Fourth Sermon - And there, he prayed... 02/08/2009

In the gospel reading today, we find three episodes within the larger story of the gospel according to Mark.

Let me first set these episodes in this larger story. Mark begins with John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness for people to repent and be baptized; then we see Jesus go out to the wilderness to be baptized; the heavens are torn open, the Holy Spirit descends upon him, and a voice from heaven says, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’; from there Jesus is led by the spirit to spend 40 days in the wilderness being tempted; John is arrested and Jesus returns from the wilderness saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

This brings us up to where we were last week, Jesus calls his disciples and goes into the synagogue to preach. He is confronted by a demon possessed man who announces that Jesus is the Holy One; in front of all in the synagogue, he heals the man and heads home to Simon’s mother-in-law’s house. And that is where our scripture reading today begins.

Note that Jesus encounters God twice in the wilderness already; once when he is baptized and once when the Spirit leads him to the wilderness to be tempted and then waited upon by God’s angels.

Also note that word about Jesus’ healing and authority is spreading throughout the region. This only increases in the reading today when after healing Simon’s mother-in-law, all the people in the city come to bring their sick and possessed. Jesus heals many in this place.

What next? Well, he’s high in the polls, people are coming to him, he has mentioned a kingdom and has a house to stay in. It seems that he could stay in Capernaum and build a bigger shrine, a larger court, and have his message and healing ministry go from there. It wouldn’t take much to encourage the congregation to make pledges to a building campaign. But that is not what happened.

The very next morning before anyone else was up, he goes into the wilderness again… to pray.

There are questions and confusion sometimes about why God in the form of a man would need to pray to God given that they are one. Let’s set that aside for now and pick it up at a later study of the trinity. For now, let us see Jesus’ actions for what they are meant for us, an example of how we are to live.

Consider this. When do people usually pray. There is an old saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. I would venture to say that there may also be no atheists during finals week. But joking aside, it seems that so often we ignore God when life is going well and things are running smoothly. This was certainly the case in Capernaum, but Jesus did not ignore God. In this time of new beginnings and popular support, in this time of security within the home of good friends, in this time when people are being healed and demons are running scared, Jesus prays.

Some speculate that Jesus needed to recharge his Spirit after using so much power to heal and cast out. That seems a little sketchy to me, as if Jesus were a battery putting out power and then needing to be plugged in.

Rather, I believe that Jesus prayed because prayer is how we commune with God and how our hearts are drawn into line with God’s heart. It is a means of opening our minds to God’s leading. It is a means of seeking God’s healing for our transgressions. It is a means of showing our love for God; and a means through which God shows love to us.

I have a friend who has described a secret place that he would go and pray as a child. It was under a big old pine tree whose branches hung all the way low to the ground but past those branches was an almost tent like space near the trunk. It was a quiet deserted place, a place away from his parents, a place where he could get some peace from his daily activities. He described this place as peaceful not only because he could be separated from life for a while but also because while there, he could still see the world passing by. The quiet, peaceful, solitary atmosphere that he described gave me peace simply by hearing about it. What a wonderful place to commune with God. I had a similar place that I hid once as a child… but it was because I was in trouble, not because I was seeking meditative solitude.

But although prayer in a deserted place can be intense and beautiful, is it the only place we are to pray? Often, we Presbyterians will quote the scripture that tells us to go into our closet and pray. It’s decent; it’s orderly; and it’s private. We don’t pay so close attention to the words of Paul in First Thessalonians where he says we should “pray without ceasing.”

But prayer is such a hassle. It stops us from eating when we sit down and are so hungry. We have to think up things to say. We rarely, if ever, hear God speaking back to us. And we usually are praying because someone has asked us to pray for them… it’s a lot of work to remember what their problems are and ask God to help… if God helps like that anyway…

I suppose if we thought about prayer like that, it would be more of a chore than a blessing. But I would like to reframe prayer. Jesus did not teach us to pray as a pre-payment for our meal. Jesus did not teach us to pray as a chore. Jesus taught us to pray like we would talk to a very loving parent. When we translate the Lords Prayer from Greek, we make a mistake when we use the word “Father.” I don’t mean because that is a masculine pronoun… I mean that Jesus used to word “Abba” which is not the word for Father, but rather the word for Papa or Daddy. I never really used the words Papa or Daddy growing up. My dad was always just Dad. So for my vernacular, “Dad” might be the best translation. It’s a radical expression of the close relationship God desires with us. We should pray like we speak.

My church in Cincinnati had a whole series where they encouraged us to Pray like we breathe… a natural daily act through which we inhale the good air and exhale the bad. Try it sometime, to let your thoughts for an hour or so be a conversation with God. It might feel silly, like a monologue that goes on and on… but include in that prayer a request that God will open your ears and your heart to God’s still small voice.

And there, Jesus prayed. Yes, Jesus often goes to a deserted place for a time dedicated to seeking God’s guidance and counsel. We see this in today’s scripture and we see it in the garden where he prayed so intensely his sweat was like drops of blood. There are no special words to use. There are no magic verses to recite. It is just talking. When Jesus prayed, he most likely used the everyday Aramaic words of his time, not grand and theologically laden words drawn from a bible thesaurus. It may be a bit of a news flash, but Jesus did not speak in King James English and neither did he pray in formal theologo-speak. Consider the Lord’s Prayer. It’s short, to the point, and if translated well, speaks of daily everyday things that we need to share with God. Yes, there is that “For yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory” part at the end… but those are words of praise that could just as well be, “Because you got the whole world, you ROCK, and you are AWESOME.”

But what about when people ask us to pray for them? And what about people who pray for their sports teams? And what about people who pray for a parking space? Well, I don’t believe that God is a cosmic vending machine. I don’t believe God likes the Steelers more than the Cardinals. And I don’t believe that praying for a parking space will get you one. I mean, think about it. To pray that your team wins means that you are praying that God will make the other team lose. To pray that you get a parking space is to pray that someone else will have to park a mile away. Do we really think that we are more loved by God than others?

However, the first question has value. What about when people ask us to pray for them… intercessory prayer is a blessing to both the person who prays it and the person for whom the prayer is given. Let me tell you about my friend; after asking him for prayer on a number of occasions, I told him that I was sorry that I kept asking him for prayer. His response has always stuck with me. He said, “It is my joy to pray; you asking me to pray for you just gives me another excuse to talk to God; give me more reasons to talk to God, not fewer.” Now there is a person who prays without ceasing.

I would never tell someone to not pray, even if their prayers were for a new car or a better return on their investments. If they are praying, they are drawing close to God and that is a good thing. I would, however, encourage them to seek God’s will and not their own. Prayer may not get you that promotion, prayer may not get you a date with that guy or girl, prayer may not help you win that raffle, and prayer may not bring about a miraculous healing. What prayer does do is draw you into conversation with God. Rather than trying to bend God’s will in our favor, the end that we should seek is that God would bend our wills to be more in line with God’s; to be with us and support us in times of pain and suffering; to lift us even higher in times of joy and celebration; and to comfort and console those who are enduring bereavement and loss.

Prayer gave Christ guidance and strength to resist the temptation to build a healing shrine in Capernaum. So when the disciples came looking for him saying, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He was able to answer according to God’s will, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’

Let us pray also so that we will know what God has sent us to do.