We got a lot of rain last week, and a lot of wind. We did not, however, get a blizzard like they did in the western part of the state, nor did we get tornadoes like they did in the southeast corner of the state. We just got rain, which is something we very much needed. We were very fortunate. We can and should be very grateful to God for that.
At the same time, we know that this did not happen because of anything we've done. We know we're not somehow better than the people in other parts of the state. We did not get better weather than they did because we somehow deserve better. It's just the way it was. We and they both have to accept that, whether we like it or not, because none of us has a choice.
There are a lot of things in life that work that way, it seems. Good things seem to happen to some people and bad things seem to happen to some people. One person gets cancer and another does not. One person is born in freedom and another is born in tyranny. It's not because the one is better than the other. It's not because the one deserved good things and the other did not. It's just the way it is. And we all have to accept it, whether we like it or not, because none of us has a choice.
There is so much about the world we don't understand. There is so much about God that we don't understand, too. We don't understand why God has arranged things the way God has. We don't understand why God allows some things to happen. We don't understand why some people seem to get all the luck and others don't. There are so many things about the way life works that just don't make sense to us. And saying “that's just the way it is” is not a very satisfying response.
We wish we could understand. We wish God would explain it to us. We wish everything about the world made sense to us. But that's not the way it is. God, in God's wisdom, chooses not to explain everything to us.
We assume there's a reason for that. Maybe, if we understood it all, it would somehow be bad for us. Maybe we wouldn't understand the explanation if we got one. Maybe God's logic operates on a different level. The analogy I've used is if we tried to explain advanced calculus to a three-year old. Advanced calculus makes sense—but only if our brains are far enough advanced to understand it. Maybe God's logic works the same way: it makes sense, but our brains are simply not far enough advanced to understand it. I don't know. All we can do is trust that somehow, in a way we cannot understand, it does make sense, and that someday, when we go to heaven, we'll understand it all.
For the time being, though, all we can do is take it on faith. And that's okay. Because you know, nowhere in the Bible does God tell us we need to understand everything. Instead, God asks us to trust. God asks us to have faith. And God promises to be with us always: when good things happen, when bad things happen, when life happens. God will always be there, and God will always help us through whatever we need to get through.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Boldly Go to God
This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, October 6, 2013. The Bible verses used are 1 Samuel 1:1-20 and Luke 11:5-13.
We've been talking about the power of prayer. We've talked about how prayer can create a close relationship between us and God. We've talked about how, by creating that relationship, prayer opens us up to God's guidance and helps create chances to serve God. This week, we go a little farther. This week, we're going to talk about how prayer gives God chances to use God's power.
Because when we talk about the power of prayer, that's really what we're talking about, right? God's power. Prayers are not powerful because of us. Prayers are powerful because of God. The only thing our prayers do is give God chances to use God's power.
Now, some of you may be thinking, “Wait a minute. How can you say prayer gives God chances to use God's power? God can use God's power whether we do anything or not. God can use God's power any time God wants to. God is all-powerful. There's nothing we can do that affects God's ability to use God's power.”
Well, that's true, of course. God is all-powerful. God can use God's power any time God wants to. But what the Bible seems to tell us is that sometimes, God waits to be invited to use God's power. God sometimes does not use the power God has until we ask God to do that. And the way we ask is through prayer.
To me, that fits in with the idea that God gives us free will. God allows us to make choices with our lives, and so God is not going to use the power God has, even for our own good, until we ask God to do that. If we don't, God will allow us to go our own way and will allow us to deal with the consequences of going our own way.
But we're encouraged to ask. Jesus himself encourages us to ask in the passage we read from Luke. In fact, Jesus tells us we should ask with “shameless audacity.”
That word “audacity” is not one we use a lot in normal conversation. It means boldness or daring. It means to act confidently, without regard to any restrictions. So what Jesus is telling us is not just to ask God to use God's power, but to be bold in ask God to do that and to be confident that God will do it. Jesus is saying we should not be afraid to come to God with big requests. We should not feel like we're imposing on God to ask for things. We should be bold and confident in asking.
That's what the person is Jesus' story did. He goes to his friend in the middle of the night, after everyone's gone to bed, and says, “Hey, company just came and I don't have anything to feed 'em. I need you to give me some food right now.”
I mean, can you imagine that? You're at home asleep, in the middle of the night, and somebody starts banging on your door and demanding food? Seriously, think about it. It'd be really tempting to just ignore them and hope they go away, right? I'd be thinking, “You idiot. How can you not have any food? Who in the world runs completely out of food? What were you planning to do for breakfast?”
But that's the audacity, the boldness, the confidence, with which Jesus says we're supposed to ask God for things. We're not supposed to worry about whether we should've done more to be prepared. We're not supposed to worry about whether God will be inconvenienced when we ask. We're not supposed to worry that this might be too much for us to ask God. We're just supposed to ask. And God, out of love, will give us what we ask.
Now, I think we need to notice something about Jesus' story. The thing that was asked for was not something frivolous. It was not “give me something extravagant so I can go have fun”. The request was for food. Specifically, for bread. Bread is something people need.
I think that tells us something. Jesus tells us to ask God with boldness, but not to ask for a bunch of stuff we don't need. Jesus says “ask and it will be given to you” but that may not work if we ask God for a Mercedes. Jesus is telling us to ask God for things we truly need.
Jesus goes on to compare God to a good father, and says “Look, if your son asks for a fish or an egg, you'll give it to him, right? You won't give him a snake or a scorpion. You give you kids things that are good for them, not things that are bad for them. And God will do the same for you.”
Now, again, I think that means we get what we need, not necessarily what we want. Again, Jesus is comparing God to a good father. A good father, or a good mother, does not give their children everything they want. Sometimes the things we want are not good for us. If a child asks a parent for a snake or scorpion, you won't give it to them, will you? A good parent gives their children what they need, not necessarily what they want.
But again, we can still make bold requests. We should make bold requests. And if they meet with God's approval, God will answer those requests. Our prayer will have created the chance for God to use God's power for our good.
That's what Hannah did in our reading from First Samuel. Hannah desperately wanted a child. It looked like she would never have one. She was begging, pleading, even bargaining with God, asking God to please, please, give her a child. She was praying so hard the priest Eli thought she was drunk.
Now, that's a pretty bold request, right? To ask God to give you a child? That's no small thing, especially when you've been trying to have children for years and have never been able to have one. That's audacity. I mean, there's nothing in the Bible that says Hannah was anyone special. There's nothing that says Hannah had any reason to think God would do anything special for her. But she trusted God. She trusted God enough to make a big, bold, audacious request. And her prayer had power: God's power. God used God's power to do what Hannah wanted.
I think that's really what it comes down to—trust. Trusting in God's love. Trusting in God's power. Going to God confidently, not because we believe in our own goodness, but because we trust God's goodness and God's greatness. Trusting that, if what we're praying for meets with God's approval, our prayer will have power. God will answer our prayer, no matter how big or bold it is.
Now, of course, we need to understand that we cannot order God around. Hannah did not go to God and demand that God do what she wanted. She did not say, “God here's what I want, so get going.” She called herself God's servant. She was humble. She was respectful. She did not demand anything. She simply asked. And she said that, if God granted her request, she would do everything she could to make sure her child served God and honored God.
I think that tells us the attitude with which we should make these bold, audacious requests to God. We should go to God humbly. We should go to God respectfully. We should recognize that we're God's servants. And then, we should simply ask, and resolve that if God does give us what we ask for, then we'll do everything we can to use whatever God has given us to serve God and honor God.
So, what's on your mind today? What's on your heart? Is there something you need? I mean, not something you want, not something you'd like to have, but something you really need? Pray for it. It does not matter how big it is. Pray for it. It does not matter whether you deserve it, because of course you don't deserve it and neither do I. Pray for it.
And when you do, pray boldly. Pray confidently. Trust God's love. Trust God's power. Trust that, if what you pray for meets God's approval, God will give it to you. And resolve that if God does what you ask for, you'll do everything you can to use whatever God has given you to honor God and serve God.
We know God has power. We know God has unlimited power. Jesus told us God will use God's power to give good gifts to us, God's children, because God loves us. There is nothing too big for God to do.
God wants us to ask. Jesus told us to ask. So, let's ask. And let's be bold in asking. Let's give God chances to use God's power. Then, we'll really see the power of prayer.
We've been talking about the power of prayer. We've talked about how prayer can create a close relationship between us and God. We've talked about how, by creating that relationship, prayer opens us up to God's guidance and helps create chances to serve God. This week, we go a little farther. This week, we're going to talk about how prayer gives God chances to use God's power.
Because when we talk about the power of prayer, that's really what we're talking about, right? God's power. Prayers are not powerful because of us. Prayers are powerful because of God. The only thing our prayers do is give God chances to use God's power.
Now, some of you may be thinking, “Wait a minute. How can you say prayer gives God chances to use God's power? God can use God's power whether we do anything or not. God can use God's power any time God wants to. God is all-powerful. There's nothing we can do that affects God's ability to use God's power.”
Well, that's true, of course. God is all-powerful. God can use God's power any time God wants to. But what the Bible seems to tell us is that sometimes, God waits to be invited to use God's power. God sometimes does not use the power God has until we ask God to do that. And the way we ask is through prayer.
To me, that fits in with the idea that God gives us free will. God allows us to make choices with our lives, and so God is not going to use the power God has, even for our own good, until we ask God to do that. If we don't, God will allow us to go our own way and will allow us to deal with the consequences of going our own way.
But we're encouraged to ask. Jesus himself encourages us to ask in the passage we read from Luke. In fact, Jesus tells us we should ask with “shameless audacity.”
That word “audacity” is not one we use a lot in normal conversation. It means boldness or daring. It means to act confidently, without regard to any restrictions. So what Jesus is telling us is not just to ask God to use God's power, but to be bold in ask God to do that and to be confident that God will do it. Jesus is saying we should not be afraid to come to God with big requests. We should not feel like we're imposing on God to ask for things. We should be bold and confident in asking.
That's what the person is Jesus' story did. He goes to his friend in the middle of the night, after everyone's gone to bed, and says, “Hey, company just came and I don't have anything to feed 'em. I need you to give me some food right now.”
I mean, can you imagine that? You're at home asleep, in the middle of the night, and somebody starts banging on your door and demanding food? Seriously, think about it. It'd be really tempting to just ignore them and hope they go away, right? I'd be thinking, “You idiot. How can you not have any food? Who in the world runs completely out of food? What were you planning to do for breakfast?”
But that's the audacity, the boldness, the confidence, with which Jesus says we're supposed to ask God for things. We're not supposed to worry about whether we should've done more to be prepared. We're not supposed to worry about whether God will be inconvenienced when we ask. We're not supposed to worry that this might be too much for us to ask God. We're just supposed to ask. And God, out of love, will give us what we ask.
Now, I think we need to notice something about Jesus' story. The thing that was asked for was not something frivolous. It was not “give me something extravagant so I can go have fun”. The request was for food. Specifically, for bread. Bread is something people need.
I think that tells us something. Jesus tells us to ask God with boldness, but not to ask for a bunch of stuff we don't need. Jesus says “ask and it will be given to you” but that may not work if we ask God for a Mercedes. Jesus is telling us to ask God for things we truly need.
Jesus goes on to compare God to a good father, and says “Look, if your son asks for a fish or an egg, you'll give it to him, right? You won't give him a snake or a scorpion. You give you kids things that are good for them, not things that are bad for them. And God will do the same for you.”
Now, again, I think that means we get what we need, not necessarily what we want. Again, Jesus is comparing God to a good father. A good father, or a good mother, does not give their children everything they want. Sometimes the things we want are not good for us. If a child asks a parent for a snake or scorpion, you won't give it to them, will you? A good parent gives their children what they need, not necessarily what they want.
But again, we can still make bold requests. We should make bold requests. And if they meet with God's approval, God will answer those requests. Our prayer will have created the chance for God to use God's power for our good.
That's what Hannah did in our reading from First Samuel. Hannah desperately wanted a child. It looked like she would never have one. She was begging, pleading, even bargaining with God, asking God to please, please, give her a child. She was praying so hard the priest Eli thought she was drunk.
Now, that's a pretty bold request, right? To ask God to give you a child? That's no small thing, especially when you've been trying to have children for years and have never been able to have one. That's audacity. I mean, there's nothing in the Bible that says Hannah was anyone special. There's nothing that says Hannah had any reason to think God would do anything special for her. But she trusted God. She trusted God enough to make a big, bold, audacious request. And her prayer had power: God's power. God used God's power to do what Hannah wanted.
I think that's really what it comes down to—trust. Trusting in God's love. Trusting in God's power. Going to God confidently, not because we believe in our own goodness, but because we trust God's goodness and God's greatness. Trusting that, if what we're praying for meets with God's approval, our prayer will have power. God will answer our prayer, no matter how big or bold it is.
Now, of course, we need to understand that we cannot order God around. Hannah did not go to God and demand that God do what she wanted. She did not say, “God here's what I want, so get going.” She called herself God's servant. She was humble. She was respectful. She did not demand anything. She simply asked. And she said that, if God granted her request, she would do everything she could to make sure her child served God and honored God.
I think that tells us the attitude with which we should make these bold, audacious requests to God. We should go to God humbly. We should go to God respectfully. We should recognize that we're God's servants. And then, we should simply ask, and resolve that if God does give us what we ask for, then we'll do everything we can to use whatever God has given us to serve God and honor God.
So, what's on your mind today? What's on your heart? Is there something you need? I mean, not something you want, not something you'd like to have, but something you really need? Pray for it. It does not matter how big it is. Pray for it. It does not matter whether you deserve it, because of course you don't deserve it and neither do I. Pray for it.
And when you do, pray boldly. Pray confidently. Trust God's love. Trust God's power. Trust that, if what you pray for meets God's approval, God will give it to you. And resolve that if God does what you ask for, you'll do everything you can to use whatever God has given you to honor God and serve God.
We know God has power. We know God has unlimited power. Jesus told us God will use God's power to give good gifts to us, God's children, because God loves us. There is nothing too big for God to do.
God wants us to ask. Jesus told us to ask. So, let's ask. And let's be bold in asking. Let's give God chances to use God's power. Then, we'll really see the power of prayer.
Friday, October 4, 2013
On the Agenda
As I write this, the big thing in the news seems to be the government shutdown. I suspect you've heard about it, and you probably have an opinion on it.
That's fine. We're all entitled to our opinions. Yours is just as valid as mine, so I'm not going to give you mine here. However, there's one aspect of the matter that I do want to comment on.
I have seen people, on both the left and the right, try to tell us what God's opinion about the government shutdown is. Coincidentally, all of these people have come to the conclusion that God agrees with them. And they will tell you so, in no uncertain terms.
It's one of the things we all have to guard against. It is really easy for us to impose our own personal agendas on God. Sometimes we do it with the best of intentions. We're absolutely convinced that our beliefs are good and that they are right. We cannot conceive how any logical, reasonable, intelligent person could possibly disagree with us. And so, we assume that God must agree with us, too. Sometimes we even look through the Bible, searching for verses we can quote that show how God agrees with us.
The trouble is that God rarely fits our agendas. God tells us to do things that are illogical, unreasonable, and not intelligent at all, at least from a human perspective. Jesus told us that we should love our enemies, rather than hate them. Jesus told us that if someone slaps us on one cheek, we should turn the other one to them and let them slap that one, too. Jesus told us that asks us for our coat, we should give them our shirt, too. Jesus not only said we should love our enemies, he said we should lend to them without expecting to ever get anything back.
Does any of that sound logical to you? Does it sound reasonable? Does it even sound intelligent?
Of course, we're not the first people who've tried to use God as a prop to support our agendas, whether political or personal. People tried to do that to Jesus all the time. “Hey, Jesus, should we pay taxes or not?” “Hey, Jesus, what are the circumstances where it's okay for us to get a divorce?” “Hey, Jesus, who's my 'neighbor'?” Yes, sometimes people asked questions because they genuinely wanted to know the answer, but a lot of the time, they were hoping he'd say something they could use to buttress their own beliefs, no matter what the subject was.
If you notice, when Jesus got asked these “agenda” questions, he never gave a direct answer to them. He'd never take one side or the other. Instead, he'd say “Here's how you, as a follower of God, should live.” And the answer was never something that fit anyone's agenda. Instead, the answer always had to do with love: love of God and love of others. And people would almost always go away ashamed, because they knew how far short they came from feeling the love God wants us to feel.
I suspect, if we could ask Jesus about the government shutdown or about any other hot-button issue, that's still what Jesus would do. He wouldn't take one side or the other. He'd say, “Here's how you, as a Christian, should live.” And the answer would not fit anyone's agenda. Instead, the answer would have to do with love: love of God and love of others. And we'd feel ashamed, because we'd know how far short we come from feeling the love God wants us to feel.
God is a lot bigger than our agenda. God won't fit into the boxes we try to put God in, whether those are political boxes or other types of boxes. So let's stop trying to use God to serve our agenda. Instead, let's strive to serve God in everything we do.
That's fine. We're all entitled to our opinions. Yours is just as valid as mine, so I'm not going to give you mine here. However, there's one aspect of the matter that I do want to comment on.
I have seen people, on both the left and the right, try to tell us what God's opinion about the government shutdown is. Coincidentally, all of these people have come to the conclusion that God agrees with them. And they will tell you so, in no uncertain terms.
It's one of the things we all have to guard against. It is really easy for us to impose our own personal agendas on God. Sometimes we do it with the best of intentions. We're absolutely convinced that our beliefs are good and that they are right. We cannot conceive how any logical, reasonable, intelligent person could possibly disagree with us. And so, we assume that God must agree with us, too. Sometimes we even look through the Bible, searching for verses we can quote that show how God agrees with us.
The trouble is that God rarely fits our agendas. God tells us to do things that are illogical, unreasonable, and not intelligent at all, at least from a human perspective. Jesus told us that we should love our enemies, rather than hate them. Jesus told us that if someone slaps us on one cheek, we should turn the other one to them and let them slap that one, too. Jesus told us that asks us for our coat, we should give them our shirt, too. Jesus not only said we should love our enemies, he said we should lend to them without expecting to ever get anything back.
Does any of that sound logical to you? Does it sound reasonable? Does it even sound intelligent?
Of course, we're not the first people who've tried to use God as a prop to support our agendas, whether political or personal. People tried to do that to Jesus all the time. “Hey, Jesus, should we pay taxes or not?” “Hey, Jesus, what are the circumstances where it's okay for us to get a divorce?” “Hey, Jesus, who's my 'neighbor'?” Yes, sometimes people asked questions because they genuinely wanted to know the answer, but a lot of the time, they were hoping he'd say something they could use to buttress their own beliefs, no matter what the subject was.
If you notice, when Jesus got asked these “agenda” questions, he never gave a direct answer to them. He'd never take one side or the other. Instead, he'd say “Here's how you, as a follower of God, should live.” And the answer was never something that fit anyone's agenda. Instead, the answer always had to do with love: love of God and love of others. And people would almost always go away ashamed, because they knew how far short they came from feeling the love God wants us to feel.
I suspect, if we could ask Jesus about the government shutdown or about any other hot-button issue, that's still what Jesus would do. He wouldn't take one side or the other. He'd say, “Here's how you, as a Christian, should live.” And the answer would not fit anyone's agenda. Instead, the answer would have to do with love: love of God and love of others. And we'd feel ashamed, because we'd know how far short we come from feeling the love God wants us to feel.
God is a lot bigger than our agenda. God won't fit into the boxes we try to put God in, whether those are political boxes or other types of boxes. So let's stop trying to use God to serve our agenda. Instead, let's strive to serve God in everything we do.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
First Service
This is the message given in the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, September 29, 2013. The Bible verses used are Joshua 24:14-22 and Matthew 6:19-34.
We're about half-way through our sermon series on the power of prayer. We've talked about how prayer helps create a close relationship between us and God, and we've talked about how that relationship can help us be open to God's leading and God's guidance. Today, we take the next step. Today, we're going to talk about how prayer can give us chances to serve God.
Now, in talking about that, the first thing we need to do is decide whether we actually want to serve God. I assume that most of us, since we call ourselves Christians, since we call ourselves followers of Christ, would say that we want to serve God. But do we really?
Last week, we talked about how we wish we could see God's entire plan for our lives, and how one of the reasons God does not let us see that is that we might be scared of some of the things God has planned for us. We also talked about how, even if we are doing what God wants us to do right now, that may not be what God wants us to do in the future. So, it's a question we all need to ask ourselves. Are we really ready for everything it means, for all the changes we might need to make in our lives, if we truly decide to serve God?
That's the question Joshua asked the people in our reading from the Old Testament today. Joshua has led the nation of Israel ever since Moses died. Now, Joshua is near the end of his life. And he challenges the people. He says to them, look, you folks need to decide who you're going to serve. You can serve God, or you can serve someone else. My family and I are going to serve God. How about you?
And all the people say, yup, we will, too. We're going to serve God. Absolutely. No question about it. That's what we want to do.
And Joshua says, no, you don't. You may think you do. You may be serious when you say it. You may really mean it when you say this. But you're not going to be able to do it. You'll get distracted. You'll get impatient. Stuff will happen. You'll start serving other gods.
You and I, an awful lot of the time, are like those people Joshua was talking to. We say, yup, we're going to serve God. Absolutely. No question about it. That's what we want to do. And we're serious when we say it. We really mean it when we say it. But we get distracted. We get impatient. Stuff happens. And we start serving other gods.
One of those gods, one Jesus warned us about in our New Testament reading, is money. Jesus says we cannot serve both God and money.
Now, I want you to notice that Jesus did not say that if we have a lot of money, we're going to go to hell. You cannot find that in the Bible anywhere. It's not a question of how much money we have. It's a question of what our attitude toward money is. If we allow money to become our master, if we live our lives in the service of money, we cannot serve God the way we're supposed to.
Again, it's not a question of how much money we have. It's a question of what our attitude toward money is. We can have very little money, we can have no money at all, and still allow money to become our master. If the goal of our lives becomes to acquire more money, we're living our lives in the service of money, whether we actually have any of it or not. And if we do that, we cannot serve God the way we're supposed to.
