July 29, 2007 Sermon
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Proper 12 – C
Luke 11:1-13 Emmanuel, Sa Angelo
July 29, 2007 Allan Conkling
Prayer is the sermon theme for today and a topic close to the heart of every Christian. When you think about it, everything we do in our worship service is centered on prayer. St. Benedict said, "Prayer is work and work is prayer." St. Augustine said that "The one who sings prays twice" so really everything we do in life can be a form of prayer. The Lord's Prayer in today's Gospel reading (Luke's version) is a central part of every Christian denomination in the world. When you think about prayer in general, no matter what your belief is, is the most universal action that we do as human beings. Like breathing, sleeping or eating, prayer is the basic common denominator that unites believers of all faiths.
And yet, there are few things which make us feel as inadequate, or apprehensive, or self-doubting as the topic of prayer. I have yet to meet anyone, or read about anyone who would say that they had a perfect prayer life. Christian bookstores and seminary libraries are full of books on how to deepen one's spiritual life through meditation and prayer. But when it comes down to it none of us feel that we are truly adequate in the prayer department. I know I don't, and I pray for a living! So what refreshing news it is--what a strong source of grace it is, to realize that God's essential nature towards us is one of generosity and compassion. Prayer, whatever else can be said, is not about dragging grudging concessions out of a Scrooge-like deity. God doesn't sit on a cloud "out there somewhere" waiting for us to utter just the right formula or hold our tongue in the right way; nor does God withhold good things from us or punish us for our lack of faith or our halting attempts at prayer. If God did we would all be out of luck!
Prayer is a dialogue, a dialogue between Creator and Creation. It is as much an art of listening as it is of speaking. But even in the Bible people don't always understand the role of Prayer. I love the Old Testament reading today where Abraham tries his hand at besting God in an argument--haggling with God to get the best deal:
"Look Lord, Sir…Suppose, just suppose I found 50 righteous people in a town like Sodom, Gomorrah, New York or Chicago, Los Angeles or San Angelo…just 50. Would you spare that city from destruction? Ok then, how about 45…or 40? How about 30…20…10?"
I often think how much we all try to bargain with God:
"If you will only get me out of this trouble, I promise I will come to church every week. I will be a good Christian…I will tithe from now on."
Unfortunately, bargaining sets us up for failure. When God doesn't respond like we want it leaves only two alternatives: 1) that there is something the matter with God or, 2) that there is something the matter with us. Yet the whole point of this story is for us to see this huge gap between Abraham's assumptions about the nature of God and the reality of Gods readiness to accept and forgive. It is beyond his wildest dreams--and ours! I am grateful to Herbert O'Driscoll for this insight. (O'Driscoll is one of the great men of prayer of 20th century Anglicanism). He notes that Abraham stops at 10 righteous people as being sufficient for God to have mercy...but one can't help suspecting that if Abraham had tried for five, or three, or two, the result would have been the same.
"After all, the very heart of Christian faith goes even farther. God accepts and forgives our humanity because, out of all our humanity, one single person has embodied righteousness. If we are prepared to use God's criteria for acceptance we might consider a different attitude towards ourselves, towards the Church, towards a relationship or towards another person. We might stop considering how many reasons we need before accepting or affirming them, but look for one lovely, true, or precious thing about them to make hanging in with them worthwhile." (O'Driscoll, in Worship and Preaching, pg. 59)
We see the essence of this overwhelming generosity of God in the Gospel reading for today. The disciples come to Jesus and ask him how to pray. [Note that this is the only thing they ever ask him how to do!] Jesus begins by telling them to pray by calling upon God as "Abba," Father. Even to utter the word "Abba" is to assume a generous, loving deity that is as near and as intimate as a loving parent. Asking God to give us our "daily bread" doesn’t mean we have to beg. Instead it reflects an attitude of physical dependency: Everything we have, everything we will ever be, is in relation to this loving Sustainer and Provider. And, of course, any attempt that we make to forgive others is nothing but a reflection of the reality that we are first recipients of God's generous forgiveness.
This understanding of the nature of Prayer and the nature of our relationship with a loving God can be very freeing in our lives today. We do not have to worry about saying the right words, or beg to have God listen to us--God is as close to us as our next breath. This can also be a comfort to us in those times when, in spite of diligent prayer things don’t seem to work out as planned. We all have experienced that fearful silence of God, when God either seems to be absent or not paying attention. The reality is that God is neither. Indeed, God does sometimes say "no", or answer in ways that we cannot understand. But I believe "no" always comes with an even better answer...if we are open to accept it.
In the end, the goal of Prayer is asking, or rather, risking, for God to be God. When we come to that part of every Eucharist when we say, "And now as our Savior Christ has taught us we are bold to say..." perhaps "bold" is too strong a word. As imperfect as we know ourselves to be, the gift--the "blessed assurance" is that we are loved and heard even before we ask. We want for God to be God: To give us, forgive us, save us, and deliver us. Actually, we do not need to say a thing. Except maybe, "Thank you". And then look around for ways to return the favor.
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Revised: 08/13/07