Saturday, October 15, 2011

October 9, 2011 - Pray About Everything - UMW Sunday Message


Pray about Everything
Philippians 4: 1-9
Ginny Spring - UMW Sunday

[Note that we do not clean up formatting when we post our sermons. They are pasted in simply as they appear for the most part.]

Paul wrote to his followers in Philippi: Do not worry about anything; let your requests be made known to God in everything by prayer.
  In other words: Do not worry about anything; pray about everything!
            Words that are easy to say.  Much harder to carry out.

Let’s consider what we, as individuals, worry about.  What keeps you awake at night?
 There are a wealth of problems that come to my mind:
a test at school;                       a health concern;        a broken family relationship; 
a bullying situation;                  a job loss                    a child’s recalcitrant behavior
 a domestic violence situation            

How do we react to worries…..?   
Whether we are a young adult, teen, or older person, do we
     : keep our anxieties within ourselves: always in our thoughts;
              letting them hang like a gray cloud in our day; letting them erode our spirits and                          perhaps eventually affect our bodies?
    : talk about them to others
             : not expecting a solution; just wanting to unload; or
              : in hopes of finding a way to resolve the situation?

      Psychologists tell us that one of the more healthy approaches is
                        to simply spell out what is disturbing us.   
By clarifying what it is, we may already be relieving some stress.
By writing down our concern,  perhaps we will see what it is that we should be doing differently; or we may realize that we have little control over the situation.

And then there is Paul’s approach: pray about everything…offer it to the Lord in supplication.  If you are at all inclined to talk about your worries to a friend, a teammate, or a relative, Paul is suggesting that we talk about them with the God Who loves us!
           
        God Who has always loved each one of us is often hungry to be more involved in our lives.  We give thanks for the start of a new day and thanks at mealtime.  On Sunday each week we gather in shared worship and praise.   Here is an opportunity to engage Him more fully in our lives.         
By telling God  how helpless we find ourselves,  we are in conversation with God.
                        We are NOT praying for divine intercession…
            :expecting God to intervene and rescue us from our troubles;
            :expecting  God to take away the problem.
           
We  are praying : to ask for the grace to adjust our attitude;
                              : to ask for the grace to accept what we cannot change;
                              : to acknowledge that we cannot do this alone and need His                                                      inspiration and support.
Our Affirmation of Faith states:  “We are not alone…God is with us.”
Young Pastor Emily reminded us: “God doesn’t need my words, to know my heart.”       
Would just sitting still and  being silent open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and help us feel God’s Presence? 

Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Philippi from which we read a passage today was written about  thirty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  You may already know that Philippi was a city on the northeast coast of modern day Greece.   Paul urges these early believers to help each other on their spiritual journey.

Two spiritual leaders shared the desire to spread the good news of Christ’s way of living,  but perhaps they were at odds about some detail.
If there were indeed such a difference of opinion, their falling-out might be affecting the unity of the Christian community at Philippi.  Paul wrote to all of his followers there and urged them not to be worried by such divisions, but instead, help the two members reconcile their differences.  Their names were Euodia and Syntynche.

This week I went online and was able to find a u-tube clip of these same women.   It was   a conversation they shared years later in their lives.  Let’s listen in….

SYNTCHE:  Euodia, it is so relaxing to sit with you here outdoors in the    afternoon.   I always look forward to chatting with you.

EUODIA:  Yes, we’ve been friends for years , ever since our children were youngsters.  Now they all have their own growing families.

SYNTYCHE:  Of course, there was that stretch of time when we weren’t even talking to one another.
          I remember being very upset with you then but to tell you the truth, I      can’t even recall what the reason was!!

EUODIA:  It’s ironic, isn’t it?   Here we are such close friends but years ago we    did have our differences.   What I recall is your  propensity to worry about         change.

SYNTYCHE:  Change?

EUODIA:  Things were looking  promising for our faith community .  Clement and         the others were working  hard teaching what “following Jesus” actually         meant. 
          Most of us enjoyed welcoming other people to hear Clement          preach and    to our prayer services.   You, on the other hand, became more and more reluctant to open your heart to people from different backgrounds.

SYNTYCHE:  I probably didn’t feel comfortable with them.