That's why we included the paragraph that comes after that. We've talked before about how we need to read Bible verses in context, how we need to look at what comes before them and what comes after them. Right after telling people not to serve money, Jesus goes on to tell people not to worry about what they're going to eat or drink or wear. That tells me that Jesus is not aiming this message at the rich. He's aiming it at the people who don't have much money, the people who you and I would say have every reason to worry about what they're going to eat or drink or wear. And Jesus tells them not to worry about that, to instead seek the kingdom of God. Any of us, no matter how much or how little money we have, is in danger of living our lives in the service of money. And that means any of us, no matter how much or how little money we have, is in danger of not serving God.
It's not just money that can keep us from serving God, of course. All kinds of things can. We can get selfish about our time. We can get lazy. As we've talked before, we can get distracted even by things that we'd often think of as good things—doing our jobs well, supporting community projects, spending time with our families, things like that. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad thing to do our jobs well. There's nothing wrong with supporting community projects. There's certainly nothing wrong with spending time with our families. But again, it's a question of what our attitude is. Nothing, not even good things, should get in the way of putting God first. Our first priority should always be to serve God.
And the way we can keep serving God our first priority is through prayer. It's through having that relationship with God. It's through opening ourselves up through God's guidance. It's by going to God without any agenda of our own. It's by going to God and simply saying, “God, here I am. Show me where you want me to go. Show me what you want me to do. Whatever it is, I'll do it.”
But think about how hard that is. To go to God without any agenda of our own. How many times do we actually do that? I don't know about you, but I don't do it nearly as often as I should. I might say the words, but it's awfully hard to mean them.
Let's face it. Most of the time, when we ask God to take control, we have a specific way in mind that we want God to do that. I may say, “God, show me where you want to go,” but inside, I'm thinking, “God, please don't send me to any of these places. Send me over here instead.” I may say, “God, show me what you want me to do,” but inside, I'm thinking, “God, please don't ask me to do anything that's too hard or too uncomfortable. Give me something simple and easy to do, something that won't make me do anything I don't want to do.”
I'll give you an example. I've talked about the mission trip that some other United Methodist pastors and I are making to the Bakken oil field. There's a part of me that really does not want to do that. In fact, there's a part of me that, even now, is kind of hoping something will happen so I don't have to go. I mean, I don't want anyone to die or anything, but if there'd be some lesser situation come up, something that was not real serious but was just serious enough that I could have a legitimate excuse to stay home, I'd be okay with that. This is something that is taking me outside of my comfort zone, and I'd love to have a legitimate excuse not to do it.
But you see, that's the thing. We talk about how powerful prayer is, but sometimes that has consequences we don't think about. One of the consequences of a prayer that has power is that God will answer it. If we go to God and honestly say, “God, here I am. Show me where you want me to go and what you want me to do and I'll do it,” God will answer that prayer. But when God answers that prayer, it's very likely that God will take us places we would never have gone on our own and ask us to do things we'd never have done on our own. When we ask God to give us chances to serve, God will give us those chances every time.
So, we come back to where we started. We come back to what Joshua told the people of Israel. We need to decide who we're going to serve. If we really mean it when we say we'll serve God, then we need to open ourselves up to God's guidance. We need to go to God without any agenda of our own. We need to go to God and honestly say, “Here I am. Show me where you want me to go. Show me what you want me to do.” And then, when God answers that prayer, we need to have the courage and the faith and the trust in God to actually go there and do it.
If we can, then we'll truly start to feel the power of prayer.
We're about half-way through our sermon series on the power of prayer. We've talked about how prayer helps create a close relationship between us and God, and we've talked about how that relationship can help us be open to God's leading and God's guidance. Today, we take the next step. Today, we're going to talk about how prayer can give us chances to serve God.
Now, in talking about that, the first thing we need to do is decide whether we actually want to serve God. I assume that most of us, since we call ourselves Christians, since we call ourselves followers of Christ, would say that we want to serve God. But do we really?
Last week, we talked about how we wish we could see God's entire plan for our lives, and how one of the reasons God does not let us see that is that we might be scared of some of the things God has planned for us. We also talked about how, even if we are doing what God wants us to do right now, that may not be what God wants us to do in the future. So, it's a question we all need to ask ourselves. Are we really ready for everything it means, for all the changes we might need to make in our lives, if we truly decide to serve God?
That's the question Joshua asked the people in our reading from the Old Testament today. Joshua has led the nation of Israel ever since Moses died. Now, Joshua is near the end of his life. And he challenges the people. He says to them, look, you folks need to decide who you're going to serve. You can serve God, or you can serve someone else. My family and I are going to serve God. How about you?
And all the people say, yup, we will, too. We're going to serve God. Absolutely. No question about it. That's what we want to do.
And Joshua says, no, you don't. You may think you do. You may be serious when you say it. You may really mean it when you say this. But you're not going to be able to do it. You'll get distracted. You'll get impatient. Stuff will happen. You'll start serving other gods.
You and I, an awful lot of the time, are like those people Joshua was talking to. We say, yup, we're going to serve God. Absolutely. No question about it. That's what we want to do. And we're serious when we say it. We really mean it when we say it. But we get distracted. We get impatient. Stuff happens. And we start serving other gods.
One of those gods, one Jesus warned us about in our New Testament reading, is money. Jesus says we cannot serve both God and money.
Now, I want you to notice that Jesus did not say that if we have a lot of money, we're going to go to hell. You cannot find that in the Bible anywhere. It's not a question of how much money we have. It's a question of what our attitude toward money is. If we allow money to become our master, if we live our lives in the service of money, we cannot serve God the way we're supposed to.
Again, it's not a question of how much money we have. It's a question of what our attitude toward money is. We can have very little money, we can have no money at all, and still allow money to become our master. If the goal of our lives becomes to acquire more money, we're living our lives in the service of money, whether we actually have any of it or not. And if we do that, we cannot serve God the way we're supposed to.
That's why we included the paragraph that comes after that. We've talked before about how we need to read Bible verses in context, how we need to look at what comes before them and what comes after them. Right after telling people not to serve money, Jesus goes on to tell people not to worry about what they're going to eat or drink or wear. That tells me that Jesus is not aiming this message at the rich. He's aiming it at the people who don't have much money, the people who you and I would say have every reason to worry about what they're going to eat or drink or wear. And Jesus tells them not to worry about that, to instead seek the kingdom of God. Any of us, no matter how much or how little money we have, is in danger of living our lives in the service of money. And that means any of us, no matter how much or how little money we have, is in danger of not serving God.
It's not just money that can keep us from serving God, of course. All kinds of things can. We can get selfish about our time. We can get lazy. As we've talked before, we can get distracted even by things that we'd often think of as good things—doing our jobs well, supporting community projects, spending time with our families, things like that. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad thing to do our jobs well. There's nothing wrong with supporting community projects. There's certainly nothing wrong with spending time with our families. But again, it's a question of what our attitude is. Nothing, not even good things, should get in the way of putting God first. Our first priority should always be to serve God.
And the way we can keep serving God our first priority is through prayer. It's through having that relationship with God. It's through opening ourselves up through God's guidance. It's by going to God without any agenda of our own. It's by going to God and simply saying, “God, here I am. Show me where you want me to go. Show me what you want me to do. Whatever it is, I'll do it.”
But think about how hard that is. To go to God without any agenda of our own. How many times do we actually do that? I don't know about you, but I don't do it nearly as often as I should. I might say the words, but it's awfully hard to mean them.
Let's face it. Most of the time, when we ask God to take control, we have a specific way in mind that we want God to do that. I may say, “God, show me where you want to go,” but inside, I'm thinking, “God, please don't send me to any of these places. Send me over here instead.” I may say, “God, show me what you want me to do,” but inside, I'm thinking, “God, please don't ask me to do anything that's too hard or too uncomfortable. Give me something simple and easy to do, something that won't make me do anything I don't want to do.”
