The Prayer Wheel--Lead Us Not into Temptation. A sermon for University Congregational Church, Wichita, Kansas June 10, 2018

Traditional Word

Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;
    do not fret over those who prosper in their way,
    over those who carry out evil devices.

 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.
    Do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For the wicked shall be cut off,
    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
    though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.
 But the meek shall inherit the land,
    and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

–Psalms 37:7-11

Contemporary Word

What humility does for one is it reminds us that there are people before me. I have already been paid for. And what I need to do is prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who has yet to come but who may be here and needs me. --Maya Angelou

Tomorrow, June 11, is the one-year anniversary of my ordination to Christian ministry by this congregation. I’m am profoundly grateful to you for this honor and I greatly enjoy serving as your associate minister and working alongside the incomparable Rev. Dr. Robin McGonigle. This afternoon, Mayflower Congregational Church in Oklahoma City is ordaining one of my dearest friends from seminary, Sheridan Irick, and I am will be honored to represent this church at that service. Mayflower Congregational Church is where our founding minister’s son, Robin Meyers, is the senior minister and it is the church that ordained our own Gary Cox. Today’s ordination of Sheridan will be a celebration of the unbroken chain of our common faith and how this church is such an integral part of that chain. Life is good. And our shared future together is looking even brighter.

So, we’re continuing our deep-dive into the ancient spiritual practice of “The Prayer Wheel”. Last week Robin asked us to “let things drop” as we went about this week’s business. So, how many of you did just that? How many of us were able to “drop” those things we needed to drop…to forgive others and to forgive ourselves? To forget all the little, inconsequential hurts that pile up on us during the week. Or even to let go of the big hurt, the betrayal, the loss—all of the things that trap us into feelings of anger and resentment and immobility.

Or were we instead all tempted into holding on to all of the hurts—the wrongs—others have done us? Tempted into reminding ourselves daily that “someone done me wrong!” Or, “I deserve better than this”. Or, “why is this happening to me?” It sure is easy for us to stand up here and say “let it drop!” isn’t it? Especially when I am guilty of holding on to past resentments myself. It’s difficult being a minister AND a human.

          So in last week’s path, we prayed that the Divine Spirit would forgive us of our wrongs, whatever they may be. This week we are praying “Lead Us Not into Temptation”. We ask for help in avoiding new separation from God by praying to be spared temptation—for protection from anyone or anything, including ourselves, anything that might deceive us into losing sight of God. Or losing our focus on the divine connection we all crave. That is what I believe temptation to be—the desire to move out of right relationship with God.

The Islamic spiritual teacher, Eiman Al Zaabi, teaches us that we must expect uncertainty in our lives and then anchor that expectation to our connection with the divine. All change begins with a hopeful call to the divine—a prayer—a plea—a supplication—and underlying that supplication is a faith that holds that everything is going to be okay. Losing sight of our divine connection allows us to be tempted into acting in ways that aren’t necessarily good for us or those in our lives. And this temptation, I believe, is actually a temptation to choose the easy way. It’s easy to accept the status quo and say: 1) All is a God has intended “The Best of All Possible Worlds” as Voltaire wrote—except that humans co-create with God and our petty desires and greedy hearts influence the final product. 2) It’s also easy to blame the other. Except that the other is blaming us, so where does that get us? 3) It’s easy to be a bystander and to not get our hands dirty. It’s not my business, I don’t need to intervene--someone else will fix this. Except what if WE are the someone else? What if we are the ones who are needed to intervene and make things better? What if it really is up to us to change people’s hearts and minds and improve all of our lives? Our new tag line says that this church inspires faith and improves lives. What if that is a call for something in addition to our hygiene pantry? What if that means we make the world a better place for everyone in another, new way? There’s some stuff to think on as you pray about the temptations in your life—the things that keep you from focusing on what really matters.

The next day of meditation for the coming week focuses on the word “piety”. “Piety” has become a tarnished word today. It strikes us as a false, smarmy or ostentatious show of faith. A sentimental “Hallmark” card intended to prove that I am a better, more faithful and a more devoted believer than you. But in the classical sense, reclaiming this word, “piety” simply describes a humble and careful attention to God’s presence in this world and God’s desire for us to live full, robust lives. A pious person is Theo-centric (God-minded) without being showy about it. As modern Christians, living in a time of deep social turmoil and uncertainty, we must reclaim those words from our tradition that have been co-opted for less-than-noble purposes. The word pious is one of them.

          My Hebrew Bible professor had a couple of phrases that she used often that helped me frame some of my theological thinking in a way that created more space for serious reflection on these ideas. She often said that she was “Theo-centric” not “Christo-centric”. Her faith and work was centered on a God, a divine spirit, an unknowable mystery as opposed to a very knowable Christ. At least the messiah that our tradition has claimed as its own. So to me, to be pious simply means to be God-centered—Theo-centric—in our thoughts and in our actions. I actually see this in action every week in this room. When our choir sings so beautifully and I am lifted out of my anxiety and worry—that is God-centered. When Robin gives us that perfect prayer that allays my troubled mind and reminds me that life is good and that whatever is waiting me out in the real world, for a few moments, on Sunday mornings, I can forget all of that and be reminded that I am a child of God—a God that loves me very much. A God that loves all of us very much. These are all attributes of a pious spirit—a God-centered life. A life that yearns to return to God when our work on this world is finished. We are told we will emulate Jesus’ ascension into heaven…at least that’s how it was understood to happen two thousand years ago. But this brings us to the next day’s theme for meditation: Christ’s ascension into heaven.

