July 24, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
Luke 11:1-13[1]
What comes to
mind when you think of prayer? Do you pray the rosary? Do you recite The Lord’s
Prayer? Do you simply whisper “God, help me!”? Prayer is often thought of as
speaking words to God, asking for what we need, and, usually, in lofty, poetic
language. But that definition of prayer is, I think, too narrow. I think of
prayer as anything that nurtures our relationship with God. If taking a walk in
a forest nurtures your relationship with God, that is prayer. If reading
scripture deepens your connection with the holy, that is prayer. If sharing a
meal with a friend brings you closer to the sacred, that is prayer. Caring for
others, listening to music, watching a sunset – all these can be prayer.
The title of
this sermon comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:17, at the conclusion of Paul’s letter
encouraging the church in Thessalonica to continue in their work. To pray
without ceasing is to remain constantly in conversation with God. It does not
mean to walk around on your knees with your eyes closed, your head bowed, and
your hands folded. It does not mean to be constantly talking to yourself or
mumbling under your breath. It does mean to be watching, listening, asking,
receiving and consciously remaining in the presence of God as you move through
life.
The disciples
of Jesus were devout Jews, so they knew how to pray, and likely prayed often.
But when they watched Jesus at prayer, and saw the consistency between his
prayer life and all that he was doing and saying, they saw something deeper and
more powerful than they had ever experienced in their own lives. They have been
following Jesus for some time now, learning the lessons of the parables,
watching the way he interacts with a wide range of people, and they are trying
to be disciples – to follow their teacher and mold their lives to his model.
Now they begin to see the deep and intimate relationship that Jesus has with
God through prayer, and they long for that relationship themselves.
They ask Jesus
to teach them to pray, as John the Baptizer taught his disciples. The
distinctive prayers of a group in those days would have identified them as
disciples of their leader. So, Jesus gives them a simple prayer that becomes
characteristic of the Christian community; that is, it expresses the identity
and longings of the church in all places and times, from its earliest days in
the ancient Mediterranean world to this very Sunday, right here. This prayer,
known as The Lord’s Prayer or the Prayer of Our Savior, has been spoken by
every follower of Jesus since the first twelve.
All of us seek
a better world that will come with God’s kingdom. We all need bread to eat,
forgiveness from the wrongs we have done, and we all want to be saved from the
trials we cannot bear. And we all yearn for that intimate relationship with God
that is like that between a parent and child. It is a simple prayer, a bit less
varnished here in Luke’s Gospel than the version we have memorized. It reaches
into the core of our being and touches our deep needs, both those of our
individual selves and those of our community. This is, after all, a communal
prayer for our needs, all of us children of the one parent God.
We start by
hallowing God’s name. Hallowed means “to be made sacred.” In the ancient world,
a name expressed the nature of a person or place. The name of God is considered
sacred by the Jews, so sacred that it is never pronounced. In ancient Hebrew
manuscripts God’s name never contains the vowels. When it is read aloud, it is
replaced with Adonai meaning “Lord” or Hashem meaning “the name.”
In English translations it is indicated by the word Lord rendered in small capital letters. But when Jesus said
that we should pray that the name of God be made sacred, we are really asking
that the nature of God be made sacred or complete. God is the creator of the
universe, and is holiness itself. God, may the holiness of all creation be made
complete.
There is one
focus for all the parables of Jesus – the kingdom of God. What is it like? The
land of a rich man produced abundantly… A man was going down from Jerusalem to
Jericho… A sower went out to sow… There was a man who had two sons… The reign
of God is about forgiveness, liberation, justice, grace, starting over, good
news for the poor, bread for the hungry, release for the captives. God, “Your
kingdom come” and make all things new.
And speaking of
bread for the hungry: “Give us each day our daily bread.” Not all the bread we
can eat. Not everything that we desire. “Daily bread” means enough food to
sustain life for today. In ancient times this was a challenge for most, and it
remains so today for billions of people around the world, in our own nation,
and even here in Union. Give us, every one of us children of the one parent
God, the food we need to make it through today.