I'll give you an example. I've talked about the mission trip that some other United Methodist pastors and I are making to the Bakken oil field. There's a part of me that really does not want to do that. In fact, there's a part of me that, even now, is kind of hoping something will happen so I don't have to go. I mean, I don't want anyone to die or anything, but if there'd be some lesser situation come up, something that was not real serious but was just serious enough that I could have a legitimate excuse to stay home, I'd be okay with that. This is something that is taking me outside of my comfort zone, and I'd love to have a legitimate excuse not to do it.
But you see, that's the thing. We talk about how powerful prayer is, but sometimes that has consequences we don't think about. One of the consequences of a prayer that has power is that God will answer it. If we go to God and honestly say, “God, here I am. Show me where you want me to go and what you want me to do and I'll do it,” God will answer that prayer. But when God answers that prayer, it's very likely that God will take us places we would never have gone on our own and ask us to do things we'd never have done on our own. When we ask God to give us chances to serve, God will give us those chances every time.
So, we come back to where we started. We come back to what Joshua told the people of Israel. We need to decide who we're going to serve. If we really mean it when we say we'll serve God, then we need to open ourselves up to God's guidance. We need to go to God without any agenda of our own. We need to go to God and honestly say, “Here I am. Show me where you want me to go. Show me what you want me to do.” And then, when God answers that prayer, we need to have the courage and the faith and the trust in God to actually go there and do it.
If we can, then we'll truly start to feel the power of prayer.
Friday, September 27, 2013
First Things First
It's been a while since I've written an actual blog post. I've posted sermons and such, but I haven't written something just for this blog. I'm sorry about that, but I've just been really busy lately.
One of my favorite quotes from my favorite TV show, Doctor Who, is “First things first, but not necessarily in that order.” You see, one of my constant struggles is with prioritizing things. There are lots of things I'd like to do. I consider all of them good things. I consider all of them important things. But there are only twenty-four hours in a day, and for some reason God has decided not to give me an exemption from that.
So, no matter how much I'd like to do everything, there are some things that I cannot do. That means that I have to make choices about what I will do and what I will not do. Sometimes, that means that things get put off until a later time, when I do have time to do them. Other times, it just means that either certain things will have to be done by something else, or they won't be done at all.
Now, I understand that I'm not the only one who has to do this. There are many other people—probably most people—who have to do the same thing. I would guess that most of us have more things we'd like to do than we have time to do them.
Again, none of us gets more than twenty-four hours in a day. And we have to spend some of those hours sleeping, and some of them eating, and some of them doing other things that simply have to be done to live. That means we get, at most twelve to fourteen hours in which we can actually be doing something productive.
And when I say “productive”, I'm using that in the broadest possible sense. Doing something “productive” includes spending time with our families. Doing something “productive” includes getting some exercise. Doing something “productive” includes taking some time to relax and have fun. We can overdo any or all of those things, but if we don't spend some of our time doing them, we're probably not going to live a very good, a very happy, or a very long life.
So, we need to come to terms with the fact that we will never be able to do all the things we'd like to do. And you know what? That's okay. In fact, there are ways in which it's a good thing. After all, if I'd already done everything I ever wanted to do, there'd be no point in going on, would there? Having things we still want to do, having goals we've not yet reached, is one of the things that keeps us active and makes us keep going.
The desire to do more, the desire to know more, the desire to achieve more—these are all a part of the human spirit. These things have been put into our souls by God. They are a part of what makes us what we are. If, for any reason, we lose that desire, we become less than what God intends us to be.
So, I'll probably continue to struggle with prioritizing. You probably will, too. And you know what? That's a good thing. Because it means that we're all still trying to be everything that God wants us to be.
One of my favorite quotes from my favorite TV show, Doctor Who, is “First things first, but not necessarily in that order.” You see, one of my constant struggles is with prioritizing things. There are lots of things I'd like to do. I consider all of them good things. I consider all of them important things. But there are only twenty-four hours in a day, and for some reason God has decided not to give me an exemption from that.
So, no matter how much I'd like to do everything, there are some things that I cannot do. That means that I have to make choices about what I will do and what I will not do. Sometimes, that means that things get put off until a later time, when I do have time to do them. Other times, it just means that either certain things will have to be done by something else, or they won't be done at all.
Now, I understand that I'm not the only one who has to do this. There are many other people—probably most people—who have to do the same thing. I would guess that most of us have more things we'd like to do than we have time to do them.
Again, none of us gets more than twenty-four hours in a day. And we have to spend some of those hours sleeping, and some of them eating, and some of them doing other things that simply have to be done to live. That means we get, at most twelve to fourteen hours in which we can actually be doing something productive.
And when I say “productive”, I'm using that in the broadest possible sense. Doing something “productive” includes spending time with our families. Doing something “productive” includes getting some exercise. Doing something “productive” includes taking some time to relax and have fun. We can overdo any or all of those things, but if we don't spend some of our time doing them, we're probably not going to live a very good, a very happy, or a very long life.
So, we need to come to terms with the fact that we will never be able to do all the things we'd like to do. And you know what? That's okay. In fact, there are ways in which it's a good thing. After all, if I'd already done everything I ever wanted to do, there'd be no point in going on, would there? Having things we still want to do, having goals we've not yet reached, is one of the things that keeps us active and makes us keep going.
The desire to do more, the desire to know more, the desire to achieve more—these are all a part of the human spirit. These things have been put into our souls by God. They are a part of what makes us what we are. If, for any reason, we lose that desire, we become less than what God intends us to be.
So, I'll probably continue to struggle with prioritizing. You probably will, too. And you know what? That's a good thing. Because it means that we're all still trying to be everything that God wants us to be.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
The Whole Truth
Below is the message from Sunday, September 22, 2013 in the Wheatland Parish. The Bible verses used are Jeremiah 29:10-13, John 15:26-16:15, and Luke 12:6-12.
We talked last week about how we need to pray to create a relationship with God. What we did not talk about is, why do we need that relationship? Why do you and I need a relationship with God? What good does it do us, really, to have a close relationship with God?
There may be some of you who think the answer is obvious, but I think it's a legitimate question. It's not enough to just say “prayer gives us a close relationship with God.” If we cannot see some benefit to having that relationship, we're probably not going to pursue it. So we won't pray the way we should.
So, at this point in our sermon series on the power of prayer, we're going to talk about the ways that relationship gives our prayers power. Today, we're going to look at one of the big ones. Prayer opens us up to God's guidance.
In our reading from Jeremiah, we're told that God has plans for us. These are plans for our good. These are plans that will give us hope and a future.
We don't always get to know what those plans are. In fact, we very rarely get to see the whole plan. But that's okay. In fact, it's a good thing. If we saw the whole plan, we might get impatient to see it all happen and try to take shortcuts and then the plan would not go the way God wants it to go. Or, we might get scared and not do the things God wants us to do to follow the plan, so that again the plan would not go the way God wants it to go. There are all sorts of good reasons why God does not let us know all the details of the plans God has for us, even though we'd like to.
We don't need to see the whole plan. All we need to see is the next step along the way. And God wants to show us that next step. But we need to keep in touch with God, to have that close relationship with God, to pray to God, so we can see that next step when God shows it to us. For our prayers to have power, we need to be open to going where God wants us to go and doing what God wants us to do. And we can only do that through our relationship with God.
The Bible tells us we get our guidance from the Holy Spirit. That's what our other readings talk about.
Our reading from John is powerful. Jesus tells the disciples that he's not going to be with them much longer, and they're really sad. But then he says, “Don't worry. It's okay. In fact, this is a good thing.” It's a good thing, Jesus says, because “unless I go away, the Holy Spirit cannot come to you. But when I go, the Holy Spirit will come.”
And listen to what Jesus says the Holy Spirit will do. Jesus says the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of Truth.” He says that Spirit of Truth will guide us, so we can live in truth. And he says that Spirit of Truth will tell us what is yet to come.
That's a pretty awesome thing, when we think about it. I mean, it seems like there are so many times any more where we have a hard time getting at the truth. We hear so many lies and half-truths and things that may be true but imply something that's false. Politicians lie, on both sides. Advertising lies. Sometimes people who claim to be Christians lie. Including pastors.
But the Holy Spirit is always true. The Holy Spirit is truth itself. And if we have the Holy Spirit with us, we can live in truth, no matter what anybody else says or does. And that means that we will see the next step along the path. Living in truth means being open to God's guidance. Living in truth means going where God wants us to go and doing what God wants us to do. That's what having a relationship with God does for us.
Truth always has power. In fact, in these times, truth has more power than ever, because it can be so hard to find. It's like a precious metal, like gold or silver or something. If it was all over the place, if it was common, it would not be valuable. It's valuable because it's rare. And truth is valuable because it's rare, too. Things that are rare have value. Things that are rare have power.
The disciples really did not understand. And a lot of times we really don't understand, either. We don't understand just who the Holy Spirit is. We don't understand just how the Holy Spirit works. But we know that the way to get to the Holy Spirit is through Jesus. And we know that the way to get to Jesus is through the relationship that's created by prayer. A prayer for the Holy Spirit, a prayer for the guidance of God's truth in our lives, is a prayer that has all kinds of power.
That's all there really is to it: to go to Jesus and pray for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives. We complicate things so much sometimes. We want to go back to all the rules and regulations. We want to go back to all the things the world tells us. But Jesus tells us that the world has it all wrong. Jesus tells us the world has it wrong about sin. The world has it wrong about judgment. The world has it wrong about righteousness. We cannot find the truth in the world. We cannot find the truth through politics. We cannot find the truth through material things. We cannot even find the truth from pastors. We can only find the truth through the Holy Spirit. And we can only find the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. We can only find the Holy Spirit through prayer. And our prayers can only have power if we ask for God's guidance through prayer.
But that's just it. If we ask for God's guidance, if we try to live in truth, if we're open to going where God wants us to go and doing what God wants us to do, we're going to end up doing some things that seem strange to other people. Because part of living in truth is recognizing that, as Jesus said, the world has it all wrong. We don't have to be in people's faces about that, but we need to recognize it in our own lives.
And if we do, people are going to notice that we are not living our lives the way other people do. Living in truth means having the courage to live differently, and there are always going to be people who do not like it when we live differently from the way the rest of the world does.
Jesus recognized that, too. At the end of his talk to the disciples, in a part we did not read, Jesus says “in this world you will have trouble”. But he tells them not to worry about that, because he has overcome the world, not just for himself, but for them and for all of us. In other words, the power of the Holy Spirit will protect us and see us through whatever trouble living in truth brings us.
Jesus addressed that in our reading from Luke, too. That's another powerful reading. He said that the disciples, and all of us, are going to get into trouble by following him. But again, he tells us not to worry about that. He says that if we follow him, if we accept him as their Savior, if we keep in touch with him, then we don't need to worry about what's going to happen or what we should say when it does. He said that, at the right time, the Holy Spirit will tell us what to say. The Holy Spirit will give us the truth. And the truth will have power. It always does.
I don't know where the Holy Spirit may be guiding you today. Maybe it's already guiding you. Maybe you're already open to going where God wants you to go and doing what God wants you to do. Maybe not. I don't know. That's between you and God.
But even so, we all still need to keep praying and keep seeking God's guidance. Because just because we're doing what God wants us to do today does not mean God will want us to do the same thing tomorrow. I believe that, at one time, God wanted me to be a lawyer. But now, God wants me to be a pastor. A few years ago, God wanted Wanda and me to be in North Sioux City. Now, God wants us here. And while we'd love it if we could stay here the rest of our lives, that may not be what God wants for us. We need to remain open to God's guidance. We need to keep seeking the truth of the Holy Spirit. And we can only do that through prayer.
When we truly have a relationship with God, we can go to Jesus in prayer and ask for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives. That's a prayer that has power, because it has God's power. And God will use God's power to give us the Holy Spirit. And then we'll go where God wants us to go and do what God wants us to do, because we'll have the Holy Spirit guiding us.
We talked last week about how we need to pray to create a relationship with God. What we did not talk about is, why do we need that relationship? Why do you and I need a relationship with God? What good does it do us, really, to have a close relationship with God?
There may be some of you who think the answer is obvious, but I think it's a legitimate question. It's not enough to just say “prayer gives us a close relationship with God.” If we cannot see some benefit to having that relationship, we're probably not going to pursue it. So we won't pray the way we should.
So, at this point in our sermon series on the power of prayer, we're going to talk about the ways that relationship gives our prayers power. Today, we're going to look at one of the big ones. Prayer opens us up to God's guidance.
In our reading from Jeremiah, we're told that God has plans for us. These are plans for our good. These are plans that will give us hope and a future.
We don't always get to know what those plans are. In fact, we very rarely get to see the whole plan. But that's okay. In fact, it's a good thing. If we saw the whole plan, we might get impatient to see it all happen and try to take shortcuts and then the plan would not go the way God wants it to go. Or, we might get scared and not do the things God wants us to do to follow the plan, so that again the plan would not go the way God wants it to go. There are all sorts of good reasons why God does not let us know all the details of the plans God has for us, even though we'd like to.
We don't need to see the whole plan. All we need to see is the next step along the way. And God wants to show us that next step. But we need to keep in touch with God, to have that close relationship with God, to pray to God, so we can see that next step when God shows it to us. For our prayers to have power, we need to be open to going where God wants us to go and doing what God wants us to do. And we can only do that through our relationship with God.
The Bible tells us we get our guidance from the Holy Spirit. That's what our other readings talk about.
Our reading from John is powerful. Jesus tells the disciples that he's not going to be with them much longer, and they're really sad. But then he says, “Don't worry. It's okay. In fact, this is a good thing.” It's a good thing, Jesus says, because “unless I go away, the Holy Spirit cannot come to you. But when I go, the Holy Spirit will come.”
And listen to what Jesus says the Holy Spirit will do. Jesus says the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of Truth.” He says that Spirit of Truth will guide us, so we can live in truth. And he says that Spirit of Truth will tell us what is yet to come.
That's a pretty awesome thing, when we think about it. I mean, it seems like there are so many times any more where we have a hard time getting at the truth. We hear so many lies and half-truths and things that may be true but imply something that's false. Politicians lie, on both sides. Advertising lies. Sometimes people who claim to be Christians lie. Including pastors.
But the Holy Spirit is always true. The Holy Spirit is truth itself. And if we have the Holy Spirit with us, we can live in truth, no matter what anybody else says or does. And that means that we will see the next step along the path. Living in truth means being open to God's guidance. Living in truth means going where God wants us to go and doing what God wants us to do. That's what having a relationship with God does for us.
Truth always has power. In fact, in these times, truth has more power than ever, because it can be so hard to find. It's like a precious metal, like gold or silver or something. If it was all over the place, if it was common, it would not be valuable. It's valuable because it's rare. And truth is valuable because it's rare, too. Things that are rare have value. Things that are rare have power.
