Friday, January 24, 2014

Contemplative Prayer


Sermon manuscript for Green Lake Church
For Sabbath, February 1, 2014

Scripture Readings for the service:  
1 Kings 19:9b – 13.
Revelation 1:4-6.




Visual:  On the stage I will have my prayer stool and the large black plastic flower pot I use as a table. On the “table” are my thermos and cup and a bowl with two cookies. 

Sermon

Thursday morning at six o'clock the sky was thick with fog. I sat on my stool out behind our house, poured myself a cup of mint tea, then settled back to spend some special time with God.

Except for the weather, it's pretty much the same every morning. I sit with God for awhile, savoring his presence and favor. I am not begging. I am not asking for anything. I simply sit and direct my mind toward God.

To help focus my mind I recite a couple of words that featured prominently in our scripture reading,

“Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and ruler of the kings of the earth. Revelation 1:4.

Grace and peace. Grace to you and peace. From God.

Some years ago as I was reading through the book of Revelation, these words at the beginning of the book triggered my memory. Where else had I read those words? I checked and discovered that the Apostle Paul uses these words as a prayer of blessing at the beginning of every one of his epistles. The prayer also appears at the beginning of both epistles of Peter and in the second epistle of John.

It is a quintessential Christian prayer. An expression of confidence and desire.

The central conviction of the Christian Church is that when God looks our direction, he regards us with favor and affection. He is working for our well-being. The deepest desire of the Christian Church is that every person would taste the sweetness of this truth. The conviction that God is kindly and competent forms the foundation of Christian teaching about prayer. We pray because God cares about our situation, and he is eager to act on our behalf.

One way to understand prayer is to imagine it as the natural asking of kids in a healthy family. This is the picture Jesus used when he gave his disciples a model prayer.


Our Father which art in heaven.

Daddy, I'm thirsty. I'm hungry. I'm tired. In a healthy, happy domestic setting, this kind of requesting is the most natural thing imaginable. Kids ask. Dads respond. Of course. Dad, can I borrow the car? Dad can you help me out with tuition this next quarter?

This natural asking by kids extends to aunts and uncles and teachers. When I was a kid, if I was at my cousin's house and I needed something, it would have never occurred to me to be reticent about asking. I knew instinctively that my aunts cared for me. I did not spend time pondering what my aunts thought of me. I simply knew that when I was with them I was in good hands. I would be taken care of. And if I needed something, I asked.

This is the picture Jesus painted for us in his teaching about prayer here in Matthew.

The entire prayer as Jesus gave it:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13 KJV).

It's a list of simple, straightforward requests. Elsewhere in the chapter, Jesus adds details to the picture of “Father” he uses to begin the prayer. “Our Father.” What kind of father is this? It's a good father. A competent father. A responsive father.

According to Jesus:

There is no need to make a show of your prayers because your Father is always paying attention. He observes your most secret prayers and will respond.

Your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask and he will respond compassionately to your need.

It doesn't make sense to fret about clothes or food. Why? Well, just look at how your Father in heaven provides for the birds and flowers. If he takes good care of the birds and flowers, certainly he will take care of you, because you matter MORE to him than they do.

In all of these passages, Jesus invites his listeners to imagine themselves as beloved children. When you're a kid, if you have a good father, you have confidence in the ability and willingness of your father to provide. So pray with confidence. God is a good father.


But what if your father was not perfect? What if your father or mother or aunt or uncle was abusive? How then are we to imagine God? Or what if your parents are/were good people but you never felt you quite measured up, you never knew quite where you stood?

What then? What image can talk to your heart about the grace of God? How are you to imagine God's favor, God's affection, God's happiness in responding to you?

In the next chapter of Matthew (chapter 7), Jesus comes back to the topic of prayer and switches metaphors. All through chapter 6, Jesus has his listeners imagining themselves as children. Jesus invites them as dearly loved children to have confidence in God, their heavenly Father.

Here in chapter 7, Jesus has his listeners look at themselves as parents.

Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. Everyone who asks receives. The person who seeks finds. And to him who knocks the door will be opened. Consider: who in this whole crowd, if his son asked his for bread would give him a stone? If that is how it is with you sinful people, if even you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him (Matthew 7:11 NLT).

No matter how complicated your relationship with your parents is, when it comes to what you feel for your own kids, it becomes powerfully simple: You would do anything for them. You love them. When they are sick. When they make horrible mistakes. When they ignore you. When they disappoint you. Still, there are yours. And, in a way they can never fully know, you are theirs. They own a piece of your heart they cannot give back even if they tried to.

Jesus invited his listeners to contemplate their own instincts and commitments as parents. “Look into your own hearts as parents. What do you expect of yourself? Now, let me ask you a question, 'Do you really think you are more generous than God? Are you more merciful, more gracious than God?”

