by Ken Sehested
In the company of these witnesses, round this table of remembrance of baptismal vows, within hearing of the One who delights in our company and in whose Promise we trust, let us make our professions.
What do we believe?
That we shall see the goodness of God in the land of the living.
What do we maintain?
That we are headed for a party, not a purge.
What do we profess?
That one day lion and lamb will lie together in safety.
What do we confess?
That even our own failures do not separate us from the love of God, and that recognition of our own weakness is our only claim on Jesus.
What do we affirm?
That the Spirit gives us the power to repent, and that this repentance deepens the mandate to renew and to restore.
What do we declare?
That the grace of God frees our lives from self-centered ways and allows us to live in favor of neighbors who have no place at the table of earth’s bounty.
On what do we insist?
That hope is the radical refusal to calculate the limits of the possible.*
To what do we testify?
That the way of the cross leads home: Since no tomb could hold Jesus, neither shall any threat steal our voice or stop our witness.
Beloved, hear these promises. Hasten your Presence. Harness all our humble offerings. We pray with confidence for the day when “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Amen.