SERMON ~ 09/30/2012 ~ Prayer and Efficacy

09/30/2012 ~ Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Proper 21) ~ Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22; Psalm 124; Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29; Psalm 19:7-14; James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50 ~ 5th Sunday Hymn Sing.

Prayer and Efficacy

“Are any among you in trouble, suffering?  Then pray.  Are any among you in good spirits, cheerful?  Then sing hymns of praise, songs of praise.  Are any among you ill?  Then call for the elders of the church and ask them to pray over those who are ill, anointing them with oil in the name of the Christ.” — James 5:13-14.

There is no question about this: the economy of our times can be labeled not as capitalism but as consumerism.  This is the label given to a theory which says a progressively greater consumption of goods is economically beneficial.

However, like anything done to excess, when consumerism runs amuck, when consumption becomes an obsession, that is not good.  The label sometimes give to this obsession— when mere consumption becomes so over active that it can be compared to buying done on steroids— the appropriate label is consumerist.  So some would say we live not in a consumerism society or a capitalistic society.  We live in a consumerist society.

Why put it that way?  Consumption, in an of itself, is not bad.  While many critics of capitalism suggest consumption is the driving force behind it and capitalism only as opposed to other economic systems is bad, that is arguably not the case.

Socialism, communism and even types of economies we more know from history than current practice also feed off consumption.  These types of economies include barter, mercantilism, a hunter-gather economy, feudalism and even economies based on slave labor.  All these economic systems contain consumption of some kind.

So again, consumption is not bad in and of itself.  The abuse of consumption is.  And all economic systems are capable of abusing consumption.

Indeed, this is the story I like to tell about anyone trying to say one economic system is more evil than any other.  You may have heard me tell this story before, but briefly, I was once in a discussion group and the topic for the evening was: ‘is it all right for a Christian to be a communist?’  (And it is clear from the choice of topic what the political/philosophical leanings of the majority in that group were.)

After the question was batted around for a while, I raised my hand and said this: “It is all right for a Christian to be a communist.  It is all right for a Christian to be a socialist.  It is all right for a Christian to be a capitalist.  It is all right for a Christian to be any kind of ‘-ist’ you want to name.  What is not all right is for a Christian to be a greedy communist or a greedy socialist or a greedy capitalist, etc., etc., etc.”  Discussion over.  (Slight pause.)

Many of my colleagues, indeed, many who have reputations as being among the great theologians of the late 20th and early 21st Century criticize capitalism as a possible source of evil.  I’ve always had trouble with that criticism because what they should be criticizing is not capitalism but consumerism gone rabid.  In short, greed is the problem.

Now I, myself, have the good fortune of living with a great early 21st Century theologian— one Bonnie Scott Connolly.  Here is why I give Bonnie the label of being a great theologian.  A couple of years ago we found ourselves in the middle of the Carousel Mall in Syracuse about a week before Christmas.

That we were in a mall a week before Christmas was, itself, unusual, since we have tried to develop the bad habit of doing any shopping designated for Christmas gifts before Thanksgiving arrives.  Therefore, being in that environment— being in a mall a week before Christmas— was a little abnormal for us.

And people were running to and fro, toting bags, children, spouses and often wearing frowns.  Bonnie did what any great theologian would do.  She observed what was happening around her.  At one point she said, “You know what all this is?”

I shook my head indicating I had no idea.  “Chaos?” I guessed.

“This,” she said, “all this shopping stuff has replaced the hunt.  All this,” she said waving her arm at the milling crowd, “all this is about the thrill of the hunt.”

And of course she’s right.  You see, life can be and often is perceived of as transactional.  We do something or we give something or we pay something or we expend something.  We then we expect to get something in return for that.  Life leans toward being transactional.

This was even true of the hunter-gatherers.  Indeed, if hunter-gatherers over hunt or over gather in a specific area in the course of their harvest of animals or vegetation, then those animals, that vegetation gets depleted.  Then they have to move.  But what I’ve just described is still a transaction.  It’s a transaction with the environment.  Life does lean toward transaction.  (Slight pause.)

And these words are from the work know as James: “Are any among you in trouble, suffering?  Then pray.  Are any among you in good spirits, cheerful?  Then sing hymns of praise, songs of praise.  Are any among you ill?  Then call for the elders of the church and ask them to pray over those who are ill, anointing them with oil in the name of the Christ.”  (Slight pause.)

