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How many of you have children who are learning to tie their own shoes? One of the great moments in any parent's life is the day their child ties their own shoes without help. For what is an automatic task for us each day is for them a whole new experience. Tying our shoelaces has become for most of us something we do automatically, without thinking. Some things -- like tying our shoelaces or riding a bike -- are the result of skills we have learned so well that our bodies perform them without fail. Other things -- like brushing our teeth or putting on the seat belt -- are habits we have developed so fully that we no longer realize we are doing them. But in other parts of our lives, we don't want to be on automatic pilot or to rely on programmed skills or habits to get us through. In some situations, we need to give our full attention and demand that same degree of attention from others. Spouses can quickly tell the difference between an automatic, "I love you," and a heartfelt expression of genuine love. Our kids can tell the difference between an automatic, "What did you do at school today?" and a parent's honest, authentic interest in the events in their lives. Friends can tell the difference between an automatic, "How are you?" and the compassionate reaching out of one soul to another. It is amazing and amusing how we have convinced ourselves that God hasn't yet caught on to the difference between our expressions of genuine spirituality and our automatic, rote readings of the "Lord's Prayer." How many times have you recited the "Lord's Prayer" in worship, at weddings, at funerals, with your mind and your spirit on full automatic? The words are so familiar that we can be on "cruise control" for the entire prayer. For too many people, in too many situations, the "Lord's Prayer" has become little more than a meaningless mantra, or even worse, a kind of "good luck" saying. One Christian recalls this tendency in an amusing story: He remembered reciting the Lord's Prayer with the Neosho High School football team. Every Friday night, right before they would go out to play, the whole team gathered around in one moment of sanity, as together they said "The Lord's Prayer." It would end with "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." Then two or three seconds later, the entire team would scream, "Let's kill 'em!" The tragedy of that story is that it demonstrates how the very prayer Jesus gave us to keep us spiritually alive and alert, and not tied to praying simply "vain repetitions," we have managed to turn into the biggest vain repetition of all. Today's text from Luke talks about staying in the fullness and freshness of the Spirit. Jesus promised us that we could stay fresh and alive and plugged into the power of the Spirit. "Ask," he insisted, "and you will receive" -- not just some of us, not just those with special gifts, but "everyone." In fact, Jesus gave his disciples their own prayer so that they might live a "wired" life -- being "wired in" to the Spirit. The "Lord's Prayer" was never intended to be a creed or a catechism, repeated exactly the same by all Christians at every stage of their lives. The "Lord's Prayer" is only a template, a blueprint, showing us how we can gain access to the power and love and grace God offers to us daily. Essentially, Jesus says, all we have to do is ask. Admittedly, there is something compelling and comforting about a mantra. There are, and need to be, mantra prayers, prayers we repeat over and over again. Every Sunday morning we pray a mantra during joys and concerns. Historically, Christians have prayed the "Kyrie" -- "Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy." To stay vitally connected to the Spirit, however, we must expand our understanding of a "mantra" and view it as the repetition of certain practices, attitudes and relationships, instead of just the recitation of words alone. A Christian mantra, empowered by the spirit of the "Lord's Prayer," has at least three components: 1. Regular Scripture Reading. This does not mean books of scholarship about Scripture, or study guides and manuals for investigating Scripture, though these are key growth-agents in the life of faith. But prior to that is the ability simply to steep yourself in the Word through repeated readings of the Bible. The men and women of the Old and New Testaments should not be strangers to us. They are our family. We are related to them in the faith. Daily readings soaked in the stories of our tradition will make for a stronger, fuller, richer faith. We can only remain spiritually "fresh" by conscientiously feeding and watering the roots of our faith. Scripture remains a miraculous gift of God because despite its antiquity, its misuse by the church, its abuse by its doubters and its overuse by literalists, it still speaks a fresh word from God to us every day. 2. Daily Prayer. The "Lord's Prayer" was not intended as a "daily prayer." It only points to the fact that "our Father" wants to hear from us every day. Jesus counseled his disciples to be persistent in prayer – even to the point of peskiness. A story is told of four-year-old Jason who likes to get up at 5 a.m. every day -- weekends, holidays, winter, summer. He immediately climbs into bed with his parents to make some specific requests: a pop tart, orange juice and a video. Every morning, his parents groan and tell him to go back to bed because it is just too early. Every morning, he prevails -- not because they love him, not because he is a joyful child, not because they want him to be happy. They give in because they want him to go away! His persistence pays off. Likewise, Jesus encourages his disciples to go continually into God's presence in prayer. But God, unlike human parents, delights in our clamorings in prayer all hours of the day and night. In Africa the earliest converts to Christianity were earnest and regular in their private prayer. Each one reportedly had separate spots in the jungle where they would pour out their hearts to God. The several paths to these little sanctuaries became distinctly marked. And when any individual began to decline in devotions it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind him saying, "Brother, the grass grows on your path over there." Sure we can pray in the spontaneous moments during our days. I love this kind of prayer. But we also need more disciplined times of intentional presence and openness before God. And so we ask, "How high has the grass grown on your path to prayer?" 3. A Daily Relationship With Others. Reading the Word and praying to God are faith mantras we must exercise on our own, but we must also read and pray, praise and question, in small groups. We need that communal contact with faith every day of our lives. Part of our spiritual freshness depends on opening up our hearts and spirits to the sounds and sights of other Christians. We need to be involved in small groups, where the members are spiritually connected to one another. Spiritual vitality. Sometimes we are tempted to think it can be found in a new experience, or a new teaching, or a new church. In reality it is linked to spending time in God's Word, time in prayer, and time with other seekers. Spiritual vitality is about a life of simple joy. Tim Hansel, a gifted Christian writer, goes to the heart of the matter this way: "Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional. We cannot avoid pain, but we can avoid joy. God has given us such immense freedom that God will allow us to be as miserable as we want to be. I know some people who spend their entire lives practicing being unhappy, diligently pursuing joylessness. They get more mileage from having people feel sorry for them than from choosing to live out their lives in the context of joy. Joy is simple (not to be confused with easy). At any moment in life, we have at least two options, and one of them is to choose an attitude of gratitude, a posture of grace, a commitment to joy." Spiritual vitality. It takes time. Time in the Word, time in prayer, and time with others. As we pencil our many activities onto our calendars during these final days of summer, may we all remember to reserve some time with God. |
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08/05/01 - Spiritual Vitality (Luke 11:1-13)
