A young man went into a drugstore to buy 3 boxes of chocolate: small, medium, and large. When the pharmacist asked him about the three boxes, he said, “Well, I am going over to my new girlfriend's house tonight for supper. Then, we are going out for the evening. If she only lets me hold her hand, then I'll give her the small box. If she lets me kiss her on the cheek, then I'll give her the medium box. But, if she really lets me smooch seriously, I'll give her the large box.”
He made his purchase and left.
That evening as he sat down for dinner with his girlfriend's family, he asked if he could say the prayer before the meal. He began to pray, and he prayed a most earnest, and intense prayer that lasted for almost five minutes. When he finished his new girlfriend said, “You never told me you were such a religious person.”
He said, “And you never told me your dad was a pharmacist!”
Prayer is the first commitment we make as United Methodists. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, taught that the Methodist life was one that matched works of piety with works of mercy. For him, the first work of piety was prayer. Methodists are praying people, or at least, we were. For Wesley, prayer was the foundational practice of a disciple of Jesus Christ. As such, when we join the UM Church, our first commitment is to support the congregation with our prayers. Certainly, we should be generous with our prayers toward our church, but prayer is so much more than prayer for something. Jesus, in our Gospel passage today chose two parables to teach his disciples the necessity of prayer. As I reflect on these parables, I find three elements of generous prayer that should anchor us as disciples of Jesus Christ. I see that our prayers should be persistent, transformational and humble.
According to many public opinion polls, prayer is important to most Americans. Gallup pollsters found in one recent poll that 90% of Americans pray, and 86% say they believe in God. It’s interesting that more people pray than claim to believe in God? 83% said they favor prayer at graduation exercises, and 70% favor prayers be allowed in school.
In today's Gospel reading Luke 18:1-14, Jesus focuses on prayer using the parable of the Unjust Judge and the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican to encourage us to persevere in our prayer and to remain humble in our prayer. Prayer is precious to our Father in Heaven. The Apostle John, who was listening as Jesus told these parables, says that the prayers of the saints are equated with incense offered to God at the altar (Revelation 8:3-4).
I need to first remind us what Jesus is NOT saying with these parables, especially with the unjust judge. He is NOT saying that God is as tightfisted in answering prayer as the unjust judge was frugal in granting justice. This judge was likely one of the paid magistrates appointed either by Herod or by the Romans. These judges were notoriously corrupt. Unless a plaintiff had influence and money to bribe his/her way to a verdict they had no hope of ever getting their case settled. These judges were said to pervert justice for a dish of meat. The people, using a play on the Hebrew words that made up the title of their position, even called them robber judges. The implication in the story was that some rich person had bribed the judge not to give the widow justice. We don’t know the reason. Reason doesn’t impact the point of the story. The point is her persistent prayer won the day.
So, what is Jesus saying? If the Unjust Judge in this parable gives justice to the woman, surely God, who desires our prayers, will do so, too. The Jews in the first century limited prayer to three times a day, usually 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. They didn’t want to wear God out by their petitions. It is the routine the disciples would have been familiar with, but Jesus was teaching quite the opposite.
God inhabits our praise and our prayer. The real danger is that we will run out of energy, or that we will abandon our commitment and give up praying. We should note that the woman came to the judge because she expected to win. She had faith in receiving a fair judgment from the judge. Eventually. She was employing the only weapon she had—persistance. Too many of us, far too often, do not expect God to answer prayer. And, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Let’s be honest. How many of us here today find prayer too hard? The reason we don’t seem to get anywhere may be that our motivation is suspect. Why do we pray? Do we see prayer as something to do, to appease an angry God? Sort of a divine insurance policy? Do we see it as a religious duty? God wants me to pray, so I must do it. Do I do it expecting a reward? Pray looking for a blessing? Or, do I come to the Lord to be in Fellowship, to hear His Voice?
Let me help our understanding: This parable does not liken God to an unjust judge; it contrasts him to such a person. Jesus was saying, “If, in the end, an unjust judge can be wearied into giving a widow justice, how much more will God, who is a loving Father, give his children what they need?” That still doesn’t mean we should expect to get whatever we pray for. God is not our pizza man.
