GiverofGoodGiftsProper12C, Sullivan
Park Care Center, July 28, 2013 by Annette Fricke
Act as if what you do makes a
difference. It does. ~William James~ The
devotional I follow on a regular basis, ‘For All the Saints’ this past week had
this to say on the Lord’s Prayer: I cannot pray "Our" if my faith has no room for
others and their need. I cannot pray "Father" if I do not demonstrate
this relationship to God in my daily living. I cannot pray "who art in
heaven" if all of my interests and pursuits are in earthly things. I
cannot pray "hallowed be thy name" if I am not striving, with God's
help, to be holy. I cannot pray "thy kingdom come" if I am unwilling
to accept God's rule in my life. I cannot pray "thy will be done" if
I am unwilling or resentful of having it in my life. I cannot pray "on
earth as it is in Heaven" unless I am truly ready to give myself to God's
service here and now. I cannot pray "give us this day our daily
bread" without expending honest effort for it, or if I would withhold from
my neighbor the bread that I receive. I cannot pray "forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" if I continue to
harbor a grudge against anyone. I cannot pray "lead us not into
temptation" if I deliberately choose to remain in a situation where I am
likely to be tempted. I cannot pray "deliver us from evil" if I am
not prepared to fight evil with my life and prayer. I cannot pray "thine
is the kingdom" if I am unwilling to obey the King. I cannot pray
"thine is the power and the glory" if I am seeking power for myself
and my own glory first. I cannot pray "forever and ever" if I am too
anxious about each day's affairs. I cannot pray "Amen" unless I
honestly say, 'Cost what it may, this is my prayer.' This was written by the
famous person known as Anonymous.
The Lord’s
Prayer or what some know as the Our Father or the Pater Noster has been prayed
over and over so many times by most of us, that many times, I think we pray it
like we are just going through the motions.
We know what we pray, yet sometimes it is just a hurried exercise to get
to the end…like an obligation. The point
is, as a prescribed ritual, it becomes the ritual rather than the rich prayer
it was meant to be. Gerhard Ebeling, in
his book about the Lord's Prayer, says on p. 4, "Today's text urges us to
pray. That is help in the radical sense only when it does not urge us to a
particular religious exercise but aids in bringing about what is absolutely
necessary for life." From time to
time, we need a refresher on just what we are praying when we pray this prayer
as well as to whom it is we are praying.
First of
all, the doxology, “for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory
forever or forever and ever” are words that were added at a later date, most
likely by Protestants. Secondly, the
whole prayer is about our relationship to God.
It is not a new prayer. Pieces of
this prayer had been said throughout Judaism.
Who is this God? Is God in heaven
above us or is God right here beside us?
When Jesus explains to us this prayer in the second part of our gospel
text, he makes it very clear that 1) God is hospitable to us at any hour of
night or day. 2) God expects, no commands us to prayer: asking, searching, and
knocking and 3) God will give us good gifts, including the gift of the Holy
Spirit just as a parent will give a child good gifts. We pray in and with Jesus Christ. Throughout the Gospel of Luke, we see that
Jesus was a man of frequent prayer. He
sought to carry out God’s will and therefore was always in communication with
God. He sought to be of service to the people around him. Jesus was in
communication with God in a sense as child to parent. Jesus has closed the gap
so to speak, and we too, can approach God in the same way as a child does a
loving parent. Children pick up from their parents how to love and care for
others.
In a
Christmas story called, “The True Gift,” we learn about a boy and his older
sister who spend every winter break from school with their grandparents on a
farm near a small town. Liam and Lily
are probably an updated version of what yours or my childhood was like, but I
think this story illustrates an important point about what constitutes servant
hood. When Liam returned to the farm this time, he noticed that there was just
one cow. The donkey that previously had
been there was gone. His grandfather
said that the donkey was there only on a temporary basis and went back home
with the return of its owner. Liam sensed that the cow was lonely, so he
enjoined his sister to spend time with the cow.
The cow’s name was simply White Cow.
Big sister Lily was not convinced, so Liam did some research in his
grandfather’s study. Sure enough, he
found evidence for his belief in a book: “Cows are social beings. Cows have feelings. They have been known to bear grudges. They live in families and are capable of
grief, loss, and loneliness.” From that
point, Liam was determined to do something to relieve the loneliness of White
Cow. He decided that they need another
cow for her. Older sister, still
claiming to know better, protested and said that he was dumb and they could not
possibly afford another cow. So Liam
proposed getting a calf instead. Liam sold
his books to the used bookstore in town and they pooled their Christmas gift
shopping money. Liam tacked and taped up
posters all over town saying such things as, “Once upon a time there was a
White Cow, all alone, at Christmas. She
was sad and lonely. She lives on South
Street. If you have a cow friend for
her, please call Liam.” He left his grandparent’s phone number at the bottom of
each poster. A boy named Thomas called after seeing one of the posters Liam put
up in town. Thomas was grieved because
his father was selling their calf. So
their next move was by the help of their grandmother. She drove them to Thomas’ house just in
time. The calf had been sold and was
being led onto a truck. Thomas’ father gave
the check back to the buyer, and took the money offered by Liam and Lily
without counting it. They asked Thomas
what the name of the cow was. He said it
didn’t really have a name. It was Brown
Cow. Thomas then had the opportunity to see the calf as much as he wanted. They walked the calf home and to their
delight, White Cow and Brown Cow enjoyed each other’s company.[1]
That kind of
deep love displayed by Liam for the welfare of a cow, in all its depth, concern
and compassion is far surpassed by our gracious God. The notion of a vengeful
God which is found sprinkled through the pages of the Old Testament is not what
Jesus reveals to us. God is not out to
get us, just as most parents seek to give their children the best that they are
able. God is not interested in
destroying us or even in ignoring us.
God sees us as we are and wants deeply that we somehow find connection
both with God and each other. God is
about building relationships and helping us to build relationships with the
world about us, with people, animals, and our environment.
The next
time you see someone who is lonely, think about the example that Jesus has
given us here, and give some time and attention to that person, forgetting
momentarily how that person may have offended you in the past. You might be surprised at the response. You have the potential to become a best
friend where there was no friend before.
Give that person what they need just as God has given to you. Amen.
[1]
MacLachlan, Patricia “The True Gift: A Christmas Story,” Atheneum Books for
Young Readers: New York, 2009.
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