What is Prayer?

Sermon for Proper 12 C RCL 

Genesis 18:20-32
Psalm 138
Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)
Luke 11:1-13

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

And do not bring us to the time of trial."

And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' And he answers from within, `Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Today’s Gospel lesson includes Luke’s version of what we now call the Lords Prayer.  One temptation would be to look at and compare the different versions between Luke and Matthew and perhaps look at the myriad of translations.  That can be a fun academic exercise – well at least for some!  But I would like to focus today on prayer – and focus beyond the lords prayer.  You will also notice that I changed the Old Testament lesson today to the one from Genesis instead of from Hosea.  I did this because it will allow us to – perhaps – explore a little deeper the nature of prayer and what it says about God and what it says about us.

How many of us pray regularly?  Don’t worry I am not going to ask for a show of hands.  Being good Episcopalians I am willing to bet that most of us are most comfortable using a prayer book or memorized prayers.  At least in public.  It can be scary to be asked to give an extemporaneous prayer in public.  Yes even for the clergy!  We too often fall back on learned prayers in our worship and in our public ministries.  One of the wonderful things about this particular passage from Luke is that we see that the disciples – who have been with Jesus – Jesus whose life was centered on prayer – the disciples had to ask to be taught how to pray.  They wanted instruction.  So what is prayer?

For me there are two types of prayer.  One is the type that is scripted prayer.  It is the Lords prayer that is so deeply ingrained into our DNA that we can say it without even hearing the words anymore.  That is why I like to say different versions from time to time.  It makes to turn off the auto-pilot and pay attention.  Not that the autopilot is bad.  It is good to have something that we can trust will be there when our words fail us.  It is wonderful to know that we have a backstop when our world has crashed around us and we can’t think of words.  I also love the predictability of our church.  I know I can attend an Episcopal service just about anywhere and the core of the worship and the core of the prayers will be familiar and I will be at home.

There is also another type of prayer and for me that is conversational prayer.  It is the unscripted free form prayer that can bubble up from deep within our souls.  One of the blogs I read regularly – “Leave it where Jesus flang it” – opens her prayers with “Hey God – Its Margaret”.  Not a churchy, Episcopal Book of Common Prayer way to open a prayer.  But it is good.  It is a way that says that we can have a conversation with God.  That prayer can be a two way street – a conversation.  It is also consistent with the Lords Prayer where Jesus taught the disciples and us to call God Aba – Father – Daddy.  A term of affection.  Not an address to an all powerful all mighty indifferent God.  But to claim our special status as intimate children of God.  Or if you prefer partners with God in creation.

How we pray reflects how we see God.  And I will be the first to admit that for me my vision of God is a fluid thing.  I want to see God and the wonderful loving parent who is just as happy at play as doing anything else.  Society has built another image of God as the bearded monarch on the throne – who knows all and sees all, is unchangeable and all about judgment.  I want that image of God too when I see the injustice in the world and humankinds inhumanity to each other.  That is when I want a god who will spite the oppressor and make the world a better place.  How we pray can also say a lot about us.  Can we envision ourselves as partners in the bringing of God’s dream to fruition?  Or do we see ourselves as pawns in some mighty clockwork creation where we do personal good so that we can get into heaven at the end of times?  When I am at my best I certainly try to be a partner with God in bringing the dream of a loving creation to complete fruition!

So how do we pray?  I love the section that we have today from Genesis.  Abraham’s prayer is one that is certainly one that we probably have had with God – in one form or another.  A prayer where we bargain with God. It is another type of prayer that can spring from the core of our very being.  It is a conversation.

God has just issued judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah for their sins – for their lack of hospitality to the stranger.  God is so mad that he tells Abraham that he is going to wipe them off the face of the earth.  (Note:  I generally try to use inclusive imagery when I talk about the God head being neither male nor female but the imagery here – thanks to Metro Goldwyn Mayer is just the bearded God on a throne for me)  And then Abraham does the unexpected.  He has a conversation with God about who God is and the relationship between God and God’s people.   Abraham is willing to bargain with God!  “Abraham came near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"” 

In essence Abraham is reminding God that even in God’s anger that Abrahams God is a God of hospitality, love and justice.  Not a God of unjust vengeance.  Will God slay the righteous with the wicked?  Surely not.  And from this point we have Abram bargaining with God.  If God won’t destroy the cities if Abraham can find 50 good people what about if there are only 45?  40? 30? 20? What about if there are only 10?  Each time in the story God agrees that even if there are only 10 he will not – after all – destroy the city.  Did God change his mind?  Did Abraham have to remind God about God’s own nature?  I don’t know.  I certainly think that God can change and grow as we and the God’s creation changes and grows.  I know – some will think it is blasphemy to think that God changes and perhaps what really changes is us. 

