Father,

Thank-you that when the body of Jesus left this earth, He breathed Your Spirit into His Body.
Thank-you for Your promise to be with us always,
That we have fellowship with You in a place no earthly power can touch.

Over centuries and continents that Spirit has guided and comforted and preached.
That Spirit has been faithful. And powerful. And unstoppable.

But the container has overcome the thing contained.
The clay jar has forgotten its own fragility, trivialized the treasure it holds.

We have felt the immensity of the call, seen the threats that surround.
And we have turned to our own strength.
We have oppressed and excluded.
We have puffed ourselves up with knowledge, used your Word as a weapon.
We have become professionals, overseeing systems; politicians, aligned with human powers.
We have perfected ourselves, filled ourselves up,

Crowded out the Spirit’s dwelling.

Who has any need for Your Spirit when we are so strong, so capable?

The Spirit grieves in that confinement,
Waiting, pensive, pressing:
A force of love and longing, ever seeking a way,
Ever watching, writhing to be freed to the aching world.

May Your Spirit be revealed in all the color and personality of each person in Your Body.
May Your Spirit be seen through the unique flavor of each local community.
Let Your Spirit be spoken through every poet’s pen.
Let Your Spirit flow through the hands of every artist.
Let Your Spirit loosen the tongue of every singer, every preacher.
Let every child dance to that rhythm, every old man tap his toes.
Whatever Your Spirit wants to heal, let it be healed.
Whatever Your Spirit wants to free, let it be freed.

Help us empty ourselves of ourselves,
So that whatever small, cramped piece of Spirit is still within us
May swell to the fullness of Your beauty and strength.
May Your Spirit be unleashed in and through us,
Because of us and in spite of us.
So Your Body may live and breathe again.

Amen