Pentecost 9: Luke
11:1-13
We are approaching the middle of
summer and things have, in the lives, of many, slowed down. Vacations are
taken, more time is afforded for relaxation, and necessary revitalization.
Summer has traditionally been a time to take much needed rest; for we live in
what seems to be an increasingly busy world. Work and careers occupy a
significant amount of attention. It has been commented by some sociologists
that for the average twenty-first
century North American working
adult, career has become the primary mode of identification. In other words, a
person has become less likely to identify themselves as a mother, father,
sister, brother, husband, wife as they are a physician, lawyer, teacher,
realtor or computer programmer. As we have become increasingly identified with
what we do, other important aspects of our lives have been defined by busyness
and activity. How many families are defined increasingly by enrollment in
programs. How much family life has been
defined by schedules? How many single people find themselves moving from
activity to activity to avoid loneliness and to stay active. To do what we are
doing her today is becoming increasingly counter-cultural.
To
honour the Sabbath, and to come
together to worship God as a community is to cut against the grain of what this
culture and society is telling us, which is to stay busy. But in all of this business how easy it
is for the Christian to lose sight of the fundamental truth, she or he holds
to. In all of this business how easy it is for the Christian to forget who is
ultimately in charge. How easy and
tempting it is to forget prayer. Prayer
is absolutely fundamental to the life of a Christian, yet how often prayer is neglected? How often
Christians view prayer as something to get over with, or something that has to
be done—alongside mowing the lawn, taking out the garbage, or walking the dog?
How sad it is that Christians view prayer as a work which we undertake to keep
God happy, kind of like doing your homework just to make sure your parents
don’t get angry. How very sad. But this sad reality, is, when we are truly
honest with ourselves, a reality for most Christians during their walk of faith.
We must
remember that while the Christian is justified before the eyes of God--that is
made right in the eyes of God--the Christian is also a sinner who rebels against
God. And in the mind of a sinner, prayer, is, at best, a way of keeping God
placated —a way of making sure God isn’t angry. But this has nothing to do with reverence. This is all about
appeasement. When the angry God is kept away, the sinner can be in charge, and
get on with things. At worst the
sinner conceives of prayer as a silly waste of time, which gets in the way of other important
activities.
But to the
saint, who is justified in the
eyes of God, prayer is a lifeline,
prayer is food for the soul, prayer is foundational, and is not simply the
business of pastors, as some would like and wish to think. All Christians stand
equally before a good and gracious God, and no priestly mediator is required. All
Christians are priests and fit to speak to God directly, and to hear God
directly. But some don’t feel this way. Some feel unworthy and too sinful to come to God in
prayer. Martin Luther spoke
extensively on this topic; for before the Gospel had been revealed to him,
Luther himself felt this way, much of the time. Luther’s pastoral advice is clear: “If you want to be cured
of sin, you must not run away from God, but you must run to Him and pray more
confidently than you would if bodily need had overtaken you. God is not hostile
to sinners but only to unbelievers, that is, to those who do not recognize and
lament their sin and seek help against it from God but in their own presumption
want to purify themselves, do not want to be in need of His grace, and do not
want to let Him be a God who gives to everyone and takes nothing in
return.”
Another
problem some encounter with prayer is the feeling that only prayers of
adoration and praise are acceptable to God—and that anything else is
dishonorable and disrespectful. But if we scan through our Bibles, especially,
the Psalms, we see that laments, or prayers of complaint, are perfectly
acceptable forms. We have heard that in the passion
narrative. Jesus quoted Psalm 22 on the cross with the words with which may of you are familiar: “
Father, why have you forsaken me?”
Sometimes
we have to ask the tough questions of God over and over and over, before we are
given a clear answer. Persistence, like complaint, is not something we should
shy away from; for to truly love God is to be totally honest with God. In
today’s Old Testament reading we hear about Abraham literally bargaining with
God, how bold and audacious is that? He actually managed to get God to change
His mind. But Jesus tells us, “
Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door
will be opened for you.: Sometimes we have to knock with some persistence,
bang, as a matter of fact, for that door to be open.