If we are partners with a loving God then we help bring the change into a world that cannot see or hear God’s dream.  If we see God as Hospitable – one who will open the door at any hour to provide hospitality.  If we see God as one who desires to give his creation good gifts and not evil then we need to be agents to bring to fruition God’s dream of Love and care of all creation to this world now.  And we can only do that in conversation with God. 

The two parables that come with the Lord’s Prayer in our reading today remind us of the nature of the God and to whom we pray and for whom we are partners in this creation. We are called by God to be a people of hospitality as God is a God of Hospitality.  Even – and perhaps especially – when it in not convenient.  Most of us – I dare say – would be like the man in bed who didn’t want to get up and provide hospitality to his neighbor.  After all it was not his friend who showed up in the middle of the night.  But through the shameless persistence of the man who needs bread to be able to offer hospitality the man finally gets out of bed to help.  It is an active prayer life that changes us and lets us know when we too have to get our of our comfort zone to provide hospitality.  We are called –as in the parables to offer sustenance and love to those around us as partners in creation – not to offer scorpions and snakes.

Prayer is that conversation. Prayer that springs out of our common prayers and prayer that spontaneously come from our hearts.  Prayer opens us up to let God break into our heart.  Prayer lets us empty our hearts and our pain to God.  Prayer makes space for us to listen to the heartbeat of creation.  Prayer lets us see that we are partners in making this world a better place. I don’t believe that prayer is some magical incantation that will make things different. But the conversation – the dance that is part of our relationship with God and with each other that ultimately does change the world.

When we provide hospitality and love to our neighbors we are answering prayers as well as praying.  I invite all of us to go out of this House of Prayer and create a world of prayer.  To have the conservations with God that will hold the good, bad and absolutely ugly up to the cleansing light that is Good.

Let us pray.

Hey God – Its Rik and the people of St. Paul’s.  Thank you for being in conversation with us on this corner of 15^th and J streets in Sacramento.  Help us to open our eyes to see your hand in the world around us and remind us that we are your partners in bringing your dream of Love into our world.  Thank you for being strong when we are weak and for accepting all of our prayers.  Our prayers of joy and sorrow, thanksgiving and lament.  For comforting us when we cry –and crying with us when creation is hurt.  For laughing with us in our happiness when we experience the joy of your creation.  But most of all thank you for the conversations.  Amen.

Good Samaritan

Proper 10 C RCL

Amos 7:7-17
Psalm 82
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, `Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Today’s gospel story is very familiar to many of us.  The concept and story of the Good Samaritan has made its way into popular culture.  We have Good Samaritan Hospitals and Good Samaritan Laws on the books. Did I really even need to proclaim the gospel or could I have simply said Good Samaritan and sat down?  The challenge for me is trying to find something to say about this parable that will make us think and hopefully give back to it some of the power and shock that the story had for the people in Jesus day. Is it possible for the parable to call us to action today?

One of the first things that hit me square between the eyes this time I read it was how the parable acts to judge the clergy!  Now that I am a member of the clergy I see that one lens is a call for clergy not to be too self-righteous.  There is a danger, both as a member of the clergy – and as members of the congregation that we want to serve only other Episcopalians.  We want to make sure that we minister to each other.  The priest and the Levite did not even bother to see if the man in the ditch belonged to their congregations.  Who is the man in the ditch?  Did they jump to conclusions about the person beaten and left to die?  Was he not well enough dressed that he could not possible have been one of their flock? One of the messages of this parable is a call to expand whom we, as religious people, consider our members – our tribe.  It is a call to a radical hospitality.

Follow me as I try to paint a picture of how this story might be told today.  A clergy person and a vestry member are walking down J street and see someone obviously in pain sitting on the ground in a doorway.  They both cross the street to avoid the person.  After all the service at St. Paul’s begins in 10 minutes.  They are running late.  The next person who comes up is someone who might be a terrorist for all we know.  They certainly don’t look like a respectable person who we would invite to a dinner party.  They stop and help the man in pain.  They take them to the Sheraton and get a room so they can get clean and fed.  Can you imagine it – I am not sure that the inn-keeper would even let someone who was disheveled and bloody come in with someone who is suspicious – not unless they could produce a very generous line of credit.  More likely the only people who might take in the pair would be Loaves and Fishes.  Who is being the neighbor now?  Also think bout it from the point of view of the man in the ditch – the person who comes to his rescue is someone who he would just a soon die as be helped by them.  Are there people who you would not want to help you – that you would rather die than ask them for assistance?

