<html><body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><div>Forwarded:<br><br><br>Begin forwarded message:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><b>From:</b> Judy <<a href="mailto:judy_boli@ecunet.org">judy_boli@ecunet.org</a>><br><b>Date:</b> September 22, 2012 4:35:31 PM PDT<br><b>To:</b> Propertalk <<a href="mailto:propertalk.topic@ecunet.org">propertalk.topic@ecunet.org</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> <b>[propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 20B</b><br><b>Reply-To:</b> <a href="mailto:propertalk.topic+owners@ecunet.org"><a href="mailto:propertalk.topic+owners@ecunet.org">propertalk.topic+owners@ecunet.org</a></a><br><br></div></blockquote><div><span></span></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><span>Dear Friends,</span><br><span></span><br><span>This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Prayer Changes Things- Sometimes” or</span><br><span>“Selfish Praying” and deals with all the Bible lessons. Here it is:</span><br><span></span><br><span>Did you hear the story about a little girl who hated to do her</span><br><span>homework? She had a rather comprehensive math test coming up and was</span><br><span>feeling rather stressed. As you can guess- she put off her studying</span><br><span>until the last minute and then worked just enough to hopefully pass</span><br><span>the test. That night, her father was going past her room just as she</span><br><span>was saying her bedtime prayers, and this is what he heard: “Now I lay</span><br><span>me down to rest, and hope to pass tomorrow's test. If I should die</span><br><span>before I wake, that's one less test I have to take. Amen.” Somehow,</span><br><span>that’s not exactly what God expects in our prayers. Did you hear the</span><br><span>rather strange statement in our epistle reading from the book of James</span><br><span>(4:3)? James talks about “selfish prayers.” He says, “Your prayers</span><br><span>are not answered because you pray for selfish reasons”- that’s a</span><br><span>different concept! Selfish reasons- what could he possibly be talking</span><br><span>about?</span><br><span></span><br><span>Actually, we can get a clue from our Bible lessons today. First of</span><br><span>all- the Old Testament Jeremiah lesson: Jeremiah’s enemies were out to</span><br><span>get him- actually not just get him- but KILL him. Human nature, under</span><br><span>those kinds of circumstances, craves revenge. Did you notice</span><br><span>Jeremiah’s prayer? Jeremiah didn’t ask God to put his enemies into</span><br><span>his own hands. He put his enemies in God’s hands and asked him to do</span><br><span>the revenge. Remember, God did say, “Vengeance is mine. I will</span><br><span>repay” (12:19). He trusted God to “teach them a thing or two.”</span><br><span>Jeremiah did not take God’s privileges into his own hands. He was not</span><br><span>selfish. He trusted God to take care of his enemies. Sometimes our</span><br><span>selfishness takes the form of holding on to revenge when it is God’s</span><br><span>job, not ours. So if you are quick to tell people a thing or two and</span><br><span>get revenge, even in small ways, don’t be surprised when your prayers</span><br><span>are not answered. James predicted it.</span><br><span></span><br><span>The Psalm (1:6) has another clue about how our selfish attitudes get</span><br><span>in the way of answered prayers. The caption reads, “The Lord protects</span><br><span>everyone who follows Him, but the wicked follow a road that leads to</span><br><span>ruin.” We are so tempted to ignore God’s way and follow our own path;</span><br><span>then when things start to go badly for us, we pray that God will</span><br><span>protect us from the consequences of our behavior. I’ve said it so</span><br><span>many times- why don’t you say it with me, “You can’t pray yourself out</span><br><span>of consequences you behave yourself into.” If we self-centeredly do</span><br><span>our own thing, we should not be surprised when our prayers go</span><br><span>unanswered.</span><br><span></span><br><span>Another clue about a type of selfish attitude that interferes with our</span><br><span>prayers is in today’s Gospel (Mark 9:34-37) when Jesus caught the</span><br><span>disciples arguing about who was the greatest. Our society teaches us</span><br><span>to be competitive, not with ourselves- but with others. As soon as a</span><br><span>child is old enough to understand, he or she is taught to try to be</span><br><span>better than the other children. In fact, parents are not at all happy</span><br><span>if another child is smarter, better looking, more athletic, you-name-</span><br><span>it than their child. The truth is, Jesus says we are not to try to be</span><br><span>better than someone else. The Christian doctrine of creation teaches</span><br><span>us that we are all amazingly and beautifully different from each</span><br><span>other. Remember the statement the Rev. Lynn Collins made when some</span><br><span>years ago we invited her from New York as our Absalom Jones preacher?</span><br><span>She said, “Our God must surely love variety; he made so much of it!”-</span><br><span>and isn’t that true! Yet, instead of appreciating each other’s</span><br><span>giftedness, we struggle to be better than they are. God does not</span><br><span>intend for us to try to be the greatest. He does want us to compete</span><br><span>against ourselves and be the best WE can be.