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Trinity VI – Lord teach us how to pray

If I were to ask you if you could recite a text off by heart you might regale me with a poem, a passage from a book, or a speech from Shakespeare learned at school. If I then asked whether you knew any prayers off by heart you would probably say ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, ‘Y Gweddi’r Arglwydd’. Even if they do not know all the words, most people have heard the Lord’s Prayer. It is an important part of our Christian heritage.

Our readings this week focus on prayer. Christians know that God answers prayer. However, God may say, ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ or even ‘Not yet’. We may not like the answer, but one will be forthcoming. Prayer is both simple and mysterious. Simple, insofar as it is our conversation with the divine. Mysterious, in the fact that prayer changes us, and not the Almighty. So prayer is something of a paradox, being at the same time quite straightforward and also an enigma. We pray to God, but prayer doesn’t change God, it changes us. Pagans in Greece and Rome would bargain with their gods: if you do this for me, I will give you that. Jews and Christians, however, are profoundly different. We do not bargain with God, and we do not need to, because we are in a covenant relationship with our Heavenly Father who loves us.

It would be all too easy to see this morning’s first reading, where Abraham tries to save Sodom and Gomorrah, as being concerned with bargaining with God. However, prayer does not work in that way. What the reading from Genesis shows us is that we are in a covenant, a relationship with God, and that God is generous and loving. He wants the best for us.

The American Bishop Fulton J. Sheen summed it up as follows:

‘Prayer is helplessness casting itself on Power, infirmity leaning on Strength, misery reaching to Mercy, and a prisoner clamouring for Relief.’ Life Is Worth Living, Second Series (New York, 1954), p. 213.

In today’s Gospel the disciples ask Jesus:

“Arglwydd, dysg i ni weddïo, fel y dysgodd Ioan yntau i’w ddisgyblion ef.”

‘Lord teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples’ (Lk 11:1).

Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins. They both preached about the need for both repentance and belief in the Good News. Also, they both taught their disciples how to pray. Virtually all Christian prayer can be described by one or more of four phrases: ‘please’, ‘thank you’, ‘I’m sorry’, and ‘I love you’. God does not need our prayers, we do. This is because praying allows us to open our hearts and lives to God, allowing Him to change us. Jesus answers His disciple’s request to teach them how to pray as follows:

Ac meddai wrthynt, “Pan weddïwch, dywedwch: ‘Dad, sancteiddier dy enw; deled dy deyrnas; dyro inni o ddydd i ddydd ein bara beunyddiol; a maddau inni ein pechodau, oherwydd yr ydym ninnau yn maddau i bob un sy’n troseddu yn ein herbyn; a phaid â’n dwyn i brawf.’” 

He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray: ‘“Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test.”’  (Lk 11:2-4)

The version of Jesus’ words we are most familiar with is that found in Matthew’s Gospel, which is slightly longer than Luke’s prayer. But both contain the same elements. The prayer begins by calling God, ‘Abba’ ‘Father’ ‘Tâd’. Such a term expresses our close relationship with our Creator. The idea that God’s name should be kept holy goes hand in hand with the desire that God’s Kingdom may come. Christianity is all about the establishment of the Kingdom of God: that God may rule over our hearts and our lives.

Next, we ask God to feed us, to forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us, and to free us from temptation. It is important to note that every celebration of the Eucharist begins with us all acknowledging our own shortcomings and asking God’s forgiveness. Saying sorry to God is important, because it keeps us humble, and helps to maintain our relationship with God, and with each other. We all make mistakes, you do, I certainly do. Recognizing this is the start of a process which allows us to grow in virtue and holiness, through God’s love. The high point of the Eucharist is when God feeds us with His Body and Blood, providing us with spiritual food to nourish our souls. All our food is a gift from God, and being thankful for it, just like being humble, helps to keep us close to God. If you don’t already do so, try to get into the habit of saying a few words of thanks to God before you eat a meal.

There are good reasons why Christians regularly pray this prayer, which we call The Lord’s Prayer, Y Gweddi’r Arglwydd. Jesus has told us how to pray and gave us these words. Similarly, we celebrate the Eucharist because Jesus told us to ‘do this in memory of Him’ and so we do. We use the Lord’s Prayer when we pray, because it honours God, and it forms us as Christians. We will soon pray it together before Communion, asking that God will continue the process of transforming us day by day into His image and likeness. 