Ah, the eternal! The book we have based this sermon series on has this to say about Christ’s ascension into heaven: “Christ’s return to heaven was not so much the end of his time on earth as it was the start of his eternal reign. Now, from heaven, the Bible says, Jesus continually advocates on our behalf. The wheel’s pairing of piety with Christ’s ascension might suggest that true devotion is an expression of God both in us and for us, divinity always drawing us towards itself.” Like I said—ah, the eternal! But I like that idea—a God spirit is always drawing us towards itself—it yearns to be in communication and communion and relationship with us. Perhaps that’s why I hear its voice best when I am quiet. When I contemplate the vast mystery of God. When I am meek. And it this attitude of meekness that the first beatitude we are to meditate on next week centers on. Blessed are the meek.

I’ll admit it—of all the beatitudes, the one I have the most trouble with is this one: Blessed are the meek. Not only because I have such a well-developed sense of my own self-worth, but I’ve always had difficulty with a meekness that belies something else—not being your authentic self. I sometimes think we behave in a sort of “meek” manner in order to ascertain situations. Well, I’ve never been accused of being meek, so it stands to reason that I need to explore this idea of “meekness” and as I have often experienced, if I turn to the wisdom of the rabbinic Sages found in the Talmud, I discover some useful truths. The Talmud is a collection of thoughts, debates and discussions throughout history of brilliant (and sometimes not so brilliant) rabbis. It is a living commentary on the Torah and holds almost equal weight with the Torah, the Hebrew Bible (what we incorrectly call the Old Testament). Here’s what some of these sages say about arrogance and humility and meekness: 1) With men, the exalted notice the exalted, but the exalted do not notice the lowly. With the Holy One…it is otherwise. The Holy One is exalted yet also notices the lowly. 2) Whoever is possessed of an arrogant spirit cannot dwell in the world together with the Holy One. 3) A name made great is a name destroyed. I’m thinking of those folks who became celebrities and then we watched their lives be destroyed by the constant attention on every detail of their lives. 4) Finally, the Talmud tells us this: “One class of pride was singled out for special warning—the pride of scholarship. Since the greatest virtue is attached to learning and the highest honors paid to those who possess it, they are particularly liable to succumb to the vice of self-glorification. For that reason, the idea that humility must accompany knowledge finds frequent mention in the Talmud. It’s also found in the Psalms and I put the most famous one concerning meekness in your bulletins.

Even our great poet, Maya Angelou, had this to say about humility and meekness: “What humility does for one is it reminds us that there are people before me. I have already been paid for. And what I need to do is prepare myself so that I can pay for someone else who has yet to come but who may be here and needs me.” She’s telling me that I am not in this alone and I need to pay attention to those around me who might need me—might need my words of kindness—my acts of mercy—who might need what I have to offer. We’re not alone in all of this—living in community means paying attention to that community and to the others around me: my neighbors.

The second beatitude for the coming week’s mediation focus is dealing with the inheritance of the earth. Jesus taught and modeled that a life lived in humility, in meekness, can also be one lived in great strength. He said, in meekness we inherit the earth. Meekness is how we live redemptively in this natural world. Inheriting the earth doesn’t mean we seize it by force or have some sort of “right” to enter a forest with a chain saw—we don’t inherit the earth by owning more property or consuming more resources. Following Christ’s example, we approach this inheritance of this world with meekness, receiving it in gratitude as a treasure to care for…as the Divine One intended. God’s intention, in heaven, and our reality, on earth.

The eternal tension between heaven and earth exists in our lives daily. Our faith informs us that this world can and should be a better place for all of God’s children, yet our physical senses reveal this to not be true. We have in our minds an ideal state of this world and yet we know to achieve this requires great effort on our part—it is within this tension that we live our daily lives. The worries and hopes for the future and the reality of what is right in front of us. How do we keep from being tempted to lose sight of “heaven”—our dream of the future—and instead let the vagaries of “right now” weigh us down, beat us down. How do we remain hopeful that our dream of a future will arrive while dealing pragmatically with our current lives? To me, this is the challenge of our prayer—lead us not into temptation—help us not fall into the trap of despair—or into the trap of the easy way. Help us not lose sight of the beloved community that we are building. Help us remember that we are not alone in this endeavor and that we can rely on divine guidance and wisdom and we can rely on each other.

Last week, Galen Minks and the deacons embedded the plaque that commemorates my ordination last year. It signifies that this beautiful magnolia tree right here in the courtyard was planted in honor of this congregation ordaining a minister for the first time—this church had never done that before. Earlier this morning the deacons held a blessing of the plaque and the tree and this has given me time to think about this past year as an ordained minister. I am still humbled by all of this—the pageantry of my ordination service—the acknowledgement that I had completed a significant program of study and survived my examination by the vicinage council—that this community saw that I had met the requirements, and had the gifts for, Christian ministry and so you “set” me apart—you ordained me. Someday, my physical presence will no longer be on this earth. Yet the tree and the marker will still be here, to say “yes, there once was a man named Paul and University Congregational Church ordained him.  One day, we’ll all be gone. But this building, this community and its work and legacy will remain. We go before in order to pay for the next ones who will come. I can think of no better epitaph than “we did our best to make it better for those who will follow”. May we all resist the temptation to rest on our accomplishments and may we continue to build this amazing community, here and now, with the gifts and talents we have been given.

AMEN

Please stand as you are able and sing our closing benediction.

Resources Used:

“The Art of Surrender: A Practical Guide to Enlightened Happiness and Well-Being”. By Eiman Al Zaabi. Bloomington, IN: Balboa Press, 2015.

“Everyman’s Talmud: The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages” by Abraham Cohen. New York, Schocken Books, 1949.

 “The Prayer Wheel” by Patton Dodd, Jana Riess, and David Van Biema.  Convergent Books, 2018.

https://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/interviews/mayaangelou.html accessed June 5, 2018