Divine Prayer

 

SERMON

August 07, 2022

Luke 12:32-40

I have been giving prayer a great deal of thought lately. What is the goal of prayer? How does one communicate with God to reach this goal? What does God want to hear from us as we pray? What words will reach him as we implore him to hear us? How will he take action in response to our petitions?

 I know that many of you are asking the same questions. I know because frequently you and I have discussed them, especially in times of crisis. And we St. Simonites are not the only ones asking these questions. Articles and blogs about prayer abound. Friends and family ponder aloud about the value of prayer. I even took a course that focused on what kind of prayer is most popular in today’s complex world.

 With all this reflection, reading, and discussion you might ask – what have you learned. What wisdom can you share with us?

This is what I can tell you – absolutely everyone, everyone in their own way, is yearning to hear God’s voice. We all want to hear God’s affirmation that despite the horrors of today’s tragedies – gun violence, war, natural disasters, and political unrest – that he is with us, that he loves us, that God understands our sufferings, that his love for us is ever present. That God’s love will heal our wounds and bring us – all of us – to a place of peace.

And so, as I sit in the quiet moments of my own attempts at prayer, I hear the words of Mother Teresa. “God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer." Michael Battle calls prayer “divine listening”. Listening is the beginning of prayer. Divine listening. This concept resonates with me. No longer do I view the first step of personal prayer as falling to our knees and engaging without ceasing in a litany of concerns and petitions. No. I now believe that the first steps of prayer are sitting in silence, allowing troubling thoughts and cares fall from our shoulders. Emptying ourselves in order to listen - listen for God to speak to us. Listen for God’s divine love and wisdom to enter our hearts, our minds, and our souls. Emptying ourselves in order to be filled with God’s forgiveness and love. Forgiveness and love that will spill over into the world as we go forth as disciples of Jesus, as children of God.

Of course, this new insight of mine is not unique – many others far more spiritually intelligent than I have come to the same conclusion. Mother Teresa, as quoted above and almost every other spiritual leader one can think of has concluded that prayer is an opening of the heart and mind to God’s Word. "The whole reason we pray is to be united into the vision and contemplation of the God to whom we pray," writes Julian of Norwich.

“To be united into the vision and contemplation of the God to whom we pray.” An incredibly powerful insight into the purpose of prayer.

Julian’s words urge us to pray not out of self-interest, but out of our desire to be united with God and his vision of us and for us. We, like the servants in Jesus’ parable who wait for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so they might open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks, must be dressed for action. Our lamps must be lit. We must be prepared through our divine listening to hear what God intends for us. Without such listening we will never be in a position to receive an answer to our cry for help. Our cry for direction. Our cry for peace. Without such listening we will fail to hear God’s call to us; God’s call for us.

And what is God’s call for us? I am quite sure that it is to love. To love ourselves and our neighbors as God loves us. To understand in the deepest part of our heart and soul that we are all – all - God’s beloved children. And perhaps most importantly to see clearly – so very clearly – the reality that while God loves us equally, he created us differently precisely so that in our difference we would realize our need each other. God’s call for us now is the same as it has been from the beginning of time. God’s call for us is to love one another as he loves us and to together, neighbor with neighbor, interdependently, to love and care for his beloved creation.

Jesus delivers this message repeatedly in almost all of his parables. Today in the brief passage from Luke that I just read, Jesus informs us that God expects us not only to be dressed for action, but also to sell our possessions and give alms. But let’s be clear, in this passage Jesus is not advocating handing over some small sum of money to those whom we perceive to be in need. No, he demands much more – much, much more. Jesus’ brand of almsgiving is a sacramental act of love; a way of expressing true and complete solidarity with others. Jesus is referring to sharing power and advantage with all God’s children. He is referring to becoming truly interdependent with the “other.” He is referring to the creation of a harmony of love and forgiveness among all despite our differences; a harmony that brings peace to God’s Creation. A peace that Creation yearns to experience in this time of fragmentation and divisiveness.  It is through this sort of almsgiving that God becomes present to all.

Listening for God, loving our neighbor, and giving alms to the needy at first glance may sound quite simple. Easy you say, “that is what I do every day.” But is it so easy?

Do we really listen – listen - for God’s call. Are we really in touch with God? Do we truly hear what he is calling us to do? What if we don’t like what we hear? Do we like the neighbors in the parable of the Good Samaritan block out, pass by, totally ignore what we don’t want to hear, see, or do? Do we understand that God’s commandment is to seek out the neighbor who needs our love, not the neighbor we choose to love?

Listening to and hearing God’s commandments can be disruptive to our lives. It can, and should, cause us discomfort. What happens when we hear what we don’t want to hear. Do we heed God’s call, whatever that might be, or do we pass God by and continue to respond to our call for ourselves?

Jesus sets the path for us. Time and again he finds ways to inform us of how we can and must respond to God’s call. His journey to Jerusalem and to the cross leaves no doubt in our minds; answering God’s call takes careful listening, courage, diligence, strength, and faith. If in our prayer life we ask God for anything at all we should be asking him to gift us with those characteristics. We should be asking him to prepare us, with lanterns lit, for the challenging work of discipleship in all aspects of our lives. Today’s collect sums it up so beautifully. Pease pray with me:

 “Grant to us, Lord, the spirit to think and to do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will.” AMEN

The wolf shall live with the lamb,

The leopard shall lay down with the kid,

the calf and the lion and the fatling together;

and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze,

Their young shall lie down together,

And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

(Isa. 11: 6, 7)