Getting an A+in Jesus’ school of prayer
#3:A+cceptance
Reinbeck UMC
6/21/15
OK- let’s fasten our seatbelts, put on
our helmets, get out our fire extinguishers, our eye and hearing protection,
our roll bars, our life vests, our steel toed shoes, and our fall protection
because we are going to need it.
On your mark. Get Set. PRAY!
I don’t think most people realize how
dangerous prayer can be. But today we come to what I think is the most
dangerous part of the Lord’s Prayer.
First, let’s back up to review where we have
been. In order for prayer to work, we have to hold two things in tension; the
immanence of God, and the transcendence of God.
We talked about God immanence in terms
of that most intimate of addresses that Jesus used in the Lord’s Prayer: ABBA.
In the first sermon in the series (and last week), we talked about the importance
of developing an intimate prayer life with God. “Pray until you have an
intimate relationship with God and then, because you have an intimate
relationship with God, you will want to pray.” I hope you have been doing that;
spending more time in prayer this week than last.
The second week we talked about the
transcendence of God in terms of AWE. If God is not powerful, if God is not
able, if God is not healer, if God is not creator, then prayer is powerless. If
God is not awesome then prayer is impotent.
If God is not simultaneously immanent,
or intimate; and transcendent, or awesome, then we might as well just scream
into a tin can.
ABBA and AWE are the heart of prayer.
Today we move from ABBA and AWE to the first
intercession of Jesus’ school of prayer. An intercession is a request. “Thy
Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
The question this raises for me is why
do we need to pray this at all? Doesn’t God have this all figured out? Doesn’t
God have his plan all figured out and all under control? Are we trying to
change God’s mind? Is prayer like a straw poll to see how many people vote for
rain and how many people vote for sunshine? Is God dependent on our prayers?
All good questions… Let’s see.
Let’s start with “Thy kingdom come.”
The kingdom of God was central to the teaching and mission of Jesus. It is
mentioned dozens of times throughout the gospels. But the concept is a hard one
to understand. Jesus didn't have a beautiful power point presentation on the
kingdom of God. Instead, he told stories, and used metaphors, and similes in
order to expand our understanding of the kingdom of God.
• Jesus
said that the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sows seeds
• The
kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field
• The
kingdom of heaven is like a net cast wide
• The
kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who hired laborers to work in the fields.
He hired them at different times of day, but at the end of the day, he paid
them all equally. (The kingdom has a funny economy, doesn't it?)
• The
kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed;
• The
kingdom of heaven is like yeast;
• Not
everyone who says "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven
• He
said that it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven
• He
said the kingdom must be received like a child
• We
should seek the kingdom first, and everything else be given to us
• He
said that if your eye or hand prevents you from entering the kingdom, pluck it
out or cut it off
•
Jesus said that a great reversal is coming: harlots and tax collectors will
enter the kingdom before the Pharisees
• Before
his crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples he would not drink or eat again with
them until he does so in kingdom.
That is all very confusing, so we have
to ask, what we are really praying for when we pray “Thy kingdom come.”?
It seems that Jesus anticipated that
question. In spite of the fact that Jesus spent countless hours teaching about
the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven, the disciples weren’t getting it.
(Surprise, surprise) Therefore, he prayed “Thy kingdom come,” and then added
(which means) Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Oh, that makes
sense! “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” Is the same as “Thy
kingdom come.”
Sure, we all want that don’t we? Or do
we? Sometimes we pray as though we are little children messing with a chemistry
set, not realizing that we are mixing up a batch of TNT.
I don’t think most of us think about
what “They kingdom come, thy will be done” means. I don’t think most of us
understand, or think about, the revolutionary character of the kingdom of God.
I really don’t think we realize that when we pray “Thy Kingdom come, thy will
be done.” We are exposing ourselves to the most radical transformation in human
history.
Unless we are really ready to be part
of the kingdom revolution, unless we are really ready for the kingdom
transformation to start in our own lives…we best be careful when we pray the
Lord’s Prayer. Prayer is a dangerous thing…... you just might wind up being
changed you know.
What do I mean? Here are some examples.
•
If we pray “Thy kingdom come,” we have to face the fact that we are part of
that kingdom revolution of that Jesus described as the harvest. We have to
start taking the great commission seriously, “Go, therefore, and make disciples
of all nations” We might have to get up
out of our pews and take responsibility for that “E” word “evangelism.” Are you
really ready to do whatever it takes to make that change in our own life?
•
If we pray “Thy kingdom come” we have to hear John the Baptist’s voice echoing
in the background, calling us to repent. To live in the kingdom means that we
choose the Christian life over the life the world offers. It means we choose
servanthood over mastering. Forgiving over revenge. Loving over hating. Are you
really ready to change your life in that radical way?