</span><br><span></span><br><span>So when James reminds us that our selfish motivations keep our prayers</span><br><span>unanswered, these Bible passages clue us into exactly what types of</span><br><span>behaviors he’s talking about:</span><br><span>1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Selfishly usurping God’s privilege by taking care of our own</span><br><span>revenge;</span><br><span>2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Selfishly living our lives our own way instead of God’s way; and</span><br><span>3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Selfishly trying to be greater than others instead of encouraging</span><br><span>others and trying to be the best we can be.</span><br><span></span><br><span>Unfortunately, if we’re not careful, our prayers can sound like a</span><br><span>child’s Christmas list of “gimme’s.” Did you hear the story of the</span><br><span>young lady who had just broken up with her boyfriend? She wrote him</span><br><span>this letter. “Dearest Jimmy, no words could ever express the great</span><br><span>unhappiness I've felt since breaking our engagement. Please say</span><br><span>you'll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart,</span><br><span>so please forgive me. I love you! I love you! I love you! Yours</span><br><span>forever, Marie. P.S. And congratulations on winning the state</span><br><span>lottery.” I hate to say it, but we must sound a lot like Marie when</span><br><span>we pray to God. The Rev. Dr. Tony Evans’ thought for the week is good</span><br><span>advice: “Do you pray for what you want or what God wants? Your</span><br><span>motivation determines the answer you will receive from heaven.”</span><br><span></span><br><span>Now that we’ve seen how NOT to pray, I’d like to make a suggestion of</span><br><span>a way to pray, especially before you go to bed, that works to prevent</span><br><span>a selfish perspective while praying. I learned it from Fr. Henri</span><br><span>Stines, past rector of Grace Church, Detroit, and now with his Lord in</span><br><span>heaven. This is a way of praying using your hand. I’ve shared it</span><br><span>with you before, but many of my friends had forgotten it, so I figured</span><br><span>it was time to share it again. If you pray this way each evening, you</span><br><span>will almost certainly not pray selfishly. Please turn to page four of</span><br><span>your bulletin for the diagram.</span><br><span>1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>ADORATION: start with your thumb. Since your thumb is the part of</span><br><span>your hands that allows it to grasp easily, it is perhaps your most</span><br><span>important finger. The most important part of your prayers should be</span><br><span>adoration- when you tell God how wonderful he is. What lover isn’t</span><br><span>constantly telling his beloved about her beautiful eyes or lovely</span><br><span>smile or gorgeous something? Think back through your day and tell God</span><br><span>how fantastic his sunset was or how touching that little child’s smile</span><br><span>is or how amazing the relationship of his people is or how miraculous</span><br><span>the works of his doctors are.</span><br><span>2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>CONFESSION: next is your pointer finger. This is the finger you</span><br><span>use to accuse your neighbor of sin. You notice, when you point your</span><br><span>finger at someone else, you have three fingers pointing back at you</span><br><span>reminding you of your sins. The next part of your prayer should be</span><br><span>confession. List your sins of the day and ask God to forgive you.</span><br><span>3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>THANKSGIVING: after that comes your third finger- your longest</span><br><span>finger, the finger people use to “give other people the finger.” That</span><br><span>finger should never be involved in cursing other people; it should be</span><br><span>our reminder to thank God for our many blessings. List the blessings</span><br><span>you received that day and thank God for them. Be specific.</span><br><span>4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>INTERCESSION: next comes our ring finger. It’s the finger we use</span><br><span>for our engagement and wedding rings, signs of our relationship with</span><br><span>others. It reminds us to pray for others. Again be specific.</span><br><span>5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>PETITION: finally comes our smallest finger. This small finger</span><br><span>reminds us to pray for ourselves. Because it is smallest and last, it</span><br><span>helps us remember to not be too self-centered.</span><br><span>6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>OBLATION: at last use both of your hands to offer yourself to God,</span><br><span>and go peacefully to sleep.</span><br><span></span><br><span>May God bless us in our daily prayers so they truly bring us closer to</span><br><span>our precious Lord. Amen.</span><br><span></span><br><span>For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American</span><br><span>wisdom statements either is or will be posted on our parish web site.</span><br><span>The address is: <a href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.com">http://www.stpaulsepisag.com</a> .</span><br><span></span><br><span>Blessed preaching,</span><br><span>Judy Boli</span><br><span>St. Paul's Episcopal Church</span><br><span>Saginaw, Michigan</span><br></div></blockquote></body></html>