Persistence in Prayer
Let us pray. Holy God, open our eyes to your presence. Open our ears to your call. Open our hearts to your love. Amen.
Over the past few Sundays, the lessons have focused on what it means to be a disciple and a follower of Jesus. Of how we define neighbor, particularly in times of great social division, and how we offer hospitality, care and welcome to the stranger. Our scripture readings today invite us into deep reflection on faith and prayer and point to the importance of our relationship with our God. Our reading from Genesis reveals a God who desires and allows for a profound personal relationship, a relationship where humanity can engage in heartfelt sharing and unreserved dialogue. Abraham’s tenacious pleas for Sodom exemplify this closeness. He approaches God not with fear and trembling, but with an earnestness that allows for negotiation, a little haggling for a favorable outcome. Fifty. Forty. Twenty. Ten. This bold intercession though ultimately is unable to save Sodom. But it reveals the depth of the bond between Abraham and God as Abraham dares to grapple with God over questions of righteousness and justice.
This is not the impersonal distant God of Job issuing decrees from the heart of a whirlwind. It’s the God who, like with Jonah and Moses, welcomes challenging conversations, empowering Abraham to participate in the larger struggle for morality and for meaning. Abraham boldly engaged God in a debate for Sodom and Gomorrah, appealing to divine justice and pleading for the innocent. His unshakeable advocacy demonstrated a faith deeply rooted in God’s righteousness and compassion. Now, the answers to prayers and hopes may not always align with our expectations and wants, but we have an ability to lament, question and wrestle with God. Jesus demonstrated this when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for his suffering to be taken away, a prayer that received a different outcome. However, his prayer concluded with a declaration, “Not my will, but your will be done”.
Like Abraham’s intimate dialogue with God in Genesis, the prayer Jesus taught his disciples is rooted in a personal familiar relationship. Luke gives us vague introductions to this passage because the particular time and place are not important to its meaning or its purpose. The text only notes that Jesus and the disciples are in a certain place and presents this event as being prompted by something very ordinary in the life of Jesus. It is simply something that happened after Jesus was finished praying. You see, spending time in prayer was a normal practice for Jesus. From various accounts in the gospels, it’s clear that prayer was a regular and essential practice in Jesus’ life. He often retreated to a lonely or solitary places, such as mountains or wilderness areas, to commune with God. His prayer life was a cornerstone of his relationship with the Father and served as a powerful example for his disciples. So, after Jesus had finished praying, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray. Just as John also taught his disciples.” So Jesus taught them, “When you pray, say, ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us and do not bring us to the time of trial’.” Instead of formal titles, Jesus begins with the tender address of ‘Father’, “Abba” in Aramaic. It is a familiar name that moves away from a distant God and instead suggests that God is fully present in the world, both in times of evil and those of good.
There is this sense of intimacy reminiscent of the relationship we saw between Abraham and God in Genesis. Jesus then teaches the disciples what to pray and offers encouragement to keep at prayer, to be persistent even when we are discouraged. The parable of the persistent friend assures that God hears the prayers and responds generously. For prayer is not merely private devotion. It is a powerful act of justice. It is a way of calling upon God to intervene in the midst of oppression and to strengthen our resolve for change. The disciples request for guidance in prayer speaks to a common human experience. Many of us have faced seasons when connecting with God in prayer felt difficult or even challenging, even to carve out a time to pray. We can all have days when our hearts feel heavy and words won’t come, when we long for another to pray on our behalf. But the beautiful truth is that prayer is a journey of faith and Jesus assures us, everyone who asks, receives. The one who seeks, finds. And the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Let us hold fast through this promise and persevere in our own prayer lives.
The Lord’s Prayer encompasses praise, seeking God’s reign and requests for daily needs, forgiveness and guidance. It invites our participation in the world’s transformation. It calls for an active involvement in the pursuit of justice, ensuring everyone’s needs are met, and extending forgiveness. This prayer presents a vision for the world and encourages its building up of the kingdom with God’s guidance. In the same way that we were reminded in our reading from Colossians of the importance of our identity in Christ rooted and built up in him, to live lives aligned with Jesus’ embodiment of love, compassion, and justice. The message is clear. Persistence in prayer is powerful. We are reminded that faith is not merely a private affair, but a call to active engagement in the world, to seek justice and to intercede on behalf of all those who suffer. Like Abraham. the call is to be bold in prayer, challenging injustice, and advocating for the vulnerable, knowing that God is a just and compassionate God, who listens and responds to the cries of his people. It has been said that justice is the way to make the heart of God known.
Today we remember John Thomas Walker, servant of God, man of prayer, on what would’ve been his 100th birthday. His life of justice made the heart of God known. The life and ministry of John Walker exemplify the integration of faith and love and compassion and justice. Coming from humble beginnings from a small town in Georgia, Walker would become a teacher, a priest, a civil rights leader, ecumenical leader, statesman, canon, and dean of this cathedral, and the first African American bishop of this diocese. For many of us who grew up here, the election of John Walker on two separate occasions as Bishop and his role as the Dean of this cathedral were significant for black Episcopalians and the wider community of the possibility of greater leadership in the church.
He so often carried the burden of being the first in many roles with grace. Always being evaluated and acutely aware that his success would open doors for those who would follow. I stand as a beneficiary of him paving the way when he was the first black canon here. John Walker brought a perspective rooted in his experience as a black man who lived through the era of Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement, providing powerful voice for racial reconciliation and social justice within the Church. It was well known that he could engage anyone, but he never, he never shied away from difficult conversations.
In 1977, addressing the 82nd Convention of this diocese, he wrote, “The Church, like it’s Lord, must stand firmly at the point where the church and the world meet, and the church must address the issues of the day.” Bishop Walker tirelessly advocated for social justice, uniting diverse individuals under the banner of understanding. His advocacy also included speaking out against apartheid in South Africa, and his arrest. His life demonstrated the church’s role in transforming the world through acts of love. A true family man, we all benefited by his family sharing so much of him with us. Bishop Walker’s legacy continues to inspire and impact lives through Africare, the Bishop John T. Walker School for Boys and the John Walker Learning Center.
But that legacy also compels us to actively challenge injustice, to build bridges of understanding, empower the marginalized and envision and work towards a more equitable future for all. This is indeed as much needed now, if not more, than during Walker’s life. Like him, we are called to embody Jesus Christ by declaring and enacting a kingdom of righteousness and peace, especially among the vulnerable and outcast, the poor, the immigrant, our trans and queer siblings, and those whose human rights are systematically being withdrawn and repealed.
My dear siblings in Christ, we are called to examine our hearts for any complicity in systems of oppression. Called to work for racial reconciliation and justice. Called to use our voices to support policies that promote equality and dismantle discrimination. Called to remember that every human being bears the image of God and deserves dignity and respect. May we pray with persistence, act with courage, and strive for justice. May it be so. Amen.