Worship

Today, on the Sunday before the start of Lent, I want to talk the challenges we face when we pray, and what the Bible recommends to overcome those challenges. But before we begin our sermon, let us set the stage for what the next several weeks will look like, starting with our text today. In our text this morning, Jesus has left the crowds of the city, and the affirmation of His Father. He is seeking separation from the world, to fast, pray, and engage in spiritual warfare. This theme of Jesus stepping back from real and godly needs of others to pray and grow closer to His Father in heaven is a theme we see throughout His ministry. Luke’s Gospel tells us that “news about Jesus spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”-Luke‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬-‭16‬.. In Mark 1, when Peter tells Jesus, who had withdrawn to pray “everyone is looking for you”, Jesus replied ““Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”-Mark‬ ‭1‬:‭38‬. In Luke’s Gospel alone Jesus separated from crowds in busy situations at least nine times. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus loved people and came to save them, but He also had a purpose, to be in the presence of His Father. The Desert Fathers and Mothers in the first 3 centuries of the church, also sought separation from the city in order to pray and deepen their spirituality and be in the presence of God. In the third century AD, men and women began leaving the sophisticated metropolitan cities of Cairo and Alexandria to pursue lives of prayer and deep holiness in the wilderness. People like Moses the strong, Sarah of the desert, Amma of Alexandria, etc. These remarkable men and women of faith were perhaps some of the most radical prayer warriors of all time. And surprisingly, having separated from the world, they began to change it. Hundreds of thousands of people began trekking out into the wilds of Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, seeking counsel and prayer from these holy men and women. Known simply as the Desert Fathers and Mothers, their lives became a potent, prophetic challenge to the world. Their lives even challenged the sins of contemporary society and the compromises of the Church. Communities grew up around these prayer warriors, laying the foundations for prayer to come.

Prayer, and themes including reflection on why Jesus died on the cross, after all, is one of the many point’s of Lent. Prayer is not limited to super Christians who have it all together. Jesus’ advice on prayer in Matthew 6 is “go into your room and close the door”-Matthew 6:6. In a time that took pride in outward approaches, Jesus commanded privacy, separation from distraction and disruption. How can we be like Jesus and use this season of Lent to “shut the door” on distractions and seek time alone with God? Over the next seven weeks, we will be looking at a whole range of topics – some that may be familiar and others very unfamiliar. These topics include the desert as a place of prayer, the desert as a place of testing, the desert as a place of silence and solitude, the desert as a place of self-denial, the desert as a place to find wisdom, and the desert as a place to grow in humility. Finally, on Palm Sunday, the desert as a place to carry with us. Now that we have set the table for the next several weeks, let’s begin with our sermon. What are the challenges to prayer?

The challenge of prayer is distraction: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”-Matthew 4:1-3. We exist in a world that is incredibly fast-paced, noisy and full of distractions. Contemporary society has seen an enormous increase in technology, but a decrease in attention spans, making it harder than ever to “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). As a Pastor, I meet with a group of clergy each Thursday morning at Christpoint, Smith Chapel, and my office. Each week, I always try to challenge myself to find a moment with Jesus that wasn’t about my job, but my own personal discipleship. For laity, we have a similar goal, and call it “our quiet time with Jesus.” Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with finding a personal moment with Jesus each week, or having a quiet time. I think we should do more quiet times with Christ and chase holiness instead of what is considered “success” in our American metrics of success. The problem is, we don’t pay enough attention to sustain our seeking and rejoice in the moment Jesus reveals Himself to us each week. Professor Gloria Mark, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, has been researching the human attention span for a number of decades. In 2004, Mark found that the average attention span of her participants was around two-and-a-half minutes. By 2012 this had dropped to just 75 seconds. More recent results indicate an even further decrease. As our brain chemistry alters with the fast-paced world around us, what impact does this have on our capacity to separate ourselves to pray? How challenging do we find it to remove the distractions, even the good ones we are so accustomed to, and simply be alone with our Father in heaven? Author Richard Foster argues that: “In contemporary society our Adversary the devil majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us busy (without Christ),’ he will rest satisfied.”

What is the incentive to living a life of prayer a distracted world? Prayer and reflection on the cross of Jesus has a way of quieting a hectic schedule. That’s why the answer seeking solitude and prioritizing daily time in prayer, Bible reading, and worship is so important. When the busy seasons come, and they will, we can’t afford to say we don’t have time to pray. We have to make time in our schedule for it. Don’t get me wrong, seeking out solitude and prioritizing was and sometimes still is a hard thing for me. But, I am much better today than I was 10-15 years ago. On evenings when Rhiannon and Brooklyn are in Tyler, I will go on a 10-minute prayer walk, and another 10 minutes in the morning of reflective prayer using the Lectio 365 prayer app. Lectio 365 is important for me, because it creates a daily rhythm of Scripture, prayer, and reflection that helps me stay spiritually grounded in the middle of busy life. It encourages consistent, intentional time with God, shaping the habits that help me re-center my awareness of Christ every day. Even when Rhiannon and I go for a walk in the evenings, I will often circle back to a prayer walk using the app. When I take Brooklyn to dance and theatre, one of the advantages of a 45-minute drive is that we will sometimes bring up Christ and where we want to see more of Him in our world. Friends, I can’t recommend enough the practice of choosing to slow down in prayer. In the words of the Desert Mother Syncletica of Alexandria: “There are many who live in the mountains and behave as if they were in the town… [but conversely] it is possible to be a solitary in one’s mind while living in a crowd.”

How can we avoid distractions this week while going about our normal life, work, home life etc? Change what and who you are devoted to. In Colossians 4, we read this line: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful”-(Colossians 4:2). The Greek word that Paul uses for devote is the word: proskartereō. It means: to be earnest towards, to persevere, to be constantly diligent, to attend (give self) continually (upon), continue (in, with), wait on (continually). This word is used ten times in Greek in the New Testament and of those ten, eight of them are referring to prayer. The word proskartereō conveys a single-minded, diligent, careful perseverance. A relentless determination to abide in the presence of God. And this is the word that the early Christian writers chose time and again to describe their approach to prayer. Remember, all New Testament teaching is a need. Paul is basically saying: “You are living in a distracted world, therefore choose to pray in spite of your distractions! “Devote yourself” be relentless with prayer! There is a word there for us: Our lack of attention spans should not be an excuse not to pray and seek the presence of Jesus. Sports, movies, vacations, we pay attention to a lot of things for a lot longer than 75 seconds. People spent billions of dollars across the country yesterday for Valentines Day, because they wanted to practice devotion to their wives and girlfriends and vice versa. There’s nothing wrong with spending money on a significant other, I like going to Freebird’s to eat a steak burrito with Rhiannon as much as anyone, but it does raise and an interesting point. If someone observed your week – who or what would they say you are devoted to? What do you always manage to fit in, regardless of circumstances? Let us be a church that makes prayer a priority this Lent!

Having said that, Lent is an important time to slow down to pray, seek God and reflect on the cross of Christ, it is important to pray and focus on Jesus in a way that is comfortable for you. There is a danger when we are too harsh on ourselves when we feel like we aren’t measuring up. Anthony of the Desert believed this. He gave up everything to seek God in the Egyptian wilderness, and his radical simplicity, fierce spiritual battles, and deep compassion inspired a movement that shaped Christian monasticism. His life and legacy still speak today through his timeless call to keep God in mind, follow Scripture, and walk the way of Jesus with courage and grace. One story about his life I found was very instructive. Some brothers came to Anthony the Great to tell him their dreams. They were worried about what the harsh dreams meant. So Anthony encouraged them with this lesson. A hunter happened to come by and saw a man talking in a relaxed way with the brothers, and he was shocked. The hunter wanted to show him how we should sometimes be less strict for the sake of the brothers, and said to him, ‘Put an arrow in your bow, and draw it.’ He did so, and Anthony said, ‘Draw it further’ and he drew it further. He said again, ‘Draw it yet further,’ and he drew it some more. Then the hunter said to him, ‘If I draw it too far, the bow will snap.’ Anthony answered, ‘So it is with God’s work. If we always do more than necessary, the brothers will quickly become exhausted. It is sometimes best not to to be severe on yourself.’ The hunter was ashamed when he heard this, and profited much from it. The brothers were encouraged by this lesson from Anthony and went home.” Are you and I in danger of “overstretching our bow”? Friends, Lent is a time of effort. Dallas Willard said “Jesus is not opposed to effort, He is opposed to earning.” While true, Lent is also a time for grace. Jesus’ tells us His yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matthew 11:30). A different, joyful, and flourishing way to live life is the invitation Jesus gives as we enter into the season of Lent, and is an invitation I crave every year.

I have one question and an invitation for you today as we approach the season of Lent and we devote ourselves to prayer: What is your name? I am not talking about the name your parents gave you at birth, I am talking about the name God has named you. When Jesus walked into the wilderness, he had the name “beloved” (spoken over him) his baptism, Matthew 3:17) still ringing in his ears. Friends, the true name of Jesus is our name today! “As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘beloved’ who is not my beloved,”-Romans‬ ‭9‬:‭25‬. ‬‬

In this first week of Lent, as we step into whatever this forty-day desert place holds for us in prayer and devotion to Christ, I invite you to remember your true name. Like Jesus, we go into the wilderness, we go into Lent because we are beloved, not to become beloved.1Devote yourself to prayer, for you have a God who loves you, so much that He became flesh, and took on sin head on, so we might know just how loved we are. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.2