Morning Prayer Wednesday, 27 May 2020

Good morning, Cornerstone friends.
Welcome to our morning gathering together.

The Lord is my strength and my song
 and he has become my salvation.

  Joyful shouts of salvation
 sound from the tents of the righteous.
‘The right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds;
 the right hand of the Lord raises up;
the right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds.’
I shall not die, but live
and declare the works of the Lord
The Lord has punished me sorely,
 but he has not given me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
 that I may enter and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
 the righteous shall enter through it.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
 and become my salvation.

  The stone which the builders rejected
 has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing
  and it is marvellous in our eyes.

Psalm 118: 14–24 (Daily Prayer Common Worship)

I will give thanks to you, for you have become my salvation.

Saving God, open the gates of righteousness,
that your pilgrim people may enter
and be built into a living temple
on the cornerstone of our salvation, who is
Jesus Christ our Lord

Amen

Recently we all received information about the new bank account
that enables people to make occasional contributions to the Church
when they can not commit to a regular monthly payment.
The account is named ‘The Ecumenical Partnership of Christ the Cornerstone, Milton Keynes’.
It reminded me that we are children of God in a covenant with one another,
which states that, although we do not agree about everything concerning our belief in God,
we are guided by him, to go forward together sharing all those things we have in common.

The book I have been reading in this time of social isolation is Morality written by Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth of Nations.

People with a solely secular view of life would say that they are ruled by the government and by the economy. (Power and Wealth)
This is done by law and contracts and currently, it is easy to see the limitations of both law makers and deal makers.

Jonathan Sacks favours people coming together in equal partnerships like ‘covenants’ and he writes:

A covenant is a different relationship altogether. In a covenant two or more individuals, each respecting the dignity and integrity of the other, sometimes even to share their lives, by pledging their faithfulness to one another, to do together what neither can achieve alone.

A contract is a transaction. A covenant is a relationship.
A contract is about interests. A covenant is about identity.
That is why contracts can benefit, but covenants can transform.

In a covenant what matters is not wealth or power but the transformation that takes place when I embrace a world larger than the self.
Covenants can heal what markets and states sometimes harm.

Let us pray for our City Centre Ecumenical Partnership set up by a covenant.
For those keeping us in touch with one another while we cannot worship in our building.
For the living out of the Gospel in the life of all in Central Milton Keynes,
for the Council,
for those involved in public services,
for the voluntary bodies like the YMCA and CIL,
for those involved with businesses now in lockdown:
shops, hotels, offices, leisure facilities.

Almighty God and Father, you have so ordered our life
that we are dependent on one another;
prosper those engaged in commerce, administration and industry
and direct their minds and hands
that they may rightly use your gifts in the service of others;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Let us pray for our nation and all the countries of the world as
we face the difficulties following the outbreak of Covid-19.
(I am using a prayer from the Iona Community.)

Almighty God, creator of the universe, at the start of another day
I feel helpless in the face of the world’s suffering:
yet today, once more, I offer back to you the only thing I can –
my ordinary everyday life.
I ask you to take it into your hands that it may be used
to bring even a flicker of justice into your world,
a candle for peace.
And not just today, Lord, but through the coming days
as I move in your spirit of love.

Amen

Let us close by saying the Grace together:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all evermore.

Amen