Christmas – Day 11

Matthew 2.9–11

Holy God, accept our prayers tonight.
You asked for all of our being, our thoughts and actions,
our creativity and expression.
What do we give you?
We think back two millennia to when the Christ child was born.
What would we give the baby?
What does a baby need?
What does the baby ask of us?
What gifts did the baby receive?

Gold – a gift for a king
A metal so precious that we have died and killed for it.
We treat your creation like it wasn’t our home.
We’ve robbed the earth of its riches and left its wounds
open to infection.
Forgive us for not giving you the best of us.
What’s the point of offering the religious bits,
if the rest is kept closely guarded?
Think of the best parts of your life.
Give them to God.

Frankincense – a gift for God.
The fragrance of worship, God’s eau de cologne.
Worship giving God the honour that is due to him.
Forgive our efforts to worship you only when it is
convenient to do so
and with people that we choose,
making outcasts of our brothers and sisters.
Forgive us when our actions
make our words of worship meaningless.
Think of your worship.
Give it to God.

Myrrh – a gift for a mortal.
The smell of a cover to hide death and decay,
But nothing is hidden from you.
Forgive us for denying the reality of pain,
suffering and struggle.
Do we get angry and shout at God.
Or do we bury our pain?