21st Century Africana Worship Resources for th Seventh Sunday After the Epiphany, Year B

Litany of Confession
(Based on Isaiah 43:18-25, NRSV)
Speaker 1:
O Lord, we get stuck in the past.
We wallow in deep wells of past burdens,
past sins,
past pains.

People:
We are subject to the past.
We are born of it;
We feel we have become it.

Speaker 2:
"Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43:18-19, NRSV).

People:
We are consumed by ravenous cultures, by oppressive governments, by apathetic communities, by unresponsive leaders, by ineffectual congregations, by stagnant societies.

Speaker 2:
Lord, we are consumed by the wild animals of addiction, by conditions, by situations, by relationships, by passions.

Speaker 1:
"The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise" (Isaiah 43:20-21).

All:
Gracious God, You have given us all things. Yet we have not called on you. We have grown weary, but not from serving you. We blame you instead of blessing you. We have failed to return to you the gifts you have given. We have used them for our own purposes and have forgotten the One from whom they came. We have not honored you with our sacrifices. We have sacrificed to everyone but you. We have not overwhelmed you with offerings. No, we have burdened you with our sins. We have wearied you with our wrongdoing.

Speakers 1 and 2:
I am the One who blots out your transgressions for my own sake (Isaiah 43:25), and I will not remember your sins. Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old (Isaiah 43:18, NRSV). I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (Isaiah 43:19, NRSV). I am about to do a new thing! Can you see it?!

An Affirmation
(Based on 2 Corinthians 1:18-24)
This affirmation may also be read chorally or as litany.
As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been "Yes and No." For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not "Yes and No"; but in him it is always "Yes." For in him every one of God's promises is a "Yes." For this reason it is through him that we say the "Amen," to the glory of God. But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment. (2 Corinthians 1:18-22, NRSV)

We say amen to your yes.
You said yes when you created worlds.
You are the source of universes and us.
You are the beginning.

We say amen to your yes.
You said yes to the people you called.
You gathered a people.
You promised to bless the world through your people.

We say amen to your yes.
You said yes when you came in the form of a human child.
You taught us by example and spoken word.
You taught us by sacrifice.

We say amen to your yes.
You said yes through your love of the world.
You were convicted and executed for crimes you did not commit.
You died to give us life.

We say amen to your yes.
You said yes when you rose, firstborn from the dead.
We need to receive your life.
We say yes to your yes.

We say amen to your yes
You say yes when you walk beside us.
You are our comforter, friend, and advocate.
You are our inspiration, strength, and Spirit.

We say amen to your yes.
You say yes when you form us in your image.
You call us to be your body.
You set us to spur one another on to love and good deeds.
You challenge us to bring life to a decaying world.
You enliven us to be your hands, feet, and heart for people who matter to you.

We say amen to your yes.
You are our destination and our destiny.
You are our future and our hope.
You are our home.
We say amen to your yes.
Amen and amen!

About the Author: Tony Peterson is a former staff member of Discipleship Ministries.