Sunday's Sermon

What follows is the sermon from Messiah Lutheran Church in Amherst, NH. The service was based on the gospel text "Lord, teach us to pray..." We experienced several forms of prayer during theworship--silent prayer, breath prayer, Taize sung prayer, litany, collect, intercessory, the five finger prayer. We were going to do lectio divina contemplative prayer with the psalm--but I skipped over it by mistake--it was way hot in there this morning.

The sermon is How to Pray and includes a period of guided imagery that isn't all written out. I hope you get the gist of it.

The volunteer base for leading worship in the form continues to grow--singers, instrumentalists, and technology people. Angela worked real hard on a PP to go along with the service, but hit a snag when trying to get the computer and projector to cooperate! We could use a techno guru to help with equipment-especially as we add mixing and monitoring to the sound system. Anyay - here's the sermon....

How to Pray
Pentecost 9C 7/29/07
Luke

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our brother and savior, God’s Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Check this out. [Touches finger to nose and waits for the desired effect] Who’s the last? What doess that mean? He prays. And is he considered the winner, or loser of this little exercise? Loser. He has to pray.
Now, I’m not knocking this method of selection. It’s fun. If you’re not last! But wouldn’t it be something if it wasn’t the hapless, slow finger-to-the-nosed individual who is burdened with the arduous and embarrassing task of saying a short prayer. Rather that it was the on-the-ball, savvy and quick-witted, go-getter who achieves the great honor of leading the gathered people of God in prayer by defeating all who would try to wrest that honor from his or her tightly folded hands! Wouldn’t that be something else?!

Why is it we’re so reluctant to pray–especially out loud in the presence of others? I’ll tell you what I think. It’s because it’s hard–or at least we think it is. It’s because we don’t think we know how to–although we do. And it’s because we don’t feel worthy–though nothing could be further from the truth. Let’s dispel some of this nonsense right here and now.

Praying–it’s addressing God with our praise, thanksgiving, confession, and needs, We’ve seen already today how simple that can be: “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” A breath prayer. Let me tell you another simple way to pray–in song. You know the doxology. It’s a prayer of praise. Healer of Our Every Ill? A prayer for healing. Dona Nobis Pacem is a prayer for peace.

Now is singing a song so hard? Of course not! And praying doesn’t have to be hard, either–it should, in fact, come naturally for the most part–like a conversation with a loved one. The problem is we think it should sound a certain way or it isn’t “good.” Don’t get me wrong-- I’m not against well worded prayers.They are beautiful and touching.
But if you get to thinking that that’s the one and only way to pray–that only a prayer of that caliber is worthy of God’s ears, and the simple “Lord, help me!” of someone in danger or pain just don’t cut it–well, then you’re wrong! God hears all prayers. Even when we don’t have any words, and the Spirit intercedes for us. So don’t let someone’s dexterity with language deter you from praying. Even out loud.

And ths is not an uncommon feeling. As we heard in today’s gospel, Jesus’ disciples felt unsure enough about their prayers that they went to him asking for a lesson on prayer. He gave them what we call the Lord’s Prayer. Which in and of itself is a perfect all purpose prayer–good for most situations and occasions. That is why we memorize it and teach it to our children, so that when now words come, there it is.
But the lord’s Prayer is also a template for our own prayers, and we can use our five fingers to help structure our own prayers–individual or public. Want to see how?

Our Father in heaven, holy is your name. We begin with a radical notion. God is so intimately involved with us, when we pray, it is like talking to our father. This is not like sending a letter to the president, who’ll “answer” some weeks later with an autopenned response and a fundraising card. This is our Father and better yet our heavenly Father whose very name is holy. A perfect Father, an ideal Father.

Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven. The simplest prayer of them all is “thy will be done.” Our prayers acknowledge that God is good and that we trust in God to do what is best for us. Also we might pray that God’s will and kingdom might be revealed to us.

Give us today our daily bread. We have the privilege of asking God to supply us with all our needs (not wants, but needs). So ask. So seek. So knock.

Forgive us our sin, as we forgive those who sin against us. They say confession is good for the soul. They’re right. And forgiving others is up there too.

Keep us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil - The safety and well-being of our loved ones and ourselves is placed in the hands of the one God who created all.

So your five finger prayer might be: Father, I don’t know the way to go–show me. Give me what I need to get through this time in my life. Forgive my wavering in faith, and help me forgive those who don’t understand what I’m going through. Keep me and my family safe and keep us faithful to you. Amen
Or: Father, I am thankful to you for your many gifts. Forgive me for not always appreciating them. Don’t let me be tempted to think that all this came from my effort alone. Help me to share with others in your name. Amen

Follow those five steps and you’ll have a pretty fine prayer on your hands! But I have to tell you, there is more to prayer than talking to God. Check this out:

We had a problem with the phones here at the church a week or so ago. The phone rang okay, but when you picked it up, the caller’s voice was so faint you could barely hear them, if at all. Perhaps you tried calling here that week and noticed this problem! I which case our conversation probably went something like this:

ME - Hello, Messiah Lutheran Church. Pastor speaking.

YOU - [too faint for me to hear] Hi, it's me.

ME - I’m sorry, I can barely hear you.

YOU - [Loudly, but still faint to me] Is that better?

ME - Not at all. I'm sorry. There’s a problem on this line. I can’t hear you–can you hear me? If you can hear me, uh–nod your head. Oh no, that won’t help any.

YOU - Yes, I can hear you! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?!

ME - I can hear me just fine. Hello? Anyone there?

Thankfully the technician came the next day so we’re back to normal. (And it was in their lines, so we didn’t have to pay for the service call, Ray.) But in the meantime I learned something from all this. And that is: It’s difficult to hold a dialog when it's basically one way.
I mean, I know the person on the other end can hear me just fine. So should I talk normally? "Oh, hi, whoever you are--nice of you to call. I can't hear you, but it's nice to talk with you!" Or should I just let it ring? And what if I need to call someone--do I just give them my half of the conversation and imagine their replies? It's perplexing and somewhat lopsided--this one-way communication.

Sometimes prayer feels like that for us. We know what we want to say and say it. But we can't get a clear read on what the other, "God half" of the dialog is. We get snippets and inklings, and we fill in the blanks with our assumptions, but it's awkward and fruitless, this connection. We wonder: is it us (our equipment), or is God off line--screening his calls, maybe?

There's got to be some kind of service department to help us!

There is--Jesus. When the disciples asked him how to pray, he gave them the Lord’s prayer. But he also taught them that God answers prayers. Even persistent annoying ones. Some how, in some way. One way is through prayer. Because prayer is a dialog–we talk, and then we must listen. How? By opening ourselves up to the presence of God. And that can take many forms–devotional reading, meditation, songs like the one from the Taize monastery that we sang at the opening of worship, or by looking at art, or this way that we’re going to try right now.

It’s called guided imagery, and it helps you take the time to listen for God’s response. So, I invite you to close your eyes and follow my instructions in this silent prayer...

Go to your favorite place

Some one is coming towards you - Its Jesus

He greets you and blesses you, you ask him, tell him, confess to him

Jesus stands over you, places his hands on your head. He leans over and looks you in the eye, and he says something to you. Something you need to know.

Then he says, “Peace be with you.” And you are flooded with God’s peace.

You get up and you go back to your life, thinking about what Jesus said to you .


And now may God’s peace, which is beyond our understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN