Vision of Hope Weblog

MORE THAN A FEELING
I Corinthians 13
February 14, 2010
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INTRODUCTION
We all have certain Valentine’s Days we remember, and probably some we wish we could forget.
My most memorable Valentine’s Day did not occur in the company of my wife. It happened in the 3rd grade. I had this unrequited crush on cute little Tammy. And there was a loud-mouthed, scrawny girl with blaze orange hair named Anita who had a crush on me. We’re talking about serious love triangle here…
Well, near the end of the school day, right when I was getting ready to make my move on Tammy, giving her a box of those sugary conversation hearts, our teacher, Mrs. Whitten, announced to the class that she wanted to read the sweetest Valentine she had ever seen. It was a Valentine she had intercepted from Anita to me.
And so, with the entire class listening in wide-eyed captivation, she proceeded with the poem Anita had composed:
My dearest David, my sweetheart, when we get married and live in a truck, we’ll order our baby from Sears and Roebuck. All my love, Anita
Now can you imagine having to live that down in front of all your buddies, not to mention Tammy?!
Ah, Valentine’s Day–that day of wallowing in the syrupy, sanguine emotion of love!
Yet, with all due respect to the band Boston, I would submit to you that love is more than a feeling….much, much more. On this Valentine’s Day of 2010, with the help of the Apostle Paul, you are going to learn everything you ever wanted to know about love, and then some….

I. LOVE IS THE ULTIMATE VIRTUE vss. 1-3
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
The occasion for Paul’s letter to the Corinthians involves a huge schism in the church over spiritual gifts. Judgmentalism is rampant, with members treating each other with contempt over who has the most ecstatic and sensational of gifts. Kinda like the Pentecostal preacher I once knew who bragged over drinking poison and living to tell about it. Big whoop…
Well, Paul is never one to mince words. He looks upon all this childish silliness and tells the Corinthians that love is the greatest of all spiritual gifts…yes, love…and it is a gift made available to everyone by God. There’s no pecking order. All Christians are endowed with the capacity to love.
Now, the Greek language from which our New Testament is translated contains four words for love:
• There is eros - a shallow love based on sensuality, from which we derive the word erotic.
• There is philia - which is kin to bonds of friendship.
• There is storge - the strong caring that exists between a parent and child.
• Then, there is agape - love that selflessly sacrifices on behalf of another…that seeks not to be a sensation but a servant. It is love not based on hormones of the heart but rather on sacrifice of the will.
Such love asks not What’s in it for me but rather What’s best for you?
It is the deepest form of love we can have for others in relationships–be it marriage, family, church, work, school or community.
Agape love–there’s nothing touchy-feely, warm and fuzzy about it. It’s tough love. I witnessed it the other day in my rounds as a volunteer chaplain at Rockingham Memorial Hospital…
I walked into the room of an elderly patient. She was throwing up violently from the anesthesia she had received earlier for her surgery. She had no family. But she did have a neighbor who was standing at her bedside, holding the pan for her to puke in. The odor was horrendous. The front of the neighbor’s sweater was soiled. But this neighbor did not turn away. She remained at her elderly friend’s side, holding the pan, and gently wiping the lady’s forehead with a cool washcloth.
Love. Agape love. Love of the will. Love that is more than a feeling. Love that is the ultimate virtue.
Let’s talk about it more….
II. LOVE IS THE ULTIMATE VERB vss. 4-8a
It is not a passive noun; it’s a very, very active verb. It is always in motion, always doing, always reaching, always lifting, always serving others.
“I before e except after c.”
Remember chanting that little ditty back in elementary school? It was one of those odd rules of English grammar we were taught. It worked to help us spell ie words such as friend, thief and yield and ei words such as ceiling, receive and deceit.
But you may also remember that you soon had to learn several exceptions to that rule- for example, neither and weird. And there were lots of exceptions.
Thankfully we have spellcheck on our computers today to correct us.
In spelling love, Paul gives us a clear, hard and fast rule with no exceptions: U always comes before I. Plain and simple.
But just in case we are dense, Paul breaks it down into 16 easy-to-grasp illustrations that help us in our daily actions and attitudes:
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
Love does not insist on its own way.
Love is not irritable or resentful.
Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.
Now, accepting Christ brings instant forgiveness of sin and immediate righteousness before God. But it also signs us up for a lifelong course in character-formation. We must learn to love others as Christ has loved us, and the rule for spelling this sacrificial love is simply U before I. If I put you and your needs before mine in all situations, I will never go wrong. I will live as a true Christian. (I told you love is hard–it’s definitely more than a feeling!)
And there’s one more point to make….

III. LOVE IS THE ULTIMATE VANTAGE POINT vss. 8b-13
But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Bill and Hilda’s kitchen window looked out upon their neighbor’s back yard. Their neighbors were a young couple, Mark and Maggie, with three small kids. The young couple was very environmentally-conscious. One day they put up a clothesline in their back yard, and began hanging their wash out instead of using the energy-consuming electric dryer.
Well, this amused and perturbed Hilda to no end. The first day she saw the clothes of her young neighbors hanging on the line, she smugly told Bill, “Look at those shirts–they’re dingier than dirt!”
The next day Maggie hung out some sheets. “Will you look at that!” Hilda told Bill, “I’ve never seen shirts as grimy as that– I need to go over and teach that poor girl how to use bleach!”
A couple of days later, Maggie hung out some more linens on the line. As Hilda peered out busy-bodily out her kitchen window, she was quite surprised. “Bill, I wonder what happened? Maggie’s wash is clean and bright as snow!”
“I’ll tell you what happened, dear,” Bill replied, “I went outside before you got up this morning and took the Windex to our kitchen window!”
Are you the type of person who is always noticing the dirty clothes on someone else’s clothesline? Do you always make it a point to see the worst, the negative, the bad in everyone and everything?
Perhaps your window on life needs cleaning. Perhaps you need to pray with the psalmist David, “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Perhaps you need to ask Christ to enable you to see the world around you from the vantage point of love.

The late renowned pastor of Riverside Church in New York, the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, once stated, “There are people and things in this world, and people are to be loved and things are to be used. And it is increasingly important that we love people and use things, for there is so much in our gadget-minded, consumer-oriented society that is encouraging us to love things and use people.” —William Sloane Coffin, Credo (Westminster, 2005), 35.
These words were spoken over a decade ago, yet they are even more contemporary today. Our “things”, our gadgets, our devices, have served to make us oblivious to one another. How can we love people when we do not even notice their presence around us?
We’ve got our earbuds in and cranked, our Blackberries texting and we just don’t relate to folks face-to-face anymore except to complain when they’ve failed to pour enough steamed milk in our latte.
Perhaps we need to reboot ourselves and begin looking at the world through the vantage point of love–love that perceives and gets to know and gets involved in the lives of others.
Do you take the Bible literally? Ray Waddle writes, “There are many folks who declare the entire Bible to be literally true, and they mean it. For others, literally is one of those litmus test words–a gotcha term in religious debate when one side tries to outdo the other for first place and top ranking in the Bible-believer playoffs.
“Usually literalism focuses on the 6-day creation story in Genesis or Jonah in the belly of the fish or on the miracles of Jesus. Such debates never get around to this famous passage in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. But what if everyone indeed took this passage literally; that is, took it to heart, as if the words had the unflinching, divine quality of authority, which they do?”
“What would the world look like then?”
The Upper Room Disciplines, 2010, p. 41.
Indeed, what would change in your life if you made it a point to put these words of Paul into practice this week? What would happen in your relationships with family members, friends, co-workers, fellow students, strangers if you began to engage them with sacrificial, selfless love? What would happen if you took this portion of the Bible literally and did your utmost to live it?
At the end of the day, such love is the true gauge of maturity. A person who is truly grown-up is one who has learned to quit navel-gazing and begin focusing upon others with compassion and caring. We truly are able to catch a glimpse of Jesus, however dimly, in the faces of persons we respond to out of love…and one day we will see Him face-to-face, and hear His words of affirmation, “Well done, my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master!”
There’s an old Quaker saying that summarizes it well:
What shall I do? I expect to pass through this world but once. Therefore any good work, kindness or service I can render to any person or animal, let me do it now. Let me not neglect or delay to do it, for I will not pass this way again.

CONCLUSION
Yes, on this Valentine’s Day of 2010, we proclaim that love is more than a feeling.
Virginia Monts was a dear saint of our church, a woman lifted by Christ’s love and always seeking to share that love with others. She passed away December 17, 2009 at the age of 88. Many of us, including myself, never got to know Virginia well–the twilight years of her life were eclipsed by the debilitating onslaught of Alzheimer’s.
During WWII, Virginia served in the Army Air Corps as a nurse. She spent those dangerous years in field hospitals, tending to wounded and dying soldiers with tender compassion. Following the war, she returned home, continuing her calling as a nurse for many years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.
Wherever she lived, she was involved in the lives others in her community. She received numerous awards for her efforts to better the lives of children from civic and government organizations. She was full of life, always on the go, noticing the least and lost among us, and giving of herself in ministry to them.
Virginia came very late in life to Mt. Sinai UMC, the forerunner congregation of VOH. It was here that she taught Sunday School to teens–sharing her life experiences and molding many of you as people of God.
As the Alzheimer’s took hold, Virginia’s world shrank to the confines of a nursing home. And yet, she still had a beautiful smile and glowing countenance about her.
Last November, Virginia fell and severely fractured her hip. She was taken to the ER at Rockingham Memorial Hospital.
Her daughter Mary shared with me that, as Virginia lay on that ER gurney, her mind completely confused and clouded over with Alzheimer’s, her body wracked in horrific pain, Virginia began singing these timeless words of this old gospel song with clarity, with conviction:
Love lifted me,
Love lifted me,
When nothing else could help,
Love lifted me…
A few short days later this dear woman, who had spent her life sacrificially lifting others in love, was herself lifted home to God by his enduring, eternal and healing love.
Yes, faith, hope, love abide–these three–and the greatest of these is love!

