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Redford
Aldersgate
United Methodist Church
Sermon
The Dance of Prayer and Confession
March 19, 2006
James 5:13-16
Sweet Hour of Prayer ...I’m sure that
all of you, now that you’ve had a week of practicing the Spiritual
Discipline of Slowing Down have been able to spend a sweet hour or maybe
even two each day in prayer. Am I right? ... Oh, I don’t see many yes
nods... was it a sweet half hour? ... a sweet fifteen minutes? ... Well,
how about 5 minutes? Remember we are in training with these Spiritual
Disciplines. That means that we start out slowly and work up to the
really big stuff. I hope this week, you were able to slow down just a
bit. I hope that when you got in the wrong line at a stop light or the
store, you thought: I’m in training. I’ll take this moment to see how
God is passing by. And perhaps you didn’t get impatient ... at least
right away... Or if you instinctively got impatient, maybe you got
control of yourself after a few seconds and thought: Where’s God in this
interruption?
For
those of you who are new today, or have missed the last few Sundays, you
need to know that we are taking part in a Spiritual Olympics during
Lent. Our 5 rings in our worship setting remind us of the Olympic Rings,
only upside down so that they point to God ... and also they remind us 5
Spiritual Disciplines which we are attempting to use so that God can
work through them. Then, just as the material goes through the hoops, to
make a beautiful altar, so God works through the Spiritual Disciplines
to make something beautiful of our lives. We’ve already worked at the
Spiritual Disciplines of Celebration - the celebration of all times as a
gift from God, and the Discipline of Slowing Down. These are not the
usual activities you think of when you think of Spiritual Disciplines,
but they sure are helpful disciplines which help prepare us for this
week’s discipline of prayer. Because it helps you to pray if you are
aware of all the things you have to celebrate and thank God for. And it
helps if you slow down a bit, because then, perhaps you’ll have 5
minutes a day for prayer. That’s what John Ortberg, in his book::
The Life You've Always Wanted, suggests for this week’s Spiritual
Discipline of Prayer: Five minutes a day. That doesn’t sound too bad,
really ... does it? Five minutes a day. We’re in training. If you are a
seasoned pray-er and are used to praying that sweet hour or two a day,
don’t go back to five minutes. But if you don’t have a disciplined
prayer life, give it a try. Five minutes a day. What do you do? How do
you do it? What do you say?
There’s
not one right way. Maybe you like to get down on your knees like these
two. A friend sent this to me in an e-mail. I have no idea who these two
are, but aren’t they precious? You can just tell, that praying is a
regular habit for them and look at the bliss on their faces. Making it a
habitual daily practice and having a prayer partner are two important
things that help us have a meaningful prayer life. But what do we pray
about? ... And does it really make any difference? Let’s see what the
scripture has to say about it.
The prayer of the righteous are powerful and effective. Do we really
believe that? Sometimes if seems like we pray and pray but nothing seems
to happen. Does that mean we aren’t righteous and our prayers aren’t
powerful and effective? One metaphor for prayer is that prayer is like
waves that beat against the rocks. Sometimes it seems like it doesn’t do
anything, but what happens over time is that the rocks are broken down
and sand appears. Marjorie Suchocki puts it this way in her book. In
God’s Presence, “Intercessory prayer is like water that rushes in and
fills every nook and cranny and helps change big boulders into sand.”. I
happened to be reading that book when we were on vacation several years
ago in Hawaii - The day I accidentally
took this picture. It was about time for the sun to set and we had
stopped at a beach on the north western shore of Oahu. Bob had left me
on the beach while he went to get a pizza. There were only a few
teenagers over by the water fountain just beyond that tree. Then
suddenly several other teenage boys rushed by me yelling at the kids by
the water fountain. In seconds, fists were flying. I looked around.
There really wasn’t anyone else around. I briefly thought about trying
to break up the fight, but those boys were much bigger than I was. Then
I realize I was reading about the power of prayer and how prayer could
fill up the space. So I starting praying: God fill that space between
the boys with words instead of fists. I said it over and over. And
wouldn’t you know it? They started talking instead of punching. Granted
it was angry, loud words, but it was words instead of fists. Thy were
yelling something about the dance the night before. Then some girls came
up on the right side and the other boys from the water fountain moved in
to join in on the argument. So I started praying: God use those other
kids to make it better rather than worse. Over and over I said those
words. Then this big guy stepped right between the two that were
fighting and the girls turned their back and started giggling. They
began to talk in softer tones so that I couldn’t hear them any longer.
