St. Margaret's Sermon Archive
Easter VII - Caron A. Gwynn - 05/20/07
Text: Acts 16:16-34; John 17: 20-26 (NRSV)
May the words of my mouth and the mediations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight.
In the name of the one holy and undivided Trinity.
Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer,
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him (God) whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless;
…Believe His (God’s) word and trust His (God’s) grace,
I’ll cast on Him (God) my ev-‘ry care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer.
(Text copied and adopted from “Sweet Hour of Prayer” by William W.Walford, #442 in African American Hymnal)
It is comforting to know that others pray for us on our behalf and that we can turn to prayer for all circumstances. The practice of having an intimate conversation and shared time with God is not only for Sundays in church, as a gathered faith community, but is to be ongoing like the apostle Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing.”
In the Acts reading today, the prisoners along with the jailer listened to Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns to God. Paul and Silas put their fate in the hands of God through prayer. The prayers of Paul and Silas afforded them freedom from the jail through a miraculous means, an earthquake, which released their shackled chains. However, rather than becoming free men immediately and escape, Paul and Silas opted to seize the opportunity to spread the gospel and baptize the jailer and his entire household at the request of the jailer.
Paul and Silas through their witness of faith and hope as followers of Jesus captured the attention of the jailer, a non-believer in the world, by their demonstration of love, compassion, and truth while the jailer inquired, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They responded, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Just prior to this, the jailer was going to kill himself out of fear rather than be killed and blamed for their escape by the magistrates in the town. However, Paul and Silas protected the jailer by not escaping. Thus, the jailer saw the revelation of God and obtained a life-changing alternative through Paul and Silas who were different from those in his community. The grateful jailer could see that these two men were not going to take advantage of him, which they easily could have done. They were not ruthless and cold heated like the attacking community that jailed them, in the first place, for freeing a slave girl from her exploitive owners. The power and the grace of God were revealed in that jail.
The newly converted jailer and his household were now apart of a wider community of united faith believers with Paul and Silas in Asia Minor. They are now united as one in relationship to God and Jesus. They now join Paul and Silas as being among the future believers that Jesus prayed for in his intimate prayer to God, which we heard in the gospel of John today.
Jesus prayed for all future believers and for the church, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. “As you God, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me…I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Jesus, a visionary, was already thinking ahead of the future generations of believers that would follow his disciples who would build and fill the Universal Church. Those future disciples and faithful community of believers such as Paul and Silas also included us. We are hearing this lesson after Ascension and before Pentecost in our church calendar. Jesus, the great teacher and leader passed on the torch or the baton to his followers and to us. For this hand off, Jesus offers strength, courage, and hope for what is to come in taking on the task of building the church. Jesus takes the matter right to God through prayer on our behalf and all future believers in this world. Our Savior knew the disciples and all future believers including us would not be able to carry out this task without the power of God.
Just think about it, Jesus had so much confidence in future believers and so much love for us. This high priestly prayer that Jesus said to God was for you. Jesus is our great intercessor because he and God are one bonded in a relationship by love as one. The Church Universal is the benefactor of this love because it is only through the power and the grace of God that the Church can survive and thrive during all circumstances it faces in this broken world today. Jesus placed the Church in the hands of God with his prayer for future believers, that “they all may be one” such that the revelation of God is visible in the world through the mission of the Church. This is how Christ is with and among us always in our world.
Of urgency was that the world would witness the solidarity of oneness among all believers within faithful communities such that the teachings of Jesus enhance the presence of Jesus, which would also make the presence of God revealed because God and Jesus are one.
The world has fallen short of this target of oneness and unity in the world. We live in a war torn world, see worldwide poverty, hear of loss of life in our neighborhoods and learn of all sorts of inequalities and injustices inflicted upon individuals of all ages within our churches, schools, places of employment and homes.
