St.Mary's Episcopal Church, Barnstable, MA

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost:
9/27/2009
Kathleen O'Donoghue

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Today’s reading from the epistle of James offers us another glimpse into the instructions the apostles sent to the early church. Some of these letters dealt with issues of making the church look bad through their conduct, some addressed misunderstandings of theology and others talked about the practical aspects of community The letter written by James to the church seems to focus on instruction in the way the early church should live to honor God. We have heard readings from James in recent weeks regarding being slow to speak and become angry and in contrast being quick to listen, treating people without favoritism regarding wealth and power, that faith without our works is a dead faith, how not many of us should endeavor to be teachers since much would be expected from us, and the importance of controlling our tongues. Today’s reading moves into a new area of importance in the life of the early Christian Community…that of prayer.
Listen again to James’ words on prayer….

Are any among you suffering? They should pray.
Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.
Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up,
And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.
Therefore confess your sins to one another
And pray for one another, so that you may be healed.

The topic of prayer can be such a divisive one.

There are some who believe that if they pray in a certain way, at a certain time in a certain fashion, that God will hear their petitions more than others…sometimes this sort of prayer leans more toward superstition than petition.

There are others that believe if enough people pray the same prayer for the same thing, they will convince God to behave in a certain way..sort of a democratic theology…we can woo God with our numbers and win God over.

Others yet have prayed ferverently and have been disappointed by the results of their prayer, with God seemingly answering no.

So what then is prayer? Can it possibly be any one or all of these things? What do we do with prayer that is not answered to our liking or that is not, from our human perspective, heard?

I believe James sheds some light on these questions in the previous chapter of his letter…listen carefully to his words:

“Draw near to God and God will draw near to you”

This does not sound like prayer is intended to be a one way conversation, with the person preparing a laundry list of sorts for God to take care of…

“Draw near to God and God will draw near to you”

This does not sound like prayer is about majority opinion or who is right or wrong or having God be on their side on a controversial issue because one has the most people praying.

“Draw near to God and God will draw near to you”

This does not seem to indicate that prayer assures that God will say YES to all of our petitions.

In fact, James seems to be saying that prayer isn’t a one way encounter at all….instead it seems that we are called to be in a relationship with God, one in which we would come to him in good times and in bad, in times of joy and sorrow, and that we would remain in this relationship with him, even if we don’t always get what we want.

“Draw near to God and God will draw near to you”

As you may know, the other pastoral work in which I am involved is my work as a hospice chaplain. In this work, I spend a great deal of time talking with and listening to people who have engaged in all those kinds of prayers I mentioned earlier.

Sometimes when they first found that they had a terminal illness, they prayed those prayers of bargaining and sometimes they thought if more people prayed they would have a better outcome and sometimes they turned their backs to God when they realized they had not been healed physically after these prayers.

But then something changed for them. I have seen patient after patient have a marked shift in their perspective of prayer and God’s presence when they open themselves to the understanding that prayer might be something different than they imagined. When this happens they are able to experience a number of things…

Often they can see that prayers are not always answered the way we imagine, but are still indeed answered. Healing is not always physical. Sometimes it is their relationships that are healed, sometimes it is the fear of illness and death that is taken away from them and they reach a place of peace about their lives.

And as they come to these realizations their relationships with God can deepen and grow in the midst of their seemingly unanswered prayers and then their prayers change.

They no longer have the laundry list of demands for God to hear, they instead are content to feel God’s presence, to share this new found peace and clarity with their families and their friends and to really rest in the deep and abiding presence of God.

In the end, they have discovered that prayer has the ability to change us rather than require that we change God. In the end, they have learned to draw near to God and he has drawn near to them. Perhaps it is the knowledge of their illness that makes them open to this spiritual growth. Perhaps it is because they are in a place to really explore their relationship with God because their mortality is in such clear focus.

So, how do we learn to draw near to God in the midst of our lives? Certainly, we are tempted to simply ask God to solve our problems, remove our difficulties and to make our lives easier, but if we are instead called to draw near to God, to have a deep abiding relationship with him, how do we move toward this?

The church historically gives us instructions on how to have such a relationship with God, and we all gather today to share in some of these spiritual practices. The first would be to worship God. When we gather to recognize God’s mercy and goodness to us, we learn to recognize his presence in the midst of our joys and sorrows. We are also called to read the word of God that has sustained the people of God for all time. Sharing in the Eucharist reminds us that we are all part of the body of Christ and reminds us to go out into the world as God’s hands and feet. These practices sustain us as a community and allow us to support each other.

But it is prayer, being in the presence of God, which really allows us to fully draw near to God. There is no substitute to spending time during the day listening in stillness to God’s voice. For some, this happens in a sanctuary but for others it happens on the ocean, in the garden, walking on the beach, while listening to music or making art…wherever it is, it is not about us talking and asking and demanding, but really just fully listening and hearing and sensing the real presence of God.

I invite you today to consider entering into this deep relationship with God….to commit yourself to spend time daily in God’s presence…to draw near to him…and if you do this…he will draw near to you and you will find that prayer will in fact change you rather than require God to change.
Amen.

