Each time we
meet together, we all say the Lord's Prayer, just as Jesus taught. In the NRSV version of the Bible, the word "pray"
is mentioned 516 times, with 156 of those coming from the New Testament, and 55
times are mentioned in the Gospels.
There are six different Greek words for the word pray, so numbers change
from there as well. Prayer is an
important activity that we don't really focus on very well.
In Mark
(6:7-8), Christ told us, "When you are praying, do not heap up empty
phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of
their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need
before you ask him."
Throughout the
New Testament, we are often told that Jesus is praying, and occasionally we'll
hear a line or two, generally thanking God.
But today's Gospel lesson in John is both from an entire chapter where we
hear Jesus praying, and is an example of intercessory prayer. Intercession is when someone prays on behalf
of someone else.
How often
within a week do you have people ask you – would you pray for X, Y, or Z? And it might be for a person who's ill, or a
situation someone is in and could use prayers.
You'll note that in quite a large number of the prayers we say, we end
with "In Jesus' name" or some variation of that. Why do we do that? We're well aware that we can pray directly to
God, but why do we often ask for someone's help?
We have many
in our congregation who come from a more Protestant background, and when the Reformation
occurred, the Protestant churches wanted to throw out anything that smacked of
Catholicism. The Episcopal Church, on
the other hand, still recognizes the saints and continues to add to the list of
those people who have passed, who have achieved extraordinary things in life, seem
to be rather righteous and holy, and often ask for intercession by these
people, hoping that their own holiness will sort of clean things up to be a
better prayer to God. We know that God
will take all our prayers, for ourselves, and as we intercede on behalf of
others. God, being outside of time,
knows what we need, what the answer is, and is ready for us to talk with Him.
Dr. Helen
Roseveare, missionary to Zaire, told the following story. "A mother at our
mission station died after giving birth to a premature baby. We tried to
improvise an incubator to keep the infant alive, but the only hot water bottle
we had was beyond repair. So we asked the children to pray for the baby and for
her sister. One of the girls responded. 'Dear God, please send a hot water
bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late because by then the baby will be dead.
And dear Lord, send a doll for the sister so she won't feel so lonely.' That
afternoon a large package arrived from England. The children watched eagerly as
we opened it. Much to their surprise, under some clothing was a hot water
bottle! Immediately the girl who had prayed so earnestly started to dig deeper,
exclaiming, 'If God sent that, I'm sure He also sent a doll!' And she was
right! The heavenly Father knew in advance of that child's sincere requests,
and five months earlier He had led a ladies' group to include both of those
specific articles."
Today's Gospel
addresses the unity of all who pray – "I ask not only on behalf of these,
but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that
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." This entire chapter in John is Jesus praying for us.
He's not just asking for His disciples, but also for all who come to believe in Him. Jesus lived here with us, taking Himself out
of the timelessness of God and subjecting Himself to time until He was ready to rejoin the Father. But because He was aware that His disciples
would not only be those who followed Him during His Earthly ministry, but also
of those who would follow Him, He prayed for us all!
When Jesus
looks at people, He doesn't see us as isolated individuals. He recognizes us as persons, certainly, but
as persons in community with one another.
He doesn't see us as apart from each other. His vision is that we are one.
We're not
talking here about uniformity, reducing everybody to a dull and flat
sameness. Instead, the differences are
to be barriers no longer. The diversity
is not a cause for antagonism. It is to
be revealed as what it is: an enrichment for everybody.
But this
oneness is still something that we have to address on a daily basis, to
intercede – both in our prayers to God, and in our own society, where we might
see barriers to that oneness. Are people
in today’s world sometimes divided by their ethnicity? Not their culture, which should certainly be
celebrated, but simply the color of their skin, the clothing that they
wear. Justice for all, while said in our
pledge of allegiance to the flag of our own country, doesn't differentiate as
to who "all" is.
Are people in
today’s world divided by social class?
Have you looked at the research about the gaps between rich and poor, local
schools based on where they are, transportation being available to those
traveling for work?
Are people in today’s
world divided by gender? Even in today's society, in a
"civilized" country where our laws indicate equality, there's still a
wage gap, a glass ceiling, and prejudice toward women who work outside the home
when they have children, and more when they choose to work at home to raise
their children, even from other women.
Justice for gender divides is a challenge.
Jesus praying
in the Upper Room that his disciples may be one
is challenging business, and sometimes dangerous. No wonder He gets nailed to a cross. St. Paul delegitimizing the prejudices of the
ancient world, when he says in a letter to the Galatians, in Christ there is "neither
Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free man, neither male nor female; for you are
all one”, is a challenging and dangerous business. No wonder his head was cut off. Peter made it clear that all were children of
God and created by God, being of one body.
That challenging and dangerous concept found him crucified upside down.
Today’s Church
recognizing how Jesus sees us as one, and rejecting all barriers, old and new,
that prevent unity in Christ: this too can be challenging and dangerous
business. But what that means is that we're
challenging somebody’s arrogance, the belief that this person is better than
that person for whatever reason, often including our own.
When we pray
for others, when we intercede on their behalf, or when they intercede on ours,
we work to unite as one body in Christ.
Our prayers, said by ourselves, and those where we have asked for help, for
the intercession of others, are all heard, no matter how challenging or
dangerous they might be.
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