Worship Preview 4.19.26 Prayer: the Heart of the Matter Series Week 2 "Our Father..."

WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY: 10:30am. “Our Father… ”

Scriptures: Isaiah 64:1-12, John 14:1-15:11, and Luke 15. Rev. Christopher Eshelman preaching.

Last week we began exploring how we engage in prayer by hearing Jesus quoting Psalms from the cross, Paul’s exhortation to “Rejoice in the Lord always!” and Jesus giving his disciples the model of prayer known as the Lord’s Prayer as a part of the Sermon on the Mount. As we continue this week, we will expand on the idea of a “breath prayer” that I shared last week, adding a couple phrases – a name for God and our deepest request. I have a friend who is a choir director whose breath prayer is “Lord of Life (inhale) / Sing through me! (exhale).” I encourage you to be thinking about a favorite “name for God” and “deepest request.” I’ll tell a story at how I arrived at my most frequent “breath prayer” phrasing and we will begin working through each line of “the Prayer that Jesus taught us” to explore what Jesus is saying about the practice of prayer.

Jesus begins with “Our Father… “ and two things immediately become apparent – first: it’s plural, not singular. Jesus calls us to address “Our” Father. Last week we talked about prayer as being attentive to God’s presence and as we begin to explore the Lord’s Prayer with these first lines, we are made aware that presence is not just for us, but always in community with others. We are in relationship with God and others from the moment of our birth. We are a family! Certainly we can pray for ourselves or specifically for other individuals, but we always do so in a wider connection.

And Father cast that connection in a particular light. Father is Jesus’ most common name or metaphor for God. In his own prayers, speaking Aramaic, he often used the familiar “Abba” (see Mark 14:36 and John 17.) Jesus is in deep relationship with “the Father.” And, as evidenced by our Isaiah reading, Father is also a frequent way of talking about God in the Hebrew Scriptures. Other places God is referred to as Father include Deuteronomy, Proverbs, and Malachi, and people are referred to as “children of God” frequently, including passages in Exodus, Deuteronomy Psalms Isaiah, Hosea. God is the creator and the head of humanities household. God is provider. Yet this one way of talking about God is not complete or sufficient, even for “the Son,” Jesus. As we’ve explored recently, Jesus uses many metaphors and parables to teach about who God is and what God is like. During Lent I focused on the images in John 10 – “I Am the Good Shepherd” and “I am the Gate.” Here in John 14 and 15, Jesus uses another pair. I’m having us read this large section together because we often hear parts of it in isolation. In the Revised Common Lectionary John 14 and 15 are spread out over 6 different Sundays falling in different parts of the liturgical year – I think it is important to hear them in a connected way to really understand what Jesus is telling his disciples (that is, us!) First, he says that if we have seen him we have seen the Father – that is, Jesus reveals what God is like. And then, to further explain that and again emphasize relationship and connection, he says “I am the Vine and you are the branches” and describes God as the Vinedresser or Vine-keeper who prunes. The goal is “fruitfulness” and we are told that apart form this connection, we can do nothing! When we read in Paul’s writing last week “I can do all things through him who strengthen me” it was saying the same thing, as is the famous passage from Acts 17 where Paul says “we live, move, and have our being” in God!

As John Wesley described it, God’s grace surrounds, supports, enables, and guides us, even before we are aware of it – yet we are free to resist as well. When we receive God’s grace, when we actively nourish our connection (be it the image of Vine or the image of parent/child or Isaiah’s notion of a potter and clay, we grow stronger. In fact, Jesus claims that his disciples, who truly keep his commandments (such as loving one another) will do “the works that I do’ and greater works than these” if we truly live, ask, and work “in Christ’s name.” And to further enable that, we are promised growing relationship through the gift of the Holy Spirit. These overlapping metaphors and ways of talking about relationship lead me back to one of my favorite parables – which we often call the “Prodigal Son.” It comes in Luke 15, immediately after the “lost sheep” and “lost coin” stories. It’s about two “lost” sons – one to decadence and selfishness, one to pride, anger, and control. And it’s about a father who loves both sons enough to stay connected!

Obviously, not every human father is a good father, but even those of us with rougher relationships with our families can feel ideal presented here – and appreciate the other metaphor’s offered if that particular one doesn’t “work.” Jesus is telling us what God is like – in words and actions. Prayer is about how we receive and respond to this good news. I hope you’ll join us as we continue this Easter series.

Christ is risen indeed! In life, in death, in life beyond death. God is with us! We are not alone. Thanks be to God. Amen! Wherever you are on your walk of faith, you are invited to bring your whole self to worship at 10:30am each Sunday. 301 S. National. Blessings on your journey!

UPCOMING EVENTS: FEEDING FAMILIES IN HIS NAME: Wednesday, April 15 - A free, no obligation meal is served “to-go” style from underneath our portico from 5:15pm to 6:15pm each Wednesday, prepared each week by our members as well as several area churches and community groups. We aim to provide 400 meals per week.