a litany.

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 bondage to sin and death.

ONE: Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world.
.............................ALL: Hear our prayers, Prince of 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 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 our arms dealers,
.............................ALL: Forgive us.
ONE: For our Caesars and our Herods,
.............................ALL: Forgive us.
ONE: For the violence that is rooted in our own hearts,
.............................ALL: Forgive us.
ONE: For the times that we turn others into enemies,
.............................ALL: Forgive us.


ONE: Deliver us, O God.
.......................ALL: Guide our feet toward 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 the lack of imagination,
.............................ALL: Deliver us.
ONE: Deliver us, O God.
.............................ALL: Turn our feet to 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 destructions 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 hording of riches,
.............................ALL: We will not comply.
ONE: With the dissemination of fear,
.............................ALL: We will not comply.


ONE: But today we pledge our ultimate allegiance to the Kingdom of God.
.............................ALL: We pledge allegiance.
ONE: To the 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 the broken,
.............................ALL: We pledge allegiance.
ONE: To the 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 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 we together proclaim His praises from the margins of the empire to the centers of wealth and power:
.............................ALL: Long live the Slaughtered Lamb.

Written by Shane Claiborne, James Loney and Brian Walsh