{"id":5221,"date":"2020-02-10T09:52:45","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T16:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=5221"},"modified":"2020-05-31T13:40:14","modified_gmt":"2020-05-31T20:40:14","slug":"epiphany-7-the-light-shines-in-the-darkness-how-much-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=5221","title":{"rendered":"Epiphany 7: \u201cThe light shines in the darkness.\u201d How much more!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Please click here for a pdf version of this document<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(A basic line for an Epiphany sermon on prayer.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this season of Epiphany we celebrate the coming of the\nlight, as the Gospel of John begins: \u201cIn him was life and the life was the\nlight of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not\novercome it\u201d (John 1:4-5). We know \u201cThe Lord works in mysterious ways his\nwonders to perform.\u201d One of the great mysteries of life is prayer. Is it a way\nto tip the scales of the universe in our favor? That seems wrong, but what do\nwe say? Are there dos and don\u2019ts we should know about?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer is everywhere.<\/strong> First, as you know: \u201cThere\nare no atheists in foxholes.\u201d It\u2019s what we do when we\u2019re desperate. In war, sickness,\ntrouble, and loss, when we\u2019re in need, when we\u2019re desperate we pray. And even\nin crises that are not life and death, like before final exams or a big game,\nmany pray who otherwise never darken a church door. We know that many more\npeople pray than go to church. Prayer in times of crisis is a reflex, a plea\nfor help from a higher power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, almost all religions include prayer, according to\ntheir own understanding of God and the universe. Buddhists pray. Muslims pray. Hindus\npray. Although religions differ dramatically, most include prayer and\nunderstand it in similar ways. Prayer means an invoking of higher power and\nasking for things and whatever else might be thought to go into a prayer.\nGenerally speaking, prayer includes general petitions and intercessory\npetitions for individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What then is different about Christian prayer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is commanded. <\/strong>Martin Luther writes in his Large\nCatechism, in the Introduction to the Lord\u2019s Prayer: \u201cIt is our duty to pray\nbecause God commanded it.\u201d That\u2019s blunt: We should do it because we\u2019re\ncommanded to. Luther even calls prayer the Eleventh Commandment. And he links\nprayer to the Second Commandment: \u201cDo not take the Lord\u2019s name in vain.\u201d\nRather, he says, \u201cWe are to praise God and call upon him in every need. For to\ncall upon God is nothing other than to pray\u201d (Large Catechism III\/4-6; Tappert\n420).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The command to pray is not like a command to walk on hot\ncoals or put a hair-shirt, but it is this directive, as Luther says: \u201cCall on\nGod in every need for to call upon God is nothing other than to pray.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t know how to do it. <\/strong>What then do we do?\nHow do we do it? Our situation before God is like that of being parents with a toddler\nwho wants something. The child is talking, trying to tell you something, but\nyou can\u2019t make out the words, and then maybe he starts to cry, too, and you\u2019re\nworking as hard as you can to figure out what he is saying. What does he want? What\u2019s\nwrong? And the child, through tears, is blurting out what he wants, but between\nthe tears and the words it is hard to understand what he\u2019s saying. The parents\ndo figure it out and are so happy to meet the child\u2019s needs. The parents\nrejoice! Their child is learning to communicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we pray, we are like toddlers crying for what we\nwant but can\u2019t articulate properly or are even confused ourselves, stumbling in\nthe darkness. We don\u2019t know how to pray as we ought. And truth be told, there\nis no right way, are no right words; we don\u2019t have to worry about our words. Whatever\nwords we use will do. We don\u2019t have to have hands folded or in any particular\nposition. We do not have to be kneeling or sitting. One can be lying down,\nstanding, walking, or running. There are no set rules one ought to follow. Prayer\nis, as I Peter 5:7 states: \u201cCasting all your cares on him for he cares for\nyou.