all would be lost without your grace; but also in that your grace is promised to and turned toward all of us through your beloved Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
We are here together in order to praise you by allowing you to speak to us. We ask that this might happen in this hour in the name of your Son, our Lord. Amen.
There are several things I like about this prayer: I like the way Barth speaks not only to God but also to those gathered for worship. I like the way he acknowledges, without judgment, the diversity of spiritual maturity and/or commitment among those present and the way he reminds the congregation that some come to this time of worship in deep distress.
I especially like the way Barth draws the hearers to a common place: a place of communal confession and hope. In my faith tradition, we encourage personal confession but we seldom acknowledge the universality of our sins against God and each other. Here Barth not only leads the congregation in communal confession, but reminds them of forgiveness that is theirs through Christ.
I like the way Barth reminds the congregation of the purpose of the assembly.They are present to praise God. Not by singing or by speaking but by listening. Isn't that interesting? Listening to God is praise. I wonder why I've never thought of that; it only seems logical. If we honor our family and friends when we respectfully listen to what they say, then of course we honor God when we listen to his instruction.
In his statements, "You know who we are" and "You know where we come from," Barth reminds the congregation that God is aware of each one of them. God knows them and what they bring with them to this time of worship. So Barth has only one request of God: speak to your people at this time through me.
This is a powerful prayer expressing human diversity and similarity, the grace of God, and the nature of worship. I can't help but think it would change my worship experience and my attitude toward my fellow worshipers if I prayed this prayer each Sunday. I think I'll try it; how about you?
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