I Do Not Pray for a Sandwich

This sermon is about prayer and how corporate prayer is at the center of all we do as a community. The text for this sermon is James 5:13-20. The title of this message is explained within.

When I was preparing this message, a read that at the beginning of the Reformation, Martin Luther did not want the Epistle of James to be included in Protestant editions of the Bible. Luther felt that James' statements about works and salvation ran counter to the Apostle Paul's doctrine of justification by faith. Luther would later change his mind about this epistle; in particular, Luther believed that James was entirely correct about the functions of prayer.

I Do Not Pray for a Sandwich (9/27/15)

James 5:13-20

          Good morning! Last Sunday I made a joke about having a session meeting and going to two funerals, all in my first week on the job. This week began with a call from Rob McIlvaine, asking if I was available to officiate a funeral on Thursday. So I promise you that I will never again make a joke about how busy I am on the job. Clearly, how busy I am in this job is mostly in God’s hands, and only slightly in your hands.

          Anyhow, this is a new record for me—three Sundays in a row in the same pulpit. This is still new for me and I hope I never lose this sense of awe and wonder that comes with being invited here for an extended engagement. It’s truly a joy and an honor to be serving you.

          Anyhow, I don’t know if you noticed the marquee on your way to church this morning, and I have no idea how closely you looked at your bulletins, but if you did, you might be wondering about the title for my message this morning, “I Do Not Pray for a Sandwich.” And if you’re a smart aleck, like me, you might even be thinking, “come on, pastor, I bet you’ve prayed for a sandwich or two.” Now maybe I have and maybe I haven’t. That’s a discussion for another time.

          My title this morning is actually a quote from His Beatitude, Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. What’s a Latin Patriarch, you might ask. It’s the fancy name for the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem. You see, in the Holy Land, the Roman Catholic Church is referred to as the Latin Church. I learned all of this when I visited Israel and Palestine in 2012. I was part of a delegation of students and faculty who traveled there on a mission trip. It was amazing.

          The trip was billed as a pilgrimage to the Living Stones—the purpose of the trip was to meet Palestinian Arab Christians, to learn about them and their lives, and to see how we, as American Christians could help to work for peace in the Holy Land. Are you with me? I ask you this because sometimes, when I talk about this trip, people stop me in the middle of that first sentence. The conversation goes like this:

Wait! What? Palestinian? Arab. Christians? Huh?

Yes. Palestinian Arab Christians.

I thought they were all Muslims.

No. There are still many Christians living in Palestine.

Are you sure?

Yes. I’ve met them. Many of them.

Really?

Yes, really!

          The short explanation is that there were Arabs in Palestine since before the time of Christ. No doubt, many of the first Gentile converts to Christianity were, in fact, Arabs. There have been Arab Christians for as long as there have been, well, Christians! That’s why the trip was billed as a pilgrimage to the Living Stones. These Arab Christians in Palestine are part of the oldest tradition in Christianity! They are the Living Stones, the foundation of the Christian faith.

          So I jumped at the chance to see the Holy Land and meet these brothers and sisters in Christ. We met some of the most important leaders of the Christian community in Palestine. I’ve already mentioned Archbishop Fouad Twal. We also met the Rev. Mitri Raheb, a Lutheran pastor, and Father Elias Chacour, a Melkite Archbishop. Both of these men have written extensively about the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, and the role of Christians in the midst of this conflict. But even more importantly, on this trip we met everyday people—Palestinian Christians who were busy living their lives in the midst of challenging situations.

          In our audience with Archbishop Twal, someone in our group asked him how he dealt with the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and two sides that just don’t seem to be able to make peace. He said, simply:

I pray. I pray to God to change the things in my world that I cannot change on my own. I do not pray for a sandwich. If I am hungry, I can get up and make myself a sandwich. I do not need God to do this for me. I pray for the things that only God can do.

It was an amazing conversation—one of many—and I’ll tell you more about these and other conversations as we spend more time with one another. This isn’t a sermon about geopolitics or religious conflict. This is a sermon about prayer.

          In today’s Scripture reading, James is offering advice to Christian communities everywhere. And it’s pretty straightforward advice. If you are suffering: pray! If you’re happy, sing songs of praise. If you are sick, pray. If someone else is sick, pray for that person. If you have sinned, pray to God. Also, confess your sins to one another. Do these things and your sins will be forgiven.

