Sermon October 16 2022
Psalm 119:97-104
Oh, how I love all you’ve revealed; I reverently ponder it all the day long. I’ve even become smarter than my teachers since I’ve pondered and absorbed your counsel. I’ve become wiser than the wise old sages simply by doing what you tell me. I watch my step, avoiding the ditches and ruts of evil so I can spend all my time keeping your Word. I never make detours from the route you laid out; you gave me such good directions. Your words are so choice, so tasty; I prefer them to the best home cooking. With your instruction, I understand life;
I am eternally grateful, Oh Lord! Amen
1Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" 6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Instruction Manual
Recently I bought some portable solar panels online, and when I opened them up, there was no instruction manual. I figured out how to string them together and attach them to a generator, but they did not work. Without the instruction manual, I could not understand what was wrong. I’m sending them back.
A few weeks ago, I put together a small shelving unit made up of over a hundred little pieces of wood and little plastic joiners. There was a sheet of instructions and pictures to guide my husband and myself in how to get it together. Unfortunately, the words were miniscule and the pictures were not clear, so we had a false start. But after we figured it out, using our own logic and visual-spatial abilities, we got it done.
A couple of months ago, I bought a new French press for our morning coffee. My husband and I love our fresh ground coffee made in a French press. The instruction manual was 20 pages long, and only the first 4 were in English. And the instructions were very simple. Boil water, measure the coffee, stir, cover and wait. We actually didn’t need the instructions this time.
We have various sets of instructions that we receive throughout our lifetimes. Our parents do their best to teach us how to grow up, our teachers instruct us in things of knowledge, our coaches teach us rules and techniques. Our doctors tell us how to improve our health.
Sometimes there are no instructions, and for some of the most important things! Like how to deal with an impossible co-worker, boss or employee. Or how to raise our children. Where is the instruction manual for that?
Luckily, we have this instruction manual for how to live with God in our hearts. How to live the spiritual life. How to be loving, how to be happy. Except that it is written in words and those words are not always clear.
For example, in Psalm 119, which included some of the call to worship, the New Revised Standard Version uses the words, Through your precepts I get understanding. What are precepts? Without the knowledge of the words, we have difficulty with the instructions. In the translation The Message, the same verse is With your instruction, I understand life.
So, when reading the Bible, we may need help to understand God’s meaning, and to be able to live the life that God has intended for us.
Our reading for this morning came from Luke 18. Jesus had instruction time with his disciples and others. In Luke, there are many parables, and this one is the story of the unjust judge and the widow. Let’s see if we can easily understand the instructions that Jesus gives us today.
Once there was a corrupt judge who was powerful enough and egotistical enough that he didn’t care what anyone thought about him or about his judgements. A widow came to him asking for protection. Her rights were being violated. In those days, a woman without a husband has basically no rights according to the law. So the judge dismissed her. She came day after day and pleaded with the judge. Day after day, he ignored her, not caring about her or what others thought. But this went on for so long, he cared about himself enough to get her to stop coming. He then granted her justice.
Jesus lays out clearly what God wants: God wants you to be the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. God wants you to pray to God for help. Not just once, not just once every day, but constantly.
Take a moment and think of a time when you were desperate. Really desperate. You really needed help for something. Maybe you were really cold, or very hungry or so ill you couldn’t move. Did you pray? Did you beg for help from someone? Even if it wasn’t God? Did you stay with that thought or prayer until something changed? If you were truly desperate, the answer is probably yes.
Even if you weren’t begging God specifically for help, your prayers were answered. They were heard, and someone helped, or you found a way to help yourself. You warmed up, you ate, or you got better. Your prayers were answered – Because you were desperate and badgered God.
Prayer works. Make sure God can hear. Bug God with many people and many prayers until something happens. Prayer works because it is in the instruction manual. We don’t have to have research. We don’t have to have examples. We need to have faith.
Peace Pilgrim, a woman who walked over 25,000 miles across the United States in the mid-20th century, said, “Praying without ceasing is not ritualized, nor are there even words. It is a constant state of awareness of oneness with God; it is a sincere seeking for a good thing; and it is a concentration on the thing sought, with faith that it is obtainable.”
Simply put, praying without ceasing is living a life that believes that the goodness of God can be obtained, just by living in faith that is will be eventually obtained. Can you believe that peace is obtainable?
Over the past several decades, research has been conducted to try to prove that crime or violence can be reduced by prayer and or meditation. During a period from 2007 to 2010, a group of 1725 people meditated together resulting in a drop of violent crime nationwide of over 18%.
