Risktaking and Forgiveness

Next Sunday's sermon title is Indecent Risk -- Amazing Forgiveness. I think it will be a chance to talk about the need to risk more (and fail more) even if it seems inappropriate to do so. It will be a bit of a tangent from the Luke passage. I am struck with the courage it must have taken for this unnamed woman to do this. ANyway, here is a prayer of confession to go with the sermon.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION/ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Empowering God, you call us to embrace life in all its fullness,
but often we only see a small part of that fullness.
You call us to take risks, to try out new things,
and we hold back out of fear of failing, of being a disappointment.
You challenge us to do things that seem inappropriate or abnormal,
and we remain convinced that we need to do what others say is decent and orderly.
You challenge us to accept those who are willing to take risks, to be different.
but we automatically assume that those who deviate from the norm are somehow not acceptable.
For our reticence and our condemnation forgive us.
…time of silent reflection…
God takes the biggest risk of all. God forgives us unconditionally, God encourages us in our risks, our successes, and our failures.

Thanks and praise to God. Amen.