Do you
pray together? That’s a question I ask every couple at some point during
pre-marital counseling. Some have said yes, but the majority have said, “No,
that’s really a very personal thing.” I get that. I truly do, but I always tell
them – as I will say to you – that there is nothing more intimate than praying
together. I think that’s one of the reasons that some of us value the Agape
Prayer lunch on Wednesdays. So often in our prayers someone will say, “Thank
you for this group.”
For
those who have not attended, I want to tell you a few things about that group.
First off, everyone is welcome. We share a meal that we take turns preparing,
and we won’t expect you to cook unless you feel called to sign up to do it. The
next thing is that it takes time. We usually go from about 11:30 a.m. - 1:00
p.m. We talk about our lives, and we laugh with each other. The last thing is
that we respect privacy as we talk about one another’s needs and the needs of
the congregation, and we take seriously the prayers that are turned in during worship.
I tell
you all of this because the other thing that I hear repeatedly about prayer,
other than the privacy of it, is that most people do not like to pray in front
of others, because they are afraid of saying the wrong thing. Well, I’m here to
tell you that is just silly. Especially when it’s a prayer to open or close a
meeting. That’s just like saying a blessing for a meal, except instead of
sanctifying food you are asking God to give purpose to people and
conversations.
That
is, in fact, what Jesus is doing in our gospel reading today. He is praying for
those God has given him. He is praying to sanctify his followers and set them
aside for a holy purpose. Or is he? That’s the tricky part. Jesus is clearly
praying for them. He clearly wants them to know that he believes that they are
not a part of the world. He also clearly wants them to stay in it.
This
prayer is one that kind of blows my mind in a lot of ways. Imagine Jesus
praying for you. Imagine that you have been following him – literally following
the man, Jesus of Nazareth – and listening to him pray to God for you.
Now,
the disciples surely knew he was a man of God. They surely knew that he was a
prophet like no other. They surely knew, or at least thought of him, as God’s
own son and the one who would restore Jerusalem, but I’m not sure they even got
what he was saying.
So
often, when we are in the thick of things, we miss out on the deeper meaning.
So often, when we are in the thick of things, we miss out on the activity of
God. So often, when we are in the thick of things, we miss out on the thin
places where the boundary between heaven and earth simply fades away and the
Kingdom of God is at hand.
We are
given the gift of prayer in order to enter into those thin places with one
another. That is why we are given the gift of the words of Jesus, praying for
his disciples. It does make me wonder, though—how often do we pray and wonder
who is listening? How often do we read the news and think of our own distress
and say, “If there is a God, then that God is either deaf or mean”?
It
makes me wonder if that is why I hear so many expressions in pop culture these
days of a desire for a good life without a care for what could come after it.
It makes me wonder if the reason churches across our nation are struggling is
because we’ve worn ourselves out as an institution, and we’ve forgotten what it
means to be sanctified!
Just
saying that word, though, makes me realize part of the problem. To be
sanctified means to be purified and set aside for a holy purpose. Being sanctified
is a very “churchy” or “ecclesiastical” idea. Yet the purpose that Jesus
sanctifying his disciples is for them to go out into the world!
And so,
it is with us, we are the ones that came here, because we hope to hear
something of hope. We are the ones who have heard of this Jesus as the
embodiment – the self-revelation – of God- and we are doing our best to
understand how and where and what of this ragged world God will yet restore and
redeem.
In the
midst of it we have our day to day and week to week struggles. In fact, today
is a day that many struggles with even as many celebrate it with great joy.
Today is Mother’s Day – which is of course a secular holiday that has become
one that we simply can’t avoid in the church.
I say
it that way because over the years we have had somewhat of a shift in our
nation in terms of our expectations of women, of men, and of parenting in
general. Even so – even though parenting is much more cooperative – there is
still the fact that babies come from mommas. There is still the fact that
women’s identities are going to be impacted by childbirth whether they have a
child or not. There is still the fact that miscarriages happen more often than
we realize or talk about, and that each one is a cause for grief and despair in
its own right.
So, no,
we can’t avoid Mother’s Day in the church, and we really shouldn’t. We
shouldn’t avoid it, because it gives us an opportunity to recognize the beauty
and complexity of our own lives and the women who have influenced us. Not only
that, but Mother’s Day just happens to be a really powerful witness to the
truth of our gospel text today, because it was started by three Christian women
as a response to their faith (according to the The Fat Pastor blog).
Julia Ward Howe, who wrote,
“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was appalled by the evils of war and wanted
to create a day where women would come together to make change in the
world. Juliet Calhoun Blakely came to the pulpit in her Methodist Church
in Michigan when the pastor was too drunk to finish the job and preached about
temperance. Anna Jarvis taught Sunday school at a Methodist Church in
West Virginia. Jarvis advocated for children’s health and welfare and
promoted peace in a community torn by political rivalries. It was in West
Virginia that the first Mother’s Day was officially recognized in 1908.
A war
protestor, a leader in the temperance movement, and an advocate for healthcare
for children wanted a day for their voices to be heard. They wanted a day for
unity for the sake of human dignity. They wanted a day to say that we need to
protect one another from the evil one, who showed up in war, in addiction, and
in our neglect of the vulnerable.
These
women were sanctified. These women were clearly dialed in to the thin places
between heaven and earth. These women – and their faith in God – are why we
celebrate motherhood, even though there are mothers (and fathers) that neglect
their children, even though there is more to being a woman than being a mom,
and even though there are more ways to give birth to love than by birthing a
child.
Truly,
each of us share that calling this day and all that follow. That is why the
disciple’s first act after Jesus ascended was to trust God to help them choose
a new Apostle. For even in the face of death and sorrow, God is working in and
through us to give life.
We
simply have to recognize the Spirit of God as the life giver, the stream that
gives us water and nourishment to endure all the seasons of life. It isn’t the
building or the organ or the preacher or even this prestigious corner that
gives us life and hope and meaning. It is only the word of God that gives it. It
is only our faith in Jesus as the divine logos – the word made flesh – that
sanctifies us for that work that God calls us to do in our homes and streets
and throughout the world. It is only by God’s grace that we have this hope,
that what we do is in fact the work of God that brings salvation to us and
through us for all who suffer, for all who celebrate, and for all may not yet
know of God’s presence and God’s providence!
In
the end, you must know that this prayer of Jesus is for you. This hope of Jesus
is for you! This desire of Jesus for his disciples to be unified and kept safe
from the one who destroys is for us! The deepest desire and longing of Jesus
that his joy be made complete in you and me, and that our joy be fulfilled when
we realize that we are being sent in his name.
God
loves you that much. God trusts you that much, and God has given us one another
in order that we might give birth to love and to life again, and again, and
again, and again. That doesn’t necessarily mean children. What it does mean is
things like Meals on Wheels, United Christian Outreach, and Communities Uniting
in Prayer and Service. It means clean water in Cuba. It means Camp Agape. It
means loving our neighbors in new ways.
It
means that we are the body of Christ and individually members of it. That
scripture is illustrated on the front of the bulletin, but you may notice that
the outstretched hands are not pictured. It bothered me at first, but then I
looked at my hands. I want you to look at your own right now. In case you were
looking for the hands of Christ in that image, I want you to know that you have
found them now. For these hands –your hands – have been sanctified by the
prayer of Jesus. And to God be the glory for that, now and always, Amen.
(Also used in worship were
other resources found on pulpitfiction.com
including a pastoral
prayer for the seen and known
celebrations and the unseen and unknown struggles of motherhood.
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