Sermons for the Month
Prayer: Replace Confusion with Confidence
DATE: October 21st, 2007
SERVICE: 21st Sunday After Pentecost
TEXT: Luke 18:1-8“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
Prayer can be a confusing topic for us, especially when we read parables like today's which seem to say that through our prayers we can nag God into submitting to our requests. Or, as we reflect on prayer, we wonder about texts like Matthew 21:22 where Jesus is quoted as saying, "Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive." In one of his books Larry Crabb tells his story about that verse. He was 10-years-old when he heard it quoted, so he thought he'd give it a try. He wanted to fly like Superman, so he went out to the driveway and prayed, "God, I want to fly like Superman. And, I believe you can do it. So, I'll jump, and you take it from there." Larry jumped four times, but each time he found himself only about six inches further down the driveway. Remembering that experience he wrote, "I had believed and I had asked, just like Jesus said. But I didn't receive. Thus began my 50-year journey of confusion about prayer."(1) Experiences like that may make us hesitant to pray. How do we know if a prayer is "valid", or what if the answer is difficult to discern or is different than what we had in mind? Those concerns could keep us off our knees. Or, we may hesitate to pray because we do not want to know what God wants, nor do we especially care to do it. Any of these issues may come into play as we are asked to seek God's will for us in the midst of this 2b Transformed Capital Campaign. Over and over again we all have been encouraged to consider the vision, to be intentional and pray and then to respond. Many of you have heard our Campaign Director Randy Cole's great testimony about his experience with that; he was tempted to calculate their family's gift based on financial facts and figures, but then he took the leap of faith and prayed. God spoke to him in some unexpected ways, he said. He was guided through my voice (hopefully that's not unexpected), through a movie, through a goggle search and through scripture. As a result, Randy felt led to move from the lea p of faith in prayer to take a leap of faith in his financial commitment to the campaign. But, then he had to tell his wife Theresa (who is a member of that "other" church next door) what God seemed to be saying. They prayed together, and agreed that God must be right. And, here's the great part, in the midst of that decision they have found peace and joy, confident in God's empowering presence. That fits precisely with what today's Gospel lesson teaches us about prayer, a lesson that we often become confused about because we forget the first line of the text which explains why Jesus told this parable. It was to remind his followers of their need to pray always and not lose heart. Often our lives, and our prayers, dishearten us. Jesus does not want that to be the case, so he tells this story of a despicable judge to make this point: If someone who is that bad responds to a pestering woman in a positive way, then just think what God will do. The judge revealed his sleaziness; God reveals His goodness and trustworthiness. William Willimon writes that this is a parable about the character of God; it reminds us to think of prayer not as asking God to do this or that for us, but rather as asking God to be who God is. When we pray we are showing our determination to let God be God. Even if we struggle to understand how our prayers are answered, or to do what God is requesting of us, we can be confident that God hears cares and acts. (2) So, Jesus is saying, if a nasty judge does what is right, then don't lose heart, God is 100 times more reliable. Pray with confidence in that fact, and the result will be peace, and even joy. I think Jesus tells us to "pray always" because constant prayer shapes the person who prays in positive ways. Scholar Maggi Dawn says this happens because repeated prayer tests and sifts what is really important from what is of less value. If something doesn't matter that much, the momentum of prayer will diminish. But, if it does matter, the praying continues, and vital issues become one's focus. (3) So, over and over again we pray about that need, and as we do so we are asking God to be God, confident that God is the One who sees and cares will act. Then we open our hearts and minds to recognizing God at work in a variety of ways - even through the movies and goggle, as was the case for Randy. When we are determined to let God be God, that's what happens; so, sometimes the answer is "in line" with what we wanted and expected, and sometimes it is not, yet even it that God's love and mercy are revealed. Author Reynolds Price tells the story of, following days of prayer in the depths of illness, finally encountering Jesus in a vision. Our Lord turns to him and says, "Your sins are forgiven," at which point Reynolds replies, "Who said anything about my sins. Will I be healed?" Jesus looks annoyed and says, "Oh, that too," as if it's far less important. (4) And, I suppose in the whole scheme of life and death, it is! Keeping in mind, then, that the prayer within our prayers always is that God would be God, we can pray about our Capital Campaign gift, or our support of the day-to-day ministry at Faith, or any other important matter, with confidence. We trust that God will grant us the wisdom and energy to do the hard thing; comfort and strength to endure hard times, insight to see how God is at work and grace to receive good gifts or unexpected ones. I suppose there still will be times when we are confused about prayer. If that's the case we can take heart, because God is not a despicable judge, but is God, and in that fact alone our prayers are answered.
AMEN
(1) Sermon Writer for Proper 24C (October 21, 2007), Luke 18:1-8, pg. 8, www.sermonwriter.com
(2) Sermon Archive, "On Not Losing Heart" by William Willimon, Luke 18:1-8, Oct. 18, 1998, www.chapelduke.edu
(3) "Living by the Word: Prayer Acts" by Maggi Dawn, "Christian Century", October 2, 2007, pg. 19
(4) (2) Sermon Archive, "On Not Losing Heart" by William Willimon, Luke 18:1-8, Oct. 18, 1998, www.chapelduke.edu