Luke 11:1-13
Earlier
this summer, when the temperatures were cooler and a nice refreshing breeze
would blow all night, night after night, we were able to keep our windows open,
which I love. It was “good sleeping weather,” the kind I really like.
Our
neighborhood is usually pretty quiet, so there was nothing much to mar the
peaceful experience of the night air gently blowing through the windows,
ruffling the curtains and making even our animals
sigh in contentment.
That
is, until one Friday night when, just after we had gone to bed and turned the
lights out, I heard a young female voice a near distance – I couldn’t tell how
far away- “Hey!”
My
first thought was that someone walking their dog without a leash was trying to
call back a wandering canine, because we heard it again – two or three times, a
little louder each time, “Hey!”
The
voice and the message changed then. “Hey, Somebody, can you hear me?” A few
seconds passed. “Help!” Then a little
louder, “Help me!” This youngish voice didn’t sound terribly distressed, but it
was persistent.
There
are several backyards that line up one after another behind ours, and woods
behind them, so I began thinking maybe
it was kids playing around back there somewhere, in the dark, maybe even
playing tricks on us. But then we heard it again, a bit more strident, “Hey,
Somebody, help me!”
I
wasn’t sure I was hearing correctly, so I went out onto our deck, and then the two
of us shared an encounter in disembodied voices – connecting through the
darkness. It is comical in the retelling, but that night it was just – surreal.
“Hello?”
“Hey!”
“Do you need
help?”
“Yes!”
came back the voice.
“What’s
wrong?”
“I’m
locked in my bathroom!”
I almost responded, “Is this a
joke? You’re locked in your bathroom?”
“Help
me! I need help!”
It
turns out this young lady was indeed imprisoned by a broken doorknob, in the
second floor bathroom of her home. To make matters worse she was alone in her
house for the entire weekend, as her
family was out of town.
Beginning
to panic after spending an hour or more locked away as the night settled in
around her, she had tried without success to attract the attention and
assistance of the neighbors around her. Her imagination awakened, she thought
maybe someone was in her house, playing a trick on her. Someone with unsavory plans.
My
husband and I finally located her, let ourselves into her house, discovered the
problem, and then I kept her company while he went back home to get needed tools.
We proceeded to affect a rescue there, in the middle of the night, in a total
stranger’s home, under the most bizarre of circumstances.
Had
it not been for her persistence, that
poor girl would have spent the night – and who knows – maybe even the weekend –
locked in her bathroom.
Persistence
in seeking help. Persistence in making contact. Persistence in prayer.
The
Old Testament lesson today shows us an example of pure unadulterated persistence on Abraham’s part. He is relentless in his mediation between God
and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, those wicked, sinful people.
Yet, Abraham
argued, they are not all wicked. Surely some are righteous, surely, they
deserve to be saved, right? So, if Abraham could find “x”-number of righteous
people in the city of Sodom, on their behalf, won’t God be merciful and preserve
them all? Won’t God relent and back off on their justifiable punishment if 50 righteous people can be found? Yes?
Then – how about 40? 30? 10? Abraham
intercedes for all people on the basis of the goodness of God and the faithfulness
of just a few.
In
our gospel lesson, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. They’ve seen
Jesus pray. They know that sometimes he leaves them to go off by himself to pray. He prayed before choosing
his disciples, he prayed when he fed the five thousand, he prayed when breaking
bread with his disciples and friends. Jesus prayed the night before he died and
on the way to and even from the
cross. Persistence in prayer was part of Jesus’ life all the way to his death.
The
disciples know Jesus as their teacher, their master, their friend. Jesus has prayed
many times for them and with them. They have witnessed his special relationship
to God. He has even called God “Abba,” “Father” – a very intimate way of naming
the relational bond he shares with God. So now they ask that question we often repeat, “Lord, teach us to pray.”
On
that day, they want to know what magic formula Jesus might want to share with
them for praying like he prays. Perhaps they are not confident they know how to do it right – what words should they use? What kinds of things should they say? What should they
ask for? What will make God listen best?
I might ask if you ever feel the same way,
but I already know you do. Most if
not all of us do, at times. We often fear
we don’t get it right when it comes
to prayer. We worry we don’t have the right words, can’t assume the proper posture,
or aren’t faithful enough, confident enough,worthy enough, to pray.
