Hammond Street Congregational Church

Rev. Dr. Mark Allen Doty, Senior Pastor

Hammond Street Congregational Church, UCC

Bangor, Maine

July 25, 2010

SHAPED BY PRAYER

LUKE 11:1-13

WHEN TIP O'NEILL FIRST RAN FOR CONGRESS IN HIS NATIVE BOSTON, HE SAID HE LEARNED A VALUABLE LESSON. TIP LOST THE ELECTION AND AFTER IT WAS OVER, HE TRIED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WENT WRONG. THEN TIP HEARD THAT A WOMAN WHO LIVED ACROSS THE STREET FROM HIS FAMILY HOME HAD NOT VOTED FOR HIM. TIP O'NEILL WAS FLABBERGASTED AND WENT TO SEE THE WOMAN. HE TOLD THE LADY THAT BECAUSE SHE HAD BEEN A FAMILY FRIEND FOR YEARS HE THOUGHT HE COULD COUNT ON HER VOTE. SHE SAID, "TIP, I WANTED TO VOTE FOR YOU, BUT I NEEDED YOU TO ASK ME FOR MY VOTE. ALL YOU NEEDED TO DO WAS ASK, BUT YOU NEVER DID." FROM THEN ON, PERSONALLY ASKING FOR VOTES WAS ALWAYS PART OF TIP O'NEILL'S ELECTION STRATEGY. THE WOMAN'S COMMENT SOWED THE SEEDS FOR MANY SUCCESSFUL CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS TO COME.

OUR SCRIPTURE PASSAGE THIS MORNING FROM LUKE IS ALL ABOUT ASKING. IT BEGINS WITH A REQUEST FROM THE DISCIPLES TO JESUS. "LORD," THEY SAY TO HIM, "TEACH US TO PRAY, AS JOHN TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES." THE TWELVE ARE COMING TO JESUS LIKE SCHOOLBOYS COMING TO A TEACHER. PLEASE INSTRUCT US, THEY ARE SAYING TO JESUS. WE HAVE SEEN JOHN TEACHING HIS DISCIPLES HOW TO PRAY, AND WE WANT YOU TO GIVE US YOUR METHOD.

JESUS, THEN, GIVES THEM A MODEL, A TEMPLATE, WHAT WE NOW CALL THE LORD'S PRAYER.

IN OUR CULTURE, THE LORD'S PRAYER IS UBIQUITOUS. WE TEND TO THINK THAT EVERYONE--EVEN NON-CHRISTIANS--KNOWS ABOUT THIS MODEL FOR PRAYER. BUT I WELL REMEMBER YEARS AGO A HOMELESS WOMAN SAT IN MY OFFICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI, AND SHE SAID, "I HEARD A PRAYER THE OTHER DAY THAT I REALLY LIKED. I'D NEVER HEARD OF IT BEFORE. I CAN'T REMEMBER ALL OF IT, BUT IT STARTED OUT, "OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN…" AT FIRST I WAS SPEECHLESS WHEN I HEARD THE WOMAN'S COMMENT. SHE SEEMED CHILD-LIKE, MUCH THE WAY THE DISCIPLES APPEAR WHEN THEY ASK JESUS TO TELL THEM HOW TO PRAY.

JESUS TELLS HIS FOLLOWERS THAT "WHEN YOU PRAY, SAY: FATHER, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME." WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE OTHER NAMES FOR GOD, BUT THIS IS THE ONE JESUS USES. IN HER COMMENTARY ON THIS PASSAGE, A LUTHERAN PASTOR BY THE NAME OF STEPHANIE FREY SAYS THIS ABOUT JESUS'' USE OF THE WORD "FATHER":

WHEN HE USES THIS NAME, HE GIVES US A PICTURE OF ONE WHO IS MORE FATHERLY THAN OUR FATHERS, MORE MOTHERLY THAN OUR MOTHERS. HERE WE GLIMPSE A GOD WHO LOVES US ENOUGH TO GIVE US WHAT WE NEED RATHER THAN WHAT WE WANT. HERE WE DISCOVER A GOD WHO HAS SHAPED US IN THE DIVINE IMAGE AND FOR A GODLY PURPOSE RATHER THAN FOR OUR OWN CRAVINGS (Stephanie Frey, "On God's Case (Luke 11:1-13) The Christian Century, July 13, 2004).

