Sermon – Our Help Rev. Sandy Lacey September 29, 2024
I have often wondered if we had two of our Epistle writers, James and the Apostle Paul in the same room for any length of time, how long would it take them to get into an argument? Paul, in his letters, seems to emphasize God’s grace above all else (from Ephesians 2, “for it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”) James, on the other hand, seems to place his emphasis on the other side of things – on the expectations of God and the works produced by the faithful (from James 2, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone . . . for just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.”) I wonder, are these two emphases as contradictory as they seem? Do we have an argument in our Scriptures? (Actually, we do have a recording of an argument between the two {and others} at a Jerusalem Council in the book of Acts, chapter 15. A compromise was reached at that time between the two emphases.) I suspect they are both right – maybe two sides of the same coin. Grace is a gift of God and there is absolutely nothing we can do to earn that gift. We have a prime example of that when we baptize children. We acknowledge that the child is loved by God, welcomed by God, known by God, and saved by God – all because of who God is and not who the child is or what the child has done. And from James we understand that because of the undeserved grace that child receives, something will be expected of that child as he or she grows. (And they will learn about this at Confirmation time when they make their own profession of faith.) Because of God’s grace, that child is to live his/her life in response to that grace that has been so freely given to him/her. He/she is to spend their days in worship of, and in gratitude for, their creator and redeemer. Baptized people are to give themselves away in serving others. The newly baptized person is to strive daily to live more fully and more completely into the person that she/he was created to be. When we baptize children, it is obviously impossible for them to fully comprehend their commitment . . . and that is why parents stand with them and covenant to nurture them in the faith and help them learn of God’s love and expectation. Likewise, you as a congregation, make promises as well. How will he know unless you tell him that he is a beloved child of God, gifted by grace for God’s good purpose of saving the world? How will she know unless she looks at you and learns that it is truly good and right to regularly be in the House of the Lord, praising God? How will he know what service looks like unless he sees it modeled by you as you feed the hungry and give kind words to them? How will she know who God has designed her to be unless you take the time to teach her, listen to her, guide her, and love her? God graces each one of us in our baptism with God’s love and presence. Our baptism – whether as a child, youth, or adult – is a sign and seal of that grace and the community confirms it with their promises. This grace from God can never be taken away. With that baptism, however, comes expectation and responsibility for demonstrating that love and grace to others. So, perhaps God’s grace and God’s expectation are “two sides of the same coin” and James and the Apostle Paul are both right. Being together in community is also important to the Epistle writer James. I think he recognizes that we cannot do the work God asks of us all on our own. We need the community of faith to encourage us, teach us, and accompany us. James gives us a “to do” list for our community to help shape and form it into the community God calls us to be. God calls us to nurture, care for, listen to, and love the people inside these walls and the people in the community who are around us as well. We are to sing songs of praise, anoint people with oil, confess to one another, listen to people’s pain, bring wanderers back home – all within the context of praying for one another. He says we are to pray for each other, to lift each other up, when life is difficult. He says prayer is a shaping, formative part of our community because nothing happens without God’s help. Individually, prayer takes many forms. Many of us prefer to set aside a quiet time in which we talk and listen to God. Others of us talk to God while we are keeping our hands busy with something else. We might wake up with a stretch prayer thanking God for the new day and the opportunities before us to serve. We might use a breath prayer throughout the day to breathe in the love of God and breathe out our problems and worries or we might use a mantra to repeat over and over to ourselves throughout the day – like, “O, give thanks to the Lord, for God is good. God’s steadfast love endures forever.” We might use the ACTS format for prayer – adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication – requests for others and ourselves. Or we may do as one couple I know does and use the spiritual practice of Lectio Divina each day where they read a Scripture passage out loud together, look for a word or phrase that jumps out at them, repeat the passage to discover where God was during the day in that word or phrase, and repeat the passage again to discern what God is leading each one to do tomorrow related to that word or passage. It is an ancient form of prayer through reading Scripture together. Others choose to gather as a family each day either at dinner or right before bed and “take five.” Similar to the spiritual practice of Exammen, they share their highs and lows of the day and read a passage of Scripture together before praying good night. There are many forms of prayer and there is no one right way to do it. Many of us worry that we’re not doing it right or not saying the right things, etc. but the point of prayer is not the form or the place, or the time. The point is simply to keep at it, as author Frederick Buechner tells us.