23rd September 2023
Surely no one would turn against the needy when they cry for help in their trouble. Job 30: 24
You Lord, are the source of all good things:
We praise you.
You call us to tend and care for your creation:
May we strive to do your will.
You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:
May we live together in peace.
A reading from Ezekiel 7:10-12 (from The Message)
“‘Judgment Day! Fate has caught up with you.
The sceptre outsized and pretentious, pride bursting all bounds,
Violence strutting,
brandishing the evil sceptre.
But there’s nothing to them,
and nothing will be left of them.
Time’s up.
Countdown: five, four, three, two . . .
Buyer, don’t boast; seller, don’t worry:
Judgment wrath has turned the world topsy-turvy.
The bottom has dropped out of buying and selling.
It will never be the same again.
But don’t fantasise an upturn in the market.
The country is bankrupt because of its sins,
and it’s not going to get any better.
And in response, a reading from Exodus 22: 21-29a
“Don’t abuse or take advantage of strangers; you, remember, were once strangers in Egypt.
“Don’t mistreat widows or orphans. If you do and they cry out to me, you can be sure I’ll take them most seriously; I’ll show my anger and come raging among you with the sword, and your wives will end up widows and your children orphans.
“If you lend money to my people, to any of the down-and-out among you, don’t come down hard on them and gouge them with interest.
“If you take your neighbour’s coat as security, give it back before nightfall; it may be your neighbour’s only covering—what else does the person have to sleep in? And if I hear the neighbour crying out from the cold, I’ll step in—I’m compassionate.
“Don’t curse God; and don’t damn your leaders.
“Don’t be stingy as your vats fill up.”
Intercessions:
Open our eyes to the plight of the people of
Libya, Greece, Brazil, Rawanda and Pakistan,
for all whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed by floods,
whose schools and hospitals have been overwhelmed,
whose crops and livestock have been drowned.
Lord have mercy!
How can we stand back as our brothers and sisters suffer.
May our hearts and purses overflow with generosity.
Open our eyes to the plight of the people of
Madagascar and Mozambique, China andTaiwan,
Nova Scotia, Myanmar and Bangladesh
for all whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed by storms,
where roads and public services have been overwhelmed,
whose crops and livestock have been drowned.
Lord have mercy!
How can we stand back as our brothers and sisters suffer.
May our hearts and purses overflow with generosity.
Open our eyes to the plight of the people of Somali and Yemen,
of Haiti, Mali and Burkina Faso, of Nigeria, Afghanistan and Syria,
for all whose face drought and starvation,
for all whose harvests have cultivated in vain,
for all who have no reserves to fall back on.
Lord have mercy!
How can we stand back as our brothers and sisters suffer.
May our hearts and purses overflow with generosity.
Open our eyes to the plight of the people of Sri Lanka, Venzuela,
Senegal, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Lao,
and for all whose economies are ravaged by debt,
whose infrastructure suffers neglect
as money is sidelined for interest repayments,
where future investment is blighted.
Lord have mercy!
How can we stand back as our brothers and sisters suffer.
May our hearts and purses overflow with generosity.
With penitence, may we acknowledge our ignorance and callousness.
With humility, we seek to make amends.
With determination, may we press for polluters to pay.
With God’s grace, let us seek a new future of care and justice for all creation.
Amen.
The Green Tau 