15 Pentecost/Year C/ September 18, 2022
Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 113; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Gospel: Luke 16: 1-13
Today’s collect is a favorite of mine…I realize you have probably heard me say that many times before…so maybe I should edit my words a bit…and say… that today’s collect is one of many favorites of mine!
Let’s listen to today’s collect again:
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I find great comfort in this prayer....because it seems to be an honest confession of our struggle between earthly things and heavenly things….it seems to name our anxiety and fears about the many changes that are happening in our lives, moment by moment…and day by day….and it gives me hope….that there is a love that endures forever, for every one of us…a love and assurance found in the presence of prayer, with each other, and in our faith and trust in the Holy One who hears our prayers, always…and helps us to live as a people of hope…
I don’t know about you, but over the years, and now, my prayers have become much more “real” and honest….and have taken on a whole different meaning…as I continue to face the changes and challenges that come with not only living through these pandemic times, but by being a living, and breathing human being…and as I continue to observe the changes and challenges that many of God’s beloved people are facing every day…families are being separated from each other, in so many different ways; people are struggling daily to make ends meet, and find affordable housing and childcare; children are growing up in an unsteady and confusing world; some of our elders are feeling alone and afraid as their increasing years bring them weakness, distress, or isolation; there are siblings among us who are struggling with addiction and mental health disorders, there are people out of work, there are people and countries at war with one another…there are neighbors who are poor, oppressed, silenced, living in homes marked by daily violence…all around us, we see changes unfolding in our creation that are a concern for all life on this earth… the list of changes and challenges is endless…
Yes…the changes and challenges can feel overwhelming at times…and seem endless and even hopeless…
Yet, in the midst of this anxiety and uncertainty…there is help…there is hope…there is a hope that we can cling to… A hope and a vision to hold fast to, a life worth living for…as we turn our hearts and minds back to God, whose love made known to us, through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has the power to transform us by this Love and unite us all as a people who can trust and believe in this vision and assurance of hope… in this life, and in the life yet to come…
In the midst of all this, there is a Love that transcends all of our understanding…a love that endures…way longer…than any uncertainties, challenges and sufferings of this earthly place…
A love and assurance found in the presence of prayer, with each other, and in our faith and trust in the Holy One who hears our prayers, always…and helps us to live as a people of hope…
A love and assurance found in the presence of prayer…in communal prayer…all of us…joined together…supporting one another, loving one another…helping one another to navigate this ever-changing…ever-challenging life we journey through together…
My remembrance of prayer in my early days growing up in the Episcopal Church were just prayers I read…I was just caught up in the routine and ritual of the weekly service of prayers…. and didn’t give much deeper thought to them…
But, even so…I never stopped praying. I found comfort in knowing that I was always in the company of so many others, the living and the dead, praying alongside of me. And in those times, when my prayers were feeling empty, or inadequate, knowing that there was someone else praying for me, and with me… gave me comfort and hope…
In the Episcopal Church, we believe that communal prayer (praying together with others) always comes before personal prayer, as the first informs the second. While we maintain the importance of personal prayer, we hold a continuing concern that prayer not become individualistic or privatized. Prayers of intercession are central to our common life and are part of every worship experience, whether it is the Holy Eucharist, Morning Prayer to any other rite in the Book of Common Prayer. (From A People Called Episcopalians)
I think about how a lifetime of communal prayer, has shaped my personal prayers. As I mentioned earlier…my prayers in recent years have taken on a whole different life…real and honest…and no hiding behind anything…they are raw, at times, full of anguish for others, full of hope for others…they are what they are…I no longer search for the perfect words to express my thoughts in prayer…God already knows my thoughts…my disappointments, my worries, my struggles, my concerns, my sins, my hopes and my dreams…
The beauty and power of communal prayer is that we realize our connectedness to one another…we are accountable to one another, we pray alongside each other, for each other, we support one another, we lift one another up into the presence of God’s all-encompassing love, made known to us through Jesus, and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; we remind one another, that even while we are placed among things that are passing away, we can hold fast to those things that shall endure…Love…God’s love...for every one of us…endures forever…
The past few weeks, we’ve included some special litany of prayers, and prayer focuses, as part of our prayers of the people time…September is set aside as National Recovery Month and National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Today, I invite you to be mindful of those who are struggling with substance misuse and mental health disorders… I invite you to think about the ways you might be called on to support anyone who is struggling emotionally and spiritually…Take some time to listen and to learn about their struggles and how you can be a support to them; light a candle as you remember them in your prayers, participate in the community events that help us to be more aware of the needs of those around us, and to be there to stand with them and walk with them…assuring them, they are not alone…be a living, breathing sign of hope for them…be a living, breathing sign of a prayer answered for them…
Every week, we pray for a variety of needs, concerns, hopes and thanksgivings…Not only in the prayers of the people…but throughout our entire worship service…
We offer up our prayer requests, intercessions, thanksgivings, in our music, in our scripture readings, in our times of silence, in our time of confession, in our time of offering, in our time of celebrating the Eucharist, in our time of prayer at the conclusion of our service, and in our dismissal sentence, as we are sent out into the world, having been soaked in communal prayer, to be a living, breathing sign of hope to all those we will meet in our day to day lives…and for all those, we have yet to meet and share the good news of God’s love…
A love that endures forever, for every one of us…a love and assurance found in the presence of prayer, with each other, and in our faith and trust in the Holy One who hears our prayers, always…and helps us to live as a people of hope…
…As a people who are called to love one another, encourage one another and support one another, in whatever ways we can, beginning anew every day with a time of prayer…Prayer, that opens our eyes, ears, hearts and minds to the needs and hopes all around us, and transforms us to be faithful in small ways that lead to great joys… for all of God’s people…and all of creation…
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Hymn after sermon: Lift Every Voice and Sing II - #249 - Hear Our Prayer, O Lord
Hear our prayer, O Lord, hear our rpayer o Lord; Incline thine ear to us, and granbt us thy peace.
The Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska