Last but not least in my top three messages from Catalyst 2007 is Shane Claiborne. If you have kept up with my blog you can tell that Shane is one of my favorite thinkers because he is just so dang radical.  At Catalyst, a conference birthed by very conservative baptist men and which hasn't ever had a woman on the ticket to speak at the main event, he wears a t-shirt that reads, "God loves women preachers"!  I love it.  That along with the following liturgy puts him in my top three for catalyst 2007.

This responsive reading was read by Shane (the One) and the 11,000 of us (the All).  But I have a feeling that some people probably remained silent on some of these.  

One:  Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world
All:  Have mercy on us
One:  Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world
All:  Free us from bondage to sin and death
One:  Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world
All:  Hear our prayers prince of peace
One:  For the victims of war
All: Have mercy
One:  Women, men, and children
All: Have mercy
One:  The maimed and the crippled
All: Have mercy
One:  The abandoned and the homeless
All: Have mercy
One:  The imprisoned and the tortured
All: Have mercy
One:  The widowed and the orphaned
All: Have mercy
One:  The bleeding and the dying
All: Have mercy
One:  The weary and the desperate
All: Have mercy
One:  The lost and the forsaken
All: Have mercy
One:  Oh God have mercy on us sinners
All:  Forgive us for we know not we do
One:  For our scorched and blackened earth
All: Forgive us
One:  For the scandal of billions wasted in war
All: Forgive us
One:  For our arms makers and our arms dealers
All: Forgive us
One:  For our Caesars and our Herods
All: Forgive us
One:  For the violence that is rooted in our own hearts
All: Forgive us
One:  For the times that we turn others into enemies
All: Forgive us
One:  Deliver us oh God
All:  Turn our feet to the way of peace
One and All:  Hear our prayer, grant us peace
One: From the arrogance of power
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the myth of redemptive violence
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the tyranny of greed
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the ugliness of racism
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the cancer of hatred
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the seduction of wealth
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the addiction of control
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the idolatry of nationalism
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the paralysis of cynicism
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the violence of apathy
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the ghettos of poverty
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the ghettos of wealth
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the lack of imagination
All:  Deliver us
One:  Deliver us oh God
All:  Turn our feet to the way of peace
One:  We will not conform to the patterns of this world
All:  Let us be transformed by the renewing of our minds
One:  With the help of God’s grace
All:  Let us resist evil wherever we find it
One:  With the waging of war
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the legalization of murder
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the slaughter of innocents
All:  We will not comply
One:  With laws that betray human life
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the destruction of community
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the pointing finger and malicious talk
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the idea that happiness must be purchased
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the ravaging of the earth
All:  We will not comply
One:  With principalities and powers that oppress
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the destructions of peoples
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the raping of women
All:  We will not comply
One:  With governments that kill
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the theology of empire
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the business of militarism
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the hording of riches
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the dissemination of fear
All:  We will not comply
One:  But today we pledge our ultimate allegiance to the Kingdom of God
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the peace that is not like Rome’s
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the gospel of enemy love
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the kingdom of the poor and the broken
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the King who loves His enemies so much he died for them
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the least of these with whom Christ dwells
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the transnational church that transcends artificial borders of nations
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the refugee of Nazareth
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the homeless rabbi who had no place to lay his head
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the cross rather than the sword
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the banner of love above any flag
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the one who rules with a towel rather than an iron fist
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the one who rides a donkey rather than a war horse
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the revolution that sets both oppressed and oppressors free
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the way that leads to life
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the slaughtered lamb
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  And we together proclaim His praises from the margins of the empire to the centers of wealth and power:  Long live the Slaughtered Lamb!





 

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