Psalm 85; Luke 11: 1-13 by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
July 24, 2016
Lord, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you pardoned all their sin.
Selah
You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.
Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation towards us.
Will you be angry with us for ever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again,
so that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
The Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him,
and will make a path for his steps. - Psalm 85
[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.’
And he said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ - Luke 11: 1 - 13
Charles Schultz captured some poignant moments of real life through the eyes of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. One cartoon frames a conversation between Charlie Brown and his dear friend Lucy as he seeks a little life counseling. You remember Lucy - the neighborhood psychologist who likes to shake the can of loose change at her ten cents booth.
“Life is like a deck chair, Charlie.” She says. “On the cruise ship of life, some people place their deck chair at the rear of the ship so they can see where they’ve been. Others place their deck chair at the front of the ship so they can see where they’re going.”
The doctor looks at Charlie, who now looks confused, and asks, “Which way is your deck chair facing?” Without hesitating, Charlie Brown replies in his gloomy voice, “I've never been able to get one unfolded.” [1]
I rarely meet someone who has not had some difficulty unfolding their deck chair of life. I have had my own struggles too – even wanting to throw that chair into the ocean.
But consider the chair in a theological sense…how do we unfold our spirituality or our prayer life? It gives us an amazing frame of reference to view the journey of life and faith, both where we have been and where we are going. Sometimes the journey gets dry or rough or painful or just plain confusing. If you have struggled to unfold your prayer life do not worry because you are not alone. We are all in good company with Charlie Brown and also with the disciples.
Throughout the Gospel of Luke the disciples saw and heard Jesus’ prayer life. When you follow a Rabbi you share a communal life every day. You get to really know someone when you live with them 24/7. The disciples learned Jesus’ every move. They saw Jesus teach, proclaim, heal, and reach out to the least. They also saw Jesus withdraw many times to quiet places to draw near to God. And oftentimes Jesus was within a stone’s throw from the disciples. And so one day as Jesus was praying in a certain place, one of the disciples asks the Rabbi to teach them to pray.
The only two gospels that share this story are Luke and Matthew. The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew’s Gospel is found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6: 9-15). The prayer itself is longer and it is prefaced with a warning to not pray with a high piety but to have a humble trust that God knows our needs before we ask. Matthew’s version sounds more similar to the Lord’s Prayer we recite each week after our Prayers for the People.
But Luke’s Gospel is a bit different. It is simple and direct. It is prefaced with a theme of responding to God’s hospitality in Luke chapter 10. The more I read it and study it the more I wonder if the disciples were searching for the words to pray like the Rabbi. The goal of the disciple was to be like the Rabbi in every way. Maybe Luke is showing us how to unfold our prayers when we are taking steps to grow in our faith or even when we do not have the words, communally or individually.
Jesus gives us words to approach God in prayer. Jesus teaches his disciples and us that the Lord’s way of prayer is a spiritual posture. It confesses our need for a spiritual relationship with God. Christ invites us to place our wholehearted trust in his Father and ours to seek four things in prayer: a foundational relationship, kingdom living, daily provisions, and deliverance from anything that threatens our faith or trust in God’s daily presence.
The words Jesus prays are pregnant with meaning to bear new life into our spirits. The first words from Jesus’ lips are “Father, hallowed by your name” (verse 2). There is a sense of gratitude for who God is and what God does. Jesus had an intimate relationship with God and knew that God loved him even before the foundation of the world (John 17:24). At his baptism, Jesus prayed as the Holy Spirit anointed him for God’s purposes (Luke 3:21). And we are claimed and adopted through Christ as children of God (Ephesians 1:5).
Even as we seek an intimate relationship with God - this God is also holy, set apart, and worthy of our praise no matter what our circumstances entail. This God is so great because of a divine steadfast love in which we can one hundred percent depend on. This God is so great because God’s love sustains and provides for our needs. This God is so great because God’s love will never fail us. And so we too begin to unfold our prayer seeking this foundational relationship that Jesus claims us in.
As Jesus points to how great God is, he moves us to pray about kingdom living with the words, “Your kingdom come” (verse 2). Proclaiming these words was Jesus main message to a community who longed to know God was at work in the world (Luke 4:43). Jesus ushers in an upside-down kingdom which his mother Mary sung about. The Spirit moved Mary at the very beginning of Luke’s Gospel to sing with a voice of conviction that God’s kingdom is coming through God’s Son. God’s kingdom brings mercy and strength, it scatters the proud, it lifts up the lowly, it feeds the hungry, it sends the rich away empty when God’s gifts are abused (Luke 1:51-53).
