Praying

Sermon: Proper 25C, 2007

The Gospel today gives us two examples of praying.

Here is the first: God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.

Contrast that with the second prayer: God, be merciful to me a sinner!

The tax collector presents himself to God as he believes he is: someone who needs God. The Pharisee presents himself to God as he believes he is: someone who is not like other people.


I am teaching a class following Solemn Mass on Lancelot Andrewes, a Priest and Bishop in the Church of England who lived about 400 years ago. He was famous for two things: his preaching and his praying. While I was preparing for this sermon and for the class, I noticed that Andrewes preached a number of sermons on prayer that were published in the form of a series. In the first of these sermons he says that the first part of prayer is making sure that one is able to pray at all. We need to open ourselves to God since it is only through the grace of God that we are able to pray at all. This is done through confession and repentance. Only when we have stripped away those things which keep us from God are we able to accept God. Even this, of course can only be done by the grace of God. Andrewes didn’t quote today’s Gospel, but I think that he could have to give an example of what it looks like to begin praying.


In practice, we live this out at Baptism when we speak of dying to the world and rising in Christ. We live this out at Mass when we kneel and make our confession before receiving the sacrament.

In addition to that, the church has long recommended making a personal Confession before certain days of the church year like Christmas and Easter. From my experience, I strongly recommend making a personal confession. You don’t need to make one to be in a right relationship with God, but I think if you think you don’t need to be put into a right relationship to God, you might be in need of making one.


For me, making a personal confession is different from the general confession in Mass. It allows me not only to unload those specific things that I have been carrying around with me like empty suitcases – things that do nothing except hold me back from God. It also gives me the opportunity to truly reflect on my relationship with other people and my relationship with God. Am I better than other people? No. Do I need God? Yes. I have always found after a confession that I am able to pray and draw closer to the Lord in ways that I couldn’t have imagined before the confession. I’ve also found that no matter how right I felt with God before the confession, everything in my life is clearer, brighter and closer to God.

I think I can compare it to something that happened to me this summer. I got glasses for distance. I had no idea what I was missing. I used to enjoy watching sports on TV, now I can actually see what’s happening and its made a huge difference. I think making a confession can be a lot like that. I always forget what I’ve been missing in terms my relationship with God until after my confession.

So, I recommend it. Saint Mary’s offers confession every Saturday and by appointment. You don’t need to be a bad person to make a confession. You don’t need to be a really good person to make a confession. You just have to be a normal person who, like the rest of us, by the grace of God is trying to draw closer the Lord.

Pledging

Sermon: Proper 24, Year 1, Evensong, 2007

I think that both readings tonight are have fairly obvious points. First, we are called to help those who are in need of help and mercy. Second, we are called, like all of Jesus disciples to spread the Gospel to new people.

With those greater theme’s in mind, I was struck by a particular passage in tonight’s Gospel. It was related to a passage in Paul that we read in the Bible Study that I am leading on Saint Paul throughout this Fall. In the 9th chapter of first Corinthians Paul writes: The Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But I have made no use of any of these rights.

Though Paul does not quote a saying of Jesus, I think its likely that he is referring to something like what we hear in today’s Gospel reading from St. Luke. Jesus says to the disciples that he is sending out: Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals…. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages.

Though he admits that he could expect to be supported by the Church community, Paul uses his self-sufficiency as one example of how going one step further than what he was called to do can make a huge difference in spreading the Gospel. Though I’m not sure his situation is the same as mine, I can tell you, as a priest who is supported by this congregation, that Paul’s boast is quite impressive.

We are called to help those who are in need and to spread the Gospel to new people. After reflecting both on tonight’s Gospel passage and Paul’s attempt to live out his calling as an apostle, I think Paul’s example can serve us today.

Going one step further, even if it’s a small step, can make a huge difference. Its not always easy to see how this can be true, but I think I can give an example in my life that might illustrate this point. I was asked yesterday by my Grandmother what I thought amounted to a “good” pledge. I told her the amount wasn’t the point, it was making the pledge in the first place. The hardest pledge I ever made was the first one I made. It was one dollar a week. It wasn’t much, but it changed my life in a big way. I knew that I was doing something to support the work of the Church and its mission to spread the Gospel and help those in need. As the years went by, I increased my pledge a little bit until I got to where I am today – 10%. Baby steps got me there.

Going one step further, even if it’s a small step, can make a huge difference. If you noticed the back of the bulletin, there is a stewardship blurb that discusses the financial situation Saint Mary’s is in. The board has come up with a plan to solve the problems that we have through baby steps, taken by everyone who cares about Saint Mary’s.

I invite you to join me in pledging to financially support Saint Mary’s if you don’t already do that, and I invite you to increase your pledge like my wife and I try to do every year. It doesn’t have to be much, but I think taking that first step is the biggest challenge. I can tell you that it does make a huge difference.