Then I shuffled in my chair and I must have hit the button on my camera
and the flash went off. Suddenly the boys that had started the fight
turned and started toward me. They said, “Did you take our picture?” My
stomach started to go up into my throat, but I calmly said, “I’m not
sure, I had the camera set for the sunset, if must have gone off
accidentally. But are things better now? I’ve been praying for you.” The
boy that had been most upset stopped and looked at the other boy and
said, “Is that what that was?” They both shrugged their shoulders and
walked off. And my stomach went down where it was supposed to be. Is
that what that was? Did they mean that they felt something? Was it my
prayers? I’ll never know. But there have been times I’ve wondered “Is
that what that was?”
Another quote from that Suchocki book
is: “Prayers give God more to work with in influencing a person body and
soul.” Have you ever had a strange kind of feeling and wondered if
someone could have been praying for you just then?
I had that feeling a lot when I was on a medical leave for cancer about
a year and a half ago. I’d be sitting there with no energy to do
anything and then a fun memory would occur to me, or I’d get a little
energy to do something or I’d just feel a sense of peace and I’d wonder
if someone was praying for me at that moment. I’d think, “Is that what
THAT was?” Who knows? I do know that it is an awesome thing to be the
recipient of so many prayers. That prayer blanket that you made me is
still one of my most treasured possessions. Betty Owen
knows how wonderful it is to wrap up in those prayers. Here she is when
Bob gave her the blanket with all the fringe knots... each knot
represent a prayer one of you said for her. I think that picture says a
thousand words about how she felt about that blanket. Any of you who
know Betty can almost hear her squeal with delight when you look at that
picture, can’t you.
The scripture says that we are to pray for one another. We do that when
we come together for worship. We do that when you take the bulletin
insert home and use it during your prayer time. We do that when we call
the prayer chain and those people pray. We do that when we go up to the
prayer room and pray. We can now even do that when we go online and
click on www.redfordaldersgate. org and then click on prayer concerns.
The scripture tells us to call the elders of the church and have them
pray over us and anoint us with oil. Today in the small groups, you will
be given a chance to do that. Not only will you pray for one another,
there will be a little bottle of anointing oil from the Holy Land at
each table. You will take turns anointing one another and praying for
one another. I know it has potential to be a very meaningful time and
may cause you to say, “Is that what that was?” It’s the power of God
moving, filling in the spaces, breaking down the rocks of life.
In our study book, The Life You’ve Always Wanted, John Ortberg suggest
that we spend a regular time each day in prayer. He also assures us that
if our mind wanders while we are trying to pray, that’s very normal. He
even suggests that when that happens, we ought to examine what it is
that we are thinking about and consider the fact that maybe those are
the things that we should be praying about. So if you start to pray and
your mind wanders of to something else, bring that something else to God
and ask for guidance and wisdom for that. Because the important thing is
that you pray about what is really important to you.
In his book, Ortberg tells a story about some prayers that seemed to get
off track, but had an amazing result. The story is about Tony Compolo
who is a well known Christian speaker and author. I’ve heard him several
times and always been touched by what he has to say. One time he was to
preach at a Pentecostal College. Before he spoke, eight men took him to
a room and prayed for him. They had him kneel and they laid their hands
on his head and began to pray. That was a good thing, except that the
longer they prayed, the more they leaned on his head. Now just imagine 8
guys leaning on your head. Tony said it was not fun. Plus, one of them
got carried away and forgot he was supposed to be praying for Tony. He
started praying for some guy named Charlie Stolzfus. The guy went on and
on saying, “Dear Lord, you know Charlie Stolzus. He lives in the silver
trailer down the road a mile. You know the trailer, Lord, just down the
road on the right-hand side.” Tony said he wanted to tell the guy that
it wasn’t necessary to furnish God with directions. But the guy went on.