Several years ago – when I worked off of Richards Boulevard by the American River -  as I was biking to work I had a flat tire – at 6:30 in the morning – not the way I wanted to start the day.  I went to change the tire only to discover that my patch kit glue had gone dry.  The only thing I could do was to walk and half carry my bike the last mile or so to the office.  As I was walking along many well-dressed bike commuters on their expensive bikes with their expensive jerseys flew past me.  Not one of them stopped to see if I could use some help.  As I passed Discovery Park a man who I had seen a number of times with all his possessions piled on a trailer attached to his bike stopped and asked if he could help me!  I have to admit I probably thought that he was going to ask for a handout when I saw him change direction to come my way.  But instead he offered help.  When I explained that I had a flat and my tube of glue was dry.  He told me he just got a new tube and offered to let me use it.  This person who – in my worldview at the time looked like he lacked everything offered what little he had to me.  As I was only a short way from my office I thanked him and declined to take him up on the offer.  This encounter caused me to remember who was being neighborly.  It was – I suspect – an encounter with God.  This homeless man was my neighbor.  God was calling me to see that. 

It is no surprise that the last three weeks have the sermons preached by three different preachers have all brought up our baptismal covenants.  The gospel readings for the past four weeks – including todays – are all about expanding the definition of who is our neighbor.  There has been a thread about hospitality in each one of them.  Hospitality is in the very DNA of our Episcopal Church.  When we are baptized we promise to Love God and Love our Neighbors and to seek and serve Christ is all persons.  We promise to respect the human dignity of every person.  Wonderful promises.  Today’s gospel reading reminds us that God is calling us to ever expand who we call neighbor.  God is calling us to see the world as God sees it.  So what are we called to do as a result of this gospel? 

Another preacher, the Rev. Brian Konkol – in his sermon on this parable said that “…the narrative [of the Good Samaritan] seems to promote short-term aid without addressing long-term justice, and the appearance of such an omission needs to be explored more thoroughly. For example, what were the social conditions that led to such a dreadful act of violence on the road to Jericho? Why was the stranger so brutally victimized at that particular location and not somewhere else? Was the event merely a crime of momentary opportunity, or was it a predictable outcome of a deeper societal illness? In other words, was short-term aid all that was necessary in response to the incident, or was the Good Samaritan later inspired to engage the dilemma through advocacy?” 

Is it enough that we at St. Paul’s open our doors to all people?  Is it enough that we make and give out around 100 sack lunches every month?  I don’t think it is enough.  We need to also look at how society creates homelessness and hunger.  We need to get over our squeamishness of entering into the political realm and challenge a system, a society creates a culture of haves and have-nots.  I know many of you are doing that in your daily lives and work.  But what is St. Paul’s doing?  When we leave this beautiful sanctuary and advocate for a better world I hope we do it blatantly as members of St. Paul’s.

 I attended a fundraiser this past week for Sacramento Self Help Housing.  I was shocked to see that while there are wonderful corporate sponsors – like Wells Fargo Bank - and individual sponsors but that there are no churches listed and no obvious clergy involved.  I wonder why?  They have a mission to “assist persons who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to find and retain stable and affordable housing. (http://www.sacselfhelp.org/index.php/about-us)” which seems compatible with our baptismal call to seek and serve Christ in all persons.  Perhaps there are churches that support this group that I am unaware of but it does make be wish that I had worn my clergy shirt to the fundraiser.  I have friends and co-workers who are involved with Sacramento Self Help Housing so I will follow up to see if there are things I can do as a clergy person and that perhaps we can do as a congregation to help.

As St. Paul’s continues to do our strategic planning and working with the New Dollars/New Partners program I hope we will find ways to expand who we see as our neighbor.  I hope we can find partners that we can both help and who can help us to change this world into one where we as a society no longer leave people in ditches to die.  To find ways to both give assistance and to accept assistance from people who we would classify as our enemies and who God knows are truly our neighbors.  Amen.