And
yet, prayer is the central act in the lives of faithful people.
So,
Jesus offers this little prayer that has been known as the Lord’s Prayer, or
the Our Father, and recited by heart by the followers of Jesus Christ for over
two thousand years.
Lest we think that
Jesus is giving us the magic formula
for the perfect prayer, we remember
that Jesus himself modeled types of prayer that were far-ranging in style and
setting, and contained the thoughts of his heart, his concerns, his care for
others, the struggles he was facing, and so many other things. The thing is
that Jesus showed us – all of our
lives should be about prayer, for there is no part of our lives about which God
does not care.
We
know how important communication is in our lives and in our relationships.
Nowhere is this more true than in our relationship with God. If we see prayer
as simple communication with God, which it is, it may become much easier to
carry out this essential gift in the life of faith.
·
So let me ask you, in what ways do we as humans,
communicate? Let’s name all of the ways in which we communicate………..:
o
Our spoken words
o
Listening
o
Writing
o
Art
o
Our work
o
Touch
o
Use of our bodies
o
Our actions
o
Playtime
o
Singing
o
Technology
Are
any of these ways inappropriate to prayer? No. We employ all these methods and more when we make our whole lives a prayer to God. Our prayers may consist of many words,
for example, a prayer that begins, “O good and gracious God, we pray for the
church, the world, and all of your creation…….”. Or, a prayer may consist of a
single word – “Help!”; Perhaps a loving embrace, “peace be with you”; or
fervent desire, “forgive me”, “protect her,” “strengthen him.”
When
I was in school, we were taught that there are four reasons to pray: to praise
God, to thank God, to ask forgiveness, to ask God for what we needed or wanted
(even or especially if that need or
want was on behalf of someone else). It is the act of praying that is important; it is through the act, that we connect
and communicate with a God who loves us as Abba, Father; as one who loves us
beyond all reason, and who can use our own prayer to reshape our lives. Ask,
Jesus said – ask, search, knock – persistently, constantly, confidently.
It’s
a pretty tall order when you come to think of it. Today we acknowledge that prayer
and the scriptures that we just read may be hard
for us right now. Surely, we are pray-ers. The world is full of people who
pray. People have been praying for years; for centuries; throughout the
millennia, in fact.
Yet
there is no denying that as we look around, as we hear the news, as we look at
our own lives, and the world around us, we wonder – does God hear our words?
Does God answer prayer? Does God even care?
I
won’t pretend to have the answers for why the world is so very messed up, other
than to say that we live in a broken and sinful world, in which the kingdom of
God has dawned in Jesus Christ, but has not yet come to its fullness.
Therefore, daily assaults have our prayer lives going on in over-drive..
Like Abraham, we,
too are called be persistent in prayer. The God we pray to is the same one who
sent his son to die for this fallen humanity; God desires deep, authentic
relationship with us; weeps when we weep; and hears us when we pray, “Abba,
help!”
Help the man lying
in blood on the street for no other reason than the color of his skin. Bless the
police officer who shows up each day in the face of danger and derision and faithfully
does what he or she is called to do. Comfort
those whose friends and loved ones have fallen to the bullets of too many guns,
too much violence, too little understanding and peace.
If prayer is "turning
ourselves God-ward," as Jesus shows us it is, it requires our whole being not only turned toward God
but dedicated to following Jesus’ lead and example. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name…thy kingdom come, they will be done.” With these words we surrender
our own authority. We assume we will find God in whatever answer to our prayer
may come.
“Hey God, can you
hear me?” “Hello, can you help us?”
We pray for peace
and believe God is present in conflict and discord. “We need your help! Please
help us!”
Through our
prayer, we offer ourselves up to God using us as part of the answer – When we
pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,”
we offer to be part of the solution.
We pray for our
daily basic needs, and believe God is present in the same way among the poor,
and will use us as well to feed, nourish, walk with, and care for those in need.
In her book, Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott writes
that the two best prayers are “help me, help me, help me,” and “thank you,
thank you, thank you.” May our entire lives be lived between those pleas, in
sweet holy communication and awesome trust.