“Lord, Charlie told me this morning that he’s going to leave his wife
and three kids. Step in, Lord and do something to bring that family back
together.” And on and on the guy prayed. Finally, Tony got the
Pentecostal preachers off his head and delivered his message. As he got
onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike, heading home, he noticed a hitchhiker
and stopped to pick him up. After the guy was in the car, Tony
introduced himself and asked the guy what his name was. Guess who it
was. Yep, it was Charlie Stolzus. Tony couldn’t believe it, but he kept
his cool. At the next exit, he got off and headed back to town. Charlie
began to get upset and protest. Tony said, “I’m taking you home.”
Charlie said, “Why?” To which Tony replied, “Because you are leaving
your wife and three kids and I think you need to work it out.” Charlie’s
mouth dropped open and he went into shock. Then when Tony drove right to
his trailer... the silver one on the right hand side a mile down the
road from the church, the guy was totally undone. He stammered, “How’d
you know I lived here?” Tony said, “God told me.”... Which Tony figured
was the truth. Tony went with the guy into his house. The wife was as
shocked as Charlie had been. Tony sat them both down on the couch and
led them to Christ. (Ortberg p. 104 From Campolo, “You
Can Make a Difference. Waco, Tex; Word, 1984, 24-25) See... it’s
o.k. to get off track when you are praying. You can never tell what the
results will be!
There is power in prayer! It may not be as dramatic as it was for Tony
Compolo and Charlie Stolzus but there is power in prayer, just like the
waves beating against the stony shore. Another neat image Marjorie
Suchocki uses in her book, “In God’s Presence,” is the image of
prayer
being a dance with God. In this dance, God gently guides us through
life, helping us to move this way and that way in a rhythm that is made
just for us. Not only does God give to us, but we give to God. She goes
on to suggest that God gives us what is possible for us to receive at
any given moment. We, then, use that gift and give it back to God, who,
in turn can give us another gift we are ready to receive. Do you see the
rhythm and dance in that? She used an example of God’s touch on
someone’s life who is really down and out. She says, “God offers what
good is possible - even though given the context the good may be barely
recognizable as good by an observer. The best, sometimes is simply bad.
But when one moves with that best, the next best may be a little better,
and step by step, God offers modes of transformation.” Therefore, as we
pray for others and for situations, our prayers somehow add to what God
is able to give to the situation. And step by step God is able to bring
about good, even from the worst disasters.
I received an e-mail this week that was a meditation on the word
“Guidance.” The anonymous person who wrote this note, noticed that the
word ended with the word dance. This triggered thoughts of how two
people dancing together do so much better when one person leads. The one
who follows needs to be attentive to the nudges from the leader as the
leader guides them through the movements. In the
same way, we need to be attentive to the nudges God gives us as God
leads us through the dance of life. Then the author of the e-mail looked
even closer at the word guidance and saw the G for God, followed by U
and I. So GUIDANCE really can be seen as: God, U and I DANCE.
When we dance with God and follow the nudges of God in our life, then we
can only imagine what great things are in store for us. One of the
greatest things that we will experience as we enter this dance with God
is that there is forgiveness of our sin. Of course, that means that we
need to confess our sin to God. We might think, well, God already knows
our sin, why do we have to confess it. We confess it because it helps in
our own healing. Today’s scripture even suggests that we confess to one
another as well as pray for one another. So confession is the other
Spiritual Discipline we are to practice this week. Ortberg has a great
mauve sofa story that you will hear on the video. I don’t want to give
it away, but the point is, we have all sinned and fallen short of the
glory of God. But as we come face to face with that sin and allow
ourselves to be truly known by God and by others we can experience God’s
love in a more complete way. It’s all a part of the dance with God. So
this week, I hope you will spend an intentional time in prayer and
confession. Be open to the nudges from God that are guiding you through
your dance through life. When you think: Is that what THAT was ....
realize someone may have been praying for you at that moment. Let us
Dance with God ... follow God’s lead ... when we do that we can only
imagine the glories we will see.
Today, I’d like to close with our new liturgical dance group praying a
prayer for us in motion. As they come forward, I’d like you to imagine
what it will be like to come face to face with God, not just in the life
hereafter, but in a life of vital, alive, honest prayer that responds to
the guidance of God as God leads us through the dance of life.