I think I’ve said this already, but let me reiterate: life, natural life, is made up largely of transactions.  People do all kinds of things from working to interacting with others based just on the transactional aspects of living.  It is largely the way we experience life.

But is life with God about transactions?  Is life with God simply natural or is there something else going on?  (Slight pause.)  Indeed, is prayer transactional?  Or is there something else going on?  (Slight pause.)

I actually want to suggest our life with God is not just or simply a relationship.  Our life with God is a supernatural relationship— not natural, supernatural.  Hence, our a relationship with God should transcend transactions.

When people pray they often fall into the practice of making a transaction with God.  Thereby, people treat God as if God were some kind of Santa Clause.  People tend to start a prayer by saying: “Dear God, may I please have...” and make a request.  Sometimes people even offer something back: ‘I’ll money give to the church; I’ll volunteer at the soup kitchen,’ etc., etc., etc.  It’s a transaction.

Further, that transaction, that bargain, sets up an expectation about the efficacy, the effectiveness of prayer.  Indeed, a classic question often asked is this: is prayer effective?  Does prayer work?  (Slight pause.)  If effectiveness is the point of prayer, if effectiveness is the reason to pray, then you’ve missed the meaning of prayer.

Our life with God is about the supernatural.  It is not about transaction.  And our prayer life should not about tit for tat.

You see, we often think of our prayer life as being just ourselves and God.  But in the entire history of Christianity prayer has always been at least as much about the community as it has been about the individual.

The expectation of Christianity is that the whole community prayers together, even when we pray separately, even when we are apart.  Christian hermits have, for instance, always understood they have a community of people supporting them and praying not just for them but with them.  (Slight pause.)

You may have noticed there is a set of thoughts about prayer in the bulletin.  You can probably read them on your on but I’d like to recite a few.

“Prayer is an attitude toward life that sees everything as ultimately sacred, everything as potentially life-changing, everything as revelatory of life’s meaning.  It is our link between daily-ness and eternity.”   (Slight pause.)  “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.”   (Slight pause.)  “A doctrine of the material efficacy of prayer reduces the Creator to a cosmic bellhop of a not very bright or reliable kind.”   (Slight pause.)

“Prayer always thrusts one out into action sooner or later.  One of its main functions is to induce one to think creatively; it stretches the imagination; it enables one to see things and people not as they are but as they might be.”   (Slight pause.)  “Prayer does not use up artificial energy, doesn’t burn up any fossil fuel, doesn’t pollute.  Neither does song; neither does love; neither does the dance.”   (Slight pause.)

As I said, the effectiveness of prayer is not the point.  Prayer is not transactional.  Life with God is a supernatural experience.  Prayer should be is a supernatural experience.  Or as Jesus said, “Thy will be done.”  Amen.

09/30/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Congregational Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “Earlier Meena shared her gifts with us when she sang I Believe.  (Thank you Meena!) This is the lyric (Quote): “I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows. / I believe that somewhere in the darkest night a candle glows, / I believe for everyone who goes astray, / someone will come, to show the way.”  Now, you might take this lyric as being transactional, since it’s alist of give and take items.  I would argue the opposite.  Why?  You need belief, faith to think they will happen.  And faith, in its purest form, is never transactional.”

BENEDICTION: We are called to care in a world which can be uncaring, commissioned as lovers among some who may offer back indifference.  Know this: God is with us in all our days.  So, let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than all our togetherness.  May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows.  Amen.


FURTHER THOUGHTS FOR MEDITATION ON PRAYER

“...prayer is more than an order of words, the conscious occupation of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying.” — T.S. Eliot

“Prayer is an attitude toward life that sees everything as ultimately sacred, everything as potentially life-changing, everything as revelatory of life’s meaning.  It is our link between daily-ness and eternity.” — Joan Chittister

“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.” — John Bunyan — The Pilgrim’s Progress

“The doctrine of the material efficacy of prayer reduces the Creator to a cosmic bellhop of a not very bright or reliable kind.” — Herbert J. Muller, educator, historian, and author (1905-1980)

