The Spirit Prays for Us: Romans 8:26-27

I remember when I was training to be a pastor and working as a chaplain in a hospital as part of my requirement.  My “congregation” was one floor in the hospital, and that consisted of the Intermediate Care Unit where the folks who weren’t sick enough for ICU but still needed more care than a regular room were cared for.  On that floor was a gentleman whose heart was failing.  He had been in the hospital for several months awaiting a transplant.  I had visited him several times over the course of my training, and I won’t forget the second to the last visit I had with him.

After our conversation, I asked him if there was anything he would like me to pray for, and he responded, “I really am not trying to be selfish, but I would like for you to pray that I receive a new heart.”  I gladly prayed for such a thing.  In less than 24 hours, he did indeed receive a new heart.

I spoke with my supervisor, a seminary professor about this event, and he pointedly asked me, “Do you think that your prayer worked to get him a new heart?”

I paused before my response.  Whenever you deal with seminary professors, there is oftentimes the answer you want to say, the answer that the professor wants to hear, and several variations of that.  At this particular time, I wanted to make sure that I gave the answer the professor wanted to hear because I was in no mood for a long theological discussion.  The deepest part of me wanted to answer, “Yes, indeed my prayer made a difference.”  But I was quite sure that the conversation that followed would not be fun.  And so I said, “I don’t know.”  I figured that was the safest bet, and indeed it was.  We moved on from there rather quickly.

But as I reflect upon this scenario, I can faithfully say: I hope that my prayer was not responsible for this gentleman receiving that heart.  You may scratch your heads in wonder that I am saying that, but hear me out.  For you see, in order for that patient to receive his heart, a local husband and father lost his life on I-35 in a tragic car accident.  Would any of you like to think that your prayer caused someone to lose his life so that someone else could benefit and live?  Would you like it on your conscience that your prayer caused a wife to lose her husband and children to lose their father?  I don’t.  Not in the least.

And yet, yet wasn’t it the compassionate thing to pray for the patient to receive a heart?  What do you do?  How do you pray for such a thing?  What if you are thrust into a situation where someone needs a kidney, heart, or lung transplant and someone must die for the other person to live?  How do you pray?  What do you pray for?  Sometimes, prayer is a difficult prospect, and we need help understanding it and practicing it.

Let us now pray.  Heavenly Father, you have called your people to be people of prayer.  Jesus prayed.  Jesus taught His disciples to pray.  But what do we do when faced with such difficulties?  What do we do when words fail us?  If we are to be your disciples, teach us indeed how to pray.  Amen.

Prayer is one of those interesting subjects that even science has dabbled in.  They have set up studies to see if prayer “works.”  They have set aside two sets of subjects–who as best as they can are similar, and have one set prayed for while the other not prayed for.  Setting aside the ethics of the matter–I mean what do you say, “Oh, we are praying for you and not for you.  If you die, too bad.”–the end game is to study the results; to see if somehow prayer brings about healing or what have you.  I can remember when I first started out in my trek to become a pastor that some of the studies that had been done showed that prayer was indeed effective.  However, since that time, there have been other studies which showed that prayer was not effective, and in some cases, those who were prayed for had worse outcomes than those who were not prayed for.

Fundamentally, these studies miss the mark because they treat prayer as some sort of giant, cosmic, candy machine.  You put the prayer in.  You hope you use the right amount of currency.  You kick, shake, and rattle the machine, and you hope that something comes out.  Of course, you might get one of those plastic balls that when you open it up has a little piece of paper in it that says either yes, no, or you’ve got to be kidding me.  This is not the purpose or reason for prayer.

In fact, as I have learned more and more about prayer, I have come to understand that prayer fundamentally isn’t about changing the circumstances around my life or the lives of others.  I have come to understand that prayer isn’t fundamentally about getting a particular desired outcome.  Prayer is something we participate in to show our utter and total dependence on God.  Prayer is something we turn to so that we acknowledge that we are powerless to affect certain situations and that we place our trust in a higher source and power.

Fundamentally, this is at the heart of the prayer that Jesus taught His followers to pray.  We recite it every Sunday and we commonly call it the Lord’s Prayer.  It begins, Our Father, or our Daddy who is in heaven.  The prayer begins that we are addressing someone beyond ourselves, and yet someone who we are extremely intimate with.  Like children who go before their parents and ask and talk, we go before God.

Hallowed be thy name.  We acknowledge that God is fundamentally set apart from us and from all other false gods.  And then we get into the true dependence on our part in the prayer.

Thy kingdom come.  Can any of us fundamentally bring about God’s kingdom in full?  Can any of us make God’s rule happen here?  No.  We acknowledge that we are dependent upon Him to bring His kingdom to us.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  We are asking here that God make heaven come down to earth.  Can any one of us do this fully?  Sure, there are times when we can make things better here, but can we bring about what it means to ultimately be in God’s presence?  No. That again, is up to God alone, and we express our dependence on Him.

Give us this day our daily bread.  Can any of us make a seed grow?  Can we produce life?  Can we manufacture the things we need to survive?  No.  These things all originate with God, and we simply help after the process gets started.  Again, our dependence goes back to God.

Forgive us our trespasses.  Here again we acknowledge our inability to make ourselves right with God.  We are fallen and in need of forgiveness.  We cannot overcome our debt to God without His forgiveness.

