10 Pentecost Sermon

THE REV. KATHLEEN M. STURGES

I’m starting a new church today and this is its symbol, a genie lamp. It’s perfect because the church will be called The Church of Genie Jesus. And when our members pray we are not going to pray prayers for a new car or a bigger house or to win the lottery. No. We will pray for the good things that we understand that God wants. When someone is sick, we will pray for healing. When a marriage or family is breaking apart, we will pray for love and unity. When we see that our world is full of violence and hate, we will pray for peace and justice. And when we do, Genie Jesus will answer our prayers quickly and clearly, in thirty days or less, guaranteed! Doesn’t that sound great? Yes! Because in real life, prayer and answers to prayer are much more sticky than that.

Today in our reading from the gospel of Luke, the disciples raise the issue of prayer with Jesus. Once again, he’s off and praying, but once he is done someone says, “Lord, teach us to pray.” It’s actually an odd question coming from these Jewish men. What do they mean, “teach us to pray?” when they’ve been steeped in prayer in their homes from day one. Prayers for the morning, prayers for the evening, prayers for the weekly Sabbath, prayers for the seasons and events of the year. These disciples knew lots of prayers. Yet there must have been something about Jesus and his prayer life that seemed different to them. Perhaps it was the connection, the peace, or the way of being with God that prompted the request, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

To which Jesus responds, “When you pray say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins... and do not bring us to the time of trial.” This prayer is known to us as The Lord’s Prayer. Here in Luke it’s a shortened, honed-down version of the more familiar words we read in the gospel of Matthew and recite every Sunday.

I think it’s unlikely that Jesus meant that these are the exact words to use to pray. As if they made up a special formula that unlocked the key to the mystery of prayer. Rather, I suspect he was laying out for us an understanding of the essence of prayer which begins with identifying to whom we pray. We pray to a God who is hallowed, who is holy, who is totally other along with being so caring and so loving that God is like a loving father or mother, a loving parent to us all. That is where we start in prayer - knowing who God is and we connect with that God in loving and intimate ways. Then we get down to brass tacks. Give us each day our daily bread; Give us what we need. Forgive us our sins; help us to stay connected to you and to those around us. Do not bring us to the time of trial; keep us away from suffering and hard times. Jesus invites us to lay it all out to God.

But he doesn’t stop there because he knows full well that prayer can be a sticky thing. Disciples throughout the ages struggle with praying prayers and wondering about God’s response. Did God hear me? Does God care? Why does it seem like nothing is happening? So Jesus continues by offering a few analogies.

Let’s say you had a friend who knocked on your door in the middle of the night and he needed bread. You wouldn’t want to bother with him, but for the sake of a good night’s sleep you would give him whatever he asked. And what parent when her child asks for a fish or an egg gives instead a snake or a scorpion? So if you, who are fallen and flawed, broken and full of mixed motives, are able to give good gifts how much more, how much more will our Father in heaven give his children very good gifts? Even when it seems that our prayers are not being answered, rest assured, Jesus is telling us that indeed God is answering and giving us exactly what we need. It may not be exactly what we want, but it will be just what we need. Because at the core of all that we need is God’s very presence, God’s Holy Spirit in our lives - God’s being that fills us with peace and comfort and connection no matter what.

Still, to be quite honest, there are plenty of times when I just would like to have a Genie Jesus. I’d like to pray a good prayer, rub a genie lamp and see the answer quickly and clearly. But you know what? This lamp is not the symbol for our church nor is it the symbol for our prayer life. In our church and in our prayers, our symbol is this, the cross. In this cross we know the message of great hope, great power, infinite love. In this cross we also recognize suffering and pain and we remember that sometimes we don’t get what we want. That even Jesus prayed for one thing, but ultimately said, “Not my will, but thy will be done.” And that the will and the ways of God can often seem quite confusing from the perspective of our human eyes.

This cross, this symbol of our church and of our prayers also declares that no matter what the world throws at us that God is greater. That God will have the final word. That Jesus is not our Genie, but Jesus is our Lord. And that through Jesus our Lord all of our prayers will be answered.