God.

I think that we don’t know where you are working. And we don’t know how you are working. Because when you don’t do what we would like you to do in the way we would like it done, we think that you aren’t working at all. That you are ignoring us.

And we even think that you don’t care.

You talk to the people of the tribe of Ephraim with such compassion: “It was I who taught you to walk. It was I who healed you.”

But we don’t see you guiding us. Drawing people together, calling people toward you. We don’t see that you have given us minds that respond differently to different kinds of needs, hearts that break differently to different oppressions and injustices.Together, we could be so aware of you and filled with you and working alongside you.

But we confess.

We confess that we lie to each other.
We confess that we are easily angered at things that don’t matter.
We confess that we desire more than we need, that we worship more than you.
We confess that we set our minds, set our priorities on things that are not of value.
We confess that we think more about the next episode to watch than the  people at the next table over, the next selfie than the next soul over.
We confess that we choose to see the divisions more than we see the image of the creator.

Forgive us, God.

And help us to put on the us you see and are constantly renewing to look more and more like you. So that when we look at ourselves and when we look at others almost all we can see is you.

And maybe that will help us stop hitting and hating each other.

Through Christ our Lord we ask,

Amen.

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Hosea 11:1-11; Colossians 3:1-11