In the Gospel reading Jesus continues to teach His disciples using parables. In this narrative, there is a late-night hospitality emergency. A friend is on a journey (just like Jesus and His disciples), and arrives at your home (just like Jesus visited Mary and Martha last week). Naturally you want to be hospitable as a sign of your friendship. So, you pop round to a next door and ask to borrow some food. However, the initial response you receive from your neighbour is not very positive:

‘Paid â’m blino; y mae’r drws erbyn hyn wedi ei folltio, a’m plant gyda mi yn y gwely; ni allaf godi i roi dim iti’, rwy’n dweud wrthych, hyd yn oed os gwrthyd ef godi a rhoi rhywbeth iddo o achos eu cyfeillgarwch, eto oherwydd ei daerni digywilydd fe fydd yn codi ac yn rhoi iddo gymaint ag sydd arno ei eisiau.’

“Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you.” I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants. (Lk 11:7-8)

Jesus shows that, despite the neighbour not wanting to get up and be bothered with the request for food, because the person is persistent and stays there, disregarding the initial reluctance, his request is granted. Perseverance is rewarded. The point Our Lord is making is that God hears our prayers and answers our requests. We might need to ask more than once, and commit time to prayer, but we will not be ignored.

‘Ac yr wyf fi’n dweud wrthych: gofynnwch, ac fe roddir i chwi; ceisiwch, ac fe gewch; curwch, ac fe agorir i chwi. Oherwydd y mae pawb sy’n gofyn yn derbyn, a’r sawl sy’n ceisio yn cael, ac i’r un sy’n curo agorir y drws.’

‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him.’ (Lk 11:9-10)

The phrase ‘knock, and the door will be opened to you’ ‘curwch, ac fe agorir i chwi’ reinforces the teaching in the parable. The neighbour opens the door and gives the requested provisions. Jesus then develops His teaching, by drawing a comparison between the lesser and the greater. This is a common rabbinic practice:

‘Os bydd mab un ohonoch yn gofyn i’w dad am bysgodyn, a rydd ef iddo sarff yn lle pysgodyn? Neu os bydd yn gofyn am wy, a rydd ef iddo ysgorpion? Am hynny, os ydych chwi, sy’n ddrwg, yn medru rhoi rhoddion da i’ch plant, gymaint mwy y rhydd y Tad nefol yr Ysbryd Glân i’r rhai sy’n gofyn ganddo.’

‘What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ (Lk 11:11-13)

The Good News of the Kingdom is that God answers prayer. Not only that, but He gives us more than we ask Him for. God also grants us the Holy Spirit. This is an important concept in the wider narrative of Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, where the Church is filled with God’s Spirit. God answers prayer because He is our Creator, and we are in a special relationship with Him. In today’s Old Testament reading God listens to Abraham’s pleas for mercy and then grants them. 

Turning to St Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, the apostle can proclaim baptism as the way to salvation, because this enables us to share in Christ’s Death and Resurrection, and the forgiveness of our sins:

‘Y mae wedi ei bwrw hi o’r neilltu; fe’i hoeliodd ar y groes.’ 

‘he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross’ (Col 2:14)

God cancels our debt by paying it Himself, overcoming evil and sin through an outpouring of healing love. This is the demonstration that God loves us and hears our prayers, and so we continue to remember the Passion through our celebration of the Eucharist. God forgives our sins, and gave His life for us, nailing our sins to the Cross. He suffered in His flesh so that we who have died with Christ in our baptism may also share His risen life. That is why Jesus can assure us that God listens to our prayers and answers them, giving us the good things we need.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, through practising both prayer and action, may we be agents of God’s love and grace in the world. May we transform our homes, our communities, and the whole world. Filled with God’s generous love, compassion and forgiveness, let us give glory to God, Duw Dad, Duw y Mab, a Duw yr Ysbryd Glân. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I’r hwn y priodoler pob gogoniant, arglwyddiaeth, a gallu, yn awr, ac yn oes oesoedd. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion and power, now and forever. Amen.

James Tissot – The Lord’s Prayer [Brooklyn Museum]
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Trinity III

There is one thing that all people in Britain like to discuss: the weather. Once we have greeted someone and asked how they are, the next thing we often say concerns the weather. This is understandable. The weather has a big impact on how we feel, what we wear, and what we do. It is particularly important, especially in the countryside. Rural life is dependant on the sun and the rain, so it is natural that they are the subject of our conversations.

Jesus taught using parables. He told stories which used people’s lives to explain about who God is, and what a relationship with Him looks and feels like. In today’s Gospel Our Lord uses two images to explain the growth of the Kingdom of God. The first is agricultural. Jesus has just described people’s journey of faith in the Parable of the Sower. Now He again uses the image of crop-growing. After the farmer scatters the seed something amazing happens:

‘He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.’

‘ac yna’n cysgu’r nos a chodi’r dydd, a’r had yn egino ac yn tyfu mewn modd nas gŵyr ef.’ (Mk 4:27)

The growth of seeds is a miracle of nature. I still remember as a child sprinkling cress seeds on damp paper. After a few weeks, something grew which was good to eat. As a parable for the Kingdom, and therefore the growth of the Church, the Parable of the Seed reminds us that while we are called to action, there are other forces at work. God has a key part to play in the growth of His kingdom. Even though we may not necessarily understand what is happening, the point is that God takes what we do, and uses it to make His Kingdom grow. Our efforts are not all that matters. Christ then develops His teaching:

‘The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.’

‘Ohoni ei hun y mae’r ddaear yn dwyn ffrwyth, eginyn yn gyntaf, yna tywysen, yna ŷd llawn yn y dywysen. A phan fydd y cnwd wedi aeddfedu, y mae’n bwrw iddi ar unwaith â’r cryman, gan fod y cynhaeaf wedi dod.’ (Mk 4:28-29)

These two sentences cover the entirety of human history from Jesus to the end of time. The harvest coincides with God’s judgement at the Second Coming of Our Lord. This is also the subject of the second reading this morning. St Paul writes:

‘For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.’

‘Oherwydd rhaid i bawb ohonom ymddangos gerbron brawdle Crist, er mwyn i bob un dderbyn ei dâl yn ôl ei weithredoedd yn y corff, ai da ai drwg.’ (2Cor 5:10)

How we live our lives matters. What we say and do not only forms our own character but it also affects the world around us. Christians are called to be people of love, and to share that love with others so that the Kingdom of God continues to grow.

Jesus then explains what the Kingdom is like, using the image of the mustard seed:

‘which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

‘pan heuir ef ar y ddaear, hwn yw’r lleiaf o’r holl hadau sydd ar y ddaear, ond wedi ei hau, y mae’n tyfu ac yn mynd yn fwy na’r holl lysiau, ac yn dwyn canghennau mor fawr nes bod adar yr awyr yn gallu nythu dan ei gysgod.’ (Mk 4:31-32)

The Kingdom of God starts small with a few disciples, but grows into something that encompasses the whole world. It is like a mustard seed which starts off being only a couple of millimetres wide, but then increases in size reaching up to twelve feet in height. This plant may have a small beginning, but it contains within itself the possibility of remarkable growth. The image of birds nesting in its shade signals divine blessings, as today’s passage from Ezekiel makes clear:

‘And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest.’

‘Bydd adar o bob math yn nythu ynddo, ac yn clwydo yng nghysgod ei gangau.’ (Ezek 17:23)

Jesus takes the imagery of Ezekiel’s prophecy and shows how it will be brought to fulfilment in and through the Church. Such is the generous nature of God, that He gives us a place where we can be safe, and where we can grow in faith. By hearing God’s word, and by praying together, and by sharing in the Eucharist, we are nourished and strengthened to live as a Christian community. 

So, my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us rejoice that God has made His Kingdom a reality. Let us work together with each other and with Our Heavenly Father to make His Kingdom come. Let us join with our Christian brothers and sisters and the heavenly host in singing the praises of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.

James Tissot The Sower (Brooklyn Museum)