The disciples really did not understand. And a lot of times we really don't understand, either. We don't understand just who the Holy Spirit is. We don't understand just how the Holy Spirit works. But we know that the way to get to the Holy Spirit is through Jesus. And we know that the way to get to Jesus is through the relationship that's created by prayer. A prayer for the Holy Spirit, a prayer for the guidance of God's truth in our lives, is a prayer that has all kinds of power.
That's all there really is to it: to go to Jesus and pray for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives. We complicate things so much sometimes. We want to go back to all the rules and regulations. We want to go back to all the things the world tells us. But Jesus tells us that the world has it all wrong. Jesus tells us the world has it wrong about sin. The world has it wrong about judgment. The world has it wrong about righteousness. We cannot find the truth in the world. We cannot find the truth through politics. We cannot find the truth through material things. We cannot even find the truth from pastors. We can only find the truth through the Holy Spirit. And we can only find the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. We can only find the Holy Spirit through prayer. And our prayers can only have power if we ask for God's guidance through prayer.
But that's just it. If we ask for God's guidance, if we try to live in truth, if we're open to going where God wants us to go and doing what God wants us to do, we're going to end up doing some things that seem strange to other people. Because part of living in truth is recognizing that, as Jesus said, the world has it all wrong. We don't have to be in people's faces about that, but we need to recognize it in our own lives.
And if we do, people are going to notice that we are not living our lives the way other people do. Living in truth means having the courage to live differently, and there are always going to be people who do not like it when we live differently from the way the rest of the world does.
Jesus recognized that, too. At the end of his talk to the disciples, in a part we did not read, Jesus says “in this world you will have trouble”. But he tells them not to worry about that, because he has overcome the world, not just for himself, but for them and for all of us. In other words, the power of the Holy Spirit will protect us and see us through whatever trouble living in truth brings us.
Jesus addressed that in our reading from Luke, too. That's another powerful reading. He said that the disciples, and all of us, are going to get into trouble by following him. But again, he tells us not to worry about that. He says that if we follow him, if we accept him as their Savior, if we keep in touch with him, then we don't need to worry about what's going to happen or what we should say when it does. He said that, at the right time, the Holy Spirit will tell us what to say. The Holy Spirit will give us the truth. And the truth will have power. It always does.
I don't know where the Holy Spirit may be guiding you today. Maybe it's already guiding you. Maybe you're already open to going where God wants you to go and doing what God wants you to do. Maybe not. I don't know. That's between you and God.
But even so, we all still need to keep praying and keep seeking God's guidance. Because just because we're doing what God wants us to do today does not mean God will want us to do the same thing tomorrow. I believe that, at one time, God wanted me to be a lawyer. But now, God wants me to be a pastor. A few years ago, God wanted Wanda and me to be in North Sioux City. Now, God wants us here. And while we'd love it if we could stay here the rest of our lives, that may not be what God wants for us. We need to remain open to God's guidance. We need to keep seeking the truth of the Holy Spirit. And we can only do that through prayer.
When we truly have a relationship with God, we can go to Jesus in prayer and ask for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives. That's a prayer that has power, because it has God's power. And God will use God's power to give us the Holy Spirit. And then we'll go where God wants us to go and do what God wants us to do, because we'll have the Holy Spirit guiding us.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
I Can Relate
This is the message given Sunday, September 15, 2013 in the Wheatland Parish. The Bible verses used are Luke 18:9-14,
Matthew 6:5-8, Psalm 42.
We've all had times when we get separated from people we care about. Sometimes they move away. Sometimes we move away. Sometimes we or they change jobs. There are all sorts of things that can happen so that people we used to see all the time, we don't see much any more.
When that separation takes place, what happens? We always say we'll keep in touch. We always say we'll stay just as close as we were. But an awful lot of the time, we don't. We mean to. We have good intentions. But things get in the way. We get busy. So do they. We have other stuff going on. So do they. We don't have some of the things in common that we used to have.
And so what happens is, we start out calling each other once a week or so. Then, it becomes an email every couple of weeks. Then, we maybe hear from them on facebook once a month. Then it's a birthday card or a Christmas card. And then next thing you know, this person we used to be close to, this person we used to care so much about, becomes almost like a stranger to us.
That's kind of sad. And how did it happen? Because we did not make an effort to stay in contact with them. We did not intend to end the friendship. And we still kind of like the person. We still feel some lingering affection for them. But we've drifted apart, because we don't see each other or talk to each other any more.
Now, that's not inevitable. There are people who maintain friendships, or even marriages, over a long distance. But to do that successfully, we really need to work at it. We need to make time to stay in contact with each other. We need to make an effort to stay in contact with each other. We need to make that relationship a priority in their lives, even though we are separated. That's the only way it will work.
Now maybe you already know where I'm going with this, but that same principle applies to our relationship with God. God wants to have a close relationship with us. But if we're not careful, we can get separated from God. We can drift away from God. If we don't take the time to stay in contact with God through prayer, we lose that close relationship. If we don't make an effort to talk to God, if we don't make our relationship with God a priority in our lives, God can become almost like a stranger to us. And that's sad.
As we go to the second week of our sermon series on the power of prayer, that's one of the ways prayer has power: it gives us a relationship with God. It keeps us close to God. It keeps us in contact with God. It makes our relationship with God a priority in our lives. And the closer our relationship with God is, the more power our prayers are likely to have.
Now, understand, any relationship is a two-way street. Our relationship with God is not just us communicating with God, it's also God communicating with us. The thing is that we know God will do God's part. God wants that relationship with us, and God will do what God needs to do to create that relationship. So our Bible readings for today talk about what we need to do, and not do, in our prayers to create that relationship.
In our first reading, Jesus gives us two examples, a Pharisee and a tax collector. They both prayed. But the Pharisee basically told God how good he, the Pharisee was. He was bragging about all the great things he did. Have you ever known people like that? Sure you have.
It's hard to have a relationship with someone like that, right? It's hard to feel close to someone who just can't wait to tell you how wonderful they are. A person like that is not interested in a relationship, really, because again, a relationship is a two-way street. The Pharisee in Jesus' story was talking to God, he was praying, but he was not interested in a two-way relationship with God. All he was interested in was one way, his way. And so his prayer did not have any power.
The tax collector, though, comes to God humbly. He knows that he does not deserve to have a relationship with God. But he knows he needs that relationship. And so he asks God to please allow him to have that relationship, even though he does not deserve it. He's completely honest with God about who he is and what he is.
That's a prayer that has power. Because that's one of the things that creates a relationship: honesty. That's true whether we're talking about relationships between people or relationships with God. We cannot have a close relationship with someone who won't be honest with us. And we don't have a close relationship with someone if we're afraid to be honest with them. If we want our prayers to have power, we need to have a close relationship with God. And if we want a close relationship with God, we need to be completely honest with God.
In our reading from Matthew, Jesus talks about some more things about prayer. He tells us that when we pray, we should not try to impress others with our prayers. We should not try impress God, either. That's not what prayer is supposed to be about. It's still a prayer, it's still talking to God, but a prayer that's designed to impress God or impress other people won't create a relationship with God, and so it won't have any power. Prayer, again is about being honest with God and creating a relationship with God.
That's why Jesus says to pray in secret. It's okay to pray in public, too, as long as we're not trying to impress people with our prayers. But if we want to create that close relationship with God, we need those times when it's just us and God.