[1] It is an act that simply reminds us we are not in charge. It reminds us who we are and to whom we belong. It reminds us there is something larger than our particular wants/desires. It helps to form us by reminding us that we are utterly dependent upon the God who created us, who redeemed us, who loves us and is always with us. You do not have to be eloquent in your prayers and you do not have to know the “right” words. Just express your fears, your anger, your gratitude, your love to the God who does not give up on you and who does not give up on God’ world. The truth is, though, that there are times that we find it difficult to pray. Whether it is our grief, our depression, our feeling of hopelessness; sometimes we need the benefit of knowing others are praying for us. Having a community of faith that rallies around you and holds you in their thoughts and prayers makes a difference. I want to thank those of you who pray regularly for those on our prayer list. And I want to thank those of you who put your prayers into something someone can touch, like a prayer shawl. Each of you receives a bulletin or a newsletter that lists members and friends of our community who are in need and who have specifically requested your prayer. I pray you are using this list to remember them in prayer each day. They are counting on it. Prayer not only shapes you as a follower of Christ, but it also shapes us as a community of faith. Do we have the same results as James talks about with the prophet Elijah? How often have we received the results for which we were hoping? I know that each one of us here can point to a time when we earnestly prayed for a particular outcome – a cancer to be healed, an illness to be overcome, an accident to recover from, a baby to be born – and then were left with only questions and sorrow. God hears even that and in fact, Paul tells us that the Spirit prays for us with sighs too deep for words in those times in which we are unable to pray. One of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott, says, “I do not know much about God and prayer, but I have come to believe over the last twenty-five years, that there’s something to be said about keeping prayer simple.” She says that prayers can be formed by three simple words, “Help. Thanks. Wow.”[2] I like that. “Help” because sometimes that is all we can get out. “Thanks” because we are to live our lives in gratitude. And “wow,” because that is the only word that comes to us when we encounter God’s awesome works in nature and in our lives. James tells us the prayer of the community is especially helpful so that we are not left alone in our confusion and grief. Additionally, those prayers are powerful, not because we get what we ask, but because they make us more open, more pliable, more willing to watch for God’s surprising activity. Prayer does work, but rarely in the way we think it will. When you pray, be prepared to be changed – from the inside, out. AMEN.
BENEDICTION: I leave you with a few words from Kathleen Norris: “I have learned that prayer is not asking for what you think you want but asking to be changed in ways you can’t imagine. To be made more grateful, more able to see the good in what you have been given instead of always grieving for what might have been. People who are in the habit of praying know that when a prayer is answered, it is never in a way that you expect.”[3]
[1] Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992.) p. 212. 2 Anne Lamott, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2012.) p. 1. 3 Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith. (New York, NY: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1998.) p. 60-61.
I have often wondered if we had two of our Epistle writers, James and the Apostle Paul in the same room for any length of time, how long would it take them to get into an argument? Paul, in his letters, seems to emphasize God’s grace above all else (from Ephesians 2, “for it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”) James, on the other hand, seems to place his emphasis on the other side of things – on the expectations of God and the works produced by the faithful (from James 2, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone . . . for just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.”) I wonder, are these two emphases as contradictory as they seem? Do we have an argument in our Scriptures? (Actually, we do have a recording of an argument between the two {and others} at a Jerusalem Council in the book of Acts, chapter 15. A compromise was reached at that time between the two emphases.) I suspect they are both right – maybe two sides of the same coin. Grace is a gift of God and there is absolutely nothing we can do to earn that gift. We have a prime example of that when we baptize children. We acknowledge that the child is loved by God, welcomed by God, known by God, and saved by God – all because of who God is and not who the child is or what the child has done. And from James we understand that because of the undeserved grace that child receives, something will be expected of that child as he or she grows. (And they will learn about this at Confirmation time when they make their own profession of faith.) Because of God’s grace, that child is to live his/her life in response to that grace that has been so freely given to him/her. He/she is to spend their days in worship of, and in gratitude for, their creator and redeemer. Baptized people are to give themselves away in serving others. The newly baptized person is to strive daily to live more fully and more completely into the person that she/he was created to be. When we baptize children, it is obviously impossible for them to fully comprehend their commitment . . . and that is why parents stand with them and covenant to nurture them in the faith and help them learn of God’s love and expectation. Likewise, you as a congregation, make promises as well. How will he know unless you tell him that he is a beloved child of God, gifted by grace for God’s good purpose of saving the world? How will she know unless she looks at you and learns that it is truly good and right to regularly be in the House of the Lord, praising God? How will he know what service looks like unless he sees it modeled by you as you feed the hungry and give kind words to them? How will she know who God has designed her to be unless you take the time to teach her, listen to her, guide her, and love her? God graces each one of us in our baptism with God’s love and presence. Our baptism – whether as a child, youth, or adult – is a sign and seal of that grace and the community confirms it with their promises. This grace from God can never be taken away. With that baptism, however, comes expectation and responsibility for demonstrating that love and grace to others. So, perhaps God’s grace and God’s expectation are “two sides of the same coin” and James and the Apostle Paul are both right. Being together in community is also important to the Epistle writer James. I think he recognizes that we cannot do the work God asks of