LET GO 2 LET GOD!
Mark 10:17-31
October 11, 2009…17th Sunday after Pentecost

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INTRODUCTION
There is a most memorable scene from that lighthearted movie City Slickers when the crusty, grizzled trail boss Curly (played by the late Jack Palance) is having a deep conversation with Billy Crystal. They are on a cattle drive. Billy Crystal is going through a mid-life crisis of sorts, and he has joined the cattle drive to “find himself.”
Curly holds up his index finger and tells Billy Crystal that the key to life is to find the “one thing.” And he leaves Billy Crystal to search himself to find what that “one thing” is.
Jesus puts a similar spin on things when he has a fascinating encounter one afternoon:

I. WHEN JESUS SEARCHES YOUR HEART
17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18″Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
20″Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Yes, this affluent young man is on a mission.
The disciples of Jesus are quite startled when he comes running up to Jesus on that hot, dusty road to Jerusalem.
He looks like he just stepped out of the pages of Palestinian Gentleman’s Quarterly. His sharply-tailored Armani robe is from the Jerusalem Saks Fifth Avenue. He’s wearing Gucci sandals of the finest Corinthian leather.
They say his home is lavishly appointed, his cellar filled with the finest of Mediterranean wines. He drives a luxurious 2-humped Bactrian Motor Works camel. His stock holdings in the new high-tech olive press industry have propelled him to #5 on the Money magazine’s top 5 up-and-coming tycoons in Israel, just below Dan Snyderstein.
Yes, this young man is on a quest to find the “one thing.” Yet, Jesus searches him, and sees quite readily that he has a gaping hole in his soul.
His bank account is overflowing but his heart is empty. He is looking for another investment to add to his portfolio. “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life,” he implores.
Jesus doesn’t immediately respond, but rather quizzes him on his faithfulness to the commandments. “I’ve kept them all, Teacher, since I was a kid.” Jesus sees such great potential in this young man, much leadership credentials, and he’s very fond of him.
And yet, Jesus also senses this young man has spent his entire life attempting to apply the principles of Wall Street to Faith Journey Road.
The young man is searching for one thing to make his life complete. Jesus sees the tremendous roadblock in his life and says to him, “You lack one thing.” “You are going to have to let go of one thing to let God give you eternity.”
This young man is living under the false illusion that everything can be bought for a price, including eternal life. Jesus gives him a basic lesson in economics. Price and cost are not the same. Price is written in dollars, but cost is spelled out in values.
No price tag can be put upon eternal life, but it does have what economists call opportunity cost. Every time we buy something, we are asking, “What opportunity am I willing to sacrifice in order to make this purchase?” For the poor man, a pair of shoes may be the opportunity cost for buying a loaf of bread. For the rich man, investment in a new enterprise may be the opportunity cost for the expansion of an old business.
When Jesus applies the principle of opportunity cost to the value of eternal life, he pierces the heart of the young man. Everything is to be sacrificed, every last penny of his portfolio. He learns that eternal life is a value that has no price tag–it costs us our all.

And that is more than he can bear. He looks like he’s been hit between the eyes with a 2′x4′. He is utterly shocked. He is utterly devastated, for he has earned and hoarded so very much in his short lifespan. Jesus has challenged him to let go of the roadblock in order to let God work in his life, but it is simply more than he is willing to do.
He stands there a while, staring at the ground, unwilling to even look Jesus in the eye. Then, finally, he turns, with head still hung low, and walks slowly away.
Consider the opportunities this young man could have had, the untapped potential he possessed. He could have impacted the world. With his boundless talent he could have inscribed his name beside St. Peter and St. Paul. Perhaps he would have been the Albert Schweitzer, the Billy Graham, of his day. He could have embarked upon life’s greatest adventure, spreading circles of influence that would still be rippling across history today.
That gaping hole in his soul would have been filled–filled with a vibrant, meaningful, eternal relationship with God. But all he can see is what he has to lose, not what he has to gain.
He refuses to seize the moment, and in great grief and sincere sorrow, he walks away, never to be heard from again.
“What one thing do I lack?” - that is the question Jesus confronts us with today. What must I let go of to let God have his way with my life that I might truly be complete?
And that’s a hard question. Because we don’t like to let go of anything. We’re basically a nation of hoarders. In fact, some of us may be afflicted with Compulsive Hoarding Syndrome. You want to hear something strange….
Gordon Stewart, 74, was a retired cabinetmaker and ponytailed loner who was often seen pedaling his bike around the streets of Broughton, in the U.K., picking up cardboard boxes and bags full of rubbish.
One day, when neighbors hadn’t seen Stewart emerge from his home for several days, they called police. Officers broke in, only to find a house so full of trash that the only way to get around was through an elaborate series of tunnels running through the filth.
The stench was so bad that a police dive team using breathing apparatus was called in to search for Stewart, who was found deep inside the unholy labyrinth. Police believe Stewart became disoriented in the mountains of collected stuff and died of dehydration. “Human mole dies of thirst … lost in his own tunnels of trash,” read the headline in The Sun.
Stewart suffered from Compulsive Hoarding Syndrome, a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder that causes people to acquire and hold on to stuff that’s useless or of limited value — stuff most of us would call “junk.”
Compulsive hoarders stubbornly hold on to old newspapers, magazines, old clothing, bags, books, mail, notes and lists, as well as other accumulated junk and even garbage, because they believe they might somehow need those items in the future.
The homes of compulsive hoarders thus become a dumping ground, where piles and piles of stuff choke out living space to a dangerous point. It doesn’t take long for the clutter to start spreading onto the floors, countertops, hallways, stairwells, garage and cars. Beds become so cluttered there’s no room to sleep. Chairs become so buried there’s nowhere to sit. Kitchen counters become so cluttered that food can’t be prepared.
Eventually, like Stewart’s home, the living space can be accessed only by a series of narrow pathways or tunnels through the clutter. According to a survey by the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation (OCF), hoarding constituted a physical health threat in 81 percent of identified cases, including threat of fire hazard, falling, unsanitary conditions and inability to prepare food. Stewart’s case shows what can happen when hoarding reaches a critical stage. Very bizarre, is it not?
As comedian Stephen Wright once quipped, “You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?” Eventually, we learn that having it all becomes more of a life-choking burden than a blessing. When we come to believe that our worth is bound up in all we achieve and accumulate, we become trapped in a maze of our own making.
Yes, so many of us are hoarders of stuff, of money, of whatever–that keep us from walking with Christ and from knowing the eternal life God has in store for us.

II. WHO, THEN, CAN BE SAVED?
23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24The disciples were amazed at his words.
But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
26The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”28Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29″I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Yes, you can see the disciples’ faces turn pale and their jaws drop in collective astonishment when Jesus challenges this young man and he turns away. In their minds and in the mind of the culture of their day, prosperity equals salvation.
They have been brought up to believe that the wealthy are favored above all people by God. And so this has become a quite shocking, highly teachable moment for them. “Can it truly be harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God?”
We, of course, love to see Jesus “stickin’ it to the Man!” Yeah, Jesus, give those rich folk their come-uppance! After all, it’s popular right now in our culture to demonize the wealthy–that is, until we realize the wealthy are us!
The truth of the matter is that if you live in the United States and have even a very modest home and income, you’re still wealthier than the 2.7 billion people in the world who make less than two dollars a day.
By that standard, almost all of us are rich and, very likely, want to get richer. And if that is our sole aim in life, then we’ve got a deep, spiritual problem, and a roadblock standing in our way to the Kingdom of God.
Jesus reveals the Great Reversal…that somewhere along the way many who have thought they are first will be last in God’s eyes.
And the disciples inquire along with us all, “Who then can be saved?” And Jesus replies, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Yes, we serve a God who makes possible impossibilities–a God who reaches down and helps us to make choices to rid ourselves of life-sucking greed and avarice–a God who gives us the opportunity to become involved in ministries greater than ourselves which bring hope to the world.
Yes, we can be transformed through his amazing grace. And God can pry our clenched fists into open hands that give and serve and reach out to others.
CONCLUSION
One of the most remarkable men I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet was Millard Fuller. You may be familiar with his life story:
Upon graduation from college and law school, Fuller became a very successful businessman and attorney in Birmingham, Alabama. He was a millionaire by the age of 29.
But Fuller’s life was a mess. He and his wife Linda were nearly in divorce. He felt completely empty and hopeless inside. He had it all, yet he had nothing.
After many months of struggle and prayer, he and Linda became convinced that God was calling them to give up completely their lavish lifestyle. They took Jesus’ message to divest themselves of their wealth to heart. They moved to Koinonia Farm, a Christian community in southwestern Georgia, and became missionaries to Zaire.
It was during this time that God gave Millard Fuller a unique revelation. Once back in the US, with God’s leading, Fuller developed a vision for a venture that would come to be called Habitat for Humanity.
The premise was that all God’s children deserve a decent place to live. And so, Fuller began organizing volunteer groups to build affordable homes in which the future occupants also contributed “sweat equity.” The mortgage would be at 0% interest, with the low monthly payments being plowed back into funds to build more houses. And the vision took off.
Beginning in San Antonio, Texas in 1976–continuing to this very day–thousands upon thousands of homes have been built by volunteers…homes that have made a profound and uplifting difference in the lives of so many marginal people.
Millard Fuller used to laugh as he would comment, “There’s not much we Christians can agree on–but thank God we can agree on a nail–we can all pick up a hammer and drive a nail!”
In September 1996, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, and said, “Millard Fuller has done as much to make the dream of homeownership a reality in our country and throughout the world as any living person.”Fuller died this past February at the age of 74, but his vision continues. It is truly amazing what God can do when we let go to let God have all of our heart. His amazing grace saves us and empowers us to accomplish some pretty remarkable things. What is the one thing holding you back this day?

KEEPING COMPANY WITH GOD
LESS A TASK/MORE A LIFESTYLE
I Thessalonians 5:16-18
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Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus!

INTRODUCTION
We have come to the final chapter of our four-week sermon series on prayer: Keeping Company with God. I’ve certainly welcomed the many questions and comments you have shared during this time…as well as bits of humor.
One of our seasoned saints sent me this the other day–it’s a take-off on the Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the Senility
to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do,
and the eyesight to tell the difference.
If prayer is simply keeping company with God, this morning we’re going to explore the best way of doing that. I hope you will find some helpful and practical insights in this message that will enhance your prayer life.

I. MAKE PRAYER A SCHEDULED TASK
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives this advice to his followers: “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.”
- Matthew 6:6
Now, when it comes to prayer, there is no set formula for “doing it right.” We don’t have to worry about using the right buzz words, the correct posture, etc.
Look at folk in the Bible: Peter knelt. Jeremiah stood. Abraham fell face-downward. Elijah put his face between his knees.
In Jesus’ day, most Jews stood, lifting their open eyes and open hands to heaven. Jesus’ mother, Mary, prayed in poetry. Paul occasionally prayed while singing.
Throughout the centuries, some have shouted to God, others have maintained absolute silence.
The style does not matter. As Psalm 139 reminds us: O Lord, you have searched us and know us…You perceive our thoughts from afar…You’re familiar with all our ways. Before a word is ever on our tongue you know it completely.
The important thing is keeping that appointment to meet with God.
Last year my wife had a conference with the parents of one of her first graders. The child was constantly falling asleep in class…at other times he was uncontrollable, unable to follow simple directions.
When inquiring about his home life, the parents confessed that they let Junior do whatever he wanted to do-they had no set time for dinner, baths, brushing teeth and the like–they felt it was important for the child to have totally unencumbered freedom.
And when my wife asked about his having a set bedtime, they said they let him set his own bedtime–he had a TV in his room…and if he wanted to stay up and watch wrestling or cartoons, that was okay.
Of course, my wife did her best to convince these parents of the need for good, established habits–that kids are able to function much better when they have structure to their lives. But her words fell on deaf ears. Junior even fell asleep one day at lunch–his face buried in his plate of mystery meat and instant mashed potatoes!
Whether we like it or not, all of us are creatures of habit. Habits are good things…for kids and adults. And the best habit we could ever cultivate is that of keeping a standing daily appointment with God for prayer.
We see Jesus making a habit of getting up early and finding a quiet place to talk to his heavenly Father. He speaks to God with the intimacy of a child talking to a parent. He presses home to us that we come as beloved children to heavenly Parent who loves us in advance and cares deeply about our lives. God is always waiting, always willing, to keep company with us.
And the three general principles Jesus teaches us about prayer are to:
1. Keep it honest.
2. Keep it simple.
3. Keep it up.

You will find an amazing and renewed depth to your life if you carve a portion of time out of your daily routine to spend intentionally with God.
Find that quiet time, even if it is only 10 minutes. Find that quiet place. Do something about the distractions–turn off the cell phone, take out the I-pod buds. Handle stray thoughts–need the oil changed, gotta get the dog groomed, dentist appt. at 1 pm–by jotting them down on a piece of paper to take care of later. If you wish, use scripture and a devotional guide for focus.
And simply talk, and spend time listening, to God. Relax. Go with the flow–the faces of people, the images of situations–that enter your mind–pray for them. You converse about whatever is on your mind with your closest friend–do the same with God.
Philip Yancey adds an interesting sidenote to this. He writes, “I am learning that prayer need not be “productive” in the normal sense of the term. I spend most of my waking hours trying to make it through the designated tasks of that day. Prayer offers a time to set aside that list of concerns–or rather present them to God–to relax, to let the mind roam freely, to drink deeply, to insert a pause in the day, to trust.”
“A strange thing happens, though. I find that when I reserve that time, I become more productive. I make clearer decisions and fewer impulsive mistakes. I waste less time worrying. I seem less bothered when things go wrong. The vertigo slips away.”
[Philip Yancey, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006, p. 295]
Yes, keep it honest. Keep it simple. Keep it up. Make such prayer time an intentional habit. Schedule that appointment with God. In that daily list of tasks you carry out, this is one task that should be first and foremost.
And it will truly make a difference in your life…
But there is more to prayer than simply being on task. God also desires that we would….

II. ALLOW PRAYER TO BECOME A CONSTANT LIFESTYLE
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7
“Prayer is a state as much as an act, a fact that easily gets forgotten when we confine it to one or two isolated instances a day.” [Yancey, p. 299]
God desires that we remain in perpetual contact with him throughout each day…that prayer might become less a task and more a lifestyle for us.
Now, for me, this can be a bit of a challenge…but for my daughter and son it’s a breeze….
I grew up with the notion that everything in life had to be very regimented, very linear, very compartmentalized. You get up, you exercise, you make a few minutes for God, you eat your pop tart, you go to work, you have lunch, you work some more, you come home, you eat supper, you watch Jeopardy, you watch the Nationals blow another lead, you pray again, you go to bed.
Yet, my kids find it totally plausible to sit at a computer working on schoolwork, while instant messaging friends, while listening to their I-pod, while texting another friend, while eating a Hot Pocket. They remind me that it is possible to multi-task.
And yes, it is possible to “pray without ceasing”–to be enough of a multi-tasker that we can keep prayer running through our veins throughout the day while we are involved in a myriad of other ventures.
Rather than see prayer as a task we are constantly striving to achieve, we can come to view it as a continuous state we rest in, keeping God as part of our ongoing, unfolding day.
It’s amazing how well your day goes when you remain in constant and silent conversation with God. The molehills tend to never become mountains when you stay grounded in Him.
What if we could somehow learn to keep a prayerful attitude of gratitude throughout each day? We would awaken with the 118th Psalm on our lips–This is the day–not tomorrow, not yesterday–but THIS is the day the Lord hath made and I will rejoice and be glad in it! We learn to live in the precious present….being aware of the blessings God has placed all around us and in us.
Philip Yancey says his friend, Dr. Paul Brand, has a unique Litany of Thanksgiving he goes through at the start of each new day. He calls to mind various parts of the body–his heart, his brain, cells, the immune system–and praises God for the intricacies that make life possible. Brand says, “As a doctor, I hear about the few parts of the body that don’t work as designed. I need a constant reminder of the miracle that so many trillions of cells in my body function flawlessly every day!”
[Yancey, p. 319]
A prayerful attitude of gratitude would indeed change our outlook toward each day….as would a prayerful attitude of compassion.
I am certainly no paragon of virtue, and the things I preach to you I struggle with myself….but occasionally I feel like I get it right.
I was in that ultimate den of iniquity called Walmart one evening. After 3 laps around that mammoth store I finally found what I was looking for. I was getting a bit agitated as a couple in front of me argued incessantly with the clerk at the check-out over a coupon that had expired.
Now, I’m normally not in a prayerful state of mind in Walmart–but for some strange reason as I happened to notice that harried clerk dealing with those nasty people–a pang of sympathy went through me–and I quietly said a prayer for her. “Lord, help that poor woman!” was my prayer.

After those idiot customers finally left cussing under their breath, I placed my items on the counter. I looked the poor woman in the eye and told her, “You look like you have had one heckuva day–I’m sorry you have to deal with people like that.”
And all of the sudden she broke down and started sobbing. “They’re not the problem….my 2-year-old daughter is at my aunt’s home with a high fever and she needs her momma, but if I don’t work my hours we don’t eat….” And for the next couple of minutes she poured out her troubles to me- a total stranger. I just stood there and listened. And finally, as the next customer pulled up to her counter, she smiled faintly, thanking me for listening. I told her I would pray for her, and she thanked me again, saying she would be okay.
That encounter would have never happened had not I been in a state of ongoing prayer with God. I’m convinced such encounters are not coincidental–when we remain in a state of prayerful compassion, God reveals the needs of others to us, and uses us to be his solution to those needs. That’s how God’s work gets done in this world. And I’m struggling to learn that.
Many times we view prayer as bringing requests to God that God may not have thought of, and then twisting his arm into granting them.
What would life be like if we saw prayer as a tool God instills in us, increasing our awareness of the needs he sees around us? As such, when we encounter persons while in an ongoing attitude of prayer, we are able to see them as God sees them, and enter into that stream of compassion that God already directs toward them.
As you go about your day, keep your eyes and ears open, holding persons and situations you encounter before the Lord, willing that he would have his will with them, knowing that your prayer for them focuses God’s power upon their circumstances.

And such prayer produces some tremendous change not only in the prayee but in you, the pray-er, as well. You become a much more patient, kind, decent human being…in essence, you become Christian.

CONCLUSION
Yes, I hope that if there is one point God’s gotten across to us in this sermon series, it is this: the true value of prayer is not about getting what we want–it’s about becoming what God wants us to be.
Yes, that happens as we make prayer a scheduled daily task in our lives, a habit we uphold with great diligence. But more importantly, it happens as we allow prayer to become a constant lifestyle—a state of connection with the divine we carry with us in every moment of every day–being aware of his hand in the lives and situations that surround us.
It was my 5th grade year that schools were integrated in Mecklenburg County. And I had my first black teacher, Frances Tisdale. Looking back upon that lady, I can truly say she was a saint.
In the midst of all the community turmoil and hatred going on outside the school, Mrs. Tisdale’s classroom was always an oasis of serenity. She loved us all–red, yellow, black and white, we were precious in her sight.
Her voice always remained calm and never raised. She could make the hardest math problem seem simple. She was firm with her discipline, but not vindictive. In those days before free lunch programs, we’d sometimes notice her quietly passing her sandwich to Jimmy Hatcher, who often came to school hungry, while she made do with an apple or orange.
Mrs. Tisdale did have one strange quirk, though. Throughout the school day, whenever we were doing some reading or spelling work or some other chore at our desks, I’d glance over and notice Mrs. Tisdale with her eyes closed and her lips seemingly mouthing silent words. She would do this several times each day.

After several weeks of the school year had passed, a few of us persuaded one of the black kids in the room who knew Mrs. Tisdale from church to ask her why she closed her eyes and talked to herself. We figured she wouldn’t get mad at him.
Mrs. Tisdale split her side in laughter when she learned of our curiosity. And she told us, “Boys, the Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing.” So when you see me at my desk with my eyes closed and talking to myself, I am praying for each one of you. I’m praying that God will give me the strength to be a good teacher for you, that we will all learn to respect each other despite our skin color, and that you will grow up to be good and intelligent young men and women who will make this world a better place…”
I never really had a teacher pray for me. That was cool. And certainly I needed it. And come to think of it, the 5th grade with Mrs. Tisdale was the best year I had in over 21 years of elementary, secondary, college and graduate education.
What would our days be like if we kept close company with God as Mrs. Tisdale did? Indeed, what would our world be like if we “prayed without ceasing?”

KEEPING COMPANY WITH GOD
DEALING WITH DROPPED CALLS
Job 2:9-10

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9 His wife said, “Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it!”
10 He told her, “You’re talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?”

INTRODUCTION
One of life’s everyday annoyances is a dropped cell phone call. You’re describing something in detail to a friend, when all of the sudden you realize you’ve been talking to yourself like an idiot for the past 5 minutes!
I was walking in downtown Harrisonburg one afternoon when someone behind me began shouting, “Hey!…Hey!…HEY!!!” I turned around quite startled.
“What can I do for you?” I inquired, as I noticed he had one of those Bluetooth earpieces in his ear. The guy sheepishly responded, “Oh, I’m sorry–thought I had lost my cell phone connection.”
As we continue our sermon series Keeping Company with God, we are going to deal with a different sort of dropped call this morning–unanswered prayer.
We often give grand and moving testimonies about the answered prayers we have received from God. Let me ask you, “What has been your most heartwrenching, gutwrenching, faithwrenching unanswered prayer?”

THE DILEMMA OF DROPPED CALLS
Around the church it was simply known as “The Christmas Miracle.”
I received a call early one morning, 3 days before Christmas, frantically seeking my presence in the ICU of the hospital. John, a very troubled young man with a lot of issues in his life had overdosed on alcohol and drugs. It wasn’t the first time, but this occasion he had really done himself in.
None of the scans indicated any brain activity. So the family made that horribly-brutal decision to remove life support.
We and the church, prayed…committing him to God’s hands. When the ventilator was shut off, John continued breathing. The attending physician said that this was not uncommon, and that John’s vital organs would shut down one-by-one, and he would pass away in a matter of hours.
With his family by his side, John continued to breathe throughout the night. Early the next morning, he opened his eyes, and wondered where his breakfast was! Three days later he was walking.
And John is still alive to this day…he still battles the demon of addictions…but he works as a physical therapist.
It was indeed the Christmas miracle–one of two I have witnessed in my lifetime that completely defied any medical explanation.
I must confess that in my experience, when it comes to praying for miracles of outright physical healing, John’s wonderful outcome is the exception rather than the norm. I do believe miracles happen–but they are extraordinary, not ordinary–otherwise they wouldn’t be miraculous.
Fast-forward four months after the Christmas miracle. Early April. I once again received a call seeking my presence in the ICU of a hospital. A very bright, high achieving young man with a tremendous future–completing his junior year in college, lay connected to life support. Adam had been critically-injured in an accident. The neurologist indicated no brain activity, and no hope of recovery.
We prayed and prayed for recovery, yet finally we arrived at the decision to cease life support. Adam died peacefully, surrounded by his loving and quite devastated parents and grandparents.
After nearly 30 years of ministry in many similar tragic circumstances, and after having experienced the personal loss of my grandparents, parents, brother and sister, I do feel qualified to speak honestly about prayer that appears unanswered.
And, like many of you, I have wondered what kind of God who has the power to save a life or heal a disease would sit on the sidelines despite our urgent pleas for help? I’ve asked God that question. I’ve raged at God with that question. And unlike Job, yes, I’ve cursed at God with that question. “Why, God?! Why?”
In the face of unanswered prayer, many Christians blame themselves with the faulty notion that it was their own lack of faith or some moral deficiency that somehow caused God to be deaf to their pleas. Other Christians simply give up the faith all together, becoming bitter and reclusive, existing, not living, the remainder of their days.

DROPPED CALLS IN THE BIBLE
Yet, as I have experienced this quandary of unanswered prayer throughout my life, I’ve found that I share some pretty good company with folk in the Bible:
In Deuteronomy 31:1-2, we encounter Moses’ hope that God would allow him to live long enough to enter the Promised Land with the people he had led for 40 long years in the Wilderness to the brink of that Promised Land.
His prayer is not answered.
In 2 Samuel 12:15-18, we hear King David petitioning God to allow his gravely-ill newborn son to live. His prayer is not answered.
In 2 Corinthians 12:7, we see the Apostle Paul begging on 3 different occasions to be relieved of the “thorn in his flesh”–an excruciating chronic ailment that hounds him every second of every day.
His prayer is not answered.
In Matthew 26:39, on the night before he was to be tortured and nailed to an executioner’s cross, we hear Jesus praying, “Father, let this cup of suffering pass from me!” His prayer is so fervent, so intense, that the sweat pouring from his body becomes as drops of blood.
His prayer is not answered.
Throughout the Bible we encounter many instances of dropped calls, where God has seemingly ignored the cries of his people. What can we make of this?

COULD WE BE AT FAULT
On many occasions we deal with a dropped call, an unanswered prayer, from God because the prayer is simply frivolous. What we ask for is very self-serving.
Praying for a sunny day at the Va. Tech football game when farmers in the area are suffering from drought. A last ditch plea to make an A on a test when we haven’t studied. Football players in a high school locker room praying fervently for a victory over the opposing team.
And we are all too quick to assume God really cares about our exploits. Boxer Floyd Patterson said, after knocking out Archie Moore to win the World Heavyweight Championship, “I just hit him and the Lord did the rest!”
When you stand back at look at them, some of our prayers are pretty silly…treating God as if he were some jolly ol’ St. Nick.
Just as we parents often ignore outrageous requests from our kids, so I believe God ignores the frivolous requests we make of him.
Some prayers also go unanswered because they are contradictory. They simply cannot be fulfilled. If a dozen persons are praying to be the head custodian at the new hospital, 11 of them are going to have to come to terms with unanswered prayer.
If two armies, claiming to be “Christian” and praying for victory, go to war with each other, as did the Union and Confederate armies in the Civil War, one will walk away battered and devastated.
Maybe that was why a wise Abraham Lincoln said we should never be so pretentious to pray that the Lord be on our side, but rather that we would be on the Lord’s side. His belief was that finite people can never fully know the will of an infinite God with absolute certainty. And so our prayers need to be tempered with a huge dose of humility.
Some prayers go unanswered because, in the final picture, they will be curse, not a blessing.
What would happen if God answered every prayer?
Phil Yancey writes, “By answering every prayer, God would in effect abdicate, turning the world over to us to run. History shows how we have handled the limited power granted to us: we have fought wars, committed genocide, fouled the air and water, destroyed forests, established unjust political systems with grinding poverty. What if God gave us automatic access to supernatural power? What further havoc might we wreak?”
[Philip Yancey, Prayer-Does It Make Any Difference, Grand Rapids, MI:Zondervan, 2006, p. 228]
Remember the movie Bruce Almighty? God gives Bruce dominion over Buffalo, NY for a couple of days–and Bruce totally fouls it up. He answers “yes” to every prayer. Among the hilarious chain of events that are unleashed, he answers yes to everyone who prays to win the lottery, thus creating 400,000 winners and diluting the grand prize to almost nothing and causing a riot.
The country singer Garth Brooks had a hit song in which he recalls his impassioned prayers to God to melt the heart of a high school sweetheart–later he realized what a terrible mistake he would have made had that request been fulfilled:
Just because God doesn’t answer doesn’t mean he don’t care;
Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.
Poor grammar…but great theology!
I can certainly look back over my life and give God thanks for many prayers that he left unanswered…maybe you can also.
Yes, sometimes we can make sense of a dropped call from God. But other times we cannot…there are simply

SOME CONCLUSIONS WE HAVE TO LIVE WITH
The first is that God seldom gets in a hurry. Our petulant, impatient, name it-claim it, gotta have it now mentality does not resonate with him. God has all of eternity to work with.
Prophets longed for and sacrificed their lives hoping for a Messiah, but it was only centuries later that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem.
Jesus told parables about dealing with delays in God’s answering–like the widow who eventually wears down a judge with her persistence.
I remember praying some 28 long years for my brother John to find an awakened relationship with the Lord–it did not happen till 2 years before he died, at the age of 58.
The prophet Isaiah discovered at the end of the day, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.” ¬- Isaiah 40:28-31
We must also realize there will always be mystery surrounding prayer. God is God, and we are not. He gladly hears our prayers, but we can never presume to know his ultimate purposes. As Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians: For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
- I Corinthians 13:12
A lot of my unanswered prayers have had to do with good, decent Christian folk who have suffered so terribly at the hands of random evil and insidious disease. Joy Maynard’s sister who was obliterated in the prime of her life in the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11. A fellow teacher of my wife whose 21-year-old daughter is clinging to life battling cancer. My rational mind knows we live in a fallen world, but still I cry, “Why God?” I have an entire laundry list of questions I plan to ask God one day, questions that keep me awake at nights.
I often think about a mind-numbing perspective a wise, old Sunday School teacher and former college professor once shared with me years ago in my first church. His name was Dr. Willard Whitesell, and he was 92-years-old.
He said, “David, did you ever stop to think that our time upon this earth is not even the length of a hiccup in the grand scheme of God’s eternity? What seems to be such big tragedies to us will seem so very, very minute and insignificant one day when we reach that eternity beyond this life. For that answered prayer of being with the Lord will most certainly overwhelm any unanswered prayers we may have endured in this life. We will be swallowed up in joy everlasting!”
I must admit I have a hard time grasping that…but it is true.
Philip Yancey describes the plight of a missionary couple in Nigeria who had given their all in service to the Lord there, and yet had also lost a child to disease. As they stood beside that mound of earth in a remote garden, Yancey says no logical explanation of unanswered prayer would suffice. He writes, “They must place their faith in a God who has yet to fulfill the promise that good will overcome evil, that God’s good purposes will, in the end, prevail. To cling to that belief may represent the ultimate rationalization–or the ultimate act of faith.”
It is indeed difficult to come to terms with the mystery surrounding prayer.
But one thing we can be assured of–God can make use of whatever happens in our life for his glory and our growth. Indeed, as Paul stated to the Romans, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Nothing is irredeemable. I believe God cries alongside us when we hurt. And I believe God can take the shards of broken glass in our lives and make a beautiful stained-glass window. Or as a carpenter once said quite profoundly, God can take the useless, discarded milk jugs of our lives and produce strong Trex lumber. Like a meandering river that changes course in the midst of a flood, he does create new beginnings out of the midst of tragedies.
Remember the young man Adam I spoke of earlier in this message who died shortly after life support was removed? Since he was a very healthy young man, ICU doctors approached his family about harvesting his vital organs to be donated to persons awaiting transplants. They agreed.
Then the doctors inquired if we knew of anyone personally who could possibly be a recipient. I immediately thought of William, a 62-year-old man in our church who was dying of liver disease. He was on the transplant list, but no match had been made. He had only 6 weeks to live.
I gave the physicians his name…and they cautioned me that the odds were astronomical that there would be a match. But they thanked me.
On the way home from that Pennsylvania home that afternoon, Valerie and I cried as we prayed for Adam’s devastated family. And then we cried again when the cell phone rang–it was William’s wife, completely overcome with emotion–informing us that they had found a match for a liver transplant, and he was on his way to UVA for the surgery.
God certainly had not caused Adam’s death, and God had done all that was humanly possible through his physicians to bring healing to his damaged body, but in the end Adam went to be with God in his eternity. In the midst of the horrific pain of that loss, though, God had worked for good to happen in another person’s life.
Each Sunday morning, I would look out and see Adam’s parents and grandparents seated next to William and his wife, and I would notice the poignant bonds of deep friendship that had been forged out of hurt and hope between them. And I would think to myself, God indeed works for good in the midst of all circumstances.

CONCLUSION
A final thought in this meandering message–one thing I have observed about the dear seasoned saints I have been privileged to know in my life–folks such as our beloved George Lightner who entered God’s glory this past spring at the age of 99–is that their prayer life was centered not on petition but rather companionship with God.
In other words, they didn’t spend a great deal of time frantically asking God for something and then questioning his answers or the lack thereof.
Instead, they were content to simply live in close, quiet relationship with God. They put each day in his hands, trusting him to handle the complicated complexities, and they lived in peace. Theirs was a deep and abiding friendship with God, for they had learned through life’s struggles he would never, ever forsake them. And that was enough for them.
And that is a most valuable lesson we all should learn. The Apostle Paul came to grips with the unyielding pain of his chronic ailment as God spoke to him, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” May we embrace that same assurance when we deal with the questions of unanswered prayer.
In the end, God’s grace will be sufficient for us. Amen.

KEEPING COMPANY WITH GOD…
Here are the Basics
Matthew 6:5-13

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INTRODUCTION
In last week’s message, we concluded with the conclusion that the true value of prayer is not about getting what we want–it’s about becoming what God wants us to be.
And yet, there are occasions when God works in mysterious ways to answer the deepest desires of our heart:
Dwight Nelson recently told a story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc., but the kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to the bumper of his SUV and pulled it until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten.
And that’s what he did, attaching the rope, and inching slowly forward in his Ford Explorer. He then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten.
Unfortunately, as he moved the car a little further, the rope broke. The tree went “boing!” and the kitten instantly sailed through the air and out of sight!
The pastor felt terrible! He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they’d seen a little kitten. Nobody had spotted the poor little guy, so the pastor prayed, “Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping,” and went on about his business.
A few days later he was at the grocery store, and ran into Marla, one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food … the woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, “Marla, why are you buying cat food when you despise cats so much?”
Marla replied, “You won’t believe this,” and then told him how her little girl Brittany had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so Marla finally told her, “Well, if God gives you a cat, I’ll let you keep it.”
She told the pastor, “I watched my Brittany go out in the yard, get down on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won’t believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A calico kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right smack-dab in front of her!” [writeathome.wordpress.com]
Never underestimate the power of a child’s prayer, and remember God indeed has a sense of humor!
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of guy. If I’m going to do something, I prefer to have a handy set of directions on how to proceed. For example, my wife and kids often get a kick out of mocking me whenever we’re getting ready to go on a trip–they call me Clark Griswald–I’ll spend days poring over maps, charting a detailed route to our destination–even though the GPS is on the dashboard of the van!
And that’s why, given my OCD nature, I’m particularly glad Jesus gives us some essential advice on the basics of developing a meaningful prayer life-of keeping company with God. It’s helpful to know the fundamentals of prayer.

I. THE SETTING FOR PRAYER
5″And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
As Philip Yancey notes, Jesus virtually invented private prayer. [Philip Yancey, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference, p. 63]
All throughout the Old Testament, prayer is a formal, public thing–uttered by kings, priests and prophets in the company of many. No one in the Old Testament speaks to God as Father, but Jesus comes along and does so 170 times. Jesus has this spontaneous communion with God that has no precedent. His disciples are truly amazed, and beg him to teach them to pray with such intimacy.
And the first thing Jesus reminds them and us is that we need a proper setting for prayer. It’s true, you can pray anytime, anywhere–I did a lot of fervent praying in my desk at school right before an exam. But if you’re going to have a significant prayer life, you need to find a proper setting.
My wife and I are busy people. And both of us know that when we need to have a serious conversation about something–be it finances, family issues, whatever, we have to intentionally set aside a time and place to have that conversation–it can’t be done on the fly or in emails or text messages.
If prayer is a conversation with God, then we need to be intentional about setting aside a time and place to have that conversation–where interruptions are few and we can focus solely upon our Lord.
As Jesus reminds us, we need a refuge where we can bare our soul to God, where we can drop our hypocritical masks and pious words and simply level with God about what is going on with us.
In the 1998 movie The Apostle, Robert Duvall plays an intense Pentecostal preacher with a big heart named Sonny Dewey. Some of the best scenes in that movie are when Sonny is praying alone in the upstairs of his house or out in woods along a river–he rants, he raves, he goes toe-to-toe like Jacob, wrestling with God. And that’s the kind of honesty God wants from us.
In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye keeps up this running dialogue with God, giving credit for the good things but also lamenting all that goes wrong. In one scene he sits dejected by the side of his road with his lame horse.
“I can understand it,” Tevye says to God, “when you punish me when I am bad; or my wife because she talks too much; or my daughter when she wants to go off and marry a Gentile, but…What have you got against my horse?!” I’m sure God appreciates such honesty.
We also need a refuge where we can quiet our heart before God, a place where we can be still and simply know that he is God. A quiet place, where we can clear our congested, crowded souls and be in conversation with God.
Some of us are fortunate to have such refuges in our homes, on our property, where we can close the door on noise of the world. It’s not so easy for others. Many of you have told me that your commuting time back and forth to work is your refuge. You turn the radio off and you become still before God…that’s where your conversation takes place.
For your Father knows what you need before you ask him….that’s an interesting comment of Jesus. Why pray if God already knows? Philip Yancey states,
Jesus treat(s) God’s knowledge not as a deterrent but as a positive motivation to pray. We do not have to work to gain God’s attention through long words and ostentatious displays. We don’t have to convince God of our sincerity or our needs. We already have the Father’s ear, as it were. God knows everything about us and still listens. We can get right to the point! [Yancey, p. 133]
Yes, God knows everything about us and still listens. Prayer invites God into our world and ushers us into God’s. So be intensely intentional about finding a good setting to have conversations with your Maker.

II. THE BLUEPRINT FOR PRAYER
The disciples come to Jesus asking, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And what Jesus offers them is a blueprint, a template, a pattern–showing them how they might gain access to the dynamic presence and purpose of God.
Here it is:
9″This, then, is how you should pray:
” ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.12Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive everyone who sins against us.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one,
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory. Amen.’”

“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name…”
The Aramaic word for father is Abba–Daddy. Jesus at the outset reminds us we are not conversing with some cosmic, amorphous, impersonal New Age force far removed from our lives. We are praying to a God who loves us with the tender love of a parent, who is intimately invested in our lives and well-being.
“Hallowed be your name” - Yet, this God who loves us is the same God who crafted the most magnificent galaxy of stars and the most miniscule strand of DNA, who is above all, before all, through all and in all there is. This God cannot be confined to the shallow boxes of our comprehension. He is worthy of infinite adoration.
As the psalmist puts in such timeless prose:
When I consider the heavens, the works of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? Psalm 8:3-4
Dennis the Menace was saying his bedtime prayers. With a grin on his face and his eyes looking upward, he exclaimed, “That was an awesome sunset tonight, God! Thanks for letting me stay awake long enough to see it!”
Our God is an awesome God! And we should always acknowledge this. Begin your prayers with reverence for the one who is Holy Other.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”
We then proceed to intercede on behalf of the needs of others. To pray your kingdom come is to pray that God’s perfect will–his perfect love and wholeness–would permeate the lives of all people.
One day that kingdom will be fully realized on the day of Christ’s return–every tear shall be dried, every hurt healed. But until then, we are God’s partners in helping bring about the purposes of his kingdom in the world about us.
He compels us to not simply pray the prayer, but to be the prayer!
Yes, we pray for the sick and hurting, but we can also help bring about God’s healing for them by going and sitting by their bedside in a hospital room.
Yes, we pray for the poor and helpless, but we can also help bring about God’s care for them by picking up a hammer and repairing their roof.
Yes, we pray for the lonely and despairing, but we can also bring about God’s presence to them by inviting them to join us for a meal at Cracker Barrel.
Don’t just pray the prayer…be the prayer!
Yes, long for God’s purposes to be fulfilled, and to be a partner in those purposes.

“Give us today our daily bread.”
After acknowledging God and others, the third step of prayer is to ask God for our own sustenance. We pray that God would help us provide for our basic needs–food, clothing, shelter, employment. And I believe multiplies resourcefulness and skills to accomplish this.
But note, Jesus says our daily bread–our needs for this day–not our wants or pleasures. What was it Janis Joplin used to sing about–”Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?” I really don’t think God is concerned about our desire for luxury transportation.
But God does care that we have the necessities of life. And he will empower us to provide for them.
Yes, the 3rd step of prayer is to trust God for present needs, and be thankful as those needs are met.

“Forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us.”
Our God is a merciful God, and only he can enable us to truly put the past behind us. Only God can bathe us in the waters of forgiveness, cleansing us and giving us a new beginning. And so, the 4th step of prayer is to take a long hard look in the mirror, and confess our sins to him–those things that we have done and left undone that hurt God, our neighbor and ourselves.
But here’s a great paradox that Jesus throws into the mix: God can never forgive us until we have forgiven others. Why? Because bearing unforgiveness, grudges, spite, hatred toward another human being erects a wall of kryptonite through which God’s Spirit cannot penetrate.
The most sickly, miserable, downcast people I encounter in my line of work are those who spend their lives keeping a database of persons who have wronged them. You gotta let it go…
Jesus tells us to seek God’s mercy for past sins, while extending that mercy to others.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one”
This is the final leg of Jesus’ blueprint for prayer…petitioning God for guidance and strength for when we meet those testing situations that may come our way in life that would erode and even destroy our fidelity as Christian people.
We live in a world that constantly bombards us with the seduction of sex that is safe, drugs that are recreational, divorce that is no-fault, crime that is white collar…The list is endless. We owe it to ourselves to indulge, or so we believe.
The world tells us the end always justifies the means. So do whatever it takes to gain a step up on the other guy, even if you have to stomp on him.
But is this the highway God calls us to drive on? I think not. His way is a narrow way, filled with responsibility and right living. He leads us from grit to grace, from sin to sanctity, from lowliness to holiness. And he delivers us from the evil one, if we keep company with him daily.
The 5th step of prayer is to appeal for God’s guidance and strength in dealing with future trials.
Well, there you have it–a blueprint for prayer–the Lord’s Prayer…
• Have reverence for God
• Long for God’s purposes to be fulfilled, and to be a partner in those purposes.
• Trust God for present needs, and be thankful as those needs are met.
• Seek God’s mercy for past sins, while extending that mercy to others.
• Appeal for God’s guidance and strength in dealing with future trials
Find a refuge where you can hash these matters out with the Lord, and you will be well on your way to a meaningful prayer life.
But there is one final note: Remember that prayer is a conversation! You must take time to listen for God’s response. God may speak to you in a serendipitous Bible verse, a strange compelling or nudging in your heart, the wise advice of a Christian friend and in a myriad of other ways. But you have to be attentive and sensitive to hearing his response. Don’t be like the preacher in this video clip:
[show Coffee with Jesus]
Prayer: Lord, you are always waiting to hear from us. You always desire to keep company with us. Instill in us the desire to be in conversation with you. We come, just as we are, to share with you, and to listen for your response. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the

KEEPING COMPANY WITH GOD
Give Me One Good Reason to Pray
Mark 1:35
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Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35 NIV)

INTRODUCTION
“Anyone with needs to be prayed over, come forward, to the front at the altar,” the preacher says. Ellwood gets in line, and when it’s his turn, the preacher asks: “Elwood, what do you want me to pray about for you.”
Elwood replies: “Preacher, I need you to pray for my hearing.” The preacher puts one finger in Elwood’s ear, and he places the other hand on top of Elwood’s head and prays and prays, fervently and loudly.
After a few minutes, the preacher removes his hands, stands back and asks,”Elwood, how is your hearing now?”
Elwood replies, “I don’t know, Reverend, it ain’t till next Wednesday.”
I wanted to kick today’s message off with a bit of humor, because we are going to be exploring a subject over the next 4 weeks that is a very serious matter to most of us. Yes, we are going to be investigating the landscape of prayer.
It may come as a surprise to you to know that I, as your pastor, have always felt very inadequate at prayer. My prayer life has often been filled with wouldas, shouldas and ought-tos…maybe it’s because I much more of a doer than a contemplator, but I have always struggled with this spiritual discipline. And from conversations we have had in several of our small groups, many of you have voiced the same struggle.
The School for Congregational Development I attended last month was a life-changing event for me. Out of that experience I felt God calling me to a more meaningful prayer life.
God led me to a particular book that has proved invaluable in helping me come to terms with my frustrations with prayer, as well as providing a framework for discovering a deeper prayer life. It is called Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? The author is a very profound writer and theologian, Philip Yancey. I highly recommend it to you, and I will draw upon its insights time and time again over the course of these four Sundays of messages.
By the way, the title of this sermon series is “Keeping Company with God”–to me this is the essence of prayer–it is keeping company with, staying in constant communion with, hanging in the presence of the One who creates, redeems and sustains us. And how we go about keeping this close company with God–i.e., developing a more meaningful prayer life–is what we’re going to be hashing out in these Sundays together.
So let us begin by seeing if we can come up with one good reason for praying in the first place…

I. SOME QUESTIONS & OBSERVATIONS
When it comes to prayer, we’ve all probably had these questions at times:
• Is God listening?
• Does God really care about me?
• Why do answers to my prayers and the prayers of others seem so inconsistent, so random?
• Does a person on the prayer lists of dozens of churches stand a better chance of being physically healed that a person with just a couple of friends?
• Is prayer about changing God or is it about changing me?
• And here’s a good one–If God knows everything, what’s the point of praying in the first place? (My Presbyterian friend and pastor, Mark Stanley, being a good Calvinist, used to brood over this!)

