Let us pray: God of faith, God of hope, God of Love, we come before you this evening in a way in which we do not normally worship you. Keep our ears, eyes and hearts open to your message for each and every one of us, that we might grow closer to you, and to our neighbor next to us. In Jesus name we pray.
This is a unique service for many Christians to attend. Unity in worship is a concept in which we sometimes pay lip service to, yet we rarely do things as a community of believers which makes a large impact on the rest of those around us. Luckily, today in the little town of Riverside, we have at least 5 major faith communities which have enough sense to come together, put aside our normal style of worship and join in praise and adoration of a loving God.
I need everyone here today to do me a favor. You see, I am still a seminary student and because of that, there is always a little bit of fear in ordained clergy that I might get too heretical in what I preach. So I need you to watch all the clergy up front here to see if they nod in agreement with my theological statement or if they hang their heads in disgust.
God does not change. God is the same forever and ever. From the Alpha to the Omega. God is immovable, steadfast, and without end. Our God is eternal, from everlasting to everlasting.
Ok, give me a thumbs up if they seemed to be in agreement, a thumbs down if they were disgusted, or a wavy hand to let me know if they tried to appear as stoic as possible. Ok thank you. I wanted to get the theological test out of the way so we could get to the theme of today’s service.
Pray without ceasing.
There are so many ways to view this passage. We can view this passage as a way in which we attempt to make everything we do a prayer, to try and see through God’s eyes every moment. Some might view this passage and think they need to become a priest or monk or a nun and spend their day worshipping God. Or perhaps you try to pray without ceasing by noticing the holy in everything. Be it seeing Jesus in the homeless person on the street or the dandelion growing up in the cracks of a sidewalk.
There is another way to pray without ceasing. There are many groups who hold 24/7 prayer watches. My own denomination did it for 100 years in Germany, and only stopped because of war. In fact, there is a group in England which heard of the Moravian 100 years of continuous prayer and decided to start one of their own, which was great, except for the fact that when he started advertising it, he would mention that our denomination had died, because he assumed once we stopped praying, we no longer existed.
While both of these are good ways to improve your prayer life, I’m not terribly concerned with them on this day of unity. Remember how I stated earlier that God doesn’t change. That is still true, but our God is all about change, and that vehicle of change is prayer. When we pray, we are asking for a change in the way things are! and we are asking for things to change in a way which we know we cannot do on our own. When we pray, we are saying that we know our own knowledge about the situation is limited and we need the help of the Holy Spirit to change us, to change the situation, to change others thoughts, to interact with the world in such a way that God’s will is made manifest. Paul’s challenge, in my view, to always be joyful, to pray without ceasing, to give thanks in all circumstances, as it is Gods will for us in Christ Jesus is a challenge for us to seek change and to be followers of that change, no matter where it takes us in life.
Prayer as agent of change is probably not something most of us think about when we gather at a service for Christian unity. Change tends to create disunity rather than bringing God’s people together. Normally when we think of change, we create groups which separate us. I’m sure that most of us can recall a time in our churches where change has caused one group to be upset with another, or has two groups to form a third group who didn’t like either option. An experience of change creates both unity and disunity.
The question we must ask ourselves, as a diverse group of believers in Jesus Christ, is, if it is our experiences which create both unity and disunity, what then can we seek which only promotes unity? The answer, I believe, comes from one of my favourite theologians.
Deitrich Bonhoeffer says that it is not experience that binds us together, but faith.[1] He continues by saying “God has acted and wants to act upon us all, this we see in faith as God’s greatest gift, this makes us glad and happy, but it also makes us ready to forego all such experiences when God at times does not grant them.”[2]
The gospel lesson we read today reinforces this fact. When Jesus is praying for all believers, it is not that they will all have the same experience, but that all who believe, all who have faith, will be one. If, then, it is faith that is to be the theme of our prayer of change, we must seek Gods will with the knowledge that we will receive an answer which might differ from everything our previous experience has led us to believe.
To me, this is an exciting concept. There is beauty in the uncertainty of how God will respond to our prayer. We must always be in prayer in order that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven, with the knowledge that most of the time, that prayer means we must change our own ways in order to be in line with God’s plan. It started with Abraham, whom God asked to change everything he ever knew, to leave his country in order to bless the generations which would follow him. It continued when Jesus called his disciples, some were fishing in their boats, others were collecting taxes, but when Jesus called, they changed what they thought they would be doing for the rest of their life to follow. John 17 is Jesus’ final prayer for his followers, he prays for change in our hearts, that God will be in us as God is in Christ… the only thing left for us to do is continue to ask for that change.