Asking this question invites into the practice of contemplative prayer.

Contemplative prayer is prayer that deliberately nourishes our awareness of the generosity and goodness of God.

When I sit on my stool in the morning and recite the prayer, “grace and peace,” I am basking in the sunshine of God's presence and favor. (In preparing this sermon I read these words in a comment by Debbonnaire Kovaks.) I am savoring God's goodness. I am not asking for God's grace in the sense of a thirsty person asking for a drink. I am not asking for grace in the sense that a person in pain asks for medicine. I recite these words as an affirmation of the favor I have already received.

I live in God's grace. I live in God's peace. In the morning when I sit on my stool in God's presence, I am enjoying God's smile. God is pleased with me.

I don't imagine that I have accomplished something and “earned” God's favor. I don't tell myself, “God is lucky to have a kid like me.” Rather, I simply enjoy the fact: God is pleased with me.

After I've spent ten to twenty minutes God's grace and peace, I then begin to think of others. And I welcome God's grace and peace into their lives as well. In this part of prayer, there is more asking, longing, hunger.

I pray for my family, bringing each one to mind, and asking God to touch their lives with his grace and peace.

I think of specific individuals in this congregation. Whoever God brings to my mind.

I pray for clergy who have prominent positions in the denomination.

I pray for media figures, especially the angry ones, inviting God's grace and peace into their lives.

I pray for politicians, wrapping them in the beautiful light of heaven's peace.

My prayers are not usually very specific. Most of the time I don't ask God to do exactly that or this. Rather, most of the time, I simply invite God's grace and peace into their lives.

After doing this for years, I think differently about people. I don't get angry as readily. Of course, I am aware that people misbehave. People make mistakes. People do bad things and harm others. But when these people come to mind in prayer, I find myself sitting with God grieving over the brokenness of his children – my brothers and sisters. Both the wounded ones and those who are doing the wounding are precious to him. And to me.

When I consider people who live with severe limitations, I try to enter the Mother-heart of God, and know God's special affection for the vulnerable and disabled.

And when I consider people with great minds, and ambition and drive, I dream with God of what they could do make the world a more beautiful place. I ask God to befriend them and make them instruments of his peace.

In the youth class, Andreas and Troy and Brian are leading a study of the kingdom of God as described in the Gospel of Mark. What would the world look like if God had his way without interference? What if grace and peace moved beyond the words of our prayer and became a description of our world? How fantastic would that be? What can we do to cooperate with God in pursuit of that vision? How can we serve as agents of grace and peace?

As we move through this year, I invite you to consider again the practice of prayer. Not all of us can sit on stools in the backyard. The demands of children and the care of parents can make quiet time nearly impossible to find. Paying the rent and earning money for groceries can take more than all of our time. Even the needs of our bodies and or the limitations of our minds may interfere with the regular practice of prayer.

Still I invite you to consider prayer, especially prayer rooted in the contemplation of the grace of God. My dream for us as a congregation is that we will be ever fuller of God's grace. And that God's grace would overflow and touch those around us with peace.



Friday, January 3, 2014

All Creatures of Our God and King

Sermon manuscript for Green Lake Church
Sabbath, January 4, 2014
We will share the Lord's Supper following the sermon.


Bible Readings for the day:
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!
Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light!
Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.
He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away.
Praise the LORD from the earth, You great sea creatures and all the depths;
Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
Mountains and all hills; Fruitful trees and all cedars;
Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying fowl;
Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth;
Both young men and maidens; Old men and children.
Let them praise the name of the LORD, For His name alone is exalted; His glory [is] above the earth and heaven. . . .
Praise the LORD!
Psalm 148. NKJV


What is the price of two sparrows--one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31. NLT

Morning Hymn

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam!
Refrain
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice!
Refrain
Thou flowing water, pure and clear,
Make music for thy Lord to hear,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou fire so masterful and bright,
That givest man both warmth and light.
Refrain
Dear mother earth, who day by day
Unfoldest blessings on our way,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
The flowers and fruits that in thee grow,
Let them His glory also show.
Refrain
And all ye men of tender heart,
Forgiving others, take your part,
O sing ye! Alleluia!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,
Praise God and on Him cast your care!
And thou most kind and gentle Death,
Waiting to hush our latest breath,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou leadest home the child of God,
And Christ our Lord the way hath trod.
Refrain
Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!
Refrain

Sermon

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!


Last Sunday Karin and I and kids and kids-in-law went to Paradise (not the afterlife, but the site on the south side of Mt. Rainier). It was a glorious day—blue sky, sunshine, no wind. Our six-month-old granddaughter was along. We snow shoed up to a high point with grand views to the south and west and shared lunch and hot chocolate together.

It was perfect.