AND SO AS THE LORD'S PRAYER CONTINUES, THE REQUESTS, THE ASKS CONTINUE: "GIVE US EACH DAY OUR DAILY BREAD…FORGIVE US OUR SINS…DO NOT BRING US TO THE TIME OF TRIAL." ASKING IS AT THE VERY HEART OF THIS PRAYER. A CRUCIAL DISTINCTION, HOWEVER, IS ONE THAT THE REVEREND FREY POINTS TO AND THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ASKING FOR WHAT WE WANT VERSUS ASKING FOR WHAT WE NEED. PRAYING FOR A DIAMOND RING IS ONE THING AND PRAYING FOR DAILY BREAD IS QUITE ANOTHER.

THE OTHER EVENING, AFTER WE HAD HELPED HUGH HENRY CLEAN UP HIS HOUSE, A GROUP OF US WENT OUT TO EAT. AT ONE POINT IN THE CONVERSATION, WE ASKED JONI DECATO ABOUT HER MANY BUSINESS TRIPS TO LUBBOCK, TEXAS. WHEN SHE WAS ASKED WHAT LUBBOCK WAS LIKE, JONI ANSWERED SOMETHING LIKE, "HOT, DRY AND WINDY."

THAT REMINDED ME OF A STORY THAT IS TOLD ABOUT LUBBOCK, WHERE RAINFALL IS SCARCE. ON JULY 30, 2006, MAYOR MILLER, THE MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL, THE COUNTY JUDGE, AND THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT CALLED ON THE RESIDENTS OF THE CITY "TO PRAY AND FAST FOR RAIN BASED ON DISMAL SUMMER PREDICTIONS FOR THE COTTON CROP AND OTHER WATER CONCERNS." THERE WAS A HUGE TURN AROUND. THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 2006 RECORDED AN AVERAGE OF .69 BELOW NORMAL EACH MONTH. AUGUST RECORDED .99 ABOVE NORMAL. THE RAIN ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2006, SET A RECORD FOR THAT DATE IN HISTORY FOR TOTAL RAINFALL. IT WAS THE WETTEST SINGLE DAY SINCE JUNE 2000, AND THE 60^TH WETTEST DAY IN LUBBOCK SINCE RECORDS WERE FIRST KEPT IN 1911 (Rev. Dorothy Okray, Think About It, Sermon notes/themes on current topic, 2010).

IN CASE YOU AND I WERE WONDERING, PRAYER WORKS! SO IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE THAT THE VERY NEXT PASSAGE IN LUKE 11 IS ON "PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER." IN ORDER TO ILLUSTRATE THE POINT THAT PRAYER IS EFFICACIOUS, JESUS TELLS A STORY ABOUT PERSISTENCE. IT REMINDS ME OF THE FAMOUS SCRIPTURE ABOUT THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW AND THE UNJUST JUDGE; BUT IN THIS TALE, A MAN GOES AT MIDNIGHT TO BORROW THREE LOAVES OF BREAD FROM HIS FRIEND. WHILE THE HOMEOWNER CRIES OUT THAT HE IS IN BED WITH HIS CHILDREN AND TO PLEASE GO AWAY, FINALLY--BECAUSE OF THE NEIGHBOR'S PERSEVERANCE-- THE MAN OPENS THE DOOR AND GIVES HIM WHAT HE NEEDS.

THIS SUMMER I HAVE MY TWO GRANDSONS, CALEB AND COLE, LIVING WITH ME. WHEN THIS SIX-YEAR-OLD AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD GET ME UP IN THE MORNING, THEY ARE USUALLY HUNGRY AND WANT BREAKFAST. IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN, YOU HAVE LEARNED AS I HAVE THAT IT IS FAR EASIER TO GET THEM WHAT THEY ASK FOR RATHER THAN TO TRY TO TALK THEM INTO SOMETHING THEY DON'T WANT; IF THEY DON'T GET IT, THEY WILL CONTINUE TO ASK UNTIL YOU DO GET IT! THAT'S THE KIND OF PERSISTENCE JESUS SAYS IS REQUIRED FOR PRAYER TO BE EFFECTIVE.