Let us close in prayer: Eternal God, we share a long history and living witness with many who are like us and many more who are not. Help us to recognize our brothers and sisters and the countless ways which you bless us all. Change our hearts to your will. Give us hands and feet which will gladly become callused because of our faith in your wisdom. Sharpen our eyes to see need in our neighbor. Make us delighted listeners of the stories of your majesty. And above all, continue to be steadfast in patience, as so often we fail to do these things which we ask for. In Jesus name, Amen.
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer. “Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community.” Translated by John W. Doberstein. Harper & Row Publishers. 1954. Pg 39.
[2] Ibid
Showing posts with label Pray without ceasing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pray without ceasing. Show all posts
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Unity Sermon
The following sermon is being entered into a contest after I brush it up a little bit.
Each denomination does or did something particularly well. In my studies at seminary, I have come to realize that Methodists are great at revival, Baptists are extremely familiar with the bible, and Pentecostals are well known for their manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The denomination that I belong to, the Moravians, are known for their mission movement that started in the late 1720’s. Over the next half century, missionaries were sent from Germany to remote parts of the world like South Africa, Nicaragua, Labrador, and the Caribbean Islands. I could tell you the whole mission movement story, but I’m really not concerned about that this morning. I want to tell you the story behind the Moravian mission movement, and it fits perfectly with the Scripture theme for today.
What exactly does it mean to pray without ceasing? I looked for direction from a number of biblical scholars, theologians, pastors and lay people. Almost every single one said that the reality of prayer without ceasing was impossible. We have to sleep, we have to work, we have to do the things that need to get done in order to live our lives…that is our reality. We cannot pray without ceasing! Because of that impossibility, the great thinkers of our time, or at least the people who have enough time to write things down, say that we do our best to live prayerful lives. When we love our neighbor as our self, when we are feeding the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and those in prison, that is when we are praying without ceasing, even when we sleep. I must tell you, that for quite a long time in my life, I really thought that this was true, if I could just give my life over to God’s mission work, then I could achieve a life that kept me connected to God every hour of every day. God would be so happy because I was doing everything that was asked of me and thus I would live a great life. I would meet a wonderful woman to share my life with, have two and a half great kids, and maybe even win the lottery, if God really wanted me to. Heck, I’d even give more than 10% of those winnings to the church.
There is another school of thought on how to pray without ceasing. It’s a literal way of thinking, and that we utter prayers to God through our whole day, which is only possible if we were living in a monastery or living out in the woods by ourselves. The problem then is that we have no Christian community or Christian mission. We take the idea of praying every moment we are awake so far that we neglect our duties as servants of Christ.
So far, these ideas haven’t met my ideal for what I think pray without ceasing ought to look like, and I hope that they don’t satisfy you either. I think the answer lays a long way back at the beginning of the Moravian mission movement. Those people living in Germany did something that most of us might find impossible to believe. The community of Christians there prayed without ceasing for over 100 years, stopping only because of the First World War. It started with about 48 people, most likely 24 men and 24 women. Two men or two women would go into a room together for an hour and pray. They had personal prayers, prayers from the community, prayers for the world, for those who were sick, for their leaders, for people who had yet to encounter God, and for everything else they could think of. Over the course of time, the number of people praying increased, but the fact of the matter is that the community never stopped their prayer to God and because that community lived the scripture, amazing things happened, things that could not have happened if it weren’t for the power of prayer.
Now, there is a very important person missing from the story I just told you. I doubt that many of you know much about him, he isn’t one that history seems to look favorably upon. In fact, one of the most under-rated lessons that I ever learned in all my years of school is that history is written by the winners in life. The man that is missing from the story which takes place in Germany lost a battle just 60 miles from here. You have all probably heard of the winner, and his name is Heinrich Muhlenberg. Towns, hospitals and schools have been named after him, but nothing is named for the loser, Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf.
