(prayer)
You may be aware that 2016
marks a special anniversary for sci-fi fans like me.
In 1966, the world was
transported into the twenty-three century as we began to explore "space -
the final frontier". Because of the
imagination of Gene Roddenberry and and the forethought of Desilu Studios, we
got to peak in on "voyages of the Starship Enterprise".
I am slightly too young to have watched The Original Series during its original run from 1966-1969, but like millions of others, I invited Kirk, Uhura and Sulu into my world in the 1970s thanks to reruns.
I saw every single episode
and gleefully added "The Animated [Star Trek] Series" to my Saturday
morning TV watching in 1973 and 74.
I have fond memories of
attending a Star Trek convention with my cousin Dan at the old Edmonton
Gardens. We got to watch "Trouble
With Tribbles" on the big screen, but (by far) the highlight was an
appearance by George Takei, Mr Sulu himself.
Oh My.
//
Just this past Friday, I
found that "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was playing on the Movie
Time channel.
I stayed up late watching
it.
I found myself remembering
the excitement I felt when the familiar characters of my pre-teen years were
brought back to life.
In the context of the whole
canon of the various Star Trek TV series and movies of the last fifty years,
that first movie is not often proclaimed as one of the best.
But, for me, the first
movie is my favorite because it re-opened a future that (before 1979) was stuck
in the past.
I relived that again as
this past Friday gave way to Saturday.
//
The story of Star Trek: The
Motion Picture is an unknown, powerful alien space craft on a direct course to
earth that was destroying every ship and space station in its path.
Admiral James T Kirk
reclaims the center chair from the Enterprise's new captain, Willard Decker to
deal with this unknown threat. Familiar
characters, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, Scotty and Chaple are still members of the
crew. Kirk arranges for a retired Dr.
McCoy to join the mission by having him drafted. Spock (who had secluded himself on Vulcan in
an attempt to understand who he truly is) is compelled to join the others based
on a feeling that this alien space
craft is somehow tied to his own quest of discovery.
Kirk discovers that the
alien space ship is a sentient machine that has evolved from an old earth space
probe: Voyager 6. "V'ger" has
completed its mission to 'gather all information possible' and has returned to
earth to transfer its data to its creator. But V'ger isn't prepared to accept it's
creator could be the imperfect carbon unit lifeforms that are seen as infesting
the creator's planet.
Spock mindmelds with V'ger
and figures out that it has reached the limits of its logical development
having emmassed all possible knowledge in the universe. And yet V'ger feels incomplete and is asking:
'Is this all that there is?
'Is there no more?'
Like Spock (who learns to
embrace his human side), V'ger needs away to move past logic to evolve in a new
direction.
//
I'll let you watch the
movie to learn how the Enterprise crew figures out how to do this for V'ger.
//
//
//
"Is there more?"
//
I would hazzard a guess
that this question, at some time or another, is one that everyone (who wonders
about issues of faith) asks.
"Is there more?"
//
On the display Board that
our congregation had at this month's community information and awareness events
in Beaumont and Leduc has that question in big bold letters... Is There More?
//
I spent a lot of time at
the end of this past week pondering issues of the nature of god and how, and
why, I am open to a belief in a holy mystery that exists beyond my logical
ability to explain it.
[You
can read about the impetus for this internal conversation (that I have been
having) in what I wrote for the church newsletter which will be out by next
Sunday.]
Physiologists say that when we - as humans - make decisions, we
tend to draw on two aspects of our being.
Sometimes, our decisions
are emotionally based - we decide based on what feels right.
Sometimes, our decisions
are logic based - we decide based on what makes rational sense.
Although, everyone one of
us has a preference to be more of a thinking
or a feeling decision-maker, the
truth is every decision is made using a fluid continuum of considerations
bridging the extremes of pure logic and pure emotion.
All decisions are made with
some combination of what feels right in our hearts and what makes sense in our
mind.
//
Is
there more? That is a question that seeks to draw logic
into a desire to understand something that may not have a clearly logical
answer... if it has an answer at all.
//
//
The letters to Timothy and
Titus were correspondence of encouragement for the early Christians of the late
first century.
By the time they were
written, there were very few people left in the movement's communities that had
any firsthand experience with Jesus of Nazareth or those who knew him directly.
The stories of what Jesus
said and did - stories of his crucifixion and resurrection - no longer were
told by actual witnesses to those events.
As the early church became
dominated by it's second and third generations, the information that fed into
faith began to rely on more emotional reactions than what could be understood
with logic alone.