Lynn McTaggart has conducted many of what she calls Intention Experiments, in which groups of meditators concentrate on peace for a specific place, resulting in reductions of crime. Locally, Bethany Gonyea conducted the Albany Peace Project, likewise reducing violence in the Capital District.
Almost a year ago, I noticed that there were suddenly shootings daily in Albany. Many of them resulted in deaths. This is something that has always hit me hard. Once I saw the trend, and knowing about the studies in the past, I decided that when my small group of spiritual seekers gathered that week, we would do a guided meditation for peace in Albany. We did this for about 45 minutes, praying together, unceasingly.
Two weeks later I was preparing for our meeting and decided to check the statistics to see if our praying made a difference. I logged on to the Albany Police Facebook page where they relayed the stats of each day. I went back to two weeks before our meeting and wrote down the number of shootings and deaths per day up to the day of this second meeting. There was a shooting almost every day before we prayed. There was a shooting the day we prayed, the day after, and one day after that. For the next 10 days there were NO shootings. Not one. I was convinced.
Is this enough for you to have faith? To believe that if we pray here today, that we can make a difference?
In the past week, around the United States, there has been a lot of disturbing gun violence. And many police officers have been killed as well. As well as children and innocent bystanders. We need to pray to end the gun violence in the US. I don’t know of anything else that works.
In the world, it appears that war is on the rise. More and more people are dying due to countries throwing hate at each other.
His week I spoke to the East Greenbush Police Chief and she said that people are becoming more desperate, have less money to spend on food and necessities, resulting in more crime in this neighborhood.
And if you are paying attention to the news, you may be noticing that you feel more anxious, less calm, less peaceful.
One of my favorite songs says, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” So, let’s pray. Right now.
I will lead us into a guided meditation, a type of prayer. Just follow along with my instructions. Start by closing your eyes. Take in a deep breath, and as you exhale, let go of any tensions from this morning. Another deep breath in, then let go of any tensions from last night or before. Now breathing in the light and love of God, exhale gently, sharing peace. Now, gently breathe in the word Love, exhale the word Peace. Breathe in Love, exhale Peace. Love, peace. Love, Peace.
For the next part of the prayer, we will breathe in the love of the Holy Spirit, concentrating on one section of your body at a time. When we do this, gently squeeze the muscles in that area, and when you exhale, let go of the muscles, imagining that the love of the Holy Spirit stays in your body, in that area, bring you peace.
We start with your toes. Squeezing your toes, breathe in the Love of the Holy Spirit in through your heart, and out through your toes, releasing all tension from your toes. Now your ankles, calves and thighs, breathing in the love and peace of God, out through your legs.
Come back to a normal breathing pattern, noticing your legs. They might feel a little warmer, a little more alive. Your legs are literally how God works in the world. God walks on the earth through our legs and feet. Let us be grateful for our legs.
Now breathe in deeply the love and peace of God while squeezing your stomach, and letting go, relaxing your stomach. Next is your lungs. Breathe in very deeply the love of All That There Is, and share that love with a whoosh.
Notice your torso, this are that includes most of the systems in your body to keep it alive – your respiratory, your circulatory, your digestive, your sexual systems. Let us give thanks for all that keeps us alive.
Next is our hands, arms and shoulders. Squeeze them all tightly as you breathe in the love and peace from the Holy Spirit, breathing in through your heart, and let it all go, leaving nothing but peace behind. God serves the world through your hands and arms. When you serve, you are literally God’s hands. We give thanks.
Finally, your neck, face and head. Make a funny face, clench your jaw, and breathe in the peace and love of God, in through your heart and out your mouth. Notice how your head is now feeling more alive, now that we have directed the Holy Spirit here. Your brain is the seat of emotion, including love and peace. You use your ears and voice to bring justice to the world. We give thanks for our necks and our heads.
Now that we have begun by bringing peace to our own bodies, let us share this peace with our neighbors. For this part of the prayer, you will be breathing in the word Love, and exhaling the word Peace while visualizing or thinking about the part of the world we are concentrating on.
We start with East Greenbush and the congregation of this church. Breathe in Love, exhale Peace. Two more times. Love, Peace. Love, Peace. Next is the United States, asking for peace. Love, Peace, Love, Peace, Love, Peace. And finally the world. Love, Peace; Love, Peace; Love, Peace.
We come back to the this church and the here and now. Deep breath in, and as you exhale, wiggle your toes, your fingers, your legs, your arms, and gently open your eyes.
Jesus taught us in the instruction manual to pray often. To bug God. Not to stop until you get what you want. We need peace on earth. Let’s live this prayer, knowing that prayer works.
Amen.
Comments