As we forgive those who trespass against us.  How easy is it to forgive someone who has hurt you?  For minor things, maybe relatively easy, but for those who have been sexually or physically abused; for those who have had a loved one murdered; for those who have been lied to continually and a host of other things, forgiveness does not come easy in the least.  We must have our hearts changed so that we can forgive others, and that comes when we first realize we have been forgiven.  Therefore, in order for us to forgive, we are dependent upon God’s grace.

And lead us not into temptation.  Temptation bombards us at all points.  We are tempted to think of ourselves more highly than we should.  We are tempted to make all sorts of things into our god.  We are tempted by sex, money, power, fame and status. We need protection, and we recognize our dependence upon God for that protection.

And deliver us from evil.  Evil too lurks, and we are almost powerless to resist it.  If a gunman walked into this church right now, we would be at his mercy.  I mean, maybe some of you are packing heat and have concealed carry licences, but I don’t.  I would have to appeal to God for protection and deliverance because I would be powerless in its face.  Most of us are, and we recognize this with this petition.

For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory.  Again, we acknowledge that all belongs to God.  All.  We are dependent upon Him in totality for all things.

This prayer is a model of what prayer is.  We are dependent upon God for everything, and in prayer we acknowledge this.  When we are faced with difficult situations, we acknowledge that we need God’s guidance.  When we are faced with a troublesome medical diagnoses, we go to God recognizing our need for His healing.  We submit ourselves to His power and His authority.  Almost every prayer could be summed up in the words, “Thy will be done!”  Prayer is not a candy machine where we are trying to manipulate God to give us a certain outcome.  It is instead recognizing that we have no control and place ourselves into the care of our Creator.

But even if we acknowledge this, we are still at a loss sometimes of how to pray.  How do you pray for someone who needs a lung or heart transplant?  How do you pray when you enter into a situation when words fail?  What if the Lord’s prayer doesn’t immediately address a particular situation?  What do you say?  How can you avoid coming across as selfish?

Here is where prayer becomes fascinating–at least as I read today’s lesson from Romans chapter 8.  It’s just two verses, but they are profound in what they say and in their implications for our prayer lives as Christians.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness;

This introductory phrase is important because of the word that is used for help.  The word in Greek is only used one other time in the New Testament in Luke chapter 10 when Jesus is visiting his friends Mary and Martha.  Mary is sitting listening to Jesus while Martha is preparing a meal.  Martha gets angry at Mary’s perceived laziness and says to Jesus, “Lord, make Mary help me.”  The word means, essentially, “I’m doing my part, now get her to do her part.”  Paul says here that we have a part in prayer, but the Spirit comes and does its part to assist us.

But why do we need assistance? “...for we do not know how to pray as we ought.”  This goes back to my original story about the heart transplant.  How do you pray in that kind of situation?  Do you pray for someone to die so that another can live?  That’s tough.  It’s also tough to think deeply about why we pray for others.  Most of the time, I have a kind heart.  I hate to see people in pain.  I hate to see suffering.  So, when someone asks me to pray because they have lost a job, are suffering from illness, are grieving, or are going through a rough stretch, I gladly offer up petitions.  But why?  Yes, it’s part of my job.  Yes, because I know it’s the right thing to do.  But I know deep within that one of the reasons I pray is selfish.  I don’t want to see people suffer.  I want them to be happy.  If we take some time to reflect upon some of our prayers, I think we can see that selfishness come through as well.  It’s there when as kids we pray for certain toys or for God to hurt the school bully.  It’s there as adults when we pray that God will let us win the lottery–because you know I will use the money to do good.  So, there is some selfishness to our prayers.  And there is also those times when we just don’t know what to say.  There are times when we are confronted with something too overwhelming–too emotional that we cannot even begin to form the words.  We are at a complete and total loss.  What do we say?  What do we do?  When we mix our motivations and needs with the messiness of life, we don’t know how to pray.

“... but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”  Here is the good news.  The Holy Spirit takes our prayer.  In a sense you could say that it intercepts our prayer, and then it begins its work.  It begins to transform our prayers.  It begins to mold them and make them into something else.  It begins to intercede for us.  To pray for us.  Because we don’t know how to pray fully, the Spirit helps–does its part and transforms our prayers to bring them before God the Father.

“27And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”  What Paul says here should be terrifying and comforting at the same time.  For Paul speaks about the God who searches the heart.  The word used here for searches gives the impression of someone taking a lighted torch and going into the darkest parts of a cave and shining a light.  This is what God does in our hearts–even as we pray.  If you think about what He discovers down there–that can be terrifying.  But, remember there is the Spirit also interceding.  There is the Spirit transforming those things–transforming your thoughts into holy thoughts.  There is the Spirit transforming those prayers that are really about your will and turning them into prayers for God’s will.  There is the Spirit making your prayers acceptable to God when you don’t know how to pray.

This is a mirror of what Jesus does for us as He makes us acceptable before God.  Both Jesus and the Spirit are in the transformation business.  For just as we do not pray as we ought, we also do not live as we ought.  Confronted with the reality of life and God’s holy Law, we know that we fail to live up to it.  We know we don’t follow it completely.  We know that we don’t even follow the laws of our land as we should.  But Christ intercedes for us.  Christ takes our unholiness upon Himself, and He gives us His holiness.  He dies for our sins, so that we might have abundant life.  He takes our imperfect lives and makes them perfect–not because of who we are, but because of who He is and His love for us.  This is what we call grace.  Jesus bestows grace in life.  The Spirit bestows grace in prayer.