Prior to my research about the fight that these two gentlemen had, I only knew the story from the losing point of view. When I read up on what Muhlenberg and others had to say about Zinzendorf, I realized that the reason Zinzendorf lost was not due to what he was fighting for, but more the way in which he went about it. Since Zinzendorf was a nobleman, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that he was probably a bit snobby, stubborn, and intimidating man who didn’t realize that the fact that he was of noble birth meant absolutely squat on this side of the Atlantic. It seemed that Muhlenberg just wanted to argue for the pure sense of arguing, and it would appear that the Count really wasn’t too interested in winning the argument that day, and decided to drop the issue.
What is that issue? It is the same issue gathers us here today. Christian Unity! You see, back in Germany, that small group of people who started praying 24 hours a day had now been praying for about 15 years straight. With the knowledge that God was working through those Moravians in prayer, Zinzendorf had come to Pennsylvania with the intent of uniting the many different denominations into the broader banner of Christianity. That movement failed. Pennsylvania was supposed to be a place where any religious group could come and find freedom to practice, why then would they want to lose the things that make them unique? Now, I’m not saying that if Zinzendorf had won that verbal argument, we would no longer have denominations today and I don’t think that Muhlenberg was against Christian unity. What I am saying is that these two men’s personalities and ideas about the future of the church made them to be enemies.
I only tell you that story because in this gathering of Christians today, I see something different. I see a desire for unity between Christians, a desire for a bond that says our differences are less than our hope. Our hope to live out the mission of Jesus Christ. Our hope to worship God together, not as Lutherans, Episcopals, Pentecostals, Methodists, or Baptists, but to unite as Christians. Our hope not to be known for our differences in theology, but to be known as Christians by our love. (PAUSE)
Brothers and sisters, the question we must then ask ourselves is how important is prayer in the interfaith community? Do you pray for one thing while the person next to you prays for something completely different? Do you pray in hope that the person next to you might be praying the same thing? It is my belief that individual prayer is not enough, just as prayer in the midst of our worship gatherings is not enough. We need to pray without ceasing as a community, we need to place our collective hopes and fears at the alter of the Lord in prayer.
Now, I don’t know how many of you know this, but I have asked some of the leaders of this group to find a number of people to begin 24 hours of prayer for this community and for the future that this ecumenical group might have. My hope is that this group here today can turn those 24 hours of prayer into a full week. There will be a sign up sheet in the back of the sanctuary. See what happens when you put your prayer life on the line, see what happens when the community spends all their time with God.
As the choir sings our last hymn, if you so desire, I ask that you come forward, take a stone from the ushers up front, and lay it down on top of mine. Let us build join together as Christians and build an alter to God in the name of our risen Lord and Savior. Then I will open in prayer, and as the spirit moves, we will share our prayers with each other and with God. Let us to begin a prayer that will continue on for a full week, and let our lives be open to the work that Holy Spirit will lead us towards. Amen.
Each denomination does or did something particularly well. In my studies at seminary, I have come to realize that Methodists are great at revival, Baptists are extremely familiar with the bible, and Pentecostals are well known for their manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The denomination that I belong to, the Moravians, are known for their mission movement that started in the late 1720’s. Over the next half century, missionaries were sent from Germany to remote parts of the world like South Africa, Nicaragua, Labrador, and the Caribbean Islands. I could tell you the whole mission movement story, but I’m really not concerned about that this morning. I want to tell you the story behind the Moravian mission movement, and it fits perfectly with the Scripture theme for today.
What exactly does it mean to pray without ceasing? I looked for direction from a number of biblical scholars, theologians, pastors and lay people. Almost every single one said that the reality of prayer without ceasing was impossible. We have to sleep, we have to work, we have to do the things that need to get done in order to live our lives…that is our reality. We cannot pray without ceasing! Because of that impossibility, the great thinkers of our time, or at least the people who have enough time to write things down, say that we do our best to live prayerful lives. When we love our neighbor as our self, when we are feeding the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and those in prison, that is when we are praying without ceasing, even when we sleep. I must tell you, that for quite a long time in my life, I really thought that this was true, if I could just give my life over to God’s mission work, then I could achieve a life that kept me connected to God every hour of every day. God would be so happy because I was doing everything that was asked of me and thus I would live a great life. I would meet a wonderful woman to share my life with, have two and a half great kids, and maybe even win the lottery, if God really wanted me to. Heck, I’d even give more than 10% of those winnings to the church.