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent obituary in the Wall Street Journal <\/em>for\nan elderly banker concludes as follows: \u201cIn his later years, he did a three-minute\nplank exercise each morning, propping himself up on his elbows and toes while\nsinging \u2018Abide With Me,\u2019 reciting the Lord\u2019s Prayer, and praying for loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unconventional, to be sure. But he did what mattered:\nCasting all his cares on the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mother, heartbroken over her daughter\u2019s brain tumor, was\ntold to pray for strength and wisdom. \u201cAll well and good,\u201d she said, but added,\nshe also wanted \u201cto pray for a miracle.\u201d Is that O.K to do, she asked? Yes, prayer\nis about \u201ccasting all our cares on him for he cares for you\u201d (I Peter 5:7). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pray for others and then wonder: If more people (prayer\nchain) pray or, more time (pray vigil) is given for prayer, can we intensify\nthe power of prayer? If that were so, then prayer would be a kind of\nworks-righteousness. A means by which we achieve goodness. A way of making\nourselves little gods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the contrary, the Lord runs the universe, he knows our\nneeds before we ask. And he works in mysterious ways, also through prayer, his\nwonders to perform.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effectiveness of prayer is not measured by visible\nresults or success. Luther spoke of the Christian life as a joyful exchange:\nChrist takes our sin and gives us his righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). This joyful\nexchange does not mean we should expect success, miracles, and visible\ntransformation. As Luther said, in the life-long battle with the Devil there is\nno rest, no peace, and no visible success. The Christian life is hidden to the\nhuman eye, just as the church is hidden, and the Lord himself is hidden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holy Spirit intercedes. <\/strong>The key to prayer is\nfound in Romans 8:26-27 where Paul writes: \u201cWe do not know how to pray as we\nought, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us<\/strong> with sighs too deep for\nwords.\u201d Sometimes words escape us. Or we don\u2019t even know where to begin. Or in\ntimes of trouble we may be so distraught we can\u2019t find the right words at all. We\nbabble. We sigh. We utter syllables like \u201cwow,\u201d in lieu of the right words. Are\nwe failures at prayer? No, because the Lord helps us in our weakness. The Holy\nSpirit takes our babbling and interprets it. The Holy Spirit knows the mind of\nGod and how the Lord is able to work in our lives in ways we cannot see. As we\nknow, the Lord works in mysterious ways, even in our prayers, his wonders to\nperform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel of John begins with the coming of the light in\nthe darkness. In the Apostles\u2019 Creed we confess that Jesus \u201cwas crucified, died,\nand was buried. He descended into hell.\u201d He descended into the darkness and defeated\nsin, and death, and the devil. But the Lord raised him from the dead, raised\nhim to be the light in our darkness and to save us to live forever in his\nkingdom where evil, sin, and death are no more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christian prayer is different because the Father to whom\nwe pray \u2013 with the Son, through the Holy Spirit \u2013 has conquered the darkness. We\nare his. Therefore who is to condemn us? Paul writes in Romans 8:34: \u201cIs it Christ\nJesus<\/strong>, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right\nhand of God<\/strong>, who indeed intercedes for us<\/strong>?\u201d At the right hand of God\nis our advocate, Christ Jesus himself, who is continuously interceding for us\nwith the Father, and that makes all the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not up to us to do it right; we have an advocate;\nthe Holy Spirit is interceding on our behalf. The Holy Spirit takes our\nbabbling, our broken words and thoughts and translates them to the Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much more will your heavenly Father give to those\nwho ask him? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big problem is little faith. Our god is too small. \u201cHave\nyou not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God<\/strong>, the\nCreator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow faint or weary; his\nunderstanding is unsearchable\u201d (Isa 40:28; Rom 11:33). The promises of God are\nguaranteed by what he has done in the cross and resurrection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord works in mysterious ways, his wonders to\nperform. In the Bible a question that is asked repeatedly of weak sinners like\nyou and me is: \u201cHow much more?!\u201d For example: <\/p>\n\n\n\n