[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 20B

[Joseph Parrish]

Forwarded:


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
> Date: September 22, 2012 4:35:31 PM PDT
> To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
> Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 20B
> Reply-To: propertalk.topic+owners at ecunet.org
> 

> Dear Friends,
> 
> This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Prayer Changes Things- Sometimes” or
> “Selfish Praying” and deals with all the Bible lessons.  Here it is:
> 
> Did you hear the story about a little girl who hated to do her
> homework?  She had a rather comprehensive math test coming up and was
> feeling rather stressed.  As you can guess- she put off her studying
> until the last minute and then worked just enough to hopefully pass
> the test.  That night, her father was going past her room just as she
> was saying her bedtime prayers, and this is what he heard: “Now I lay
> me down to rest, and hope to pass tomorrow's test.  If I should die
> before I wake, that's one less test I have to take.  Amen.”  Somehow,
> that’s not exactly what God expects in our prayers.  Did you hear the
> rather strange statement in our epistle reading from the book of James
> (4:3)?  James talks about “selfish prayers.”  He says, “Your prayers
> are not answered because you pray for selfish reasons”- that’s a
> different concept!  Selfish reasons- what could he possibly be talking
> about?
> 
> Actually, we can get a clue from our Bible lessons today.  First of
> all- the Old Testament Jeremiah lesson: Jeremiah’s enemies were out to
> get him- actually not just get him- but KILL him.  Human nature, under
> those kinds of circumstances, craves revenge.  Did you notice
> Jeremiah’s prayer?  Jeremiah didn’t ask God to put his enemies into
> his own hands.  He put his enemies in God’s hands and asked him to do
> the revenge.  Remember, God did say, “Vengeance is mine.  I will
> repay” (12:19).  He trusted God to “teach them a thing or two.”
> Jeremiah did not take God’s privileges into his own hands.  He was not
> selfish.  He trusted God to take care of his enemies.  Sometimes our
> selfishness takes the form of holding on to revenge when it is God’s
> job, not ours.  So if you are quick to tell people a thing or two and
> get revenge, even in small ways, don’t be surprised when your prayers
> are not answered.  James predicted it.
> 
> The Psalm (1:6) has another clue about how our selfish attitudes get
> in the way of answered prayers.  The caption reads, “The Lord protects
> everyone who follows Him, but the wicked follow a road that leads to
> ruin.”  We are so tempted to ignore God’s way and follow our own path;
> then when things start to go badly for us, we pray that God will
> protect us from the consequences of our behavior.  I’ve said it so
> many times- why don’t you say it with me, “You can’t pray yourself out
> of consequences you behave yourself into.”  If we self-centeredly do
> our own thing, we should not be surprised when our prayers go
> unanswered.
> 
> Another clue about a type of selfish attitude that interferes with our
> prayers is in today’s Gospel (Mark 9:34-37) when Jesus caught the
> disciples arguing about who was the greatest.  Our society teaches us
> to be competitive, not with ourselves- but with others.  As soon as a
> child is old enough to understand, he or she is taught to try to be
> better than the other children.  In fact, parents are not at all happy
> if another child is smarter, better looking, more athletic, you-name-
> it than their child.  The truth is, Jesus says we are not to try to be
> better than someone else.  The Christian doctrine of creation teaches
> us that we are all amazingly and beautifully different from each
> other.  Remember the statement the Rev. Lynn Collins made when some
> years ago we invited her from New York as our Absalom Jones preacher?
> She said, “Our God must surely love variety; he made so much of it!”-
> and isn’t that true!  Yet, instead of appreciating each other’s
> giftedness, we struggle to be better than they are.  God does not
> intend for us to try to be the greatest.  He does want us to compete
> against ourselves and be the best WE can be.
> 
> So when James reminds us that our selfish motivations keep our prayers
> unanswered, these Bible passages clue us into exactly what types of
> behaviors he’s talking about:
> 1.	Selfishly usurping God’s privilege by taking care of our own
> revenge;
> 2.	Selfishly living our lives our own way instead of God’s way; and
> 3.	Selfishly trying to be greater than others instead of encouraging
> others and trying to be the best we can be.
> 
> Unfortunately, if we’re not careful, our prayers can sound like a
> child’s Christmas list of “gimme’s.”  Did you hear the story of the
> young lady who had just broken up with her boyfriend?  She wrote him
> this letter.  “Dearest Jimmy, no words could ever express the great
> unhappiness I've felt since breaking our engagement.  Please say
> you'll take me back.  No one could ever take your place in my heart,
> so please forgive me.  I love you! I love you! I love you!  Yours
> forever, Marie.  P.S. And congratulations on winning the state
> lottery.”  I hate to say it, but we must sound a lot like Marie when
> we pray to God.  The Rev. Dr. Tony Evans’ thought for the week is good
> advice: “Do you pray for what you want or what God wants?  Your
> motivation determines the answer you will receive from heaven.”
> 
> Now that we’ve seen how NOT to pray, I’d like to make a suggestion of
> a way to pray, especially before you go to bed, that works to prevent
> a selfish perspective while praying.  I learned it from Fr. Henri
> Stines, past rector of Grace Church, Detroit, and now with his Lord in
> heaven.  This is a way of praying using your hand.  I’ve shared it
> with you before, but many of my friends had forgotten it, so I figured
> it was time to share it again.  If you pray this way each evening, you
> will almost certainly not pray selfishly.  Please turn to page four of
> your bulletin for the diagram.
> 1.	ADORATION: start with your thumb.  Since your thumb is the part of
> your hands that allows it to grasp easily, it is perhaps your most
> important finger.  The most important part of your prayers should be
> adoration- when you tell God how wonderful he is.  What lover isn’t
> constantly telling his beloved about her beautiful eyes or lovely
> smile or gorgeous something?  Think back through your day and tell God
> how fantastic his sunset was or how touching that little child’s smile
> is or how amazing the relationship of his people is or how miraculous
> the works of his doctors are.
> 2.	CONFESSION: next is your pointer finger.  This is the finger you
> use to accuse your neighbor of sin.  You notice, when you point your
> finger at someone else, you have three fingers pointing back at you
> reminding you of your sins.  The next part of your prayer should be
> confession.  List your sins of the day and ask God to forgive you.
> 3.	THANKSGIVING: after that comes your third finger- your longest
> finger, the finger people use to “give other people the finger.”  That
> finger should never be involved in cursing other people; it should be
> our reminder to thank God for our many blessings.  List the blessings
> you received that day and thank God for them.  Be specific.
> 4.	INTERCESSION: next comes our ring finger.  It’s the finger we use
> for our engagement and wedding rings, signs of our relationship with
> others.  It reminds us to pray for others.  Again be specific.
> 5.	PETITION: finally comes our smallest finger.  This small finger
> reminds us to pray for ourselves.  Because it is smallest and last, it
> helps us remember to not be too self-centered.
> 6.	OBLATION: at last use both of your hands to offer yourself to God,
> and go peacefully to sleep.
> 
> May God bless us in our daily prayers so they truly bring us closer to
> our precious Lord.  Amen.
> 
> For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American
> wisdom statements either is or will be posted on our parish web site.
> The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.com .
> 
> Blessed preaching,
> Judy Boli
> St. Paul's Episcopal Church
> Saginaw, Michigan
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