Deep in our
hearts we all hunger for the door to be open, to be connected to God at
fundamental level. The impulse to pray comes from deep within our souls, deep
within hungry souls which need to be fed with the food of God. The disciples of
Jesus were a hungry bunch who encountered in Jesus, a person the likes of which
they had never encountered before.. They would never have encountered someone
whose life was so utterly dedicated to obeying the heavenly will of the Father.
And a central part of that obedience was a life of prayer. Today’s gospel
lesson begins with Jesus praying, and in the prayer life of Jesus the disciples
would have witnessed the close and intimate encounter between Jesus and his
Father. Seeing that encounter would
have stirred the hunger which filled their hearts—their hunger for God. Then they asked him, asked him how to be
feed some of that soul nourishing food. They asked Jesus to show them how to
pray. And that is exactly what he
did—he taught them the prayer and gave them the food. The prayer he taught
those disciples has come down to us. It is known as the Lord’s prayer. We say
it every Sunday. Most of us have memorized it. Unfortunately some only recite
it, without a sense for its greatness.
Martin
Luther never tired of speaking about the Lord’s prayer “ The Lord’s Prayer,” he
said, “ is a prayer above all prayers, the greatest of all prayers, which has
been taught by the greatest master of all, in which all spiritual and bodily
trouble is comprehended and which is the strongest consolation in all
temptations, tribulations, and in the last hour.” In this hurry up, and busy world, the Lord’s prayer brings
us into communion with God in a very special way; for it is the way which God
himself intended. And God intended us to come to him with our deepest needs—not
as shy, humble, applicants—but as bold door knockers. When we acknowledge that
God is our holy heavenly father whose name is hallowed, and bid that his
kingdom come in its fullness, we can state, “ Give us today our daily bread,” without even saying
please. No please is required for the deliverance from temptation and evil, either. How bold is that? It may seem bold, but this is what God
has commanded us to do, to pray to him with bold confidence, because that is
the kind of relationship God wants to have with us-- one in which we can
approach him, without being afraid and without doubt. Martin Luther was big on
prayer, especially spontaneous prayer. However, he valued the Lord’s Prayer
above all prayers we ourselves can offer. Luther writes, “ He puts into our
mouths the very manner and matter of the prayer which He wants to offer, that
we may see how heartily He is concerned about our need and may never doubt that
this prayer is pleasing to Him and will certainly be answered. This is surely a
great advantage the Lord’s prayer has over all other prayers which we may
compose ourselves. For in them, the conscience might ever be in doubt and say:
I have prayed, but who knows How it pleases Him or whether I have hit upon the
proper proportions and manner? Therefore no nobler prayer can be found on earth
than the Lord’s prayer, which we pray daily; for it is clear testimony that God
loves to hear. We should not surrender it for the riches of the world.”
Indeed, not
for the riches of the world should one word of the Lord’s prayer be surrendered;
for in it we find evidence of God’s love for us. God wants the best for us.
When we sincerely ask God for what
we need, we will not be disappointed. Our Lord tells us today, that when we ask
for a fish, we will not be given a snake. When the world, which is filled with
evil people, knows how to give good gifts, how much greater will the gifts of a
good God be?
Some people
have a hard time with prayer, because they feel unworthy, or that God must be
too busy for them. Believing that prayer is just for holy people, they shy away
from prayer, pray minimally, or don’t pray at all. The idea that you are not
good enough to pray is a Satanic lie intended to keep you away from this life
giving relationship—a relationship built on bold trust. A few years ago the Canadian government,
recognizing the poor physical condition many Canadians found themselves in
developed a program to encourage physical exercise. It was called Participaction. The motto of Participaction was
“ Don’t just think about it, do it, do it, do it.” I think this motto
also applies very well to prayer life. Get those prayer muscles limber and
working. Let us do as Jesus has
taught us to do—take our needs to our heavenly Father in bold trust and confidence.
When we pray in bold trust and confidence, God receives us as God has made
us—as His precious children. Now may the peace which surpasses all
understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
