The Gospel
John 17:6-19Jesus prayed for his disciples, “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.”
The Sermon
Jesus Prayed
The gospel reading starts
out, “Jesus prayed.” What? Why would Jesus need to pray. He is
God the Son so it is almost like he is praying to himself. When you
look at his prayer it becomes clear that Jesus is having a
conversation with the Father. For us it is a little like listening
to someone having a phone conversation. We only hear the one side.
This passage has made me
reflect on the types of prayer, when to pray, the effectiveness of
prayer, why we pray. In other words, all things prayer. A few days
ago, I was at the monthly inter-church council meeting and we were
discussing the fourth of July service on the town square and one of
the members said she had contacted several groups to sing in the
gazebo. Another member mildly complained that it would not be right
to have a service without readings and sermons. The implication to
me was that it might not be prayerful enough. My comment was that
singing hymns is a form of prayer.
So how else do we pray?
Most of us think of prayer in terms of petitional prayer. We are
asking God for something. That does not make it 'bad prayer'. We
can ask God for noble things such as wisdom to make good decisions,
or courage to carry on during difficult times or healing both
spiritual and physical.
Praying can also take many
different forms. Song is a wonderful way to bring the richness of
our voices to a closer communion with God. In African cultures
parishioners not only sing hymns of praise but they dance as well.
Their whole bodies get involved.
There is also formalized
prayer. Near the back of The Book of Common Prayer there are prayers
written for all kinds of thing. There are prayers for peace, travel,
bereavement, birthdays, and even rain. Many of us come from
traditions where we are more comfortable reading prayers that have
been written for us and that is OK. When his disciples asked Jesus
how to pray he gave them the Lord's prayer. It is actually a
composite from several passages in the old testament.
Some of my favorite
prayers are the prayer attributed to St. Francis and a prayer we
often do during evening prayer and compline. It starts out, “Keep
watch dear Lord with those who work or watch or weep this night and
give your angels charge over those who sleep”. It is a prayer that
seems to wrap itself around me and all of humanity.
So, does God listen better
to some types of prayer over others? I do not think so. God listens
to what comes from your heart and soul. If you want to express
yourself through song, He hears you. If you prayerfully make the
sign of the cross, he is aware of that as well.
God listens to all of us.
Amen
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