          As your pastor, it’s my job to help interpret the Scriptures. But I gotta tell you: sometimes it doesn’t take a seminary education to explain the text. Pray. Always. Pray all the time. Pray when you’re happy; pray when you’re sad. Pray. Can it really be that simple? Yes. It’s that simple.

          If I can add anything at all, any bit of interpretation, it’s this: James isn’t writing to us as a collection of individuals. He’s addressing Christian communities, then and now—he’s addressing us as members of a caring community.[1] James reminds us that “in the community’s exercise of prayer the very promise and power of the resurrection remain not just some future hope but now impinge on, recreate, and sustain a living and active community of faith.” That means that when congregations pray together—when we pray together—we participate in the resurrection and the grace that is offered by God and we are sustained as a community when we do so.

          Okay, let me break that last part down for you. The idea that we are actively participating in Christ’s resurrection and God’s grace may seem like a stretch, but I think it’s something we already understand, sort of. We already know we’re supposed to pray to God when we’re happy and pray to God when we’re sad. We already know we’re supposed to pray for healing when we’re sick and to pray for those in need of healing when they’re sick. And we already do these things. Right here. We began worship by collectively offering praise to God. Then we confessed our sins as a group. And we can do more.

          About five months passed between the time that Rev. CJ retired and the time that I began my term as your interim pastor. It may be another year or so until you call your next pastor. This can cause anxiety in any congregation. Some people stop coming to church when there isn’t an installed pastor in the pulpit. As a congregation, your bonds may begin to fray. This is where we can do more, and we can do it through prayer.

          Now I’m not here to shake things up—much. But maybe just a little. Besides my crazy sermon title, you may have noticed something else in your bulletins this morning, a section called the prayers of the people. I want to introduce this as a space where we can collectively pray for one another and express our concerns for our community and our world. Now I know there was already a space in the bulletin for our joys and concerns, but I want to do something more. I want to make this a central part of our worship. That is, I want this to take place as close to the middle of our worship as possible.

          You might wonder why I think this is so important. If you’ll permit me to tell a personal story, I think it will explain what this kind of open prayer can do. My father died two years ago. It was November 3^rd and I was a senior in seminary. I felt very isolated, especially as the holidays approached.

          I got sick right before Christmas. I wanted nothing more than to be with my mother in Philly, but I was too weak to drive. On Christmas Eve I was too tired to go to church. I began to feel better on Christmas Day, but I still wasn’t up to driving across the Turnpike.

          I felt so alone. In my despair, I posted my frustrations on Facebook. It was kind of like offering a prayer of lament, though I didn’t think of it at the time. Within half an hour, I had four invitations for dinner. They were all from people I knew through church—even from a church where I’d served as a seminary intern a year earlier. People reached out to me because I had reached out in public.

          His Beatitude, the Archbishop Fouad Twal said that he didn’t pray for a sandwich because he could make a sandwich for himself. He prays for the things that only God can do. On that Christmas Day, I could not comfort myself. God could comfort me and God could send the Spirit to those who cared for me. Those dear friends reached into my loneliness and helped me feel connected to those communities of faith. I was in the midst of a dark place, but I was NOT alone. Those people who reached out to me were the grace in the world that I desperately needed in those moments. They participated in God’s grace.

          I know we maintain a prayer list and I think that’s great! I love that many of you take them home and use them in your individual devotions. But I believe we can and should do more! When we pray for one another, in public; when we hear each person’s prayers; and when we are busy praying with everyone, we may learn how we can be God’s hands in the world.

          Sometimes we are the answers to other people’s prayers. Sometimes other people are the answers to our own prayers. God often puts us in the right places to hear these prayers, though we don’t always listen. This morning, I want us to take a couple steps toward being a more caring community. I believe we will all grow in our faith and increase our bonds with one another when we pray together, out loud, as members of this church family. Will you join me? Thanks be to God. Amen.

Benediction

          Now, beloved, as you depart from this place, remember that we are called to pray as individuals and as a worshiping community. Know that your prayers are heard by God and by this community. Listen to the prayers and listen for the call of the Holy Spirit. Go forth and be instruments of God’s peace and reconciliation. Do not return evil for evil to any person, but know that we are all loved by God, and that we are called to reflect that love to everyone we meet. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, let all God’s children say, Amen!

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[1] James Boyce. Commentary on James 5:13-20. Retrieved from: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2652