Prayer as opening

November 20, 2022 • Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Reading: Mark 1:29-38 (NRSV)
Hal Taussig, Prayer Is an Outpouring of Primal Emotion, Not a Loyalty Oath
(June 27, 2013, The New York Times) (excerpt)
Katie Reimer, guest preacher

[You can view the full worship video recording at:
https://www.facebook.com/ChurchOfTheVillage/videos/785093735921680

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26sdgKEJ46E

Comedy at its best helps us to see and accept difficult truths. I love this clip because it helps us see that prayer so often evokes anxiety, shame, and arrogance in us.

It’s not just first time church goers who feel anxiety when asked to pray. Many of us feel intimidated to pray out loud, even after spending years in the church.

It’s not just new Christians who feel shame for lacking an impressive spiritual vocabulary. Many of us feel shame for not being more eloquent when we pray.

And it’s not just new Christians who feel they need to compete with others in prayer. Many of us mistakenly see prayer as an opportunity to show off.

Yes, prayer does too often evoke anxiety, shame, or arrogance among us.

But prayer’s real purpose is to open us to God, to ourselves, and to each other.

Honesty and authenticity in speaking to God are far more important than eloquent speech. Of course, it’s not easy to be honest and authentic in prayer, because that involves a lot of vulnerability.

I love the New York Times article that Dwight just read, by Hal Taussig. It’s an article that I have returned to for many years, and it is one that has deeply shaped my understanding of prayer. Hal helps us to recognize that

“...[prayer] contributes to people shining, growing, reflecting, seizing the moment, resisting numbness, opening themselves, facing pain and problems, and coming closer to one another.”

If our prayers are not having this effect, then I think we need to pray differently.

For some of us, praying through words does has this effect. But prayer can be many other things than just giving a speech to God.

There are countless prayer traditions among us. Some people pray the rosary. Other people pray by playing the cello. Some people pray through meditation. Other people take prayer walks.

Some prayers consist of words. But many prayers are expressed through the arts, through our bodies, or in silence.

Prayer is an inexact set of practices that allow us to open ourselves to God, to ourselves, and to each other. Prayer should make us feel more vibrant and alive. And prayer should make us more conscious and compassionate of the world around us.

We spend a lot of time in the Christian tradition talking about the prayer that Jesus taught us...I think you know that, right? Creator, who is in heaven, holy is your name, thy kin-dom come...

But I often wonder how Jesus himself prayed. The first time we are told that Jesus prayed occurs in the gospel of Mark, Chapter 1, verse 35. And now as I’m saying that, I feel like the woman in the comedy clip - citing the verses. Ignore that!

Jesus had just started his public ministry. He called a group of followers. And then he started teaching and healing.

One day, Jesus entered the synagogue to teach, and those listening were astonished by his wisdom. A man yelled out while they were in the synagogue together, and we are told that Jesus cast out the unclean spirit from this man. Dramatic, right?

Immediately after that, Jesus’ fame started to spread. And then we learn that Jesus went into a house, and cured a woman who had a fever. And after being made well, this woman joined those following the way of Jesus.

And then, it was on that very same day that many people struggling with various illnesses were brought to Jesus. This happened in the evening, and the entire city gathered around the door as Jesus healed many.

And then, it is at this moment that we have the first record of Jesus going off to pray. It’s a little verse. It can get lost in the details.

The gospel says that Jesus woke up early in the morning, when it was still dark. He went out to a deserted place. And there he prayed.

It took awhile for Jesus’ followers to find him, and when they did, they exclaimed “Jesus! Everyone is looking for you! Where have you been?!”

But let’s back up a second. It was after a very rigorous day of healing many people that Jesus chose to get up early and pray. And as I note, chose not to sleep in.

Now, this is not a sermon that is advocating overworking and underresting, so please do not hear it that way!

