I uploaded a couple of old liturgies on Twelvebaskets the other day, which is a great collection of worship resources for those of you on the look out for material to use in services and house gatherings.

I came across an old piece that I wrote from one of our Greenbelt worship events, entitled ‘Prodigals’, and thought it worth re-posting;

Prodigals, coming home

A liturgy for one voice with congregational response, examining our relationship with our Father God.

 

Our fathering arises from human brokenness

And so is easily broken

We are your prodigals, coming home

Our fathering arises in a place where we struggle for power and control

And so it can become oppressive

Or even abusive

We are your prodigals, coming home

Our fathering finds the limits of our patience, our tolerance and our finances

It can be conditional

And we can be easily angered

We are your prodigals, coming home

Our fathering can be decayed by divorce and marital disharmony

It can become distant and removed

We are your prodigals, coming home

Our fathering can be stolen by death, leaving us in desperate grief

And terribly alone

We are your prodigals, coming home

Yet even we, who are so human

Know how to love

It is shaped within us

Waiting

We know how to give the best for our children

We do not give a stone when they ask for bread

Or a razor blade

When they ask for a plastic toy

Or a used syringe

When they ask for expensive shoes

How much more…

How much more will we encounter

When we meet you-

Heavenly father?

We are your prodigals, coming home

 

There is no Father

Unless there is also a son

Or a daughter

We were made for relationship

All of us- with no exceptions

Every one of God’s children

From the star pupil,

To the remedial

Poorly clothed

Last-to-be-picked

Back-of-the-classroom loser

Who becomes the favourite

The Chosen One

The last-

Now made first

There is no Father

Without us

 

The sons and daughters-

The beloved

Of the most high God