IN HER "SERMON NOTES" ON THIS PASSAGE, A PASTOR BY THE NAME OF DOROTHY OKRAY INCLUDES THESE THOUGHTS:

SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE SHE DIED, MY MOTHER CALLED; SHE HAD SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT TO TELL ME. SHE REVEALED THAT EVERYTHING SHE HAD PRAYED FOR IN LIFE HAD COME TO BE AND WANTED ME TO BE AWARE OF THE POWER OF PRAYER! "SOME PRAYERS TOOK YEARS, BUT THEY ALL CAME TRUE. I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT PRAYER REALLY WORKS." NOW, MY MOTHER WAS NOT ONE TO EXAGGERATE NOR DID SHE SHARE HER PERSONAL THOUGHTS EASILY. I TOOK WHAT SHE SAID TO HEART. I BELIEVED.

YEARS LATER, I RECEIVED A CALL FROM MY SON-IN-LAW THAT MY 9 MONTH PREGNANT DAUGHTER WAS IN THE HOSPITAL. I HARDLY PAID ATTENTION TO HIM AS I SEARCHED FOR MY AIRLINE TIMETABLE. HOWEVER, WHEN I HEARD THE WORDS THAT MY GESTATIONAL DIABETIC DAUGHTER HAD LOST CONSCIOUSNESS AND WAS FOUND ON THE FLOOR AFTER A SEIZURE, I WAS STRUCK WITH TERROR. MY BABY….MY SWEET DAUGHTER WAS IN TROUBLE!

THERE WAS ONLY ONE PLANE LEFT THAT LATE AFTERNOON THAT LINKED TO A CONNECTING FLIGHT FOR HER CALIFORNIA CITY. AND I HAD LESS THAN 45 MINUTES TO MAKE IT TO THE AIRPORT. I MADE A RESERVATION, GRABBED MY HANDBAG, LEFT ORDERS WITH MY SECRETARY, CALLED MY SON, AND DROVE LIKE THAT PROVERBIAL BAT OUT OF….ALL THE WHILE CRYING AND PRAYING. I HAD NEVER PRAYED AS HARD. WITHIN 15 MINUTES OF THE AIRPORT, I WAS SUDDENLY FLOODED WITH THE MOST PEACEFUL FEELING, MY TEARS DRIED UP….I WAS IN WONDER. DURING THE CONNECTING FLIGHT I CALLED AND LEARNED IT WAS AT THE TIME OF THAT GREAT PEACE MY DAUGHTER GAVE BIRTH TO A HEALTHY CHILD (Rev. Dorothy Okray).

IN A SURVEY ON PRAYER IN THE UNITED STATES, THE BARNA GROUP FOUND THAT 88% OF AMERICANS PRAY, 82% BELIEVE IN THE HEALING POWER OF PRAYER, 78% SAY PRAYER IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF DAILY LIFE, 63% PRAY OFTEN, 25% PRAY OCCASIONALLY, 65% BELIEVE THEY HAVE HAD SPECIFIC PRAYERS ANSWERED (Okray).

SO IT IS WITH GOOD REASON THAT LUKE CLOSES THE PERICOPE ON PRAYER BY INCLUDING THESE WORDS OF JESUS: "ASK, AND IT WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU; SEARCH, AND YOU WILL FIND; KNOCK, AND THE DOOR WILL BE OPENED FOR YOU." I HAD NEVER QUITE BEEN ABLE TO REMEMBER HOW THAT VERSE WENT. DO YOU KNOCK FIRST AND THEN ASK? OR DO YOU SEARCH AND KNOCK AND THEN ASK? FINALLY, SOMEONE CAME TO MY RESCUE AND VERY HELPFULLY TOLD ME THAT THE WAY TO REMEMBER THE SEQUENCE FROM LUKE 11 IS TO REMEMBER THAT THE LETTERS IN THE WORD "ASK"--A, S, K-- GIVE YOU THE ORDER: ASK, SEARCH, KNOCK.

IN ONE OF THE CHURCHES THAT MY FATHER SERVED WHEN I WAS A YOUNG BOY, THERE WAS A REPRODUCTION OF THE FAMOUS PAINTING CALLED THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD BY WILLIAM HOLMAN HUNT. YEARS LATER, IT WAS A THRILL FOR ME TO SEE ONE OF THE TWO ORIGINALS OF THIS PAINTING AT ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL IN LONDON.