The point is that Jesus must have known at the end of that long and intense day that he was depleted, emotionally depleted and spiritually depleted. I imagine that Jesus knew that sleep alone would not help him to recalibrate. And I suspect that Jesus had a gut feeling that he must guard his own heart and spirit if he wanted to help anyone else in days to come.

I’ve had days like the one described here. Days when I was able to help people in significant ways. Days when people were grateful to me, and amazed by my gifts. Those are certainly wonderful and exhilarating days.

But I usually hit a wall at some point. I start to feel overexposed. And when I feel overexposed, I know that I am in danger of becoming numb or disconnected, arrogant or self righteous.

I don’t know if Jesus felt overexposed after that long day. But I do think he knew that taking the time to connect with God and to connect with himself was essential for him to connect with the people around him. Taking the time to pray was essential for Jesus to be conscious of the suffering of those around him, and to be moved enough to be able to help.

We don’t know how Jesus prayed that morning. Maybe he prayed through the Psalms. Maybe he did breathing exercises. Maybe he just walked up the hill to watch the sunrise.

But however Jesus prayed that morning, we learn a lot about the effect of his praying by his response to those words: “Jesus! Everyone is looking for you! Where have you been?!”

I’m likely to have gotten defensive at that moment because it’s like...I just did ALL of these healings the day before. I healed ALL of these people. And I took a minute to go and watch the sun rise. Why are you giving me a hard time?

But Jesus did not get defensive or frustrated. He simply said: “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also, for THAT is what I came out to do.”

This response revealed everything. This kind of a response reveals that Jesus was grounded and centered in God’s love at that moment.

The time that Jesus took to pray had given him space away from the crowds, away from the demands.

The time that Jesus took to pray had reconnected him to the Divine - the Divine within himself and the Divine beyond himself.

The time that Jesus took to pray allowed him to stay focused on what was really important. On what he was there to do - to proclaim the good news. To heal. To teach.

I think that when we open ourselves in prayer, we find the love of God that is always surrounding and seeking us. We find the God who has been searching everywhere for us, like the woman who searched for the lost coin. When we open ourselves in prayer, we find the God who is fiercely and madly in love with us.

After praying, after finding that Love, Jesus had the capacity to embrace a new day with an open heart and a focused mind. When we pray, we develop our capacity to embrace the fullness of our lives.

When I was in seminary, I did my field site placement at the Church Center at the United Nations. I remember hearing a comment that someone made during a panel discussion on Christian advocacy at the United Nations.

This person said: “Activists tend to resist taking the time for spiritual practices. And people who love spiritual practices often resist activism.”

That observation impacted me a lot.

When I think about that observation in light of today’s story about Jesus praying, I can see that Jesus’ spiritual practices were seamlessly integrated with his ministry of teaching and healing.

I think that Jesus was such a powerful presence because he prayed AND he acted. He prayed, he taught. He prayed, he healed. He prayed.

He turned to God, and he also turned to the world.

Jesus took time to connect with the Divine - to connect with himself. And he also pushed for a more just world.

If you are a person who loves activism - who never misses the opportunity to sign a petition or to join a march, consider how to ground your activism in the love of God through a prayer practice.

And if you are a person who loves spiritual practices - who loves to pray and worship and meditate - consider how those practices are calling you to contribute to the healing of the suffering in the world around you.

In just a moment, you will be invited to share in small groups about your experience with prayer. How have you prayed? What experiences of non-verbal prayer have you had? How has prayer impacted you?

Friends, prayer has the capacity to connect us to God, to connect us to ourselves, and to connect us to the world around us. Prayer helps us to shine, to grow, to seize the moment, to resist numbness, to face problems and pain, and prayer has the capacity to help us draw closer to others.

This is good news. Amen.

The poet Joy Harjo said

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you
And know there is more.

Go from this place, and open your whole self, to sky, to earth, to sun, to moon...to rain and wind and birdsong...

Go from this place and open your whole self, to feelings and thoughts and dreams and hopes and fears...

Go from this place and seek the God who is longing to be connected with you.

Amen.

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