(Here’s my opening prayer at the annual Christian Solidarity Event on May 8 at the Israel Embassy in Washington, DC.)
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we give thanks to you for the friendship you have created and sustained between Christians and Jews, and for the ongoing solidarity we have with Israel as the restored ancient homeland of the Jewish people. Lord, we readily acknowledge that we depend on you for all truth, mercy and love, and for this reason we love the land of Israel as an incomparable place where you have across millennia revealed yourself and your power, and where today there is the rule of law, too rare in our troubled world, where Jews, Christians, Muslims and persons of all faiths can live in safety and with legal equality. We give thanks to you for the unique alliance between Israel and America, an association upheld by shared commitments to democracy, human rights and remembrance of your mighty acts in history. We lift up to you those in America, even within our churches, who attempt to diminish this alliance, whether through ignorance, confusion or malice, that you will either right their course or defeat their exertions. We recall that you who watch over Israel neither slumber nor sleep, and that we are only your servants. Bless this gathering, bless all employees of this embassy, bless those Christians who labor to strengthen friendship for Israel, bless America and Israel, that both will strive to exemplify your perfect justice as beacons to humanity plagued by hate and strife. We pray to you with joy and thanksgiving, knowing that with your eternal kindness you keep constant watch over us all. In your power and majesty, amen.
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