EUODIA: That could well have been true, Syntiche.   Eventually your attitude      made many of us feel uncomfortable.   I wondered how you were going to   understand people of different lifestyles if you did not even want to         spend time with them!  Let alone,  worship with them!

SYNTYCHE:   Then when Paul wrote from prison in Rome, he reminded us to      focus on the things that were good and righteous in other people.
           All other people.  (Turning to look at her friend) You really helped me     work through that, Euodia.

EUODIA:  (smiling broadly)         And do you remember our friend, Margaret?
                    She insisted:
          :  If we could find only the good in those whom we consider different,
                   we would be unstoppable Christ followers!

                   Your attitude changed completely. 
                   After that, you kept in mind that God loves every one of us.

                   But then you were exasperated with me when I refused to be                             baptized.

SYNTYCHE:  That’s right… you felt it would be enough for a person to say in                public that she believed that Jesus was the Son of God.  Everyone else        believed we should be immersed in the river, as Jesus was with John the           Baptizer.

EUODIA:   I was afraid of the water!  I had never gone in such deep water,         whether it was a lake or a river!  I did not think that God would want me        to do such a thing!

SYNTYCHE:  You really became quite outspoken and defiant, Euodia.

EUODIA:  Yes, and there were a lot of other people that agreed with me.
                   It became quite a group.

         
SYNTYCHE:  But we prayed about that together.  We talked about your anxiety.
          We asked God to give you the courage to get over your fear,
          to let the rest of us help you.  We were right there beside you. 

EUODIA:   Paul had urged us to not worry about anything, but instead pray        about everything.   (Laughing together)  Well, we sure did that!


Of course, we have no idea of their actual difference of opinion, but
through all the centuries, there have been divergent views about aspects of the direction of the church.  What held true then, as it does now, is that we as followers of Christ are called to open discussion and respectful hearing of views that differ from our own.  The
lesson for us is that they turned to prayer.

If  reconciliation is true of church community, it is also true of families…and other social groups that we are take part in. 

Rather than division, Paul urges us to focus on the things that are decent, admirable and worthy of praise in people.  Paul was interested in attracting followers to Jesus’ way.  He wanted the congregation to be filled with joy and to be known for their joy in the Lord.
            Just as in the first century, we as present-day Christians should
            keep in mind how our behaviors and words impress or do not impress
            people of other faiths and people who have no religious affiliation.                          They know we are Christians. 
We need to be sure to share our joy!

Let’s let others know the empowerment and inspiration found in prayer.
Let’s avail ourselves more frequently of the transforming power of prayer.

Our mission statement reads that we are called to nurture people in their spiritual journey.  This may happen:
            : by becoming aware that someone else is anxious or hurting;
            : by being ready to take the time to listen to their concerns;
            : by being willing to take the time to walk with them during the rough                                spots of their life.

If you are sharing in confidence a deep concern with another person, may I suggest two methods of prayer that might be helpful.
a) The 1-2-3 plan.  This is not a get-rich plan; it is a spiritually enriching plan. This is when you propose that, no matter where you are in your day, both of you will pray
                        :for one purpose, for two minutes, at three o’clock each day.
                                                One/two/three. 
If three o’clock is not a realistic timeframe, make it a one/two/ten plan.   Whatever hour is realistic for you and this relative, friend or co-worker.
The important thing here is that the other person knows that someone is praying with them.
          By stopping your routine; freeing your mind of distractions, being focused in prayer about the concern, you are enriching your own spiritual life.
         
   Perhaps those few minutes would serve as a freeing time to lift the burden and feel His Presence.

b)  Secondly, if one of you prefers a formal prayer, may I propose reciting  the Serenity Prayer together:
 Lord, grant me: the courage to change those things that can be changed;
                          : the grace to accept those things that cannot be changed; and
                          : the wisdom to know the difference.

In closing, let’s try doing what Paul urged the early Christians to do:
            : engage God in all aspects of  our lives:  pray about everything
                        letting the Spirit of God uplift us;
            : help those around us deal with the struggles of their journey;
            : bring more joy to our own lives and to the lives of others by giving the gift of prayer.


           
           
















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