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From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org> 
Date:09/19/2015  7:15 PM  (GMT-06:00) 
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org> 
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 20B 

Dear Friends,

 

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Prayer Changes Things- Sometimes” or “Selfish Praying” and deals with all the 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, more 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:

Selfishly usurping God’s privilege by taking care of our own revenge;
Selfishly living our lives our own way instead of God’s way; and
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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 are posted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .

 

Blessed preaching,

Judy Boli

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Saginaw, Michigan

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