There is another school of thought on how to pray without ceasing. It’s a literal way of thinking, and that we utter prayers to God through our whole day, which is only possible if we were living in a monastery or living out in the woods by ourselves. The problem then is that we have no Christian community or Christian mission. We take the idea of praying every moment we are awake so far that we neglect our duties as servants of Christ.
So far, these ideas haven’t met my ideal for what I think pray without ceasing ought to look like, and I hope that they don’t satisfy you either. I think the answer lays a long way back at the beginning of the Moravian mission movement. Those people living in Germany did something that most of us might find impossible to believe. The community of Christians there prayed without ceasing for over 100 years, stopping only because of the First World War. It started with about 48 people, most likely 24 men and 24 women. Two men or two women would go into a room together for an hour and pray. They had personal prayers, prayers from the community, prayers for the world, for those who were sick, for their leaders, for people who had yet to encounter God, and for everything else they could think of. Over the course of time, the number of people praying increased, but the fact of the matter is that the community never stopped their prayer to God and because that community lived the scripture, amazing things happened, things that could not have happened if it weren’t for the power of prayer.
Now, there is a very important person missing from the story I just told you. I doubt that many of you know much about him, he isn’t one that history seems to look favorably upon. In fact, one of the most under-rated lessons that I ever learned in all my years of school is that history is written by the winners in life. The man that is missing from the story which takes place in Germany lost a battle just 60 miles from here. You have all probably heard of the winner, and his name is Heinrich Muhlenberg. Towns, hospitals and schools have been named after him, but nothing is named for the loser, Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf.
Prior to my research about the fight that these two gentlemen had, I only knew the story from the losing point of view. When I read up on what Muhlenberg and others had to say about Zinzendorf, I realized that the reason Zinzendorf lost was not due to what he was fighting for, but more the way in which he went about it. Since Zinzendorf was a nobleman, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that he was probably a bit snobby, stubborn, and intimidating man who didn’t realize that the fact that he was of noble birth meant absolutely squat on this side of the Atlantic. It seemed that Muhlenberg just wanted to argue for the pure sense of arguing, and it would appear that the Count really wasn’t too interested in winning the argument that day, and decided to drop the issue.
What is that issue? It is the same issue gathers us here today. Christian Unity! You see, back in Germany, that small group of people who started praying 24 hours a day had now been praying for about 15 years straight. With the knowledge that God was working through those Moravians in prayer, Zinzendorf had come to Pennsylvania with the intent of uniting the many different denominations into the broader banner of Christianity. That movement failed. Pennsylvania was supposed to be a place where any religious group could come and find freedom to practice, why then would they want to lose the things that make them unique? Now, I’m not saying that if Zinzendorf had won that verbal argument, we would no longer have denominations today and I don’t think that Muhlenberg was against Christian unity. What I am saying is that these two men’s personalities and ideas about the future of the church made them to be enemies.
I only tell you that story because in this gathering of Christians today, I see something different. I see a desire for unity between Christians, a desire for a bond that says our differences are less than our hope. Our hope to live out the mission of Jesus Christ. Our hope to worship God together, not as Lutherans, Episcopals, Pentecostals, Methodists, or Baptists, but to unite as Christians. Our hope not to be known for our differences in theology, but to be known as Christians by our love. (PAUSE)
Brothers and sisters, the question we must then ask ourselves is how important is prayer in the interfaith community? Do you pray for one thing while the person next to you prays for something completely different? Do you pray in hope that the person next to you might be praying the same thing? It is my belief that individual prayer is not enough, just as prayer in the midst of our worship gatherings is not enough. We need to pray without ceasing as a community, we need to place our collective hopes and fears at the alter of the Lord in prayer.
Now, I don’t know how many of you know this, but I have asked some of the leaders of this group to find a number of people to begin 24 hours of prayer for this community and for the future that this ecumenical group might have. My hope is that this group here today can turn those 24 hours of prayer into a full week. There will be a sign up sheet in the back of the sanctuary. See what happens when you put your prayer life on the line, see what happens when the community spends all their time with God.
As the choir sings our last hymn, if you so desire, I ask that you come forward, take a stone from the ushers up front, and lay it down on top of mine. Let us build join together as Christians and build an alter to God in the name of our risen Lord and Savior. Then I will open in prayer, and as the spirit moves, we will share our prayers with each other and with God. Let us to begin a prayer that will continue on for a full week, and let our lives be open to the work that Holy Spirit will lead us towards. Amen.
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