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From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Jul 23, 2016 1:35 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 12C
Dear Friends,
This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Why Does ItSometimes Seem our Prayers Are NOT Answered?” and deals with the Gospel (11:1-13). Here it is:
We just read the episode in Luke from Jesus’ life whenhe taught his disciples to pray the Lord’s Prayer. When Jesus was finished, he made some ratherstartling statements. Jesus said: “So Itell you to ask and you will receive, search and you will find, knock and thedoor will be opened for you. Everyonewho asks will receive, everyone who searches will find, and the door will beopened for everyone who knocks” (Luke 11:9-10).
My question to you today is- so why aren’t our prayersanswered? Was Jesus lying to us? Was he just telling us what he thought wewanted to hear? How come we pray forhealing, but our cancer remains; we pray for the deliverance of a son ordaughter or husband or wife from addiction to alcohol or gambling or abusiverelationships and nothing seems to happen; we pray for peace, instead we getviolence; we pray for a job and try and try and try- and nothing comes, and onand on and on. But it’s not justus. Paul prayed for deliverance from his“thorn in the flesh”, but never got it. Even Jesus prayed that “this cup pass from me” but he had to go throughwith crucifixion. What’s happening? Sometimes we get what we pray for andsometimes we don’t. Why?
Here’s a story about a person who seemed NOT to gethis prayer answered: A preacher asked a member of his church how his family wasgetting along. “They're all fine,” the member said, “Except my uncle. He's verysick.” “Your uncle is not sick,"the preacher said. It’s impossible for him to still be sick, because I’veprayed for him. He just THINKS he'ssick.” Two weeks later, the preacher raninto the church member on the street again. “How is your uncle getting along?”he asked. The member shrugged, “HeTHINKS he's dead.”
I don’t have any firm answers- but no- Jesus wasn’tlying. God’s ways are not our ways, andhe said he would supply our needs, not our wants. However, I do have some thoughts that I’dlike to share with you this morning. Obviously, many times our prayers are answered just as we wouldchoose. An amazing double- blind (i.e.no one knows who is being prayed for, not doctor, not patient, not family, noone) Harvard Medical School study with heart patients shows a measurablepositive difference between those prayed for as opposed to those not prayedfor. This study confirmed a smallerstudy done ten years earlier by a San Francisco cardiologist and reported in the Southern MedicalJournal. So sometimes our prayers getanswered with a wonderful “YES!” Sometimes, however, the answer seems to be “no.” What then? Here are six possibilities for you to mull this week:
1. If you are praying for a change of behaviorin someone else, keep going, be persistent. However, keep in mind that God won’t force himself on anyone, but Godwill allow life to present the need for change in that person. Even God, as the perfect parent, did notforce righteousness on his children Adam and Eve.
2. Is your problem a direct consequence of pastbehavior? God seldom removes theconsequences of sin, but he does walk with us through those consequences,giving us the power to overcome. Infact, what started out as a negative often turns out to be a blessing toourselves or someone else. King David’sadultery with Bathsheba resulted in the death of their infant, but the gift ofSolomon as king.
3. Maybe you are suffering because of someoneelse’s sin. Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr.expanded the theology of the power of redemptive suffering- it was the backboneof the civil rights movement. It workswhen we love our enemies and pray for those who misuse us. Furthermore, their evil doesn’t infect uswith bitterness and bring us down to their level. Example: what could be more evil thancrucifying the Son of God on a garbage dump, yet that evil redeemed the wholecreation.
4. Perhaps you are doing something to blockGod’s action or not doing something that needs to be done. If you pray and nothing happens, check outyour behavior. Are you poisoning yourspiritual life with the bitterness of refusing to forgive an enemy? (We just heard: “Forgive us our trespasses ASwe forgive those who trespass against us.”- remember Jesus’ parable of theunforgiving servant in the Gospel of Matthew.) I heard a fictional story from one of my internet colleagues about a manwe shall call Jim. Jim had a seriousproblem- he had lost his job and was broke. In fact, he was about to lose everything he owned. Being a faithful Christian, he knew just whathe’d do- he prayed fervently that he would win the lottery. The next day when the winners were announced-nothing. He prayed harder- “Please God,let me win the lottery!” The next day helistened again- nothing. Once more heprayed, this time reminding God that he had promised to answer all prayers, butto no avail. Kneeling at his bedside, hepounded his hands in his pillow, when he heard a mighty clap of thunder and avoice- “Jim, Jim, how about meeting me half way on this. Buy a lottery ticket!” In other words, do your part.
5. This world isn’t a vacation spot; it’s atraining ground. God’s intention isn’tto make us happy, but to make us strong. Would you really want your child to grow up in a world with no pain ordiscomfort? What kind of human wouldthis produce? How would your child everdevelop compassion, endurance, spiritual power, prayer power? Helen Keller’s wise statement is true: “Wecould never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in theworld.” That has a real probability ofbeing true.
6. Here’s my last possibility. Do you remember reading in “Forward Day byDay” a long time ago now of the writer who had heard of a terrible disaster? I don’t remember what it was, but perhaps itwas a tragic famine with pictures of dying children with swollen bellieslooking at the TV camera every time you turned on the news- anyway it was thatkind of thing. He asked God why Godallowed such atrocities, and he felt the answer came back loud and clear: “Iwas wondering the same thing about you!” Perhaps our prayer isn’t being answered because someone else isn’t beingfaithful to their ministry, or more to the point, perhaps someone else’s prayerisn’t being answered because we aren’t being faithful to our ministry. Cancer is a terrible curse on humankind, butperhaps the person who was intended to lead the team of scientists as theydeveloped the cure is flipping burgers or bussing tables somewhere because wedidn’t put enough time, energy, and money in his or her education. We plead for a cure for AIDS, but maybe theperson designed for that ministry is doing time in prison because the churchdown the street didn’t reach out and touch
Some Sunday’s ago, I read you a few children’s prayersfrom David Heller little book, Dear God:Children’s Letters to God. I’m goingto close with a few more:
Ø “Dear God, thank you for my parents, my sister Anita,and for my grandma and grandpa. They are real warm and special. I forgive youfor my brother Phil. I guess you didn'tfinish working on him.” (Sean- age 12)
Ø “Dear God, my dad thinks he's you. Please straightenhim out.” (Wayne-age 11)
Ø “Dear God, my mom is acting weird because she isgetting old. Can you take back a few gray hairs? That would help bring back thehouse to normal. Thanks for what you cando.” (Mike- age 9)
Ø “Dear God, my mom and my father are divorced. For 3years. Nobody's perfect. But why did youpick us? I wish we were all with eachother. Maybe you could have them getalong- at least on weekends. Please!(Stephen- age 11)
Ø “Dear God, do you think there's enough love today? Ifeel there's a shortage.” Love! (Ken- age 9)
The last two prayers- from Stephen about his parent’sdivorce and from Ken about not enough love, touch our hearts. Who’s supposed to be the instrument foranswering these prayers- we are! May Godbless us as we try faithfully to bring his Kingdom to fruition here, now, as wereach out to others in His name. Amen.
For anyone who isinterested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements areposted 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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