A Prayer of Confession for That Which Has Been Torn Down

From Sunday's Journey of Stones; Rejected Stones (Mark 12:1-12)


Architect of the Universe, from whom new possibility springs. We call out your name; for we are a people built upon your firm foundation.

Make a way for us where there has been no way. Quench the thirst of our spirits that we may sing your praise.

You are the cornerstone – upon which all else stands. You are a Rock that shall not be moved.
You are the Endless One in a world where all things end.

During this Lent, we come face to face with your love. We cannot escape your justice. We are so aware of our sinfulness and our brokenness that we fall before you in repentance.

Hear us now, as we confess our need for your mercy and your forgiveness:

We acknowledge our rejection of you, in our thoughts, our words and our deeds. While we confess with our mouths that you are our true cornerstone, we live as those who have rejected you. We do not obey your commands. We do not abide in you. We do not seek to become more like you each day. In our frailty and our inadequacy, we find it hard to seek after you with a whole heart. We need you to re-establish yourself as the cornerstone of your church and of our lives. Forgive us for rejecting you.

As a result of rejecting you, we have rejected others. We overlook their needs and ignore their suffering. We exclude those who need so desperately to hear your Good News. What possesses us to act as we do? Forgive the suffering we have caused others because of our rejection of you.

Forgive us for the malicious comment or hasty word that can’t be called back. For the violence we bring to our enemies. For ignoring the poverty of our neighbors and keeping the poor on the margins. Forgive us, because we have become so enamored by the abundance of our lives that we blot out your call to live simply. We have abused your creation and abandoned our responsibility to be stewards of all that you have made. For all of the ways we make rules more important than people and expediency more important than integrity, we need your forgiveness.

In spite of our rejection of you, will you once again become our cornerstone? Will you become the foundation of all that we are and all that we hope to be? Please begin again to build us up into your temple. Amen.

Words of Pardon: The Lord is God and he has made his light shine upon you. Give thanks to God, for his love endures forever.