Rev. Timothy Hodapp Sermon
Posted on
Year C, Proper 12, 2013
Readings: Hosea 1:2-10; Psalm 85; Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19); Luke 11:1-13
The Rev. Timothy Hodapp
Trinity Episcopal Church, Hartford
God Father, Son and Spirit: open our minds and enter our hearts that we may receive Your grace this day. Amen.
My dear friends in Christ:
In his book, The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale tells the story of his friend Jim Johnson.
Jim was given the job of saving a failing hotel. Other managers had tried, but unsuccessfully. The hotel was in a now-or-never situation and Jim decided to try something different.
Each night he drove home from the hotel, out of downtown Harrisburg, PA, across the river, up into the hills that surround the city. There he parked his car and sat, for the next 20 minutes, praying.
Jim prayed for the hotel guests, relaxing behind the lighted windows. He prayed for the hotel employees and for their families — many whom he knew. He prayed for the vendors who did business with the hotel. And, finally, he prayed for the city and its people.
Night after night, Jim drove to the top of the hill. And night after night, he parked his car and prayed the same prayer.
It wasn’t long before the situation at the hotel began to improve. Strange, but a new confidence replaced the anxiety of its employees. The more confident they were about their jobs and the hotel, the more a welcoming warmth greeted each new guest. A new spirit permeated its operations. This spirit invited new ways of approaching hospitality; new ways of thinking about the operations of the hotel; new ways of recognizing existing talent and encouraging the growth of new leaders among the staff.
The hotel experienced a remarkable rebirth; and Peale credits the hotel rebirth to Jim Johnson’s prayer. He ends the story writing, “If the prayer of one man could transform a hotel, think how the prayer of one nation could transform the world.”
Or, I’d add, think how the prayer of one parish could transform itself and the larger community.
Today, Luke invites us to consider what we receive when the Lord teaches the disciples to pray.
What place does prayer have in our lives? What does the Gospel say about prayer? And for that matter, what does Jesus say about prayer?
The gospels clearly describe four types of prayer. Over the centuries the church has delved into these, giving each prominence in our liturgies.
The movements are familiar to us.
Last year Gerard and I visited a young family for dinner. We’d brought gifts — tablets and colored pencils — for the two children who immediately saw the packages and in the midst of their frantic little dance were reminded by their mother: “What do you say?”
“Please,” they pleaded, holding out their hands. And before they could turn and tear the wrapping off, Dad said, “And?” “Thank you!” followed by a pause, a nod of our heads and a run into the living room to unwrap their gifts.
“Please” and “thank you,” followed by the other two forms of prayer — which are basic to all human, and dare I add spiritual, interaction — “I’m sorry” and “I love you.”
People in the business of prayer sometimes refer to these by the acronym A-C-T-S:
A for adoration or I love you
C for contrition or I’m sorry
T for thanksgiving or thank you
S for supplication or please
In the prayer of adoration, we acknowledge God as God. For example, in the Gospel of John we find Thomas falling on his knees, saying to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28)
In the prayer of contrition, we acknowledge ourselves for who we are: sinners in need of God's mercy... as Luke describes through the prodigal son who laments his life: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. (LK 15:21)
In the prayer of thanksgiving, we acknowledge God's many gifts to us. Thus we find Jesus himself praying, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you...." (LK 10:21)
And finally, in the prayer of supplication, or please, we acknowledge our need for God's help. Think today’s gospel. Here we find Jesus teaching his disciples, “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you." (Luke 11:9)
It’s significant that when the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray, he offers them the Lord's Prayer. This familiar prayer blends together the four prayer types.
We adore God, saying, “Our Father, who art in heaven, may your holy name be honored.”
We express contrition, praying, “Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us."
While the Our Father doesn’t contain an explicit reference to thanking God, scripture scholars explain that the prayer of adoration and thanksgiving are synonymous.
They reason that when we adore God, we acknowledge him for who he is and what he’s done for us. Implicit in this acknowledgment is our gratitude to him for being the source of our hope, our love, and for giving us the gift of life.