However, like Paul and Silas who exhibited courage and changed lives through prayer among those who were different from them in our contemporary time, there was the former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall who changed lives by taking the cause of civil rights and equality to the judicial system throughout the South. He filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of the NAACP’s legal Defense and Educational Fund. Standing on faith, strength, truth, and yes prayer, he won a landmark decision that ended segregation of all schools in the1954 Civil Rights lawsuit of Brown vs. Board of Education in this country. Justice Thurgood Marshall exhibited the love of God for all people and placed his life on the line for justice and equality such that all people can live as one in harmony and peace in the world.
We are to live out and into the mission of the church, which calls us to live in unity as one with each other through the love of Jesus so that God is revealed in this world. Solidarity such as this is the glue that can bind us and solidify us in a loving and obedient relationship with God through prayerful reconciliation in our broken world and local communities. “Prayer is the raising of the mind and the heart to God.”(Copied from Discovering the Book of Common Prayer, A Hands on Approach, by Sue Careless, p. 49)
We can be thankful that Jesus prayed of us and for the church by placing us in the hands of God who has sovereign power to make all things happen for the good within our broken world. Jesus knew his disciples, all future believers and us would be in need of prayer to continue the job left of us to do in this world. Sweet hour of prayer then, now, and always can be refreshing.
In the coming days and through the summer, I ask you to discern prayerfully where you may be called for the various ministries here at St. Margaret’s. St. Margaret’s is in God’s hands and yours to carry out the task of the mission of this church as we strive for unity and oneness that Jesus shared with God bonded by love for the communities we serve far and near.
Let us pray:
Eternal and Ever Gracious God, you blessed your servant Thurgood with special gifts of grace and courage to understand and speak the truth as it has been revealed to us by Jesus Christ. Grant that by his example we may also know and seek to realize that we are all children, brothers, and sisters of Jesus Christ, whom you sent to teach us to love one another (The proposed Collect for Thurgood Marshall printed in the Washington Window, May 2007).
In your kingdom, May our actions continuingly be the fruit of our faith, through our Savior Jesus Christ. (copied and adopted from A Guide to Prayer by Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck, p. 178)
AMEN.
May the words of my mouth and the mediations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight.
In the name of the one holy and undivided Trinity.
Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer,
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him (God) whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless;
…Believe His (God’s) word and trust His (God’s) grace,
I’ll cast on Him (God) my ev-‘ry care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer.
(Text copied and adopted from “Sweet Hour of Prayer” by William W.Walford, #442 in African American Hymnal)
It is comforting to know that others pray for us on our behalf and that we can turn to prayer for all circumstances. The practice of having an intimate conversation and shared time with God is not only for Sundays in church, as a gathered faith community, but is to be ongoing like the apostle Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing.”
In the Acts reading today, the prisoners along with the jailer listened to Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns to God. Paul and Silas put their fate in the hands of God through prayer. The prayers of Paul and Silas afforded them freedom from the jail through a miraculous means, an earthquake, which released their shackled chains. However, rather than becoming free men immediately and escape, Paul and Silas opted to seize the opportunity to spread the gospel and baptize the jailer and his entire household at the request of the jailer.
Paul and Silas through their witness of faith and hope as followers of Jesus captured the attention of the jailer, a non-believer in the world, by their demonstration of love, compassion, and truth while the jailer inquired, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They responded, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Just prior to this, the jailer was going to kill himself out of fear rather than be killed and blamed for their escape by the magistrates in the town. However, Paul and Silas protected the jailer by not escaping. Thus, the jailer saw the revelation of God and obtained a life-changing alternative through Paul and Silas who were different from those in his community. The grateful jailer could see that these two men were not going to take advantage of him, which they easily could have done. They were not ruthless and cold heated like the attacking community that jailed them, in the first place, for freeing a slave girl from her exploitive owners. The power and the grace of God were revealed in that jail.
The newly converted jailer and his household were now apart of a wider community of united faith believers with Paul and Silas in Asia Minor. They are now united as one in relationship to God and Jesus. They now join Paul and Silas as being among the future believers that Jesus prayed for in his intimate prayer to God, which we heard in the gospel of John today.
