St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
July 24, 2022
Year C, Proper 12:
Hosea 1:2-10
Psalm 85
Colossians 2:6-15
Luke 11:1-13
“Remember to Pray”
Well, it’s good to be back here with all of you.
Although I missed you – and missed the chance to preach on the Good Samaritan and Mary and Martha – it was a restful break, a time to catch my breath after an amazing, but very full, first year at St. Thomas’.
For me, one of the gifts of some time off is that I can just go to church!
I can be a person in the pew, anonymous, and with no worries about what I have to say or do, no concerns about how the message of the day is being received.
It’s nice.
Last Sunday morning, sitting in the early service at one of our neighboring churches, just kind of taking it all in, I was suddenly reminded of when I was in seminary, just starting out on the road that would eventually lead me here.
As part of the preparation for ordination, future priests spend time – usually two years – working in a parish, doing what’s called “field education.”
It’s at our field education parish that we sort of try on the role of clergy. Unlike in our seminary classes, in the parish we’re expected to learn by doing: leading worship, visiting the sick, and, of course, attending various meetings.
I’m not sure why, but I was given total freedom in choosing my field ed. parish.
It might have been wiser to choose a church in a setting very different from what I knew in Jersey City (you know, maybe a church somewhere out in the country, maybe even with fields of hay nearby).
But instead I chose a church not so different from what I already knew – a church in the city of Newark, a church with an evocative name:
House of Prayer.
House of Prayer gets its beautiful name from a verse from the Prophet Isaiah.
Through Isaiah, God reveals a powerful vision of a future day when the whole world will gather at the Temple on Mount Zion, singing and making sacrifices. And God declares, “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
When House of Prayer was founded in Newark back in the 1800s, I’m sure it was surrounded by very pleasant land. Who knows, maybe there were even hayfields nearby. But, over time the city grew up around the church. There’s a busy railroad station a block or two away. And then, back in the 1960s an elevated interstate highway was built just a few feet away from the church – think Jones Falls Expressway – slicing the city in half.
At House of Prayer, the din and rumble and fumes of traffic are always present.
Yet, this scrappy little church, with little money in the bank and a shoestring budget has persisted in sharing the Good News, and serving the community with after-school programs and feeding ministries.
It is a pretty amazing place.
So, I learned a lot from the beautiful and faithful people at House of Prayer.
During the Sunday services, when it was time for the Prayers of the People, the whole congregation would stand and hold hands, forming a large circle around the sanctuary. And rather than offering scripted prayers, everyone was invited to pray however they wanted, either silently or aloud. As you might guess, sometimes this took a while, as people lifted up all sorts of concerns for themselves and for their families and communities, and as they gave thanks for many blessings, both large and small.
It was an incredibly powerful – prayerful - experience.
I also learned a lot from my supervisor, The Rev. Judy Baldwin, who was then the Priest-in Charge of House of Prayer.
In addition to being a priest, Judy is also a therapist – definitely a handy combination, especially for someone like me who was then in the midst of a major life transformation.
As part of my field education, Judy gradually allowed me to do more during the Sunday services, giving me a taste of what presiding and preaching all the time would be like.
And, frankly, I had some concerns.
I worried if saying the same words and making the same gestures week after week would become routine, even boring – you know, just a job.
I wondered what would happen to my spiritual life once church became my work.
I told Judy what I was worried about and here’s what she said:
“Remember to pray. Especially when you’re standing at the altar, remember to pray.”
Now, I can’t say that I’ve remembered that each Sunday. I’m sorry to say that sometimes I do just focus on the words and the choreography. But, there have been many times when I’ve stood over there and stretched out my arms and I’ve heard Judy’s wisdom:
“Remember to pray.”
Well, we can be sure that Jesus remembered to pray.
The gospels depict Jesus as a person of prayer.
Jesus often stepped away from the crowds and sometimes from his own disciples, to spend time alone in prayer, keeping close to his Father.
In today’s gospel lesson, Luke begins by telling us that Jesus was “praying in a certain place.” It’s not clear if Jesus was hoping for some alone time with the Father or if he was praying with his disciples, but in any case one disciple interrupts, requesting that Jesus teach them how to pray.
And Jesus responds with what has come to be known as the Lord’s Prayer (or what Roman Catholics call the “Our Father”).
Of course, this has long been the most familiar of all Christian prayers, although Luke’s version is a little more barebones than what we find in the Gospel of Matthew.
The familiarity of the prayer may prevent us – or, may prevent me, at least – from actually hearing the words and reflecting on their meaning.
So, for the past week of staycation, while welcoming friends who came to visit our beautiful new home, and while reading for pleasure and, yes, occasionally napping, I’ve been trying to pray Jesus’ words more mindfully, remembering to pray.
And the phrase that has been most sticking with me is, “Your kingdom come.”
God has a kingdom and I think that we can all agree that what we see around us today is most definitely not it.
Back in the 8th Century BC, the Prophet Hosea also lived during a time when people turned away from God, choosing to worship other gods.
As we heard in today’s first lesson, Hosea used some rather colorful language to call out the people for their unfaithfulness – but even this sometimes harsh prophet insisted that God will not give up on us – that we will be known as “children of the living God.”
So, today in our time of much trouble, it would be oh so easy to slip into despair or even to just give up.
But, that’s not God’s way – that’s not the way of Christ.
Over the past year, you’ve probably noticed that I like when the church does a lot of stuff.
I believe that an active church is a healthy church.
And there is so much work to be done.
But for God to bless our work – for our work to bear fruit, we must pray – in whatever way that works best for us – we must pray faithfully and persistently.
Our church must be a house of prayer.
Now, I’m not going to ask us to form a circle and hold hands.
Or am I?
No, I’m not.
But in our time of trouble we can still pray like we’ve never prayed before – praying from our hearts that God’s kingdom will really come.
Let us pray that God will use us to help heal our broken world, just like God uses a scrappy little church under the shadow of an interstate highway.
Remember to pray.
Amen.
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