Sometimes during pauses in our conversation we could hear sounds floating upward from the parking area and sledding hill. Laughter, squeals, the voices of kids and parents melding together across the distance. I walked away from our lunch site for a few minutes so I could fully enjoy the hymn—human creatures creating a bubbling, cheery sound track for the beauty of the place.

When we're surrounded by glorious scenery, it's easy to get caught up in the elation. It's not too hard to imagine all creation singing.

 The hymn writer, Francis of Assisi, captures this natural joy. He imagines himself singing, and his community singing, and the whole world singing. I can almost see him glancing around, looking for more voices to add to the choir. You and you, and you, too, lift up your voice and sing. We are having too much fun to keep it to ourselves. Sing alleluia with us!

At the heart of our faith is the conviction that the universe is suffused with joy. We come together in worship to taste together this truth. It lies at the heart of our singing.

The words of Francis' hymn echo the language of the Psalms. They find their ultimate expression in the visions of Revelation 4 and 5. There John pictures Paradise as a place of endless ecstasy. Joy enraptures every creature. The entire creation participates in a thunderous hallelujah chorus.

Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty--the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come."

I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered--to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing."
And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the one sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever.” Revelation 4:8; 5:11-13.

When we sing together we are rehearsing for Paradise. We are tasting already the essence of God's vision for the future and his preference for now—endless joy.

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Come sing with us. Taste the joy that is found in singing Alleluia.

Today we will share together the Lord's Supper. We will eat little bits of bread and taste tiny cups of grape juice. As we eat and drink together, we remember Jesus. And we are glad.

We are glad that Jesus valued serving his friends more than life itself. We are the descendants of those friends and carry the same value for Jesus the first disciples did. Our life and hope and confidence is rooted in the story of Jesus who deliberately chose death that others could live—that we could live.
One of the inescapable implications of Jesus' death is that Jesus regarded his followers—and that includes us—as valuable as himself. We can take this a step further as Christians. God regards you as valuable as Jesus. Or to put it the other way around: Jesus is not more valuable than you. Not to God, anyway.

That's worth singing about. You are precious. Remember that when you place the ceremonial piece of bread in your mouth. Remember that when you sip from the ceremonial cup. If God allowed Jesus to die for you, then the necessary implication is that God regards that as a fair trade—Jesus for you. You are worth as much as Jesus—in the eyes of God.

The Lords' Supper invites us into another mystery—God with us.

Just as the bread and grape juice enter us, become us, and are translated into our actions, so Jesus, the Divine Son of God is in us. His life becomes our life. His life is translated into our actions.

Finally, sharing together this ceremonial meal reminds us of the preciousness of communion with the Risen Jesus. As Jesus enjoyed sharing table fellowship with his disciples, so God enjoys communion with humans today.This is the ultimate secret of our faith.

It is certainly true that Jesus calls us to a radical ethical vision. He calls us to cooperate with God in tending the world, in mending the world. We need to feed the hungry, share our extra shirts, heal the sick, bring relief and new hope to the oppressed. These are glorious duties, exalted responsibilities, difficult callings. They deserve our energy and wisdom. Yes!

Jesus also modeled and taught communion with God.

Jesus knew he was not carrying the weight of his ministry alone. He was working with God. When Jesus spent hours in prayer, he came away from his praying with a renewed sense of partnership with God. When Jesus spoke, he did so with a keen sense that he was speaking out of an intimate, personal connection with God. Jesus ethical challenges, his healing ministry, bold response to the "powers" of his day were suffused with the sense that we acting in concert with God.

This kind of intimate, personal connection is the deepest secret at the heart of our faith. Not all of us have experienced it. But some among us have. Some of the saints of Green Lake Church have heard the voice of God. Their lives have changed direction because of what they have heard. They live with a vital, lively awareness that they, like Jesus of long ago, are partners with God. They are companions with God. Their prayers are not words flung at the ceiling. Rather praying is communing with the divine.


When we share the Lord's Supper together, we come because we are family, not because of the quality of our individual communication with God, not because of the quality of our faith or the quality of our character. We come because the Master of the family has invited us all to be present.

When my six-month-old granddaughter settled in for lunch high on the side of Mt. Rainier last Sunday, obviously she was there by virtue of her membership in the family. She certainly did not climb there! But she was no less welcome because of her inability to walk.

When we share the Lord's Supper here today we owe a special debt of gratitude to those whose spiritual life is rich and sweet and confident. They are our seniors, our guides, our spark plugs. Jesus is pleased with the special gifts you bring to the table and pour into the life of God's family. And to you who struggle because God seems distant or unreal, we owe you a special debt, because your presence here helps to connect this holy family to the real world of humanity.

Wherever you are on the spectrum of spiritual experience, thank you for joining us this morning to sing alleluia. And welcome to the table of our Lord, to the feast that celebrates the value of people and the love of God.