So, what does this mean?  What are the implications of Jesus’ transformation and the Spirit’s transformation?  It means we can be bold and be at peace.  We don’t have to live a perfect life to be accepted by God.  We don’t have to be paralyzed by trying to figure out exactly what we are supposed to do at every single juncture of life.  We can count on the transformative power of Jesus to work even when we mess up.  We do not have to be paralyzed by the fear of failure.  Likewise, we can be bold in our prayers.  We don’t have to wonder what to say.  In fact, during those times we can’t put words together, guess who is already praying on our behalf?  Guess who is transforming our silence into an acceptable prayer before God?  Go to God and pray.  Say whatever you need to say.  The Spirit is interceding.  Go out and live for God.  Don’t be paralyzed by always trying to figure out the right thing.  Jesus is interceding.  Start doing.  Start praying.  You have heavenly help.

Let’s pray.  Gracious God, you can take our weakest attempts to do your will and you can take our weakest attempts at prayer and make them acceptable.  You can take our falling down and make something good come out of it.  You can take our fumbling words and make them into the most beautiful poetry.  Remind us of the work of Jesus. Remind us of the work of the Spirit so that we can be bold in living our lives and praying our prayers.  We ask this in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Why Would You Want to Move a Mountain?

Last Sunday, I preached on the first part of this passage from the book of Mark, and I emphasized how Jesus looked deep into the core of the fig tree and deep into the heart of the Temple system and found them to be rotten.  The fig tree should have been producing paggim, the Hebrew term for small figs that sprout even before the leaves.  It wasn’t.  Therefore, it was a bad tree.  Jesus cursed it because it was taking up valuable soil in the arid Middle-East.

Likewise, when Jesus entered into the Temple, He overturned tables and prevented the buying and selling because the chief priests and the scribes had allowed their greed and desire for the safety, security, and freedom that money could by override the purpose of the temple.  The chief priests and the scribes had turned the Courtyard of the Gentiles into a marketplace preventing the vast majority of the world’s people from being able to worship and pay their respects to the God of Israel.  As I quoted N.T. Wright last week, so I do again, “The Temple had been intended to symbolize God’s dwelling with Israel for the sake of the world; the way Jesus’ contemporaries had organized things, it had come to symbolize not God’s welcome to the nations but God’s exclusion of them.”

The next day, Jesus and His disciples pass by the fig tree that Jesus cursed the day before.  Peter takes note because the fig tree is withered from the root up.  Peter points this out to Jesus, and the symbolism is clear: when you are rotten at the core, you will wither and die.

And, of course, no one really likes to think that they are rotten at the core. We’d all like to believe we are good and gracious in our hearts.  But that is generally not the case.  Sure, we may be kind to others.  We may do a lot of good.  We may try to be moral and upright and worship regularly and give to charity, and the like. We may look very good on the outside, but what really counts is our heart’s motivation for doing the things we are doing.  It is our hearts that God is really interested.  It is our hearts that Jesus wishes to turn into temples of the Living God.  The fig tree looked good on the outside, but it wasn’t good after all.  The temple looked good on the outside, but it wasn’t good at all.  For the most part, we could say the same thing about our hearts.

Last week, I talked about the Powerball and how millions of people spent billions of dollars in search of the safety and security and freedom that money supposedly would buy, but money is just one of the things that we believe will give us such things.  In the exact same vein, I would like to now turn to politics.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to be pushing any candidate or ideology, but I want to show how politics and Powerball are related.  If you listen to the debates and the candidates’ speeches, there is a common thread that runs through them all: this is how I promise to keep you safe; this is how I promise to keep money in your pocket and get you jobs; this is how I promise to make this country a better place for you to live so that you don’t have to worry about the future.  Each candidate has a plan which basically seeks to secure these things in exchange for your vote, and while trying to appeal to your self-interest in this manner, each candidate also appeals to fear in trying to show how the other candidate will not keep you as safe, as secure, as wealthy, etc., etc.  Politicians appeal to the exact same things the Powerball appeals to.

And there are other things.  Whether it is the appeal of sexuality, the empowerment of possessions, the acquisition of knowledge, or what have you, the objects of desire are safety, security, and freedom.  We all crave these things at a very deep level.  And we put our trust in myriads of things thinking they will give us all these things.  Money demands our trust.  Politicians demand our trust.  Education demands our trust.  Science demands our trust. The economy demands our trust. Sex demands our trust.  Each promises fulfillment.  Each woos us continuously.  And if we pursue them as our deepest heart’s desire, we will end up dead.

Let’s turn to these final verses to see how this works.  For after Peter points out the withered fig tree to Jesus, a very interesting set of teachings come forth from Jesus’ mouth.  Jesus doesn’t make any straightforward appeal to the disciples to change their ways.  He doesn’t tell them, “You’d better not be like the fig tree or the people in the temple.”  Such commentary would make the disciples tremble in fear.  Instead, Jesus begins talking about prayer.  It seems out of place, but it is not.  Here’s why:

Jesus first says, “‘Have faith in God.  Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.”

Now, let me first be clear about what it means when Jesus says, “Have faith in God.”  Jesus is not saying simply, “Believe in God.”  Faith indeed has a component of belief–thinking with your head that God exists, but faith is much, much deeper than that.  Faith is trusting in God with your entire being.  Here’s the difference I am trying to illustrate.  Let’s go back to politics for just a moment.  Think about the candidate you are NOT voting for.  Got that candidate in your head?  First question: do you believe that candidate exists?  Second question: do you trust him or her?  Do you see the difference?  Faith in God is not simply assenting that God exists.  Faith in God means you cast your vote in with God.  You trust that He will provide exactly as He says He will provide and do as He says He will do.  It has a tremendous impact on your entire life.

