A Litany for Lent

For our Lenten services, we are doing a series entitled "In the Footsteps of Jesus." I tend (or at least so far) to not use the prepackaged Lenten programs, in favor of creating my own. Which means that I wind up writing my own service elements that are specific to the topic forthe season. The following is a litany and an offering prayer that I wrote for this series.

OFFERTORY PRAYER
Let us pray.
Gracious God and Father,
source of all that is good. You have blessed us in this pilgrimage here on earth with more than we deserve and more than we need. Too often we cling to what you have given to us; but tonight we gather our gifts and we offer them back to you. Use our lives, our talents, our money, and our possessions to bring about the Kingdom of your Son, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


LITANY OF THE FOLOWERS
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Lord Jesus, you were one with the all-powerful God, yet chose to be born humbly in a stable among the livestock,
We will follow you.
Throughout your ministry, you loved and served the poor and the outcasts, those who were rejected by the rest of the world.
We will follow you.
When those around you were hungry, you gave them food; when they were ill, you healed them; when they were broken and hurt, you loved them.
We will follow you.
Lord, you could have had the rich, the educated, and the powerful, but called your disciples and apostles from among ordinary people — men who labored hard, women who raised their children, disciples who knew the troubles of this life.
We will follow you.
In the end, your path led you alone friendless up a hill outside of Jerusalem, where in great love you offered your life for the sake of others.
We will follow you.
Our lives are often selfish and sinful, yet you continue to call us. You call us to live as you lived, to follow your way, to give as you gave, and to love as you loved.
We will follow.
Dear friends, the way is not easy. It will challenge us and it will try us. It will be uncomfortable and at times unpleasant. Yet it is the task to which all who bear the name “Christian” are called; it is the task to which you were called in the waters of baptism.
Are you prepared to follow the way of Christ?
AMEN!