Forgive us,
God. As we read through the ancient texts and our history books, we can’t seem
to stop messing everything up. Sometimes we mess things up so badly that there
is no going back to what once was, only the facing of a new and changed
reality. And yet, as often as we are forgiven, as much as we take for granted
the endless mercy and forgiveness of God, in the same breath we challenge
ourselves to give the same grace to others. God, help us to forgive. Help us to
let go of our own anger, hurt, fear, and resentment at the wrongs that have
been done to us, and help us to embrace the freedom that comes from offering
forgiveness.
“And do not
bring us to the time of trial.” Honestly, God, we’re not ready. We didn’t
study. We’re unprepared. We’re not ready to answer for what we have done. We’re
not ready to face half of what the early Christians faced at the hands of the
Romans. And we’re definitely not ready to take our own walk up Calvary. We know
the trials will come, God, just… please, not yet.
And that’s it.
Simple and to the point. But there is something more to this prayer that
catches the imagination of the disciples. It starts with the very first word.
Jesus addresses God as “father.” In Aramaic the word is abba, more closely
translated as “daddy” or “papa”. This is not a distant, disinterested God who
does not care for the little people, but rather the close and comfortable
parent, who knows our needs before they are spoken and gives the good gifts
that meet our deepest needs.
This intimate
connection and dialogue with God was quite unusual in those days. Prayer and
supplication to the gods was done in the high places, before the altar, in the
Temple. To simply converse with God, to speak directly to God wherever and
whenever you pleased, would have been striking. The disciples learned from
Jesus that prayer is a conversation between us and a loving parent, a parent
who listens to us, cares for us, forgives us, provides for us, and protects us.
The disciples learned that no matter who you are, or where you are, right now
God is listening, and perhaps, if we are patient, is speaking too.
There is an old
John Denver song that touches on the two-way conversation that prayer is meant
to be. “Talk to God and listen to the casual reply.”[2]
It is not explicit in the biblical text, but I’m pretty sure Jesus listened to
God as much as he spoke. How often do we listen when we pray? How long do we
wait for an answer? We are more likely to simply say, “God, thank you for all
the good things. Please help me with the bad things. OK, thanks for listening.”
And then we go on to try working things out depending only on our own devices.
We hardly stop to breathe when we pray, it seems.
Maybe it’s
about trust. Do we really trust that there will be an answer? Or maybe, we
already know the answer, and we don’t really want to hear it. After all, it is
God we’re praying to. God knows what is on our hearts and minds, and all the
ways in which we try to avoid doing what we know we should do.
Jesus gets at
this issue of waiting for an answer by telling the story of the friend at
midnight. Persistence is the method that will get the friend up out of bed to
open the door. There will be an answer to your prayer, Jesus is saying, but you
may need to keep asking and listening until you get that answer. Prayer is a
faith practice, and practice means repetition, diligence, perseverance, and
patience. And, of course, the answer may not be what you were expecting.
Ask, and it will be given you;
search, and you will find;
knock, and the door will be opened for you
As Luke tells
it, God will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. Now, this may not be the
answer we were looking for. Neither was Jesus the messiah that people were
expecting. But the Holy Spirit may be the answer we need. Remember, this is the
prayer of the community – OUR Father, give US. This prayer is not a personal
prayer but the prayer of a people waiting for the fire of the Holy Spirit to
come and stir up new life in them. This prayer is our community calling out to
God together, preparing ourselves to be transformed by the answer. So, when we
pray The Lord’s Prayer, we should be prepared that what we have asked for will
be given to us. There will be an answer. Is it just me, or is it a little warm
in here? Amen.
[1] The
scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard
Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of
the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] John
Denver and Mike Taylor, “Rocky Mountain High” on Rocky Mountain High ©
1972 RCA Records.
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