Again, think of close relationships you have with people. One of the things that makes those relationships close is that you've had that one-on-one time with them. When we talk to people one-on-one, we can share things we could not share in public. We can get a depth of feeling and understanding and trust we cannot get when there are a lot of other people around. It's the same in our relationship with God. If we want to feel close to God, we need that one-on-one time with God. We need to have those times where we share things with God that we cannot share with anyone else. We need that depth of feeling and understanding and trust in our relationship with God that we can only get through that one-on-one time.
Because, when we pray, we're not telling God anything God does not know. God knows everything. Jesus says as much when he says, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” We don't pray to God to give God information. We pray to God to form a relationship. It's through that relationship with God that our prayers have power.
Our responsive reading today was Psalm 42. Listen to the words the psalmist uses to show how much we need a relationship with God: “My soul pants for God.” “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” “When can I go and meet with God? “I pour out my soul” to God.
That's the feeling we need to have about prayer. We need to be eager to pray. We need to be anxious to pray. We need to want a relationship with God so much that it's the most important relationship in our lives. It's more important than our relationship with our spouse, more important than our relationship with our kids, more important than our relationship with our parents, more important than our relationship with anyone on this earth. The most important thing in our lives needs to be our relationship with God.
If it is, then we'll do whatever we need to do to have that relationship. We'll take the time to stay in contact with God. We'll make the effort to talk to God. We'll make our relationship with God a priority in our lives. And our relationship with God will work, and our prayers will have power.
Jesus gives us the tools. Jesus gives us the methods. Jesus tells us how we can have that close relationship with God. God is ready to have that close relationship with us. God wants to have that close relationship with us. But God won't force us to have that relationship. It's our choice. It's your choice, and it's my choice.
We need to go to God humbly, be completely honest with God, and spend some one-on-one time with God, sharing things with God that we cannot share with anyone else. If we do that, we will have that close relationship with God that we need. And then, we'll be able to feel the power of prayer.
We've all had times when we get separated from people we care about. Sometimes they move away. Sometimes we move away. Sometimes we or they change jobs. There are all sorts of things that can happen so that people we used to see all the time, we don't see much any more.
When that separation takes place, what happens? We always say we'll keep in touch. We always say we'll stay just as close as we were. But an awful lot of the time, we don't. We mean to. We have good intentions. But things get in the way. We get busy. So do they. We have other stuff going on. So do they. We don't have some of the things in common that we used to have.
And so what happens is, we start out calling each other once a week or so. Then, it becomes an email every couple of weeks. Then, we maybe hear from them on facebook once a month. Then it's a birthday card or a Christmas card. And then next thing you know, this person we used to be close to, this person we used to care so much about, becomes almost like a stranger to us.
That's kind of sad. And how did it happen? Because we did not make an effort to stay in contact with them. We did not intend to end the friendship. And we still kind of like the person. We still feel some lingering affection for them. But we've drifted apart, because we don't see each other or talk to each other any more.
Now, that's not inevitable. There are people who maintain friendships, or even marriages, over a long distance. But to do that successfully, we really need to work at it. We need to make time to stay in contact with each other. We need to make an effort to stay in contact with each other. We need to make that relationship a priority in their lives, even though we are separated. That's the only way it will work.
Now maybe you already know where I'm going with this, but that same principle applies to our relationship with God. God wants to have a close relationship with us. But if we're not careful, we can get separated from God. We can drift away from God. If we don't take the time to stay in contact with God through prayer, we lose that close relationship. If we don't make an effort to talk to God, if we don't make our relationship with God a priority in our lives, God can become almost like a stranger to us. And that's sad.
As we go to the second week of our sermon series on the power of prayer, that's one of the ways prayer has power: it gives us a relationship with God. It keeps us close to God. It keeps us in contact with God. It makes our relationship with God a priority in our lives. And the closer our relationship with God is, the more power our prayers are likely to have.
Now, understand, any relationship is a two-way street. Our relationship with God is not just us communicating with God, it's also God communicating with us. The thing is that we know God will do God's part. God wants that relationship with us, and God will do what God needs to do to create that relationship. So our Bible readings for today talk about what we need to do, and not do, in our prayers to create that relationship.
In our first reading, Jesus gives us two examples, a Pharisee and a tax collector. They both prayed. But the Pharisee basically told God how good he, the Pharisee was. He was bragging about all the great things he did. Have you ever known people like that? Sure you have.
It's hard to have a relationship with someone like that, right? It's hard to feel close to someone who just can't wait to tell you how wonderful they are. A person like that is not interested in a relationship, really, because again, a relationship is a two-way street. The Pharisee in Jesus' story was talking to God, he was praying, but he was not interested in a two-way relationship with God. All he was interested in was one way, his way. And so his prayer did not have any power.
The tax collector, though, comes to God humbly. He knows that he does not deserve to have a relationship with God. But he knows he needs that relationship. And so he asks God to please allow him to have that relationship, even though he does not deserve it. He's completely honest with God about who he is and what he is.
That's a prayer that has power. Because that's one of the things that creates a relationship: honesty. That's true whether we're talking about relationships between people or relationships with God. We cannot have a close relationship with someone who won't be honest with us. And we don't have a close relationship with someone if we're afraid to be honest with them. If we want our prayers to have power, we need to have a close relationship with God. And if we want a close relationship with God, we need to be completely honest with God.
In our reading from Matthew, Jesus talks about some more things about prayer. He tells us that when we pray, we should not try to impress others with our prayers. We should not try impress God, either. That's not what prayer is supposed to be about. It's still a prayer, it's still talking to God, but a prayer that's designed to impress God or impress other people won't create a relationship with God, and so it won't have any power. Prayer, again is about being honest with God and creating a relationship with God.
That's why Jesus says to pray in secret. It's okay to pray in public, too, as long as we're not trying to impress people with our prayers. But if we want to create that close relationship with God, we need those times when it's just us and God.
Again, think of close relationships you have with people. One of the things that makes those relationships close is that you've had that one-on-one time with them. When we talk to people one-on-one, we can share things we could not share in public. We can get a depth of feeling and understanding and trust we cannot get when there are a lot of other people around. It's the same in our relationship with God. If we want to feel close to God, we need that one-on-one time with God. We need to have those times where we share things with God that we cannot share with anyone else. We need that depth of feeling and understanding and trust in our relationship with God that we can only get through that one-on-one time.
Because, when we pray, we're not telling God anything God does not know. God knows everything. Jesus says as much when he says, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” We don't pray to God to give God information. We pray to God to form a relationship. It's through that relationship with God that our prayers have power.
Our responsive reading today was Psalm 42. Listen to the words the psalmist uses to show how much we need a relationship with God: “My soul pants for God.” “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” “When can I go and meet with God? “I pour out my soul” to God.
That's the feeling we need to have about prayer. We need to be eager to pray. We need to be anxious to pray. We need to want a relationship with God so much that it's the most important relationship in our lives. It's more important than our relationship with our spouse, more important than our relationship with our kids, more important than our relationship with our parents, more important than our relationship with anyone on this earth. The most important thing in our lives needs to be our relationship with God.
If it is, then we'll do whatever we need to do to have that relationship. We'll take the time to stay in contact with God. We'll make the effort to talk to God. We'll make our relationship with God a priority in our lives. And our relationship with God will work, and our prayers will have power.
Jesus gives us the tools. Jesus gives us the methods. Jesus tells us how we can have that close relationship with God. God is ready to have that close relationship with us. God wants to have that close relationship with us. But God won't force us to have that relationship. It's our choice. It's your choice, and it's my choice.
We need to go to God humbly, be completely honest with God, and spend some one-on-one time with God, sharing things with God that we cannot share with anyone else. If we do that, we will have that close relationship with God that we need. And then, we'll be able to feel the power of prayer.
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