Lenten Vespers 2007 Prayer is prioritization Phil 4:8-11

Spirituality is a good thing. And I am happy that, here at Saint Stephen’s, we can define spirituality. Say it with me, folks- Spirituality is your relationship with God in Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Great. Learn it, love it, live it. The problem we have in the world today is with people’s misappropriation of the term spirituality. I am sure that nobody means any harm by this. But the problem is, as Daffy Duck so clearly saw, is pronoun trouble. Look at our definition. One can very easily, and correctly, change the definition to say Spirituality is my relationship with God in Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. Notice the first person singular possessive- my. But if you look at the entirety of the thought, who is doing the action? It is God.

But when you hear some folks describe spirituality, it sounds suspiciously like the start of the old Frito Bandito jingle- “I, I, I, I” True spirituality is NOT about the person who faces you in the mirror as you sing “How Great Thou Art.”

Spirituality is about our relationship with God (perhaps better phrased as God’s relationship with us) and therefore our relationship with one another through God.

And the way in which our spirituality is expressed, sisters and brothers, is through our prayer life. This is what makes the Lord’s Prayer so vitally important to us. Here we have Jesus himself, the Word made flesh, teaching us how to pray.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,

now and forever. Amen

The action is God’s. The priority in this prayer is God’s. Prayer as prioritization is about aligning our will with the will of Our Father in Heaven. And that is so very difficult for us, isn’t it? Because, after all, we are the ones here. We are the boots on the ground and we are more intimately aware of the needs of the moment. Isn’t prayer about bringing to God’s attention that which has slipped his observation?

But nothing ever does. That is what it means when we say that God is omniscient. His eye is on the sparrow. We are called to align with God, to make His priorities ours. The Anglican priest and physicist, John Polkinghorne talks of prayer and our aligning with God’s will with the metaphor of light. It is light cast in all different directions that allows us to sit here this evening and worship. But what happens when we get all the photons streaming together? Certainly we know how a spot light works. But beyond that- what if they are all moving together coherently? What do we have? [A laser]. And think of what lasers can accomplish.

And some of the best examples we have of prayer in the Scriptures is all about aligning our will to God’s will.

We have the words of Jesus in Mark, words we will hear in a few weeks- “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” Christ himself prayed for this alignment, this prioritization.

And in his letter to the Christians of Philippi, Saint Paul writes the words we heard earlier this evening-

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Do we see all that we have as God’s gracious gift to us? The food that we eat? The house to which we shall return this evening? Our families? our jobs? Our life? Our health? Do we see these as God’s gifts? And seeing them as such, do we then act accordingly? Again, as Saint Paul writes,

“whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Sisters and brothers in Christ, as you exercise your spirituality, as you enter into that intimate dialogue with God that is prayer, take time to listen to what he is saying.

For God is speaking to you. For God speaks to each and every one of his beloved children. And he is asking you to listen and to and to make his priorities yours. For what our Father wants is ultimately to enfold us all in his never-failing embrace, to have us be one with him in the power of his love. Can you honestly say that there is anything in all creation that is more important than that?

Amen

SDG