And so we claim the same voice of conviction as Jesus and Mary. No matter how unjust or torn life seems to be in our world or in our homes we are taught to continue praying for God’s kingdom to come. We are taught to pray with boldness that God’s kingdom will restore our brokenness by God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. We may not fully see it today, but we are to trust God’s righteousness will look down from the sky and the Lord will give what is good (Psalm 85: 11-12). And Jesus invites you and me to take God’s hand and join in this daily work of revealing glimpses of the kingdom.
As Jesus reminds us the kingdom will continue to unfold in God’s timing, he moves us to prayerfully lean into a deeper trust of receiving our daily provisions of bread and forgiveness (verses 3-4b). Jesus’ eyes were always opened to those who were lacking the bread of life. Jesus walked the streets to meet real needs. Jesus was also aware of the ways God helps to provide spiritual nourishment to prepare in doing God’s work, to make decisions, and to recharge the soul. Jesus would pray for all these things in his ministry (Luke 4:42-43; 6:12; 5:16).
Jesus also knew that the condition of human sin obstructs and limits our ability to nourish this gift of faith. Forgiveness is as much of a daily need and provision as bread is. The unconditional love of Christ strengthens us to tell God we are sorry even as we are forgiving others that have hurt us. For we we have already been loved, strengthened, and forgiven through Christ. The mystery of God’s will is that it is by God’s good pleasure to give us the bread of life and the gift of forgiveness (Ephesians 1: 7-9). Our prayer for these daily provisions unfolds a little more as we remember Jesus’ sacrificial love.
As Jesus reminds us that God sustains our spirits with daily provisions, he moves us to pray for deliverance, “Do not bring us to the time of trial” (verse 4c). Jesus knew about trials and temptations. He was tempted in the desert to stop relying on God (Luke 4: 1-13). He was in conflict with the religious authorities. As the shadow of the cross drew closer, Jesus told the disciples to pray that they might not come to the time of trial. And then Jesus took to his knees and began earnestly praying for his own (Luke 22: 40-41, 44).
And what I find most meaningful in Jesus’ prayer for deliverance is that he says to Peter, “I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32).
Any threat to our faith or our trust in God’s presence is scary. The trials that we endure test us to the very core. We may feel weak and waver in our faith as Peter did. But Jesus moves us to stand in his strength and pray for God to lead us by the right road. And when we fail, God’s grace is there to turn us back and restore us. If Jesus prayed for Peter’s faith to not fail, he prays that for us too.
Jesus moves us to encourage one another and stand in the strength of his words – the Lord’s Prayer – and persevere. The more we clothe ourselves with Christ to ask, search, and knock for a way to let go of the past, embrace the present, and reach towards the future then God will surely give the gift of Holy Spirit to us. And God’s Spirit promises to embrace us, sustain us, and guide us into God’s kingdom promises.
I once heard the author and Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor ask the question, “What is saving your life right now?” I find the question so thought provoking. Everyone has a different answer which makes the question to relatable. Try it and ask the question to someone this week and wait to be encouraged and even blessed by their answer.
But for now I will share with you what is saving my life recently. I find the quiet moments of reading Scripture save me. I do not claim to have any closer relationship to God than you do. Remember I have trouble unfolding that deck chair of life just as much as you do!
But to be still and listen for Scripture - like our texts from Psalm 85 and Luke 11 today. To listen for God’s Word to shape my words to talk with God; to listen for the Spirit read my own life and speak back to me – that is enough. That is saving me when I am experiencing the communal and personal cruise ship of life with you all– when I am rejoicing with you, when I am struggling with you, and when I am looking out at the churning waves with a quiet trust that God is listening.
Because in Jesus’ words I hear such a simple prayer to keep in the pocket of our hearts through it all:
Dear God,
Thank you for loving us as your daughters and sons.
Help us to see you in the world.
Give our bodies, minds, and hearts what they need to live and thrive.
Forgive us when we hurt you and help us to be forgiving those who hurt us.
Deliver us from anything that threatens our trust in you.
May it be so for each of us.
In the name of our Father, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.
Sources Referenced or Read for Sermon Preparation:
[1] Michael Yaconelli, “Messy Spirituality” (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002, 2007), p. 32.
New Interpreter's Bible Commentary, "Volume VIII: Luke and John (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015), p. 194.
No comments:
Post a Comment