Jesus prayed for all future believers and for the church, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. “As you God, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me…I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Jesus, a visionary, was already thinking ahead of the future generations of believers that would follow his disciples who would build and fill the Universal Church. Those future disciples and faithful community of believers such as Paul and Silas also included us. We are hearing this lesson after Ascension and before Pentecost in our church calendar. Jesus, the great teacher and leader passed on the torch or the baton to his followers and to us. For this hand off, Jesus offers strength, courage, and hope for what is to come in taking on the task of building the church. Jesus takes the matter right to God through prayer on our behalf and all future believers in this world. Our Savior knew the disciples and all future believers including us would not be able to carry out this task without the power of God.
Just think about it, Jesus had so much confidence in future believers and so much love for us. This high priestly prayer that Jesus said to God was for you. Jesus is our great intercessor because he and God are one bonded in a relationship by love as one. The Church Universal is the benefactor of this love because it is only through the power and the grace of God that the Church can survive and thrive during all circumstances it faces in this broken world today. Jesus placed the Church in the hands of God with his prayer for future believers, that “they all may be one” such that the revelation of God is visible in the world through the mission of the Church. This is how Christ is with and among us always in our world.
Of urgency was that the world would witness the solidarity of oneness among all believers within faithful communities such that the teachings of Jesus enhance the presence of Jesus, which would also make the presence of God revealed because God and Jesus are one.
The world has fallen short of this target of oneness and unity in the world. We live in a war torn world, see worldwide poverty, hear of loss of life in our neighborhoods and learn of all sorts of inequalities and injustices inflicted upon individuals of all ages within our churches, schools, places of employment and homes.
However, like Paul and Silas who exhibited courage and changed lives through prayer among those who were different from them in our contemporary time, there was the former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall who changed lives by taking the cause of civil rights and equality to the judicial system throughout the South. He filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of the NAACP’s legal Defense and Educational Fund. Standing on faith, strength, truth, and yes prayer, he won a landmark decision that ended segregation of all schools in the1954 Civil Rights lawsuit of Brown vs. Board of Education in this country. Justice Thurgood Marshall exhibited the love of God for all people and placed his life on the line for justice and equality such that all people can live as one in harmony and peace in the world.
We are to live out and into the mission of the church, which calls us to live in unity as one with each other through the love of Jesus so that God is revealed in this world. Solidarity such as this is the glue that can bind us and solidify us in a loving and obedient relationship with God through prayerful reconciliation in our broken world and local communities. “Prayer is the raising of the mind and the heart to God.”(Copied from Discovering the Book of Common Prayer, A Hands on Approach, by Sue Careless, p. 49)
We can be thankful that Jesus prayed of us and for the church by placing us in the hands of God who has sovereign power to make all things happen for the good within our broken world. Jesus knew his disciples, all future believers and us would be in need of prayer to continue the job left of us to do in this world. Sweet hour of prayer then, now, and always can be refreshing.
In the coming days and through the summer, I ask you to discern prayerfully where you may be called for the various ministries here at St. Margaret’s. St. Margaret’s is in God’s hands and yours to carry out the task of the mission of this church as we strive for unity and oneness that Jesus shared with God bonded by love for the communities we serve far and near.
Let us pray:
Eternal and Ever Gracious God, you blessed your servant Thurgood with special gifts of grace and courage to understand and speak the truth as it has been revealed to us by Jesus Christ. Grant that by his example we may also know and seek to realize that we are all children, brothers, and sisters of Jesus Christ, whom you sent to teach us to love one another (The proposed Collect for Thurgood Marshall printed in the Washington Window, May 2007).
In your kingdom, May our actions continuingly be the fruit of our faith, through our Savior Jesus Christ. (copied and adopted from A Guide to Prayer by Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck, p. 178)
AMEN.