Contact us: 508-362-3977 stmary@cape.com
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Sermons at Saint Mary's The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost: 9/27/2009 Kathleen O'Donoghue May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Today’s reading from the epistle of James offers us another glimpse into the instructions the apostles sent to the early church. Some of these letters dealt with issues of making the church look bad through their conduct, some addressed misunderstandings of theology and others talked about the practical aspects of community The letter written by James to the church seems to focus on instruction in the way the early church should live to honor God. We have heard readings from James in recent weeks regarding being slow to speak and become angry and in contrast being quick to listen, treating people without favoritism regarding wealth and power, that faith without our works is a dead faith, how not many of us should endeavor to be teachers since much would be expected from us, and the importance of controlling our tongues. Today’s reading moves into a new area of importance in the life of the early Christian Community…that of prayer. Listen again to James’ words on prayer…. Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up, And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another And pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The topic of prayer can be such a divisive one. There are some who believe that if they pray in a certain way, at a certain time in a certain fashion, that God will hear their petitions more than others…sometimes this sort of prayer leans more toward superstition than petition. There are others that believe if enough people pray the same prayer for the same thing, they will convince God to behave in a certain way..sort of a democratic theology…we can woo God with our numbers and win God over. Others yet have prayed ferverently and have been disappointed by the results of their prayer, with God seemingly answering no. So what then is prayer? Can it possibly be any one or all of these things? What do we do with prayer that is not answered to our liking or that is not, from our human perspective, heard? I believe James sheds some light on these questions in the previous chapter of his letter…listen carefully to his words: “Draw near to God and God will draw near to you” This does not sound like prayer is intended to be a one way conversation, with the person preparing a laundry list of sorts for God to take care of… “Draw near to God and God will draw near to you” This does not sound like prayer is about majority opinion or who is right or wrong or having God be on their side on a controversial issue because one has the most people praying. “Draw near to God and God will draw near to you” This does not seem to indicate that prayer assures that God will say YES to all of our petitions. In fact, James seems to be saying that prayer isn’t a one way encounter at all….instead it seems that we are called to be in a relationship with God, one in which we would come to him in good times and in bad, in times of joy and sorrow, and that we would remain in this relationship with him, even if we don’t always get what we want. “Draw near to God and God will draw near to you” As you may know, the other pastoral work in which I am involved is my work as a hospice chaplain. In this work, I spend a great deal of time talking with and listening to people who have engaged in all those kinds of prayers I mentioned earlier. Sometimes when they first found that they had a terminal illness, they prayed those prayers of bargaining and sometimes they thought if more people prayed they would have a better outcome and sometimes they turned their backs to God when they realized they had not been healed physically after these prayers. But then something changed for them. I have seen patient after patient have a marked shift in their perspective of prayer and God’s presence when they open themselves to the understanding that prayer might be something different than they imagined. When this happens they are able to experience a number of things… Often they can see that prayers are not always answered the way we imagine, but are still indeed answered. Healing is not always physical. Sometimes it is their relationships that are healed, sometimes it is the fear of illness and death that is taken away from them and they reach a place of peace about their lives. And as they come to these realizations their relationships with God can deepen and grow in the midst of their seemingly unanswered prayers and then their prayers change. They no longer have the laundry list of demands for God to hear, they instead are content to feel God’s presence, to share this new found peace and clarity with their families and their friends and to really rest in the deep and abiding presence of God. In the end, they have discovered that prayer has the ability to change us rather than require that we change God. In the end, they have learned to draw near to God and he has drawn near to them. Perhaps it is the knowledge of their illness that makes them open to this spiritual growth. Perhaps it is because they are in a place to really explore their relationship with God because their mortality is in such clear focus. So, how do we learn to draw near to God in the midst of our lives? Certainly, we are tempted to simply ask God to solve our problems, remove our difficulties and to make our lives easier, but if we are instead called to draw near to God, to have a deep abiding relationship with him, how do we move toward this? The church historically gives us instructions on how to have such a relationship with God, and we all gather today to share in some of these spiritual practices. The first would be to worship God. When we gather to recognize God’s mercy and goodness to us, we learn to recognize his presence in the midst of our joys and sorrows. We are also called to read the word of God that has sustained the people of God for all time. Sharing in the Eucharist reminds us that we are all part of the body of Christ and reminds us to go out into the world as God’s hands and feet. These practices sustain us as a community and allow us to support each other. But it is prayer, being in the presence of God, which really allows us to fully draw near to God. There is no substitute to spending time during the day listening in stillness to God’s voice. For some, this happens in a sanctuary but for others it happens on the ocean, in the garden, walking on the beach, while listening to music or making art…wherever it is, it is not about us talking and asking and demanding, but really just fully listening and hearing and sensing the real presence of God. I invite you today to consider entering into this deep relationship with God….to commit yourself to spend time daily in God’s presence…to draw near to him…and if you do this…he will draw near to you and you will find that prayer will in fact change you rather than require God to change. Amen. top \| home \| site index