Paranoid Power
Peter Neilson
December 26, 2012
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Matthew 2: 16
When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
As the shadow of Herod
blocks out the light of the stable
we recognise the insecurity
that clings to power with fearful tenacity.
Lord, where the Herods of today
strike down the questioners
and eliminate the threats to their regimes,
we pray for restraint for the oppressors
and courage for their victims.
Lord, we confess that Herod lurks in our hearts today:
afraid of that rising star in the office
displaced in our daughter’s affections by “another man”
feeling outpaced by a new breed of Christians in church
and we want to take them down a peg or two….
Lord, we pray for forgiveness and generosity of heart.
Lord Jesus Christ,
you show us a different way
the way of the servant king.
May we be so secure in your love
that we are not corrupted by “status anxiety”. AMEN
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written by Peter Neilson
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