Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The No-word Prayer

       "Away in a Manger" is one of the most familiar carols for children and is one that even the youngest can begin to learn.  More like a lullaby than a hymn, it has beautiful and reassuring words.

            Away in a manger, no crib for his bed, 
            The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head;
            The stars in the sky looked down where he lay,
            The little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay.

            The cattle are lowing; the poor baby wakes,
            But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.
            I love you Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
            And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

In the second verse, as the singers, we ask Jesus to stay with us through the dark and scary night.  The carol is not only a song about the nativity, the birth of Jesus in the stable; the carol is also a prayer that Jesus would stay with us, chase fear away and keep us safe.
       The third verse is even more of a prayer:
             "Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask you to stay
            Close by me forever and love me, I pray.
            Bless all the dear children in your tender care
            And fit us for heaven to live with you there."
      These last days have shattered the bubble of safety we try to keep around children.  We wish and pray that our children would never have to know real terror and fear, forgetting that even everyday things and situations can make them afraid from monsters under the bed, having the right answer in school, to facing a bully.  Talking to our children about times when we become afraid and giving them tools to use is part of helping them to be resilient. 
       Prayer is one of the most powerful tools we have against dark and fearful times.  
       There are many ways and kinds of prayer.  Like the carol, we can sing our prayer; many hymns are sung prayers.  Written out prayers that we read or memorize are another way to pray.  May children learn the bedtime prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.  If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."  It also is a prayer of asking Jesus to stay with us and keep us safe.  Sometimes, these kinds of prayers have many words.
       We can also just pray by telling God what we are feeling or what we need in whatever words we have at the moment.  They can be informal or formal, lots of words or just a few.  There are also times when all we have is one word - help.  God hears even one-word prayers and is with us.
       But sometimes, great fear and/or grief are so overwhelming that we can't find any words to say.  The Bible tells us that at those times, perhaps the most powerful, God hears our no-word prayers.  Paul writes, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness... that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. " (Romans 8:26)  When our hearts are too full or when they feel completely empty, those are the times that God hears us and holds us most deeply; even when all we have are questions or anger.
       Since these deepest "no-word" prayers come through the Holy Spirit, like all prayers, they do not depend on our experience of prayer.  They can be our first prayer or our last.  God hears and holds us in love.  And the promise is that there is nothing terrible or strong enough to take us away from that love.
       In these last few days before Christmas, it is an even more important time right now to remember that the Jesus we wait for is the light of the world; the light that came into the world  and that darkness has not and cannot overcome it.  God's love wins.
       "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:38-39
       (Taken from last Sunday's children's sermon)

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Who Needs Church?

      I had a really interesting conversation in confirmation class this last week.  I think it is a set of questions that a lot of people have but most adults don't speak it so clearly.  Do we really need to go to church?  Isn't it enough to just believe in Jesus on your own? 
       I began by responding that no, Jesus never told us to go to church.  There isn't a law about going to church.  The gift of faith isn't invalidated or cancelled if you don't attend.
       However, he and his disciples go to the synagogue throughout this ministry and Jesus is pictured more than once as teaching in the temple.  From the beginning, following the resurrection, the disciples gathered together for prayer and hear the Word, to share the Meal, and to care for those in need.  Following Jesus is not pictured as a solitary activity but instead, Jesus calls and gathers people together.  The vision that Paul gives of those who follow Jesus is that together, we are the body of Christ.  All of us together make one body. 
       But my students pushed.  'So I don't HAVE to go to church if I can still believe.'
       So I challenged them back.  "Right.  You may not need to, for yourself.  But there are people who need to see you there." Worship is not just about getting but also about giving.  One of the major challenges of small town and rural ministry is our shrinking and aging communities.  Most of our members are very aware of how things have changed over the last 60 years and how they continue to change.  Having our younger members at worship and actively participating and visible in leadership and servant roles is a clear sign of hope and life that the congregation needs.  It's not about "passing confirmation" or being good, it is one action that can really make a difference in the lives and outlook of other members.
       I'm afraid I got passionate and sermonized a bit.  But to get back to the original question, does it really matter?
       Yes, it matters. We are created to be in partnership, to be in companionship with one another and with God.  The second chapter of Genesis tells of God's search for partnership, for companionship 'because it is not good for one to be alone'.  From the resurrection on, God's people have been gathered together around word and sacrament.
       Can you pray and hear the word while watching your television or with an on-line community?  Sure.  But your screen cannot feed you at the Lord's table.  We are not just about spirituality and good living, we are the people of God's bread, fed at God's table, and sent to bring that bread out into the world.  Real bread.  Bread that brings forgiveness but also the bread brought as gifts that goes out to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and gathers in the lost.  
       Belonging to God is not just an exercise of the inner spirit.  Faith is attached to the real physical things of life and death.  Both inside and out side of the church, we neglect this truth at our own peril.  The Word leads to prayer leads to bringing our gifts leads to thanksgiving leads to the table and back out again into the world to serve and to share.  Neither worship nor table nor prayers are an end to themselves but a cycle that strengthens both faith and life.
       We gather and share ancient words of faith in the creeds.  There are times when because of grief or doubt or confusion, I may not understand or be able to claim it as "my" statement of faith, but I can find comfort in the weight of the millennia of saints before, with, and after me that affirm what I cannot firmly hold for myself.  It is like a bank that holds the riches in trust for us that we can draw upon when our own pockets of faith feel empty.  The words spoken with sureness by all the gathered around us bear witness to God's power and promise even we come before God weak, or empty, and even in anger.
        The saints around us are not perfect.  They may come grumpy or empty themselves.  It is not in the perfection of the assembled people or our worship that matters; we just need to trust in the promise that together Christ is among us and even more than that; together we are the body of Christ given to the world, warts, grumps, hugs, confusion and all.  
       As you prepare for Christmas, take time to breathe and be gathered together in Christ.
       "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." (Matthew 18:20)
       "But as it is, God arranged the members in the body...If all were a single member, where would the body be?  As it is there are many members, yet one body.  The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."  Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." (1 Corinthians 12:18-21,27)