us all on our own. We need the community of faith to encourage us, teach us, and accompany us. James gives us a “to do” list for our community to help shape and form it into the community God calls us to be. God calls us to nurture, care for, listen to, and love the people inside these walls and the people in the community who are around us as well. We are to sing songs of praise, anoint people with oil, confess to one another, listen to people’s pain, bring wanderers back home – all within the context of praying for one another. He says we are to pray for each other, to lift each other up, when life is difficult. He says prayer is a shaping, formative part of our community because nothing happens without God’s help. Individually, prayer takes many forms. Many of us prefer to set aside a quiet time in which we talk and listen to God. Others of us talk to God while we are keeping our hands busy with something else. We might wake up with a stretch prayer thanking God for the new day and the opportunities before us to serve. We might use a breath prayer throughout the day to breathe in the love of God and breathe out our problems and worries or we might use a mantra to repeat over and over to ourselves throughout the day – like, “O, give thanks to the Lord, for God is good. God’s steadfast love endures forever.” We might use the ACTS format for prayer – adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication – requests for others and ourselves. Or we may do as one couple I know does and use the spiritual practice of Lectio Divina each day where they read a Scripture passage out loud together, look for a word or phrase that jumps out at them, repeat the passage to discover where God was during the day in that word or phrase, and repeat the passage again to discern what God is leading each one to do tomorrow related to that word or passage. It is an ancient form of prayer through reading Scripture together. Others choose to gather as a family each day either at dinner or right before bed and “take five.” Similar to the spiritual practice of Exammen, they share their highs and lows of the day and read a passage of Scripture together before praying good night. There are many forms of prayer and there is no one right way to do it. Many of us worry that we’re not doing it right or not saying the right things, etc. but the point of prayer is not the form or the place, or the time. The point is simply to keep at it, as author Frederick Buechner tells us.[1] It is an act that simply reminds us we are not in charge. It reminds us who we are and to whom we belong. It reminds us there is something larger than our particular wants/desires. It helps to form us by reminding us that we are utterly dependent upon the God who created us, who redeemed us, who loves us and is always with us. You do not have to be eloquent in your prayers and you do not have to know the “right” words. Just express your fears, your anger, your gratitude, your love to the God who does not give up on you and who does not give up on God’ world. The truth is, though, that there are times that we find it difficult to pray. Whether it is our grief, our depression, our feeling of hopelessness; sometimes we need the benefit of knowing others are praying for us. Having a community of faith that rallies around you and holds you in their thoughts and prayers makes a difference. I want to thank those of you who pray regularly for those on our prayer list. And I want to thank those of you who put your prayers into something someone can touch, like a prayer shawl. Each of you receives a bulletin or a newsletter that lists members and friends of our community who are in need and who have specifically requested your prayer. I pray you are using this list to remember them in prayer each day. They are counting on it. Prayer not only shapes you as a follower of Christ, but it also shapes us as a community of faith. Do we have the same results as James talks about with the prophet Elijah? How often have we received the results for which we were hoping? I know that each one of us here can point to a time when we earnestly prayed for a particular outcome – a cancer to be healed, an illness to be overcome, an accident to recover from, a baby to be born – and then were left with only questions and sorrow. God hears even that and in fact, Paul tells us that the Spirit prays for us with sighs too deep for words in those times in which we are unable to pray. One of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott, says, “I do not know much about God and prayer, but I have come to believe over the last twenty-five years, that there’s something to be said about keeping prayer simple.” She says that prayers can be formed by three simple words, “Help. Thanks. Wow.”[2] I like that. “Help” because sometimes that is all we can get out. “Thanks” because we are to live our lives in gratitude. And “wow,” because that is the only word that comes to us when we encounter God’s awesome works in nature and in our lives. James tells us the prayer of the community is especially helpful so that we are not left alone in our confusion and grief. Additionally, those prayers are powerful, not because we get what we ask, but because they make us more open, more pliable, more willing to watch for God’s surprising activity. Prayer does work, but rarely in the way we think it will. When you pray, be prepared to be changed – from the inside, out. AMEN.
BENEDICTION: I leave you with a few words from Kathleen Norris: “I have learned that prayer is not asking for what you think you want but asking to be changed in ways you can’t imagine. To be made more grateful, more able to see the good in what you have been given instead of always grieving for what might have been. People who are in the habit of praying know that when a prayer is answered, it is never in a way that you expect.”[3]
[1] Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992.) p. 212. 2 Anne Lamott, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2012.) p. 1. 3 Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith. (New York, NY: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1998.) p. 60-61.
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[1] Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992.) p. 212. [2] Anne Lamott, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2012.) p. 1. [3] Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith. (New York, NY: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1998.) p. 60-61.