June 17, 2001

Jane Weidig

North Raleigh United Church

Psalm 100
James 5:13-16
Matthew 6:5-15

The last time I had the opportunity to preach here at North Raleigh I began my sermon by singing the theme song from Gilligan's Island and then spoke about Survivor. And, when Paula preached the Sunday after Easter, she began with a top 10 list like David Letterman uses on his late night talk show. It has been brought to our attention that we have been labeled by some as the television preachers. Now, I hope that does not mean that we are in the same category as Jerry Falwell and Creflo A. Dollar or Charles Stanley. Actually, I suspect that there is no possibility that we would EVER be in the same category!

I do not want to disappoint anyone, so I would like once again, to begin with popular culture. However, this time, not television, but the movies. How many of you saw the movie "Pay It Forward?" It starred Haley Joel Osment, the young boy who also starred in The Sixth Sense. It was about prayer. Oh, I don't know if the director or producers believe that it was about prayer, but that is how I understood it. The idea behind the movie is that what goes around, comes around. And we need to (and should) help that process as much as possible.

The premise of the movie is that a young boy is challenged in school to do something that will change the world. That's quite an undertaking for anyone of any age, but for a young man of about 12? What could he do that would change the world? Well, he decided to take home a homeless man, feed him, let him shower, give him a place to sleep. Of course, this was done without his mother's permission, which causes a few difficult and humorous moments. But the point is that the homeless man needs to Pay It Forward. He can't pay the boy back for what he's done. But can he help someone else out in some way who would then help someone else and someone else and someone else?

If this is done like a chain letter, starting with one individual helping five people who then each help five others, soon lots and lots of people are helping each other with no purpose other than to help. And the only responsibility a recipient has is to Pay It Forward.

What a wonderful prayer! I think of the movie as a whole as a prayer, as a desire that this might happen. I also think of Haley Joel Osment's character's belief that he could change the world as a prayer. And each act of kindness done for another is a prayer. Whether it is feeding a homeless man, giving someone a ride, or fixing a flat tire each payment forward is a prayer that that individual will also Pay It Forward and the world will change.

So, using the Pay It Forward model, prayer is active, not passive. Prayer is doing something, not just sitting and wishing and wringing our hands. Prayer can be rocking a baby. Building a day care center. Or visiting the sick. All of these are active ways that we pray. We are not looking for a pat on the back or even a star in our crown. We do what we do because we believe. We believe that it is what we are called to do. We believe that it is good. We believe that it (what we do, not we ourselves) can make a difference. A difference can be made in the life of the baby being rocked (and in the life of that child's parent). In the lives of those who need the day care center … individuals who will work there and children who will learn and play there and parents who won't have to worry about their children. In the lives of those visited at home or in the hospital and their loved ones. The epistle reading this morning from James also deals with this issue. Most of James' letter is concerned with the fact that faith and works cannot be separated. "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,' and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." (James 2:14-17) Douglas John Hall who wrote When You Pray: Thinking Your Way into God's World echoed this. "God separates us from the world in order to send us back into the world with renewed spirits…."

There is another way in which prayer is active. Throughout history, and throughout the religious world, people are active when they pray. Moslems bow down facing Mecca when they pray. Orthodox Jews rock back and forth when they pray. Roman Catholics use a rosary. Many Christians kneel. That is activity.

I suspect that most of us are not active when we pray. I suspect that most of us sit quietly or lie in bed or perhaps kneel when we pray. Yet if we can combine the activity of our bodies with our thoughts and words a powerful connection is created. It's like learning something. If you say something over and over again you will memorize it. But if you write it out repeatedly WHILE you are saying it, you might learn it faster. And perhaps it will be more truly learned, as opposed to just cramming for the test tomorrow. If we involve our hearts (desire) with our minds (words and/or thoughts) with our bodies (activity), a more holistic prayer is achieved. The more we are able to incorporate more of ourselves in our prayers, the better. Body, mind and heart: the sum of the whole is greater than its parts.

Prayer is not just sitting (or standing, or even kneeling). And prayer is not just doing for others. Prayer is communicating with God. Sometimes that is done through our activity with and for others. Sometimes that is done when we are alone with our thoughts co-mingled with God. And sometimes, it is done through other means, other forms of communication. Shaina danced a prayer earlier. The choir sings prayers. The point is that communication is taking place. And the communication is between the one(s) praying and God.