This is why Jesus follows up with the statement, “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.”  Think about this for just a moment.  If you trust in yourself to cast a mountain into the sea, what will happen?  First, off that mountain isn’t going very far, is it?  But, let’s get even more technical, because is it possible for you to begin shoveling one pile of dirt at a time and taking it to the sea?  Is it possible for you to remove one rock at a time and put it into the sea?  Of course it is.  How long would it take you?  Of course, it would depend upon the size of the mountain, but in all reality, you would probably die before you finished.  So, why not pay someone to move the mountain?  Imagine doing that.  Again, how much would it cost you?  How many years would you have to be enslaved to the dollar to have that mountain moved for you?  You would probably die before you could save or earn enough.  If you are trusting in yourself to have that mountain moved, you will not get it very far.  But if you trust in God, things are different.

But there is a catch here.  Jesus is very clear: if you do not doubt in your heart.  In other words, if you trust God with your entire heart, this can and will be done for you.  Let me ask you this question, do you trust God with your whole heart?  Be honest and truthful.  You know, I had several college professors and seminary professors who railed against pastors who told people that they needed to trust God and have total belief in God and they would be healed.  They said that when people were not healed, their trust in God would be damaged; therefore, we should never preach and tell people they needed to believe without doubt.  Well, I’m going to disagree with my professors.  I’m going to tell you that if you truly believed–again, in the sense of trusting–in God with your whole heart, whatever you asked would be given to you.  But before you go out and ask God to move a mountain or let you win the next Powerball, I’m going to confront you and ask you this–what reasons do you have for wanting to move that mountain or win that Powerball?  What are the motivations of your heart?  Are those motivations in line with trusting God?

Let me push this a little deeper with Jesus’ next comment because it is intimately related.  However, I’m going to offer up a little different translation that what you have from the New Revised Standard Version.  The original Greek would probably be better translated this way, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  Again, I want you to think about this from the aspect of trusting God rather than trusting in money or politicians or what have you.  For instance, if you believed that you already won the Powerball, would you go out and buy a ticket?  I’m waiting for the answer on that one. :-) If you believed that your political candidate already won, would you go around smearing the other one?  Of course, both of those questions are a bit superficial, so let’s dig down to the root causes that I outlined earlier: if you already believed that you had obtained safety, security, and freedom, how would that change your prayer?  How would that change your life?  If the Jewish authorities were trusting in God for their safety, security, and freedom to worship, would they have ever opened a marketplace in the courtyard of the Gentiles?  You know the answer.  If you were trusting in God for your livelihood, would you need to tell a mountain to move?  Would you need to buy a Powerball ticket?  Would you worry about which politician won the election?  Of course, you wouldn’t.  You would trust fully and completely in God, and you would know that He provides you with safety.  He provides you with security.  He provides you with freedom.  You have already received riches beyond your wildest dreams!

Ah, but you and I sure don’t act that way, do we?  You and I sure don’t live that kind of life, do we?  We still worry and fret.  We still try to obtain money and worldly goods.  We buy guns to ensure our safety.  We get worked up about elections.  We complain about who gets richer and who gets poorer.  We are never satisfied.

Jesus concludes with a statement that seems even more unrelated than the previous two: “And whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have something against someone, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you.”  Why, all of a sudden, do we go from praying and believing we already have received to the thought of forgiveness?  Why does Jesus even insert this here?  What is this all about?

Now, we actually come to the crux of this teaching. We come to the crux of the lesson of the fig tree.  We come to the crux of Jesus’ actions in the temple.  Forgiveness is at the heart of why Jesus came to earth.

We are never satisfied because we do not trust God with our whole heart.  We become greedy because we do not trust God with our whole heart.  We become anxious about the future because we do not trust God with our whole heart.  And nothing we do will make us trust God more.  Let me say that again: nothing we do will make us trust God more.

Let me illustrate this with a story about my kids.  For the longest time, my kid would not jump into a swimming pool on their own.  They had to jump to me.  Each kid was the same.  They were afraid to go under the water.  They were afraid they wouldn’t pop up.  I would stand in the water and tell them, “Jump.”  And they wouldn’t jump.  They would look at the distance between the edge of the pool and me.  They would calculate whether or not they thought it was safe.  And if they figured it wasn’t, there was no amount of cajoling I could do.  There was no amount of reassurance I could give.  There was no amount of exhortation I could offer.  The kids wouldn’t jump until I moved toward them.  Until I broke down the distance between the two of us, the kid was going to stand at the edge of the pool wanting to come in, but too scared to actually commit.  I had to close the gap.  I had to show them I would catch them.  I had to help them know I would not drop them and they were safe leaping into my arms.  It actually cost me very little other than a bit of energy to do this, but imagine the gap between God and man.  Imagine the distance between the creator of the universe and His creation.  Imagine then that as we who are created look around the world and see the violence and hatred and animosity we have toward one another.  Imagine how we see an uncertain future.  Imagine how we see the fragility of life.  Imagine we see how quickly what we have can be taken.  And imagine God saying, “Just trust me.”  Do you know how difficult that really and truly is?  Do you know how it simply goes against nearly everything our hearts and minds actually tell us?  We would rather buy Powerball tickets.  We would rather put our trust in politicians. We would rather work to buy our happiness and joy.  It seems less fearful.  It’s easier to trust in ourselves and the things that we can see.