“Prayer always thrusts one out into action sooner or later.  One of its main functions is to induce one to think creatively; it stretches the imagination; it enables one to see things and people not as they are but as they might be.” — Muriel Lester, social reformer and pacifist (1883-1968)

“Prayer does not use up artificial energy, doesn’t burn up any fossil fuel, doesn’t pollute. Neither does song, neither does love, neither does the dance.” — Margaret Mead, in Jane Howard’s book, Margaret Mead (1984)

“Trust, which is a virtue, is also a habit, like prayer.  It requires exercise.  And just as no one can run five miles a day and cede the cardiovascular effects to someone else, no one can trust for us.” — Sue Halpern (1993)

“Beware lest a stern Heaven hate you enough to hear your prayers!” — Anatole Francois Thibault

“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” — Alfred Lord Tennyson

“The Christian can realize union with God not only through interior prayer, but also in action.” — Ramon Bautista, Catholic priest in the Philippines

“Patient listening and the grace of the Spirit are the decoding devices of prayer.  It is a good habit to ask, ‘What is God saying to me in this situation?’  Listening to our lives is part of prayer.” — Marjorie J. Thompson — Soul Feast

“Listening is the first expression of communication in prayer.  We know that listening precedes speaking in the development of children’s language skills.  The same order applies to the development of our prayer life.  Something in our spirit is touched by the Divine Spirit before we are drawn to speak.” — Marjorie J. Thompson in Soul Feast

“Most of our problems with prayer arise from our tendency to turn spiritual growing into a set of laws or a gymnastic exercise.  I have seen great inner struggle, fatigue, and guilt result when we treat prayer like a discipline....  It is best to have some form of deliberate opening to God each day, but we need not be troubled if the form and expression change.” — Flora Slosson Wuellner in Prayer, Stress, and Our Inner Wounds

“A person prayed and at first thought that prayer was talking.  But then that person became more and more quiet and in the end realized that prayer is listening.” — Søren Kierkegaard in Christian Discourses

“Jesus asks us to move from a concern for relevance to a life of prayer, from worries about popularity to communal and mutual ministry, and from a leadership built on power to a leadership in which we critically discern where God is leading us and our people.” — Henri Nouwen — In the Name of Jesus

“Could there be anything more blessed than to imitate on earth the ring-dance of the angels and at dawn to raise our voices in prayer and by hymns and songs to glorify the rising Creator?” — St. Basil, Bishop of Caesarea (4th Century of the Common Era)

“Your cravings as a human animal do not become a prayer just because it is God whom you ask to attend to them.” — Dag Hammarskjold

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” — Johannes Eckhart (A.K.A. Meister Eckhart)

“Prayer should be brief and pure, unless it happen to be lengthened by an impulse or inspiration of divine grace.” — Rule of Benedict

“The function of prayer is not to establish a routine; it is to establish a relationship with God who is in relationship with us always....  The function of prayer is to bring us into touch with ourselves, as well.  To the ancients, ‘tears of compunction’ were the sign of a soul that knew its limits, faced its failings, accepted its needs, and lived in hope.” — Joan Chittister

“More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.” — Mother Teresa

“All poetry is prayer.  What else could it be?” — Jean Valentine, poet

“I don’t believe in the power of prayer.  I believe in the power and presence of God, so I pray.” — Craig Satterlee, Lutheran Pastor legally blind since birth.

“If the gods listened to our prayers, all humankind would quickly perish since we constantly pray for many evils to befall one another.” — Epicurus, philosopher (341-270 B.C.E.)

“To give pleasure to a single heart by a single kind act is better than a thousand head-bowings in prayer.” — Saadi, poet, 1200 C.E.

“I have lived to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered.” — Jean Ingelow, Victorian poet

“Good deeds are the best prayer.” — Serbian proverb

Note: this was the Thought for Meditation in the bulletin.

“Not thinking critically, I assumed ‘successful’ prayers were proof that God answers prayer while the failures were proof that there was something wrong with me.” — Dan Barker, former preacher, musician (b. 1949)




ENDNOTES:

[1]  Joan Chittister

[2]  John Bunyan — The Pilgrim’s Progress

[3]  Herbert J. Muller, educator, historian, and author (1905-1980)

[4]  Muriel Lester, social reformer and pacifist (1883-1968)

[5]   Margaret Mead, in Jane Howard’s book, Margaret Mead (1984)