“Basic How To’s: How to Lift Up
in Prayer”
October 9, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, Amen.
I’m going to let you all in on a
little secret this morning: today’s Gospel reading is one which pastors
generally dread preaching on, but we’re going to talk about it today anyway. If
we focus only the parable Jesus tells, it almost seems like He’s encouraging us
to be like the dishonest steward, who basically swindles his way into finding places
to live after getting fired from his job. And it almost seems like Jesus is
telling us to do the same thing. But that’s not what’s going on. Instead, Jesus
says: whoever is faithful with what little they are given is also faithful when
they are given much – and what is given is expected to be used to help others,
rather than be kept to one’s self. This also becomes clear when taken together
with today’s Old Testament reading from the Prophet Amos, who outright condemns
not only cheating the poor out of what little money they have, but complaining
that the holy days and the Sabbath are going on so they are unable to do so.
Basically, those who exploit the poor have their priorities all wrong: instead
of worshipping God, they attend the worship services, going through the
motions, without allowing God to change them, to make them more generous and
compassionate towards their customers. In other words, they were serving their
selfish desires involving money, rather than God. This might be an admonition
to us as well: our weekly worship service ought to be more than just part of
our routine or habit, but instead a time where we are changed and transformed
by God. Of course, this doesn’t happen every week: sometimes we may listen to
the Sermon but not get anything out of it one particular week, but then the next
time we hear something that gives us a new insight or changes us in some other
way. Every time we come to church, we are still to be open to the possibility
of God doing something for us. The wonderful thing about God is, He’s always up
to something. As Margaret Feinberg says, “Always remain suspicious that God is
up to something good.” So God has something planned for us as a result of us
being here today – if we are willing to expect it.
Also, Jesus is not in any way
condemning being wealthy. Instead, He’s warning against greed: He’s asking us
to examine what we’re devoting our lives to, what we believe is important. He’s
saying that the gifts we have been given are to be used not for selfish purposes,
but to benefit all people. These gifts can be financial, or otherwise material,
but they can also be spiritual. By spiritual, we mean those by which God gives
us to be the means by which He can accomplish supernatural things, which He
does to bless other people through us.
And, one of the greatest spiritual gifts
we have to offer other people, indeed, the whole world, is prayer. Today is
also the start of a sermon series for the month, where we’ll be looking at some
“How to’s” of showing how we can live what we believe. We know that prayer is
the way we talk to God – but that’s often something we take for granted,
because very often we treat prayer as being like a letter, an email, or even a
text. But we often forget that prayer is a two-way conversation: God speaks to
us just as we speak to Him. When we pray for other people, especially in the
presence of the people we’re praying for, we’re doing something powerful: we’re
bringing God into someone’s life, and we’re inviting God to come and do
something good. Which is something we should want not only for ourselves, but
for everyone.
Also, we are encouraged to pray
for those in authority. In Paul’s time, this would have been a bit of a hard admonition
to accept. The Roman Empire was made up of different ethnic groups, each of
whom had their own gods. And when any these different peoples would decide to
rebel against the Empire, they would appeal to their gods to give them victory
against their enemies – the Roman authorities. Various Jewish groups in
particular were in rebellion against the Empire, and would also pray to God to
give them success in their attacks. In these kinds of cases, prayer was used to
bring disorder, unrest, and division in society. This also usually meant that
if there was some kind of uprising in Judea, there would be consequences, usually
bad ones, for Jews all over the Empire. Christians, still associated with the
Jews in some ways, would have been tarred with the same brush, and also viewed
as rebels. So it was really in the best interest of Christians to pray for the
authorities, to show that they were thankful to the government for keeping
peace and order. This is why we too are to pray for those in government: to
demonstrate that, whatever views we may hold on various issues, we regard the
government as being put in place by God, so that we are able to live peaceful
and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This means being able to live
where we show compassion, love, and assistance to all those around us. The
reason this is good and pleases God our Savior is because He wants people to
know what He is really like: how people think of Him is how we act towards
others. This was actually one of the many points that were emphasized at the
LCMC Annual Gathering about Discipleship this last week: that we are ambassadors,
or representatives, for God, and our character, which is transformed by God,
ought to reflect God’s character. Also, we pray not only for the leaders of our
own country, but for those of all nations, especially along with our Christian
brothers and sisters who live in many different countries all over the world.
Verses like these also free us from
participating in the division which is permeating our society today. By praying
for the government, regardless of which political party may be in power, we demonstrate
that Christians together, and the Church, are ultimately above politics. Our purpose
as the whole Church is, as Paul reminds us, to bring people to the knowledge of
the truth: the truth being found in Jesus. This does not mean that we as individual
Christians are forbidden from participating in politics, or even from voting. Instead,
we are to remember of the mission God calls us to, which is all about Jesus.
Jesus is ultimately whom we serve, who is our one true God, who we seek to
bring people to believe in, and whose example and direction we follow. This is
also why we are encouraged to pray together, not emphasizing our differences, but
instead allowing God to do great and powerful things through us as we join
together in prayer and worship, asking Him to do things for other people and
bless them in special ways.
The most powerful example of this
will happen in just a few moments as we receive Communion, where all are
welcome, and from which no one is excluded because of any kind of distinctions.
In Communion, Jesus is also really present with us, bringing us together. He is
also giving us the ability and desire to support and uplift each other,
especially in prayer. So as we come forward in just a few minutes, as we lift
up our hands to receive Communion, let us do so in holiness – being
compassionate and understanding towards each other, seeking peace among
ourselves and in our communities, encouraging one other, and being Jesus, so we
can give to ourselves, and to the whole world, the good gifts God has given us
to share.
Now may the peace of God, which passes
all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
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