And so, our heavenly Father must look at us and say, “Why don’t they trust me?  Why don’t they see what I have given them?  Why do they not believe I will care for them?  Why are their hearts so far away?”  Our actions break our Father’s heart, so rather than compel us and punish us for not putting our trust in Him, He forgives us and then moves toward us.  He bridges the gap to earn our trust, to capture our hearts, not with a crown but with a cross.

For it is on that cross that true forgiveness is given.  It is on that cross where true trust is earned.  For Jesus, the God made flesh, laid down His life for you and me when we did not trust Him.  Jesus offered Himself as the true sacrificial lamb to take away our self-centeredness; our desire to trust in ourselves rather than in God.  He stretched out His arms and said, “Look at the lengths I will go for you to love you, to catch you, to bring you unto myself.  I will die for you, and those aren’t just words.  I really am dying for you.”

If someone goes to those kinds of lengths for you, what does that do to your heart?  If someone lays down His life for you with no questions asked, would you trust them?  Would you believe they will offer what they say they will offer?  Would your heart be captured by that kind of love?

When it is, your heart is indeed changed.  You still know that you are in this world.  You still know this world needs a lot of work.  You still know that you need money to live; that you need safety and security; that you want freedom, but you know also where it is truly found.  It’s found in Jesus.  Amen.

Oh That You Would Tear Open the Heavens

   “Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down!”  So begins the writer of Isaiah 64.  For many of us who believe in God, this statement rings true.  God, why don’t you dispense with all the subtlety?  God, why don’t you stop messing around?  God, why don’t you stop procrastinating?  God, why don’t you just reveal yourself to the world in such a fashion that everyone will tremble before you and absolutely know that you are real; that you take an interest in what goes on in our lives; and that you are indeed worthy of worship?  God, why don’t you just show yourself to all of us?

    I mean, wouldn’t it be nice if God did just such a thing?  Wouldn’t it be nice if God revealed Himself to us all so that there would be no doubt?  I mean, we could stop all the silly debates between believers and non-believers.  We would truly find out if there were many paths to one mountaintop–if every religion indeed was pointing toward the same God.  We would be able to revel in God’s glory or be terrified of His wrath and power.  At the very least, our priorities might change.  If God revealed Himself to us and made the mountains tremble, then, perhaps then, people would make worship on Sunday mornings a priority.  No longer would other things compete for their time and energy.  If anyone dared to try and usurp the time which belonged to God, we would be able to point to His rending of the heavens and say, “Ahem!  Do you remember when God did this?  Do you want to rekindle His anger?”  Think of how God’s appearance would change the world.  Think about how it would clear up your doubts if you had questions.  Think about how it would affirm your faith and convictions if you are a believer.  Would there even be a downside?

    Is it any wonder the author of Isaiah 64 says, “Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down!”?  It seems to be the most rational action God could take.

    Seems to be.

    But let’s take a moment or two to continue reading what the author of Isaiah 64 says, and I want to take just a minute to put this snippet into context.  We believe this portion of Isaiah was written as the ancient Israelites returned from their exile in Babylon.  They had been taken captive and had spent 70 years away from their homeland.  Many wondered what had happened to their special relationship with God.  Many wondered if God had deserted them.  Many had turned to false worship and other gods.  Others to lawlessness.  In these last chapters of Isaiah, there seems to be a dialogue going on between the people and God, and chapter 64 is part of that dialogue.  The people are talking to God and pleading with Him.  It is refreshingly honest.

    “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence—2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil—to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!  3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.  4 From ages past no one has heard,   no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.”

    This opening statement hearkens back to the time when God appeared on Mount Sinai to give the Law of Moses to the people.  God rent the heavens and came down upon that mountain.  Fire and brimstone shook the earth, and the people trembled as the Lord spoke.  The author says, “Do it again.  Make the nations tremble at your presence.  Vindicate those who wait for you and you alone.”

    Then the author continues, and I find this next part extremely fascinating, “5 You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways.  But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.  6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.  We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.  7 There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.”

    The candor here is remarkable–absolutely remarkable.  If verse five is translated correctly–it is very ambiguous in the Hebrew–these sentences almost seem to be a rebuke of God.  Did you catch it?  “Because you hid yourself, we transgressed.  There is no one who calls on your name or attempts to take hold of you for you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.”  If I am reading this correctly, the author, lifting up the situation in Israel says, “You know, God, the reason people are sinning; the reason no on is looking for you, is you are absent.  You are not revealing yourself to us.  You are hiding.  It’s all your fault.”  Now, the author is admitting guilt on the part of the people.  He is admitting the people have transgressed–have sinned.  He is admitting the people are in the wrong, but the author is also pointing the finger at God and trying to say that God has some culpability in this matter.

    Striving to persuade the Almighty even further, the author, speaking on behalf of Israel says, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.  9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity for ever.  Now consider, we are all your people.”  Here we have a reference to God creating humankind out of dust.  We are indeed the work of God’s hand.  We are created in the image of God.  And just as Adam and Eve sinned and God did not turn His back on them; the author says, “Do not be exceedingly angry at us.  Do not hold our sin against us forever.”  And, in addition to this, Isaiah references the covenant with Abraham.  “Consider, we are your people.”  You made a covenant with us.  You promised to bless us so that we may be a blessing.  You should keep your promises.  And, if we were to read the rest of Isaiah 64, we would get to the point where the author asks, “Haven’t we been punished enough?  Haven’t we suffered enough?”

    Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down!!!  Oh that you would reveal yourself and make everything right!!!   Oh that you would reveal yourself and make the nations tremble!!!  Oh that you would stop punishing us and bless us remembering your covenant with us!!!

    This is a remarkable piece of scripture because if you look at it in this fashion, you almost get the sense of the Israelites trying to tell God how to be God!!  This is what you should do to make the nations believe; to make us believe; and to make everything work right!!!

    There’s a lot of chutzpah in this snippet from Isaiah 64, and some of us here this morning might say, “Well, it takes a lot of guts to be this way toward God.  It takes a lot of guts to come before Him in such a fashion.  They should be more humble.”  Really?

    I mean, how many of us are truly humble when we come before Almighty God in our requests toward Him?  Before you have a knee jerk response and say, “Well, I am humble when I make my requests before God,” let me push the envelope a little bit.  How many of you, when you really stop and think about it, believe that if God just answered your prayers in the way you think they should be answered, then everything in the world would be perfect?  Be honest.  How many of you believe that if God would just give you everything you asked for, then the world would be a pretty good place? 

    God, if you would just let the Democrats win, then all will be well.

    God, if you would just teach my neighbor to be a little more considerate when his dogs are barking at 4:30 in the morning.

    God, if you would just get my kids to behave, then I would be at peace.

    God, if you would just give me the strength to deal with my pushy boss and nosy co-workers.

    God, if you would just let traffic be a little lighter on the way to work this morning.

    You see, we oftentimes like to make our claims on God and plead for Him to act in the way we thing He should act.  We like to think we have some special insight into humanity and into how things work, and if only God would act “correctly,” then everything would be great–especially for us.

    Yeah, I’m saying we have just as much chutzpah as the Israelites did when they spoke to God in Isaiah 64.

    But, let’s take just a second to process their requests.  Do you know what happened when God revealed the Law to the Israelites on Mount Sinai?  Do you know what happened when He made the mountains tremble and made the people shake with fear?  40 days later, the people turned from God and made an idol and worshiped it instead of their Creator. 

    Do you know what happened when God struck down the Egyptians with 10 plagues?  Do you remember what happened when God revealed His power through the plague of death?  A few weeks later, Pharaoh sent his armies after the Israelites once more. 

    Do you know what happened after God delivered the people of Israel from the Egyptians by parting the Red Sea?  A few days later, they were complaining and wanting to go back to Egypt.

    Each and every time God has torn the heavens and come down making people tremble and putting His fear into them, the people eventually revert back to what they were doing in the first place.  Each and every time God has revealed Himself in power and in might, the nations trembled, the people trembled, they stopped sinning for a time.   But they always returned to their nefarious ways.  They always turned away from God once again.  The cycle repeated itself over and over and over.  And so the answer from God was always, “No, I haven’t punished you enough.  You keep sinning.  You keep turning away.  It doesn’t matter how much I reveal myself to you and show you my power.  Your hearts are never changed.”

    And so, if God showing His absolute power never changes people–if that never changes hearts.  If us begging Him to reveal His power in giving us what we want won’t change us or change the world, what will?

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world may be saved through Him.

    “Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down!” the author of Isaiah begs.  And God says, “O.K., I will, but not in the way you expect.  I will not come in power.  I will not come in majesty.  I will not come with prancing armies and great wealth.  Instead, I will take on flesh and live among you.  I will become poor.  I will become limited, and I won’t act to instill fear.  I will act to instill love.  I will not reveal my power so that you live in fear; I will reveal my power in love for you.  A love that will not lead to a throne room, but a cross.”

    For it is on that cross that Jesus deals with our selfishness.  It is on that cross that Jesus deals with our fear.  It is on that cross that Jesus obtains our salvation and our righteousness–not because of who we are but because of who He is.  He is the spotless Lamb of God; born without sin, who lived without sin, who fulfilled God’s Law and God’s will since we could not do it on our own.  Who prayed, “Father if it is possible, let me avoid this cup, but never-the-less, not my will but yours be done!” 

    And in following the Father’s will, Jesus obtained our salvation.  Jesus clothed us with righteousness even in the midst of our brokenness.  And now, we no longer need fear the punishment of God.  We no longer need to fear that He will hold our sin against us.  We no longer need to blame God for our own iniquities.  He has come down.  He has torn the heavens open.  He has revealed His glory to us–the glory of a Father’s only Son.

    Today, we begin our preparations to hear the good news of the day when our Savior tore open the heavens and came down.  Today we begin the preparations for the announcement that our Savior has come to earth–not in fire; not in brimstone; but in swaddling clothes and in a manger.  Today we begin our preparations to hear of how God came to earth as a baby, weak and powerless so that our selfish nature is beaten back not by fear but by love.  Amen.

Your Prayers are too Small

    Martin Luther, the namesake of the Lutheran church wrote the following words in his Large Catechism as he explained one of the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.  He writes,

   For just as when the richest and most mighty emperor would bid a poor beggar ask whatever he might desire, and were ready to give great imperial presents, and the fool would beg only for a dish of gruel, he would be rightly considered a rogue and a scoundrel who treated the command of his imperial majesty as a jest and sport, and was not worthy of coming into his presence: so also it is a great reproach and dishonor to God if we, to whom He offers and pledges so many unspeakable treasures, despise the same, or have not the confidence to receive them, but scarcely venture to pray for a piece of bread.