When we moved to Kentucky for seminary, we moved from Eros, LA to Junction City, KY, and we discovered they had Domino’s Pizza delivery. It was a transformative experience for our family. Pick up the phone, order your pizza and within 30 minutes or less, piping hot pizza delivered to your door. How cool was that for a family of six from the deep woods of Jackson Parish. That’s what we often expect from God with our prayers, too. Place our order and wait for God to deliver the answer. When it doesn’t come, or doesn’t come on time, we want our money back.
Often a father has to refuse the request of a child, because he knows that what the child asks would hurt rather than help. God is like that. We do not know what is to happen in the next hour, let alone the next week, or month, or year. Only God sees time whole, and only God knows what is good for us in the long run. That is why Jesus said we must never be discouraged in prayer. That is why he wondered if people’s faith would stand the long delays before the Son of Man should come. We will never grow weary in prayer and our faith will never falter if, after we have offered to God our prayers, we add the perfect prayer: “Thy will be done.”
Not only are generous prayers persistent, but they are also transformative. God is calling His people to be transformed through prayer. What is prayer? I believe prayer is an intentionally intimate moment of communication with God. Individually and corporately, our prayers usher us into a deeper awareness of God’s presence. It is our stop in the moment to talk to our Father, and any time we are in intimate relationship with God, our lives are transformed. Prayer is fellowship. It is open communication between God and each one of us. And, sometimes, we forget that conversation needs to be two way. That’s what the Apostle Paul discovered.
In Paul’s second letter to the believers in Corinth he talks about his “thorn in the flesh,” given to him he says to keep him from being too proud. We don’t know what it was, but it was bothersome to him. Listen to what he says:
Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. (2 Corinthians 12: 8 – 9 NLT).
The three times that Paul mentions is not a specific number, but is his way of saying he prayed persistently, and in his persistence he heard the Lord, and the Lord’s voice was transformative. He found grace in his situation.
Likewise, the persistence of the widow’s prayer transformed her situation, and it transformed the unjust judge. We don’t know whether it changed him forever, but it changed him for that moment. Sometimes, a moment is all a person needs. Generous prayer is transformative.
Finally, I see that generous prayer is rooted in humility. That’s the essence of the second of Jesus’ parables. Jesus offers another contrast in relation to prayer—that of an upstanding (in the eyes of the Jewish community) Pharisee and a hated (in the eyes of the Jewish community) tax collector. The contrast is striking, but it, too, is transformative. The Pharisee did not really go to pray to God. He prayed with himself. Prayer is our communication with God and is, therefore, directed only to God. As in worship, so it is with prayer…there is an audience of One.
There was a tax-collector. He stood afar off, and would not even lift his eyes to God. Our translation doesn’t do justice to his humility for he actually prayed, “O God, be merciful to me--the sinner,” as if he was not merely a sinner, but the worst sinner. In prayer we do not lift ourselves above anyone else. We remember that we are one of a great army of sinning, suffering, sorrowing humanity, all kneeling before the throne of God's mercy.
I was in Chicago this past week at a gathering of United Methodists. Jorge Acevedo, who pastors a multi-site UM congregation is southwest Florida, was one of the featured speakers. He offered the group a peculiar, yet challenging greeting. He stepped to the podium and said, “Hello saints,” to which everyone responded, “Hello.” He then said, “Hello sinners,” and after a couple of ticks of the clock everyone responded, “Hello!” We are all sinners in need of God’s amazing grace. Nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes, we need to be reminded of that fact.
Generous prayer comes from setting our lives beside the life of God. There is little doubt all the Pharisee said about himself was true. He did fast; he did give tithes and then some; he was not as other men are; even less was he like that tax-collector. But the question is not, “Am I as good as anyone else?” The question is, “Am I as good as God?” It all depends on what or who we compare ourselves with. When we set our lives beside the life of Jesus and beside the holiness of God, all that is left to say is, “God be merciful to me--the sinner.”
Generosity in praying is never measured by the amount of time spent in prayer, but by the humility and sincerity with which the prayer is offered. We can pray long prayers with eloquent words, but length and eloquence never moves the heart of God. Based upon Jesus’ teaching to his disciples, humility and sincerity move God’s heart.
Let me quickly offer three steps to assist in being generous with our prayers. One, schedule it. Put it on the calendar just like we do all the other activities of our lives. Two, write your prayers down. That way, we have a written record of how and when God answered our prayers. Third, start simply. Remember, we don’t need long or eloquent prayers. The simplest prayer we can pray is “Thy will be done.” Start there, but by all means, start. It is our commitment as disciples of Jesus Christ. It is our commitment as United Methodists.