One of the joys of serving a new church like Vision of Hope is that people are honest with you.
If I were to ask someone at a long-established church “Are you satisfied with your prayer life?” there would be this sanctified, sanctimonious response, “Why, of course I am–mind your own business!” And they are probably lying through their teeth!
But so many of you have been quite blunt with me. You say your prayer life is more of a burden than a pleasure. It can be frustrating just to pray for 3-5 minutes. And only occasionally do you sense the presence of God when you do pray.
I certainly feel your pain. And we feel so guilty, so spiritually inferior, when we hear of persons such as the nuns in Mother Teresa’s former convent who would get up at 4:00 am, take an ice cold bath to awaken themselves, and then pray for three solid hours before starting their day!
For many of us, the great preacher George Buttrick’s comment rings true: Prayer seems to be nothing more than “a spasm of words lost in a cosmic indifference.”
Well, where do we begin in the quest to find one good reason to pray?
It has to start with faith, opening the eyes of our hearts to
1. Believe that God exists
2. Believe that God is capable of hearing our prayers
3. Believe that God cares about our prayers
Without these three ground rules, these three core beliefs, I’m only having a conversation with myself. Yes, you must trust that there is a God and that God is vitally invested and interested in you.

II. WHY PRAY?
But that alone doesn’t give us the best reason for praying. We pray because Jesus did. Simple as that. If prayer was of ultimate significance to Jesus, who was the almighty Son of God, then it should be to us as well. I can think of no better reason to pray than because Jesus prayed.
The gospels speak of a dozen specific prayers by Jesus. He also provided several parables and teachings on the subject. Time and time again Jesus would seclude himself to spend time with his Heavenly Father.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35 NIV)
As Philip Yancey notes, our prayers mostly fall into two categories: trouble or trivia.
We instinctively cry out to God when trouble strikes. “Oh, my God!” are the first three words out of a person’s mouth when something tragic happens.
On my Monday rounds as a volunteer chaplain at Rockingham Memorial Hospital, I have never met a patient, even those who claim no faith affiliation, who did not want me to have prayer with them before they went into surgery.
I recall my nephew Matt commenting on how that old statement “there are no atheists in foxholes” is definitely true. The Marine platoon he commanded was dug into a foxhole on the evening Operation Desert Storm began. He said every one of his 18-19 year old Marines, along with himself, were praying fervently as SCUD missiles flew overhead.
I receive a half-dozen emails each week requesting prayer for children with injuries or illnesses. It is simply a natural thing to pray for kids in such distress.
Jesus prayed in times of trouble. Jesus prayed intensely as he fasted and faced tremendous testing in the Wilderness. As his rendezvous with death approached, there in the Garden of Gethsemane he poured out his soul to the point his sweat became as drops of blood. Three of his seven cries from the Cross of Calvary were prayers.
Certainly Jesus personified for us the natural need to turn to God in tough times. As the psalmist proclaimed, “God is our refuge and strength, and very present help in times of trouble.” - Psalm 46
At other times our prayers could be said to border on being trivial in nature.
I’ve had church members ask me to pray that it won’t rain on their church picnic or their softball game.
I remember one woman telling me she often prays for a parking space to open up near the entrance to the mall so she won’t have to walk as far.
One morning I stopped by the 7-11 store for a cup of coffee. (it’s a lot cheaper than Starbucks–and in my opinion, a lot better!) While I was stirring the sugar and creamer in my cup, out of the corner of my eye I saw a gentleman around the corner of the coffee kiosk with his eyes closed, fervently praying for all he was worth.
I could not quite make out the words he was mumbling, so I moved a little closer. He was asking God to give him the correct numbers for that evening’s Powerball lottery drawing!
Now, while Jesus prayed in times of trouble, he showed little regard for trivial things. He did mention petitioning God for daily bread. But Jesus’ prayers showed a remarkable lack of concern for his own wants and wishes. “Take this cup of suffering from me” may have been the only time Jesus asked something for himself.

Jesus did often pray for others. He prayed for children brought to him by their mothers. He prayed for persons standing there grieving at Lazarus’ graveside. In his final prayer, one last gasp of grace, he asked on behalf of his persecutors, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Now, all of this is not to say it’s wrong to pray to God about trivial matters…because what seems to be trivial to one person may be of great importance to another. That woman seeking a parking place near the entrance to the mall had emphysema, and walking was a struggle for her.
However, let us keep in mind that the vast majority of Jesus’ prayers were for the sake of someone besides himself.
In fact, the only glimpse the New Testament gives us as to what Jesus is up to right now is found in Hebrews 7:24-25–he is at the right hand of God “interceding” for us.
Perhaps the greatest lesson Jesus teaches us about prayer, though, is that it’s much, much more than a transaction begging God for something in our times of trouble or in our times of trivial pursuit.
He teaches us prayer is about deepening our relationship with God. It’s about finding an intimate friendship with the One who knows us better than we know ourselves.
As Philip Yancey notes, “The main purpose of prayer is not to make life easier, nor to gain magical powers, but to know God!”
Jesus’ prayers were about magnifying his relationship with God, seeking to align his will with God’s will, rather than the reverse. He poured out his heart with candid honesty before God.
Jesus directly addressed God as Abba–”Father”–some 170 times. That word would be better translated as “Daddy”. And through such intimate encounters Jesus came to grasp his Father’s will for his life.
The fall of the year can become a gigantic zoo for many of us. We deal with the grindstone of work, and then there are dozens of meetings, school activities, kids’ sports, church expectations…you name it…people tugging and pulling at us constantly, wearing us to a frazzle. We often feel like we’re totally encapsulated in some cocoon with no way out.
But then there comes one of those crisp, clear Shenandoah Valley days when we finally break away and make the trek up to the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We go hiking along the Skyline Drive, perhaps walk that trail to that scenic overlook at Big Meadows. And we see the world, we see this valley, as a place of peaceful beauty. And our day-to-day issues no longer seem so foreboding.
Prayer is able to accomplish that miracle in our lives on a daily basis. Taking the time to draw close to God enables us to rise above our circumstances and see them as God sees them. We come to discover his will and are able live that will and find peace in it.
In the Old Testament we read of Job and the calamitous pain that filled his life. He questioned God, he ranted and raved at God, yet he never lost touch with God. He gained a new perspective on his life and situation through his close relationship with God. And he was able to persevere with the assurance that “I know my Redeemer liveth, and he will stand at the last days upon this earth!” -Job 19:25
Yes, of all that you and I can pray for…the greatest prayer is to simply ask to abide in the presence of God. To be in relationship with him. To “be still and know that he is God.” -Psalm 46
The end result of such meaningful prayer is we are enabled to catch a glimpse of the world from God’s point-of-view. And that has the dynamic power to change us.
This past Thursday I was getting ready for a colonoscopy, which involved fasting pretty much for a day-and-a half. And wouldn’t you know it, my devotional guide that day pointed me to Acts 10…a passage about Peter and his dining habits. I was salivating on the Bible!
9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14″Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
What a strange vision! Yes, Peter went up on that roof praying about eating, and came down convicted of legalism and racism. He was led to the home of Cornelius, a Gentile…and Peter swallowed his prejudice, sharing a meal with the Gentile and his family, and out of that encounter the Christian faith crossed a major boundary. Cornelius became a convert and a leader in the Christian movement, and Peter became a better and much less narrow-minded person.
Yes, prayer changes us by enabling us to catch a glimpse of the world from God’s point-of-view.

