Mrs. Suzette L. Cayless, AHC
BCP – Proper 12 C – Sunday, July 29, 2007
Genesis 18:20-33
Colossians 2:6-15
Luke 11:1-13
A verse from the first lesson today:
“... but Abraham still stood before the Lord.” Genesis 18:22b
Let us look at the context of that verse.
At the beginning of Genesis chapter 17, the Lord appears to Abram and calls him into a covenant relationship. The writer notes in verse 3 “Then Abram fell on his face;”. Was this because of Abram’s awareness of God and his holiness? Was it his realization of the importance of the call? In chapter 18 the Lord appears to Abraham “as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.” Was this appearance of the Lord to Abraham in the course of meditation? of reflection on his call? Abraham welcomes three strangers, offers hospitality, and hears the prediction of a child to be born to Sarah. Then follows the visit of the three men to Sodom and Gomorrah to carry out the destruction of the cities. And God shares with Abraham his intention as Abraham “still stood before the Lord.”
Abram “fell on his face;” “sat at the door of his tent;” “stood before the Lord.”
Movements in the life of prayer:
- fell on his face - a recognition of God, submission of the will to him.
- sat at the door of his tent - learning, sitting at God’s feet to reflect and grow in faith.
- stood before the Lord - interceding on behalf of others, standing and talking with God without fear and with perseverance.
When I was about nine or ten years old I learned to knit! An aunt, who was my godmother, taught me to do this. We did very simple things at first but went on to quite complicated items. I recall the day when I started to knit a pair of gloves. My father came home and I told him what I was doing. His comment was, “You are always starting something new but you never seem to finish anything.” That dampened my enthusiasm quite a bit! I don’t remember whether I ever finished that pair of gloves. Sir Francis Drake, the English sea captain who led the Armada in the defeat of Spain for Elizabeth I, is attributed with saying: “There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.”
Perseverance is a theme in today’s readings. Abraham stands before God and pleads for the righteous people who, he thinks, must be present amongst the wicked in those cities of the plains. “Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city ...” He argues his case and God agrees that if he finds fifty righteous in the city he will spare the whole place. Abraham does not give up. He continues pleading. “What if the number lacks five people?” And so it goes on ... suppose forty righteous are found? thirty? twenty? ten? At that point the Lord went his way and Abraham returned to his place. The perseverance of Abraham is the important thing here. He does not give up. His awareness of God, of the holiness, justice of God, his own trust in God, compel him to intercede for others.
In the Colossians reading, Paul urges his readers to live in Christ, reminding them that the old covenant has been superceded; that the legal demands of the law have been nailed to the cross. Through baptism they, and we, have been raised to new life and we are expected to live out all that this implies. Part of this new life is faithfulness in prayer and it is spelled out in the Gospel reading. Ask, seek, knock - never give up; always persist knowing that God is faithful and loves us.
Sometimes even righteous people can be mistaken where perseverance is concerned as we see in this story found in “Leaving Home” by Garrison Keillor:
‘In the Sanctified Brethren church, a tiny fundamentalist bunch who we were in, ... they were given to disputing small points of doctrine that to them seemed the very fulcrum of the faith. We were cursed with a surplus of scholars and a deficit of peacemakers, and so we tended to be divisive and split into factions. One dispute when I was a boy had to do with the question of hospitality toward those in error, whether kindness shown to one who holds false doctrine implicates you in his wrongdoing.Our intention in praying is as important as perseverance. We do not pray to demonstrate our own holiness or piety or endurance. Those three movements in prayer illustrated in the Abraham story are worth pondering. He “fell on his face,” - growing in awareness of God never ends, as long as we retain an attitude of humility and the desire to worship. He “sat at the door of his tent,” - learning more of the nature of God is open to us as we reflect and ponder on what we know and have experienced and keep seeking further truth. He “stood before the Lord,” - entering more faithfully into the action of interceding for the world and the needs of others is a call to all of us, perseverance being the key to doing it. God is faithful, but often he waits for our cooperation and for our perceptions as to what is required even if these are mistaken. God wants our participation, even while we are sinful human beings. A little further on in Genesis we read of Abraham pretending that Sarah is his sister to avoid a problem in Gerar but he continued to persevere on the journey to which he had been called. God desires our transformation so that we may live in Christ and ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK for ourselves, for others, and for the world.
Uncle Al had family and friends on both sides of the so-called Cup of Cold Water debate, and it broke his heart. The dispute was really between two men, Brother Wm. Miller and Brother Jas. Johnson, who had dragged others into it, and so, one fine August day, Uncle Al tried to make peace between those two marbleheads and prevent a great deal of unhappiness for the rest of us. He arranged for them to meet at his and Aunt Flo’s one Sunday, a few Millerites and a few Johnsonians, not to discuss the hospitality-to-error doctrine but simply to enjoy a dinner of Aunt Flo’s famous fried chicken.
It took weeks to arrange. Uncle Al worked through an intermediary, Brother Fields, who had never shown hospitality to anyone, whether in error or not, and who therefore was neutral on the question. Finally, one Sunday, they arrived, in two cars, both Fords, the Brethren being united on the General Motors question. Out climbed, slowly, some gaunt flinty-eyed thin-lipped men in dark floppy suits and their plump obedient wives, and they came in the house and sat in awesome silence in the living room until the call to dinner, and they trooped in around the long dining-room table, extended with two leaves so they wouldn’t have to sit close, and the Millerites and Johnsonians bowed their heads in prayer.
Prayer was a delicate matter. Brethren were known to use even prayer before a meal as a platform, and so Al the peacemaker, concerned lest one brother take prayer and beat the others over the head with it, said, “Let us bow our heads in silent prayer, giving thanks for the meal,” and they bowed their heads and closed their eyes and - a long time passed; the old clock ticked on the bureau; a cat walked in and meowed and left; a child snickered and was stifled; cars went by; there were dry sniffs and throat-clearings; and soon it was clear that neither side wanted to stop before the other; they were seeing who could pray the longest.
Brother Miller peeked through his fingers at Brother Johnson, who was earnestly engaged in silent communion with the Lord, who agreed with him on so many things. His forehead almost touched the plate. So Brother Miller dove back into prayer and the other Brethren stayed under too, sneaking glances around the table to see if anyone else noticed how long it was. Minutes drifted by. Heads stayed bowed, nobody would come up. To stop praying might imply a weakness of faith.
Al said “Amen,” to offer them a way out of the deadlock, and said it again: “Amen.” Brother Miller looked up and saw Johnson still bowed, so he went back down just as Johnson put his periscope up and saw Brother Miller submerged, so down he went. It was becoming the longest table grace in history, it ground on and on and on, and then Aunt Flo slid her chair back, rose, went to the kitchen, and brought out the food that they were competing to see who could be more thankful for. She set the hay down where the goats could get it. Tears ran down Brother Johnson’s face. His eyes were clamped shut, and tears streamed down, and so was Brother Miller weeping.
It’s true what they say, that smell is the key that unlocks our deepest memories, and with their eyes closed, the smell of fried chicken and gravy made those men into boys again. It was years ago, they were fighting, and a mother’s voice from on high said, “You two stop it and get in here and have your dinners. Now. I mean it.” The blessed cornmeal crust and rapturous gravy brought the memory to mind, and the stony hearts of the two giants slowly melted; they raised their heads and filled their plates and slowly peace was made over that glorious chicken.’
Amen.
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