And finally, supplication — asking God for what we need — is expressed when we say, “Give us today the food we need."
This raises a question: Can we persuade God to change his mind, depending on whether or not we ask?
C.S. Lewis ponders this in the essay Efficacy of Prayer. He maintains that God doesn’t need our human wisdom to guide him, nor does he require us to persuade him to do what is good, or need our human power to get the work done.
God can reach into our parish today and heal all who are sick, heartbroken, raging, dying. God can feed us without requiring our bodies’ needs to force us to push a cart through the Big Y.
But God didn’t create our world in this fashion. We’re not created to be spectators of his wisdom and power. Instead, he shares his power to heal the sick and feed the hungry and listen to the sorrowful.
This is what it means to be created in God’s image! To participate in God’s mission of restoration and reconciliation!
God’s “gift of prayer” is truly a “conferral of power.” When a physician melds God’s gift of science, knowledge and understanding with skill, she can make the right diagnosis to save my life. She doesn’t force God to alter his plans in regard to the length of my life.
It’s the same with prayer. When we ask our heavenly Father for help, we participate in the work of recreating our world by uniting our desires to God’s will.
And yet, a doctor may — for whatever reason — fail; or we — for whatever reason — seem to fail in our prayers, by not getting what we want and need.
The prayers go unanswered. Or do they? Might not the answer be, as some suggest, “No”?
I don’t believe that. Scripture defies this simple answer. Jesus tells his disciples, “... anyone who asks, receives; anyone who seeks, finds; anyone who knocks has the door opened to them.”
And, in James’ letter we read, “When you pray, you must believe and not doubt... that you will receive.” (JM 1:6)
James implies that God answers every prayer in a positive way — but the positive way, or “what’s best” is confusing when it isn’t what we want or have asked for. Sometimes, we don’t get the answers; in fact, often all we get are the questions.
And there’s great grace in living with the questions. It calms the immediate anxiety, my need for answers, and invites me, perhaps someday, to live into those answers; but in the meantime, there’s peace in knowing that I’ve been heard. The door’s open.
Don’t we all desire to step away from the pain, suffering, violence, fear, anxiety, worry that surrounds us, into the peace where restoration and reconciliation that’s promised by Jesus Christ to his disciples?
We join our sisters and brothers hungry for that peace in a world where an abandoned backpack in the midst of a cheering crowd rains terror on us; when the midsection of our country and coastlines are devastated by horrific storms; when the cost to life, limb, liberty and peace continues to mount in a world at war with terror; when we struggle with the emotions of fear, abandonment we’re reminded of the hunger that cries out to God: what are we to do? Teach us how pray! Give us hope!
When these doors open onto Sigourney Street and Farmington Avenue this morning, they reveal the mission field surrounding Trinity, the Episcopal Church in Hartford.
You step out into your spheres of influence as a disciple of Jesus. The opportunity for you to participate in God’s mission of restoration and reconciliation are within easy reach.
In the week ahead, there’ll be plenty of chances to be Christ’s body, his hands and feet, his eyes and heart, his compassion and care — and you will respond boldly to the world around you:
Catching the door and holding it for the young mother with her children in tow
Resisting the urge to take out the old gentleman who’s pushing his grocery cart in the center of the aisle and poking his way along toward your check out lane
Sending a card to someone, perhaps long forgotten, whom God’s spirit has suddenly brought into your mind because she needs to hear from you, today
Exhibiting patience when the sedan on your right zips ahead, cuts you off, and makes the light
Placing your hands you’re your husband’s, wife’s, partner’s and saying, “Let’s say a prayer together… for us, for our family, for our neighborhood, for our word”
Jesus knows your name. You’re his beloved. You are not alone. There is nothing you can do to separate yourself from the love of Christ. Nothing. And if you’ve been too busy, distracted, anxious of late to make much of an intentional difference? It doesn’t matter. He’s with you. Now.
Be inspired to live up to your mission, your baptismal call to talk to God in the most direct, human ways — please, thank you, I’m sorry, I love you — and be bold in saying “Yes. I am a disciple. I walk with God. God walks with me.”
Amen.