•
If we pray “Thy kingdom come,” we are pointing to that great (or terrible) day
of the Lord, depending on how we ourselves have lived our lives. Are you really
ready for that?
•
If we pray “Thy kingdom come,” we are starting a revolution against the
structures that have made us comfortable at the expense of third world nations.
We are protesting the policies that do not extend hospitality to those who are
different from ourselves. We are protesting the availability of cheap goods,
made from the sweat of children in faraway places. Are you really ready to
sacrifice for that revolution in your life?
•
If we pray “Thy kingdom come,” we are praying for God’s one and only kingdom
that will include even those with whom we vehemently disagree. I think we will
all be amazed at who enters the kingdom of God, and some of us will probably be
very uncomfortable standing next to them. Are you really ready to join the
kingdom where you might just have to stand next to those you thought were your
enemies?
•
If we pray “Thy kingdom come” we claim citizenship in a kingdom where the first
are last, and the last are first; and that is scary to those of us who think
pretty highly of ourselves. Are we really ready to face that?
•
If we pray “Thy kingdom come,” we are giving up control of our world and our
lives to the new sheriff in town. We are giving up OUR little kingdoms that we
have created-- in order to be part of God’s kingdom of the great banquet, the
treasure hidden in a field, the net, the hired laborers who were all paid all
equally, the mustard seed, and the yeast. Are you really ready to be part of
all of that?
• If
we pray thy kingdom come, we are praying to be part of the kingdom that is hard
for the rich to enter, that must be received like a child, which demands
complete trust, which is so serious about doing right that it talks of plucking
out or cutting off anything that causes us to sin. Are you really ready to face
that change?
Are you really ready to pray “thy
kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it in heaven?” Don’t be too quick to
answer…because the kingdom will start right here…. because the kingdom will
start right there. The kingdom of God starts with the way God’s people talk,
and act, and work, and give, and pray. Thy kingdom come is a prayer to change
the world, but the change starts right here in our hearts and our lives. I mean
what if it actually happens? Are you really ready for that?
Are you ready to accept that?
Going back to the original question.
Why do we need to pray this at all?
The answer is that prayer, is not
intended to change God’s mind, redirect God’s will, or shape or mold God in any
way. Prayer is not God’s way of taking a straw poll so he can decide what to
do. God is not in any way dependent on our prayers. Prayer is not a way of
getting our way with God.
Exactly the opposite, prayer is our radical
ACCEPTANCE of God’s ways in our life. Shaping, and molding, and creating, and
sculpting us in order to bring his kingdom on earth, starting with us.
Prayer, then, is not intended to change
God’s mind, but to transform our minds. Prayer, then, is not to redirect God’s
will, but to redirect our lives. Prayer, then, is not to shape or mold God in
any way, but to shape and mould us into exactly what God wants us to be.
E. Stanley Jones says, “Prayer is
surrender--surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I
throw out a rope from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull
the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to
my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.
We don’t pray with the illusion that we
will change God, but with the knowledge that God has created prayer as an
essential part of his plan to bring his kingdom by changing us.
In our upper and lower story language,
it is giving up our lower story and ACCEPTING our role in God’s upper story.
Giving up our lives and ACCEPTING God’s vision as our vision, ACCEPTING God’s
plan as our plan, ACCEPTING God’s hopes as our hopes, ACCEPTING God’s ways as
our ways, ACCEPTING God’s will as our will, and ACCEPTING God’s upper story as
our story.
Prayer is a dangerous thing you know.
You just might end up bring changed.
Martin Luther said, "God’s kingdom
will come all by itself, even without our prayers...but we pray this petition
so that we will not miss out." None of us wants to miss out on the kingdom
of God. So we pray so that we will be ready. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done in my heart as it is in heaven.”
Prayer is a dangerous thing… you just
might wind up being changed you know. Are you ready to be changed?
Now you know why I said at the
beginning that we needed to fasten our
seatbelts, put on our helmets, get out our fire extinguishers, our eye and
hearing protection, our roll bars, our life vests, our steel toed shoes, and
our fall protection because we are going to need it.
“Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth
as it is in heaven” Is a dangerous prayer. Are you ready for that?
Are you really ready to accept the
possibility that you might be called to submit all that you are and all that
you have?
Are you really ready to accept that you
may have to lay down who you have been and who you want to be in order to be
who God wants you to be?
Are you really, really, really, ready
to accept that you may have to surrender your life when you pray “Thy will be
done.”
Acceptance, surrender. AMEN
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