Biblical Reflection — Mark 1:12,13

Servant Christ,
Help us follow you into the desert,
With you to fast, denying false luxury,
Refusing tempting ways of self indulgence,
The way of success at all costs,
The way of coercive persuasion.

Silent prayer.

Servant Christ, help us to follow you.

Biblical Reflection — Matthew 9:35,36

Servant Christ,
Help us to follow you in untiring ministry
to town and village
To heal and restore the broken body of humanity,
To cast out the demonic forces of greed, resentment, Communal hatred, and self-destructive fear:

Silent prayer.

Servant Christ, help us to follow you.

Biblical Reflection — Mark 6:31,32

Servant Christ,
Help us to follow you,
Into the place of quiet, to intercede for the confused,
the despairing, the anxiety driven,
To prepare ourselves for costly service with you;

Silent prayer.

Servant Christ, help us to follow you.

Biblical Reflection — Luke 9:51-53

Servant Christ,
Help us to follow you on the road to Jerusalem,
To set our faces firmly against suggestions
For a safe, expedient life;
To embrace boldly the way of self-offering,
The way of life given for others' gain;

Silent prayer.

Servant Christ, help us to follow you.

Biblical Reflection — Luke 19:41,42

Servant Christ,
Help us to follow you into the city,
To claim its whole life for God
Whose image we bear,
To confront the ambitions of those hungry for power,
The inhumane orthodoxy of the legalist,
With the startling message of your present action,
Your living power.

Silent prayer.

Servant Christ, help us to follow you.

Biblical Reflection — Luke 19:45-46

Servant Christ,
Help us to follow you in the temple
Of your chosen people,
To erase from the worship of your church
All that hinders the sense of your presence,
And the free flow of your Word;
To open up your house
That it may be a house of prayer for all people.

Silent prayer.

Servant Christ, help us to follow you.

Biblical Reflection — Matthew 16:24-25

Servant Christ,
Help us to follow you even unto the cross,
To recognize our life in your death,
Our hope in your self-spending love,
To die to all within us that is not born of your love.

Silent prayer.

Servant Christ, help us to follow you.

The song "Servant Song" by Richard Gillard works well when sung before and after this litany. "Servant Song" is found on page 272 of New Song published by Presbyterian Youth Connection (available for $20.00 from the online marketplace).

The litany is adapted from Litany of the Disciples of Christ the Servant, India, found in A Procession of Prayers: Meditations and Prayers from Around the World by John Carden; WCC Publications, Geneva, 1998.