DURING HIS PROFESSIONAL LIFE, HOLMAN HUNT WAS AMONG THREE ARTISTS IN LONDON WHO INAUGURATED WHAT HAS BEEN CALLED THE PRE-RAPHAELITE MOVEMENT. THE IDEA OF THE MOVEMENT WAS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE ART BY STUDYING NATURE IN GREAT DETAIL AND BY GIVING SYMBOLIC ATTENTION TO IT, THE WAY THE PAINTERS DID BEFORE RAPHAEL.

SO AMONG THE PRE-RAPHAELITES, HOLMAN HUNT WAS WHAT WE MIGHT CALL A "PURIST." HE TRIED TO MAKE EACH SCENE THAT HE PAINTED AUTHENTIC AND TRUE. AND SO HUNT SPENT HOURS STUDYING COSTUMING AND SCENERY SO AS TO GIVE HIS BIBLICAL SCENES THE MOST REALISM. HOLMAN HUNT WOULD NEVER PAINT A PICTURE BASED ON SCRIPTURE WITHOUT FIRST VISITING THE HOLY LAND TO GET A FEEL FOR THE SUBJECT. HUNT MADE A TOTAL OF FOUR TRIPS TO THE AREA.

IN ORDER TO COMMEMORATE HIS CONVERSION TO RELIGION, HE BEGAN THE PAINTING THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD IN 1851. IT REPRESENTS CHRIST COMING TO A SINFUL WORLD THROUGH "OVERABUNDANT AND SADLY NEGLECTED UNDERGROWTH." THE PAINTING IS BASED ON A PASSAGE IN REVELATION--WHICH IS A COMPANION TO TODAY'S LESSON--"LISTEN! I AM STANDING AT THE DOOR KNOCKING; BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK: IF YOU HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR, I COME IN TO YOU AND EAT WITH YOU, AND YOU WITH ME." AGAIN, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD LIFTS UP THE SAME THEME OF PERSEVERANCE: THE INSISTENT KNOCKING OF JESUS ON THE DOOR OF OUR HEARTS.

AND SO WHAT WE HAVE IN HOLMAN HUNT'S PAINTING IS THE FIGURE OF JESUS STANDING OUTSIDE THE DOOR OF A HOME AT NIGHT. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE HIS DESIRED AUTHENTICITY, HUNT DID MUCH OF THE CANVASS AT NIGHT WORKING BY THE LIGHT OF A LAMP. IN THE FOREGROUND OF THE PAINTING, CHRIST IS DEPICTED WEARING A WHITE ROBE WITH A CROWN INTERTWINED WITH THORNS ON HIS HEAD. CHRIST IS HOLDING A LANTERN IN HIS LEFT HAND WHILE A BAT, A NOCTURNAL CREATURE, HOVERS NEARBY. THE DOOR OF THE HOUSE IS OVERGROWN WITH BRAMBLES AND IVY. DESPITE "THE LUXURIANT, UNCONTROLLED PLANTS," JESUS' RIGHT ARM IS DEPICTED KNOCKING ON THE DOOR. (Cynthia Pearl Maus, Christ and the Fine Arts). IT IS THE VERY PICTURE OF ASKING, THE CLASSIC GESTURE THAT SAYS, "MAY I COME IN?"

VERSE 10 OF THE LUKE PASSAGE SAYS, "FOR EVERYONE WHO SEEKS RECEIVES, AND EVERYONE WHO SEARCHES FINDS, AND FOR EVERYONE WHO KNOCKS, THE DOOR WILL BE OPENED." THE PASSAGE CLOSES BY JESUS ASKING THE DISCIPLES IF A CHILD ASKS FOR A FISH, WOULD YOU GIVE THAT ONE A SNAKE? OR A SCORPION TO THE CHILD WHO ASKS FOR AN EGG? JESUS CONCLUDES THE TEACHING BY SAYING: "IF YOU…KNOW HOW TO GIVE GOOD GIFTS TO YOUR CHILDREN, HOW MUCH MORE WILL YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THOSE WHO ASK HIM!"

A POEM CAPTURES THE SENTIMENT OF HOLMAN HUNT'S PAINTING, AS WELL AS THE WATCHWORD OF JESUS TO PRAY WITH PERSISTENCE:

THERE'S A STRANGER AT THE DOOR.

LET HIM IN.

HE HAS BEEN THERE OFT BEFORE

LET HIM IN.

LET HIM IN ERE HE IS GONE,

LET HIM IN, THE HOLY ONE.

JESUS CHRIST, THE FATHER'S SON,

LET HIM IN (Maus).