    Now, what is Luther saying here?  Basically, he is saying our prayers are too small.  He’s saying that when we come before the creator of the universe–the one who made the heavens and the earth and who continues to sustain it each and every day–we ask for trifling things.  We are not audacious enough in our prayers to God.  Why so?

    Let’s delve into this by looking at our first lesson from the book of 1 Kings.  In this text, the great king of Israel, David has died and left the kingdom to his son Solomon.  Solomon is very young and unsure of himself.  God speaks to Solomon and basically says, “Ask whatever you want of me.”  Imagine God asking that of you.  Imagine God speaking to you and saying, “Ask what I should give you.”  What would you respond?  What would you say?

    Solomon, being young and unsure of himself in his new position of king gives a rather intriguing response.  He doesn’t ask for wealth or health or that he may defeat Israel’s enemies.  Solomon looks at the daunting task of ruling this kingdom, and he says, “9Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?”   It’s an interesting request if you ask me.  Really interesting.  Why do I find the request so fascinating?

    If you remember back in the garden of Eden when God placed Adam and Eve in it, do you remember which tree they were forbidden to eat from?  Do you remember what the name of that tree was called?  I do.  I remember it vividly.  It was named the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  “For on the day you eat of its fruit, you shall surely die.”  But wanting to be like God, the man and woman ate of the fruit after some prodding by a nasty little serpent, and all hell broke loose.  I find it interesting that thousands of years later, Solomon wants the knowledge of good and evil so that he may discern between them as he governs the people.  Anyone else find this fascinating?

    God is actually rather pleased with this request.  We are told

10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. 13I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. 14If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.”

    All seems well and good, and if we just read this snippet, we might think our prayers should include this petition for wisdom and the discernment of good and evil.  But, as Paul Harvey used to say, now it’s time for the rest of the story.  Solomon started out in fantastic fashion.  He made some very good decisions.  He wrote a couple of the books of the Hebrew Bible–Proverbs and the Song of Solomon.  The Kingdom of Israel grew in power and prestige and wealth.  The discernment thing seemed pretty good.  But then something started to happen.  Solomon began doing some very wise things to help the Kingdom of Israel.  He began marrying quite a few foreign women.  Now, remember, marriages in those days were not for love.  Marriages were arranged for political and power purposes.  I mean, it was very hard to attack another nation when a king’s daughter was married to that other nation’s leader.  Solomon was making very wise decisions for Israel’s future, but it came at a great cost.  Solomon’s wives did not worship the Lord, and Solomon did not require them to.  He build altars to false gods and even worshiped them himself.  What happened to the discernment for good and evil? 

    Just this, Solomon’s request was too small.  It was too limited.  One cannot know and discern good and evil when one’s back is turned from the One who established the difference between good and evil.  Because Solomon turned his back on God, he is seen as a failure as a king despite Israel’s prosperity–and when Solomon died, the kingdom of Israel split apart.  It wasn’t pretty.

    Solomon’s prayer was too small.  He didn’t make a large enough request.  So, what might be a large enough request?  What might be a request befitting the Creator of the universe that doesn’t lead down the same path that Solomon walked?

    Interestingly enough, in the Gospel of John chapter 17, Jesus prays what is called the High Priestly Prayer.  In it, He says the following,

“20 ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

    Now, I want you to think about this for just a moment.  I know for decades pastors like myself have talked about church unity in regards to this prayer.  Church unity is important, but I think there is something much deeper taking place.  “Let them be one as you and I are one.”  What does this mean? 

    Remember, Christians profess God to be the Trinity.  From eternity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have glorified, loved, and honored each other.  From eternity, these three have been in an inseparable divine dance filling each other with love and adoration.  They pour themselves into each other; never becoming empty; always remaining full of love and adoration.  As such, in their relationship, they are complete.  They are full.  They are completely and utterly satisfied, and Jesus prays that His followers may experience the same thing.

    How could such a thing be possible?  Let’s come back to asking God for something in prayer.  What is the most audacious thing we could ever ask for in prayer?  If, as Luther suggests, our prayers are too small, what could we ask for that would give God great honor and be so audacious as to seem over the top?  As I thought about this, it hit me: what if I prayed, God, give me You.  Yes, God, give me You.  I want You.  Nothing else is large enough.  Nothing else could satisfy.  Nothing else could bring comfort and peace and joy and security.  God, give me You!  What do you think God would say to such a request? 

    I’ll tell you what He’d say.  He’d say, “I already have.”

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but so that the world may be saved through Him.  While we were still sinners, God took on flesh and lived among us.  God became incarnate in Jesus and poured out His life for each and every one of us.

    St. Paul puts it this way in the second chapter of the book of Philippians:

    5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.  And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.  9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

    God emptied Himself for you, and He still empties Himself for you.  Each time we receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, we hear the words, “This IS the body of Christ given for you.  This IS the blood of Christ given for you.”  God gives Himself to you!!!  And we are told the Advocate, the Holy Spirit is our constant companion who lives in us and guides us in our daily activities.  God gives Himself to you!!!

    And yet, most of the time, we don’t even realize it.  We don’t realize that God has given Himself to us and delights in giving Himself to us–filling us so that we can pour ourselves out to Him and to each other.  We are constantly asking for health, wealth, healing, protection, peace, happiness, joy, and such things–which are not bad things, but they are too small.  They are bread crumbs compared to the one thing which can bring all of those things and much, much more.  The next time you ask God for something, be audacious.  Ask Him to give Himself to you, and don’t be surprised when you find: He already has, and He always will.  Amen.

