Earth Day 2009: prayer

Creator, Redeemer, Renewer God,
Lord of all creation
you have given us land and the environment as part of our common wealth;
you have drawn all creation into covenant with you.

In the Spirit you have called us to follow Jesus
you call us to stewardship and joy in the land
to cultivate and care for all creation.

Just as you carried Israel through the Exodus desert, shaping them into a people for yourself,
you accompany us, making any wilderness a habitat for making us into your people.

You have shown us deserts in bloom
and brought us into this wilderness Eden

You have given us this city grown out of a garden
a habitation for diversity, a place to faithfully live out your call to us.

You have revealed yourself in creation's commonest stuff
and given us essentials for life from the heart of the earth.

On this Earth Day 2009, as we acknowledge your sovereignty over all creation,
we celebrate creation as the living stage of your self-revelation,
the place from which prophets spoke your word of justice and hope,
the arena of history and of your life in Jesus Christ.

We gather here on this Earth Day agreeing on Jesus Christ
and agreeing on the Church as Jesus' Presence in the world.

We are of a single mind on your calling us to lives that reflect Jesus' compassionate grace
and mercy-filled love for all creation.

You have given us baptismal waters of new birth
you have gifted us with land that grows the substance of your self-giving in the Holy Meal;
when we celebrate the ultimate Earth Day at your Table of joyful reconciliation
as we have gathered the ground's fruitful yield and collected the labors of many.

You feed us with the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation,
visible signs of the reign of heaven on earth.
and a foretaste of the Feast to come as bread is broken, wine is poured,
as Christ is spoken and seen and heard
…as earth can breathe and loaves abound!

God of grace and glory, we thank you for your constant love and mercy;
again we ask for your abiding Presence with us in this room—
that you will bless our conversation as we seek to be your creative, redemptive presence wherever we go.

In the name of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for the life of the world,
Amen!