CONCLUSION
Friends, we have opened this series of messages today by discussing some of the frustrations we deal with in praying. And yet, we do it ultimately because Jesus did it. We are his followers, for he is the one who leads us to God.
Jesus taught us that prayer is a strengthening thing in times of trouble, and yet, he did not apply it to trivial pursuits. Above all, though, Jesus’ prayers were all about knowing God, about magnifying his relationship with God, seeking to align his will with God’s will. And that should be the goal of our prayers as well.
Indeed, at the end of the day, the true value of prayer is not about getting what we want–it’s about becoming what God wants us to be.
And to that end, let us close this message with this time-honored prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

OCCUPATIONAL EXPECTATIONS
Colossians 3:23-24
September 6, 2009 Labor Sunday

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23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

INTRODUCTION
Labor Day–our uniquely American, end-of-summer holiday that celebrates work by not working!
It began as a parade on September 5, 1882–a parade paying tribute to the American worker. It evolved into a holiday–a brief respite between the long stretch of weeks between July 4 and Thanksgiving–the other 2 days that Americans had off from work besides Christmas.
Now, of course, it is one of our hallowed 3-day weekends…when folks sit idling with kids screaming in traffic for hours-on-end– trying to make it to the beach one last time before the unofficial end of summer.
At the risk of boring you to tears, I would like to take a few minutes on this Labor Day weekend to explore a subject I’m sure few of you have ever considered–the theological underpinnings of work–or to put it more plainly–what does what you do have to do with God?
I certainly believe God has ingrained in Christians a desire to be gainfully employed at “doing” something. Now occasionally you meet a trifling, Randy Quaid-type character who says he’s “holding out for a management position.” But most people want to work. It is simply a part of our DNA.
And that is why there is such psychological and spiritual torment whenever persons face downsizings, layoffs and terminations. Be it homemaking, haymaking or HP computer-making, we all are involved in various careers that provide for us and our families.
Now, if a career is what we do to take care of ourselves, a calling entails what we do for God.

Yes, our Lord takes the spiritual gifts, abilities, skills and personality traits that are unique to each of us, and he blends them into a calling that will serve his will quite well.

I. A CHRISTIAN VIEW OF WORK INVOLVES CALLING AND CAREER
Now, for some of you, your calling is fulfilled IN your career. That is, the job that puts money in your wallet and food on your plate is also what you feel God has called you be about in serving him.
Let’s look at a well-known person in the Bible–Simon Peter. Simon was a decent fisherman plying his trade on the Sea of Galilee–it was the family occupation and it was a living.
Then one day Jesus drops by the shoreline. Jesus says to Simon and his brother Andrew, 19″Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20At once they left their nets and followed him.
And Simon embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. Jesus sees in him tremendous leadership potential. He will give Simon a new name and a new identity–Peter–petros-”rock”. And Peter will spend the rest of his life as a disciple and apostle for the Lord. His career and his calling will be one and the same–he will be the leader and chief spokesperson for a fledgling enterprise known as The Way, or as we know it– the Church.
It is wonderful thing when what you do for a living also happens to be what you feel called to do for God.
There’s a popular, hardworking singer named Jimmy Overton who plays regularly around the Valley. He performed for our church picnic a few weeks ago.
Jimmy is a delightful guy, the son of a minister. And wherever he sings, he always spends time beforehand getting to know the people in the audience, listening to their life situations, then performing songs out of his tremendous repertoire that speak directly to their hearts.
Jimmy told me he is very blessed to be able to make a living at what he feels called to do by God. He loves being able to use music to lift and encourage folks.
And wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of us had careers that could support our callings? But, in most instances, that is not the case.
Yes, for most of you, your calling is fulfilled ALONGSIDE your career.
You have your day job that pays the bills and provides the resources enabling you to serve God in other avenues.
Proverbs 31:10-31 speaks of a woman whose believes her calling from God is to provide for her family and her community.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
This woman of faith employs her multitude of vocations as a gardener, a seamstress and as a trader to enable the wellbeing of her family and others as well.
Likewise, we read in Acts 16:13-15 of another strong and gifted woman named Lydia:
13On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.
14One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.”
Lydia was a wealthy businesswoman who was the first person in Europe to be converted to Christianity by the Apostle Paul. She subsequently became the leader of the church in Philippi, using her substantial resources as a merchant to fund the outreach of the church.
And that’s the way God often works. He takes what we do for a living and provides us a calling that serves his purposes alongside that career.
For years Eddie Lambert has been the owner and chief contractor of Lambert’s Plumbing, Inc.–a very successful plumbing and heating firm in the Verona area. And yet, it was his two sons that led Eddie to find his true calling–that of being a scouting official for the Boy Scouts of America. He has had a positive, maturing influence upon the lives of hundreds of teenagers throughout the Shenandoah Valley through his dedication to scouting.
Eddie’s calling as a scout leader has been fulfilled alongside his career as a contractor.
And for some of us here this morning, your calling has been fulfilled AFTER your career.
Abraham and Sarah provide some insight into this:
1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Genesis 12:1-5
There Abraham and Sarah were very much retired and very much settled at the Leisure World resort community on the outskirts of Haran. Life was good–18 holes of golf in the morning, lounging by the pool in the afternoon, romantic dinners and evenings under the stars at night.
But there was something restless, something stirring in their souls….a calling from God that Zantac could not bring under control…a calling from God that would not let them go. And so they loaded up the camels and took off in pursuit of that calling, and ended up being parents of the three major religions of the modern world.
Yes, you can retire from your career, but God doesn’t put an age limit on your calling.
When Hurricane Fran struck the Valley in 1996, devastating the Naked Creek area of eastern Rockingham County, our United Methodist Committee on Relief sent a retired couple from down South to oversee the recovery and relief work there.
Jim and Nancy had run a hardware store in their hometown for many years, always wishing they had the time to use the tools they sold. Upon retirement, they felt called by God to do short-term missionary work, helping others, and so they became involved with UMCOR. They bought a 5th wheel camper, and soon began spending 6-9 months a year working wherever there was a need.
Jim was adept at assessing physical damage to a devastated home. Nancy was adept at assessing spiritual damage to those who had been living in that devastated home. Together they formed quite a team in ministering God’s love and hope to others.

And with their camper parked outside of Furnace UMC, the two of them helped rebuild the homes and lives of folks dwelling along the banks of Naked Creek following that great flood of 1996.
Yes, you can retire from your career, but God doesn’t put an age limit on your calling.

II. WHO’S THE BOSS?
Now let’s talk about attitude for a moment. In my position as a pastor I hear people everyday whining and complaining about their jobs. They talk about increasing workloads and stress levels. And yet, most of them do say they couldn’t see themselves doing anything else for a living.
So maybe what’s needed is a look at things from a different vantage point:
When you pound the off button on that alarm clock in the morning, and then head out of your driveway muttering under your breath I owe, I owe, so it’s off to work I go, have you ever considered who your real Boss is?
God is the ultimate boss of our career and our calling. He is the one who has made us and given us the strength to lead a purposeful life. All that we are, all that we hope to be, we owe to his benevolent hand.
That is why Paul, a career tentmaker for the Cabela’s outfitters corporation and a called apostle of much renown with the Lord, proclaimed these words:
23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Be industrious and take pride in what you do, knowing that ultimately what you do serves the Lord.
One of the summer jobs I had during my college years was working at the Craddock-Terry shoe manufacturing plant in my hometown. Of all the dirty jobs I’ve had over the years, from toiling in a lumber mill to doing stoop labor in tobacco fields, this was by far the worst.
Mind you, there were few OSHA inspectors in Southside Va. The plant had little or no air conditioning, with temps reaching 90+ degrees on many days. There was also little or no ventilation, and you would have a migraine headache from the minute you walked in the door from inhaling the fumes from a variety of glues. The work was backbreaking, and it was simply a noisy, nasty place.
But there was this very Christian lady named Doris who was an absolute ray of sunshine in that bleak environment. This thin, hard-working woman with a deformed cheekbone was never without a smile on her face, always laughing and encouraging everyone around here.
When Doris found out I was planning to go into the ministry, she let out a loud “Praise the Lord!” And every week she would hand me $2 to put toward my books at school–I would protest vehemently, knowing she really didn’t have that money to give–but she would insist that I take it.
One week, when Doris was out with the flu, I asked a coworker in our department, “That Doris must have one super-nice home life to be able to stay so happy in this stinking joint!”
To which she snapped at me, “Are you kidding? Have you noticed the side of Doris’ face? That’s where her drunken husband nearly killed her, breaking her jaw with a 2″ x 4″… he’s now doing a 5 year prison term. She has 2 lazy sons who mooch off her constantly. She often only eats one meal a day so she can feed their sorry selves. And to top it off, her sister, the only person in the world who truly cares about her, is dying of cancer, and Doris stays up all night many nights each week taking care of her….yeah, she really has a nice home life!”
I’ve never forgotten what Doris used to say to me when I would start griping about my job on the loading dock at Craddock-Terry…”David, whatever you do, remember you’re working for the Good Lord!”
Doris died some years back. I’m sure Jesus met her at the gates of heaven. And I’m sure he hugged her and told her, “Well done, my good and faithful servant–enter into the joy of your Master!”
Doris certainly made an indelible impression for Christ upon my life. She was one who was never ashamed to raise the cross of Christ where she worked. George McLeod once commented, “I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the centre of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves, on the town garbage heap, at a crossroad so cosmopolitan they had to write his title in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. It was the kind of place where cynics talk smut, thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. That’s where he died. That’s who he died for. And that’s where Christians ought to be Christian and what Christians ought to be about.”
To raise the cross of Christ is to love others sacrificially as Christ loved the world sacrificially on that cross. It is to see our workplace as an opportunity to live out this sacrificial love in the way we treat our colleagues.
We can be an encouraging, caring, Christ-like presence for others, no matter how crappy our jobs may be.
This is the occupational expectation and the common calling we all share–to raise the cross of Christ wherever we labor, that others might know his saving love.
Remember these words of the Apostle Paul:
23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
And all God’s people said, “Amen!”

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