The Hardest Sermon

Next Tuesday evening, I will quite possibly be preaching the most difficult sermon I have been called to preach in my years of serving as a pastor.

I do not wish to go into the details at this moment, but if you would, please begin lifting me up in prayer. 

In Defense of Prayer

I have been intrigued by two stories that appeared on CNN.com in the past few days.  Both concerned matters of the spirit.  Both concerned the place of God in human suffering.  Both deserve commentary, much deeper than can be found in the usual comments section on such websites.

Today, I wish to deal with the topic of prayer.

In this CNN article, there are a few people who are criticizing the practice of prayer, both Christian scholars and atheists. 

Pertinent quotes:

"A prayer is supposed to have a consequence for you," said Elizabeth Drescher, a lecturer at Santa Clara University in California. "It's not an act of magic."  ...“It seems to express hope and anxiety, and maybe even helplessness,” Drescher said.  “At the same time, it evokes this strong response from people who see it as a cop-out, a way of claiming some kind of spiritual space that doesn’t actually have any meaning to the people who are posting the meme or the community they are addressing.”

After MTV tweeted that pop stars Beyonce, Rihanna and Katy Perry are sending their prayers to Oklahoma, Gervais responded, “I feel like an idiot now … I only sent money.”

“If all people are doing is praying, it is worthless,” Hemant Mehta, an Illinois math teacher who writes the blog “Friendly Atheist,” told CNN. “If they are praying and donating to the Red Cross, that’s more like it.”

 Why We Pray

First, let's examine the reasons that Christians pray.  Of course, we must root our understanding on prayer in the person of Jesus, and it was he who commanded His followers to pray.  Jesus Himself prayed, and as imitators of Christ, we are called to do the things He did to the best of our ability.

Drescher is correct in her assessment that prayer is supposed to have a consequence for you, but what she believes that consequence is, I am not sure.  What I do know is that prayer, at its best, links a person to God.  During our times of prayer, we do not change God, but God changes us.  Oftentimes during those moments of intense prayer, God is working around in us rearranging our furniture so that we may come to a fuller knowledge of Him and His will for our lives.  This means, we are transformed to produce the fruits of God and His Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, generosity, and self-control.

This process also helps us realize our dependence upon God.  The Prayer of prayers given to us by Jesus guides us into realizing what is most important: seeking God's Kingdom, seeking God's will, seeking heaven on earth, depending upon God for daily sustenance, seeking forgive as we have been forgiven, and seeking deliverance from evil. 

In such a manner, prayer indeed has consequences for our lives including when we pray for others.

It's Not Worthless to Pray for Others

What are the consequences for us when we pray for others?  This question comes to the fore whenever we pray for those involved in natural disasters, are stricken with grief, are diagnosed with illness, cancer, and the like, or who are going through other rough stretches in life.  Is there any value in praying for these folks?  Are there any consequences?  For us?  For them?

First, there are direct consequences for us.  This may seem like a bit of a stretch, but I can assure you, it is not.  Jesus instructed His followers to "pray for  your enemies and bless those who persecute you."

Why engage in such an activity?  From an atheistic point of view, this truly seems inane!  Why pray for someone who actively seeks your harm?  Why pray for someone who stands against what you say and do?

Quite simply, Jesus does not want us to forget our human connection to even our enemies.  Jesus does not want us to dehumanize even those who are persecuting us.  This world is a bed of roses--thorns and all.  We are surrounded by immense beauty and harmony, but there are many thorns which cause hurt and suffering.  One way we as humans cope with suffering is to dehumanize those who suffer and keep them at arm's length.  "I don't know them, so why should I grieve when they hurt?"  Jesus says, "Pray for them because they are human, just like you.  Your heavenly Father cares for them, just like He cares for you.  They deserve your care and concern because they are a part of God's creation, just like you."

But praying for others goes further--much, much further. 

Gervais and Mehta criticize prayer as worthless because it actually does nothing for those affected by tragedy.  They emphasize money over prayer.  This isn't surprising since atheism is inherently materialistic.  Atheism denies the existence of the spiritual--and actually anything that cannot be proven by measurement and reason.  (This presents a bit of a problem since atheism cannot prove the existence of other minds--other bodies, sure, but other minds--big problem.)  The only things that count in regards to such matters is how one deals with material needs.  This is why they make claims that money is more important than prayers.

It is indeed true that prayers cannot rebuild homes.  Prayer cannot provide food and clothing.  Prayers cannot pay for medical bills or funeral arrangements.  But--and this is a very important point--people are much more than these things.  People are much more than material objects.  People have more than material needs.

Again: people have more than material needs.

When we pray for others, we seek healing for their emotional and spiritual needs.  Atheism cannot begin to touch this subject with a 10 foot pole because it has absolutely no capability of measuring the success or failure of such things--emotions, spirit, or prayer.  Here is where Gervais and Mehta become badly mistaken. 

Prayers have an effect.

I cannot tell you the hundreds of times I have heard people say, "I feel the prayers of those around me."  Hey, I've even said the exact same thing.  The prayers of God's people are very effective at bringing healing to one's emotions and spirits.

This means that even those who are not able to financially and materially assist those who undergo tragedy or illness can affect a situation.  They can contribute to the well being of the ENTIRE person, not just one aspect--the material.

Therefore, pray away, my readers.  Pray for those affected by the Oklahoma tornadoes.  Pray for the parents of Sandy Hook elementary.  Pray for mothers and fathers whose children have died.  Pray for those who are experiencing suffering and pain and illness.  Despite what some would say, you are making a difference.