There are many ways to communicate. A speech is communication. An email is communication. You can communicate with a hug. But each of these forms of communication involves more than one participant. An individual may make a speech, but there needs to be an audience. An email isn't communicated unless it is received and read. A hug is impossible to give unless you have someone to hug! There are a few good commercials on TV right now (see, I found my way back to television!) that use this point to try to sell their product. I don't know how successful they are though because while I remember the ad, I do not remember the company or the product! The first ad is a clip of Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking at the mall in Washington DC. The second ad is of Lou Gehrig speaking at Yankee Stadium when he retired. Both ads show these individuals speaking, and through the miracle of technology, there is no one there to hear them. There isn't a soul to be seen on the mall and Yankee Stadium is completely empty. Then, all of a sudden, the crowds are present. Communication is happening. And those speeches are remembered and have gone down in history.

Prayer is communication with God. And this communication with God is two way. Prayer is not simply telling God what we think or want or need. Our gospel lesson today stated that God knows what you need before you ask. Matthew's gospel offers instruction on what to do when praying. Pray in private. Pray thoughtfully. And I would offer a third guideline. Pray with your heart and ears open. If prayer is communication with God and if it is not a monologue but two-way communication, then when we pray we need to be prepared to hear God.

Perhaps that is what Matthew was getting at. "…Do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words." There are many references in scripture to God becoming known to humanity and the need for humanity to listen for God. The psalmist recorded "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10a) In I Kings there is the account of God's revelation to Elijah, not in the great wind and not in the earthquake and not in the fire, but rather in the sound of sheer silence. Other translations have referred to the still, small voice of God.

How do we listen for God? Do we listen for God? Silence can be scary. Our society tends to be nervous about silence, perhaps afraid of what we might hear. Yet how can we converse with God unless we listen? Stillness, not just silence, is important for prayer. Prayer involves slowing ourselves down, quieting our thoughts, being still. When we pray we talk to God. We must also open ourselves up to the possibilities of God. And be receptive to hearing those possibilities. When we pray can we hear the sound of sheer silence?

Finally, prayer has many purposes. Unfortunately, there is one prayer that more often than not falls from our lips. It is the Gimme Prayer. These are the prayers we offer when we ask for things: healing, a new job, peace in the world. The nice word for these prayers is supplication. And don't get me wrong, they are good prayers and important prayers. We need to turn to God in our needs, whether our need is for peace or for help studying for exams. But these are not the only reasons to pray; these are not the only kinds of prayers that we should offer.

When I was in seminary, my new testament professor taught us a little trick for remembering how to pray. ACTS. According to Prof. Carlson, the word ACTS is an acronym for our prayers. Adoration. Confession. Thanksgiving. And Supplication. We need balance between asking God (supplications) and offering thanksgiving. We need to remember to confess to God as well as offer prayers of adoration.

Thanksgiving and supplication were easy for me to understand, although I will admit that I usually think of those in reverse order. Dear God, I need (want) this, that or the other thing. And, thank you, God, for giving me this, that or the other thing. Those are clear. But, adoration and confession always seemed to cause me to stumble.

Adoration is praise. Many of the psalms are prayers of adoration. Praise God. Sing to God for all the mighty works of creation. Okay, so prayers of adoration are lifting up the glories and magnificence of God.

And, I will admit that I know what confession is. And, I will admit that I'm not comfortable with it either. Confession is admitting that one is at fault, that a mistake has been made. Confession is one step away from apologizing. And that is always difficult to do. Especially to God! But it is important. There is another aspect of confession that is frequently forgotten. Not a confession of shortcomings, but rather a confession of faith. A confession of faith is a statement of what we believe. Sometimes it is referred to as an Affirmation of Faith or a creed. "I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth…." (Apostle's Creed) "We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen." (Nicene Creed) "We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, who is made known to us in Jesus our brother, and to whose deeds we testify…." (UCC Statement of Faith, adapted by Robert V. Moss). "Beckoned to this place of belonging, we, of North Raleigh United Church, with body, mind and spirit, gather to worship, serve and proclaim God, unknowable mystery whose center is love, and Jesus the Christ, who makes this loving mystery known." (NRUC Covenant)

So, according to my New Testament professor, our prayers should maintain a balance of each of these: adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. Sounds easy. But I have discovered that it isn't. It takes work. I find that all too easily I slip back into the Gimme mode of prayer, and then sometimes will offer a prayer of thanksgiving.

There is an adage that preachers give sermons that they need to hear the most. And perhaps this is a perfect example. Each week I put together the Prayer List and send it out via e-mail. It is something that I truly enjoy doing. AND, it helps me to remember all of you in prayer on a regular basis. But, I have been struck recently by the fact that it hasn't been too well balanced. Prof. Carlson would not be pleased.

I guess I needed to hear this sermon, so that I work to balance the Prayer List and my prayers. And so that I take some time in my life for me and God - apart from work and laundry and watching TV (even though prayers can be offered during those activities, too). Quiet time to talk to God and listen. And to remember that prayer works. All we need to do is Pay It Forward.

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