Litany Of Resistance

From the book Jesus For President.
Authors Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw

Litany of Resistance

Compiled with the help of friends Jim Loney and Brian Walsh

One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.
All: Have mercy on us.
One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.
All: Free us from the bondage of sin and death.
One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.
All: Hear our prayer. Grant us peace.

One: For the victims of war.
All: Have mercy.
One: Women, men, and children.
All: Have mercy.
One: The maimed and the crippled.
All: Have mercy.
One: The abandoned and the homeless.
All: Have mercy.

One: The imprisoned and the tortured.
All: Have mercy.
One: The widowed and the orphaned.
All: Have mercy.
One: The bleeding and the dying.
All: Have mercy.
One: The weary and the desperate.
All: Have mercy.
One: The lost and the forsaken.
All: Have mercy.
One: O God, have mercy on us sinners.
All: Forgive us for we know not what we do.
One: For our scorched and blackened earth.
All: Forgive us.
One: For the scandal of billions wasted in war.
All: Forgive us.
One: For our arms makers and arms dealers.
All: Forgive us.
One: For our Caesars and Herods.
All: Forgive us.
One: For the violence that is rooted in our hearts.
All: Forgive us.
One: For the times we turn others into enemies.
All: Forgive us.

One: Deliver us, O God.
All: Guide our feet into the way of peace.
One: Hear our prayer.
All: Grant us peace.
One: From the arrogance of power.
All: Deliver us.
One: From the myth of redemptive violence.
All: Deliver us.
One: From the tyranny of greed.
All: Deliver us.
One: From the ugliness of racism.
All: Deliver us.
One: From the cancer of hatred.
All: Deliver us.
One: From the seduction of wealth.
All: Deliver us.
One: From the addiction of control.
All: Deliver us.
One: From the idolatry of nationalism.
All: Deliver us.
One: From the paralysis of cynicism.
All: Deliver us.
One: From the violence of apathy.
All: Deliver us.
One: From the ghettos of poverty.
All: Deliver us.
One: From the ghettos of wealth.
All: Deliver us.
One: From a lack of imagination.
All: Deliver us.
One: Deliver us, O God.
All: Guide our feet into the way of peace.
One: We will not conform to the patterns of this world.
All: Let us be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
One: With the help of God’s grace.
All: Let us resist evil wherever we find it.

One: With the waging of war.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the legalization of murder.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the slaughter of innocents.
All: We will not comply.
One: With laws that betray human life.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the destruction of community.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the pointing finger and malicious talk.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the idea that happiness must be purchased.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the ravaging of the earth.
All: We will not comply.
One: With principalities and powers that oppress.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the destruction of peoples.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the raping of women.
All: We will not comply.
One: With governments that kill.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the theology of empire.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the business of militarism.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the hoarding of riches.
All: We will not comply.
One: With the dissemination of fear.
All: We will not comply.

One: Today we pledge our ultimate allegiance to the kingdom of God.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To a peace that is not like Rome’s.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the gospel of enemy-love.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the kingdom of the poor and broken.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To a king who loves his enemies so much he died for them.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the least of these, with whom Christ dwells.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the transnational church that transcends the artificial borders of nations.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the refugee of Nazareth.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the homeless rabbi who had no place to lay his head.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the cross rather than the sword.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the banner of love above any flag.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the one who rules with a towel rather than an iron fist.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the one who rides a donkey rather than a war horse.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the revolution that sets both oppressed and oppressors free.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the way that leads to life.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: To the Slaughtered Lamb.
All: We pledge allegiance.
One: And together we proclaim his praises, from the margins of the empire to the centers
of wealth and power.
All: Long live the Slaughtered Lamb.
One: Long live the Slaughtered Lamb.
All: Long live the Slaughtered Lamb.