FOLLOWING JESUS ON A PRAYER SAFARI
The Rev. Mark Sherwindt, Pastor
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
Pentecost 9: July 9-10, 2005
"Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you forgive on earth shall be forgiven in heaven.
"Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven."
"Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants…." [Matthew 18:15-35]
Our service today celebrates the weeklong adventure our kids will have with a Prayer Safari through Zion's version of the Serengeti Plains. Through encounters with lions, wildebeests, zebra, elephants and giraffe, they will learn about Jesus' love, God's will and the Lord's Prayer. Everyone has done a great job just getting us ready for an exciting week. I'm sure you can guess some of the folks who have been busily at work organizing the art work, the classrooms, the kitchen, and the crafts; but let's try to remember that we can all play a part in this fabulous program for kids of all ages, with this year's version of Vacation Bible School opening our minds and hearts to the importance of prayer.
"Lord, teach us how to pray?" the disciples asked. Jesus taught them to pray like this: "Our Father in heaven…." [Matthew 6:1] Think of God personally. Sure, God is, as philosophers have defined him, "that greater than which nothing can be conceived"; but don't think of God so abstractly. Think of God as your father. Address him as "Daddy", in a childlike way, because that's how God wants it. Sure, God is, as the Nicene Creed insists, "the Creator of all that is, seen and unseen"; but don't be put off by God's power. Of course, God is, as the Psalmist proclaims, "the King of the universe"; but don't be intimidated by God's stature or position. This God cares for us as a father, as a mother. God's love is what stands out for Jesus. Just a couple of weeks ago, Jesus talked about God's active concern for each and every one of us, lifting up God's knowledge of such details as the number of hairs on our head, referring to God's uncontainable interest in our well-being, describing God's uncontrollable commitment to reaching within Himself in reaching out to us so that we might know that there is nothing God wouldn't do, there is nothing God hasn't already done to make His love a powerful force in our lives, and His life the firm foundation and the solid rock of ours.
Jesus then invites us to think of God in prayer. "Thy will be done, thy kingdom come." Let your thoughts leave the constraints of constantly focusing on yourselves. Think of God, God's will, the kingdom's goals, the greater good in its widest sense. Then with God's concern for the universe in view, we can come back to earth with confidence in God's desire to provide what we need. "Give us today our daily bread."
This leads us to the very heart of the Lord's prayer. Forgive us our sins, our trespasses, our shortcomings, which are so undeniably clear as we measure our lives by God's will and our interests in life by God's love. It is so clear that we lack so much of God's heart, that we veer so far from God's ways, that we fall so short of God's goals and our own hopes. Forgive us our shortcomings, as we forgive those who fall short in our eyes. The one place where reciprocity rules is right here where we are called to see the connection between the grace God gives and the forgiveness we live. If this is not the key to our mission as God's people, if this is not the key to Zion's mission, I don't know what could take its place. The smallest steps made in following Jesus in this point produce giant strides in helping the church to become what the world needs to see and to be.
God forbid that we should be led into temptation; but when we find ourselves in hot water, when we find ourselves in big trouble, we should not hesitate to cry out that God deliver us from evil, and whatever else lurks behind the shadows of the bad habits we know and the ill will we don't. The Lord's Prayer is a great model for our prayers, both for fixing our focus on God's will and making the connection with our actions.
The two books that I have found most helpful in thinking about prayer have been one by Donald Evans entitled The Logic of Self-Involvement (1963), and another by Merlin Carothers called Power in Praise (1972). Evans' book was his doctoral dissertation, in which he used the language theory of A.J Ayers and J.L. Austin to examine different ways of assessing the truth of different kinds of statements. He focused on promises. Simply stated, the truth of a promise is not measured by understanding the meaning of words, but by living up to the expectation for action that our words entail. Performance is the key, not being good with words. I would like to think that there is a "logic of self-involvement" in the prayers we offer as well as in the promises we make. Sure, we often think of prayer as committing God to action, hoping that God will act in ways that bring about a reality we desire; but I think we'd all agree that that's not how prayer works, nor is that what prayer is. Prayer is not so much committing God to action, as it is committing ourselves to certain attitudes and actions, attitudes and actions that correspond to the reality we'd like to see God create. What kind of God would God be if His servants set His agenda, or if we were the key in using God to serve our aims? I'm pretty sure that it works the other way around, with our learning to serve God's aims.
Merlin Carothers, who subsequently became a Methodist Pastor, had no other claim to expertise when it came to writing about prayer than the story of having lost his way in life, finding himself in jail, and rightly so. His first book was entitled From Prison to Praise. He recounted his journey from the life of a hardened sinner set in his ways to the celebration of new life and true joy, which flowed from his willingness to give up his endless gripes and chronic complaints for a new-found freedom that came through the discipline, dedication, and devotion to praising God for all things. Put simply, he found that praising God released him from the darkness within. Praising God shattered the chains of his own attitudes. Praising God brought peace rather than struggle, and replaced self-centered resentment with God-centered confidence. From Prison to Praise led to Power in Praise, and its sequel, Answer to Praise. His is a fascinating journey of discovery about the power in praise and the power of prayer. Norman Vincent Peale wrote a forward praising Carothers for learning to think positive; but these discoveries about power in praise were never just about the power of positive thinking. His was the story of learning how to pray, with praise in our hearts and on our lips.
There are many reasons why this is exactly right, not the least of which is the discipline that gets the focus off ourselves and squarely on God. We really do have to let go and let God, as Pastor Findlay was fond of saying. We've got to let go of our frustrations, let go of our resentments, let go of everything that keeps the focus on ourselves, so that we can let God take the lead in leading us in the direction that will accomplish His aims, in us and for the world.
So, we're off for a week of learning about the Lord's Prayer. I'm looking forward to our lesson on Wednesday, when our focus on "God Forgives" leads us right into the heart of Matthew 18, where Jesus has a lot to say about the practice of forgiveness and the power of prayer. "Lord, how often should we forgive, as many as seven times seven?" "More than that," Jesus says. "Seventy times seven, and then some." And then, there's that great line encouraging us to pray, "If two of you agree on earth about anything, anything, ask and it will be done for you by my Father in heaven." [Matthew 18:19] Anna and I are agreed on that red Porsche, and I think we can get Austin to join in. Now, there's a prayer in the making. Do I have any takers on a new sound system? How about a walk-in freezer, a few more members, a rededicated Hoover serving the employment needs of North Canton? Interesting prayer requests all, but not quite on Matthew's point. Matthew has spent the better part of Matthew 18 talking about grace and forgiveness. He's told a parable about forgiveness, and laid out a process for forgiveness. It might be a good idea to make that connection, as we gather in Jesus' name to agree on our desire to forgive. Then, we'll find the whole of heaven behind us.
Well, once again, I've been all over the map, from obscure books at the library in South Bend to "the Big Five" on the Serengeti Plains, from talking about the logic of self-involvement to proclaiming the power to be found in praising God. Of all that we might learn about prayer, it is my hope that we will learn to pray for forgiveness, that we will seek to be forgiven and forgiving. That's the connection that will free us in our desire to turn God's highest hopes into our reality right here on earth. That's the connection that will make all the difference in laying hold of the life, joy, and freedom that God offers and we can have, as we dedicate each day to living - not for ourselves, in our own way, but - in Jesus' name. Amen