And yet the lure of logic
remained strong.
I think that this is why
the three pastoral epistles were
written under the guise that the author was the Apostle Paul. Biblical scholars know, based on the style of
writing and the implied level of organization and development of the church,
that First Timothy was not written by Paul and must have been written at least
a decade after his death.
It does make sense, in a
post-witness era for the early church, that claiming the authority of one of
those revered first hand witnesses might have added credibility to the intended
lessons and instructions in the letter.
Don't think of this as some
form of posthumous plagurism, it was a common, accepted practice for followers
to carry on the work of their mentor, in their mentor's name.
//
One of the streams of
thought that had a prominent place in the first few decades of the Christian
movement was that the Risen Christ was destined to establish a literal kingdom
on the earth where God would be the sovereign of the people in a literal sense.
There were even nationalist
zealots among Jesus' own disciples who hoped for an overthrow of Roman rule in
Judea and Galilee. They may even have
imagined that Jesus could lead such a fight.
//
As the end of the first
century dawned, it became more common to hear phrases (like in the gospel of
John 18:36) that Jesus' "kingdom is not of this world". The message became... that claiming God as
sovereign in your life was not dependent on the political overthrow of the
rulers of this world.
//
Our reading from First
Timothy, chapter two comes to us out of that context.
//
The people of the early
church were encouraged to seeking quiet and peaceable lives - even in the midst
of empire.
The followers of Jesus held
no direct sway on political, military or economic power, but they did have
control over their own faith.
The author of the Timothy
Letter encourage a faith-focus as a means to living dignified and godly lives.
//
The instruction of First
Timothy, chapter two is to open ourselves up to enriching our relationship with
God as a means of making the most of our lives in the world.
First
of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
thanksgivings should be made for everyone,
for
kings and all who are in high positions.
The early church - in so
many ways - had a worldview and a hope for life that was in direct contrast to
the goals of the Empire. And yet, here
was a call to be open to tying their faith to the well-being of those earthly
ruler.
There was a certain logic
to this along the lines of live and let
live -or- if you can't beat 'em, join
'em.
But there is also a call to
exist beyond logic for the early Christians - to invite their faith to invade
the hearts of the Empire that paid no attention to what they believed unless it
directly impacted the rulers' ability to enjoy the benefits of their grip on
power.
Roman subjects were often
allowed to practice their own faiths and rituals as long as taxes were paid and
peace and order were maintained.
From an empire perspective
that attitude was... keep the peace and
you can enjoy a bit of freedom.
The church letter we read
this morning was a subtle subversion of that societal norm... we will use the 'freedom' you give us to
exert what influence we have to bring a holy peace into the world.
//
I
urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be
made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions.
The letter calls four a
four-fold approach to living in roman society:
·
supplications,
·
prayers,
·
intercessions,
and
·
thanksgivings.
//
Supplication - a humble request. The church is invited to approach holy mystery, not with a demand for
action, but with a nod to the sovereignty of God in their lives. In reality, Caesar was king, but in the heart
of faith, the followers of Jesus' Way submitted their allegiance to their God.
Prayers - While the word 'prayers'
might seem redundant on this list. I
suspect that it refers to the rituals that were practiced by the early
church. Here, the letter could be
inviting the faithful to include the well-being of the wider society in their
regular and on-going religious practices
Intercessions - are special prayers
where a concerns for others are brought to the forefront. Intercessorary prayers for rulers are what
usually comes to mind when this passage is read. It is what is further described in the text
with the words pray for "those in high positions so that we may lead a
quiet and peaceful lives".
Thanksgivings - part of the bigger
picture of this passage is the call for the church to be gracious and
grateful. I think that many of us can
fall into the pattern of only speaking out of need and can fail to simply
express gratitude.
//
To sum up what the
letter-writer is urging here... with a humble and grateful heart, in their
worship and public lives to seek a peaceful life. This is to include prayers that the powers of
empire will allow quiet faithfulness to endure.
//
//
I don't pretend to have a
firm and complete understand of what prayer is and how it works. I have never been able to have full
confidence in a literal reading of Matthew 7:7 - "ask and it shall be
given to you".
I have a lot of trouble
viewing god as my powerless puppet who has to do my bidding if I perform the
right rituals or say the magic
words. I sometimes call this a 'vending
machine god' - where you insert the right change, push the right buttons and you
will get what you want.
I often think of something
C.S. Lewis once said "[prayer] doesn't change God. It changes me."
The fuller quote is...
"I pray because I can’t help myself.
I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the
time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God, it changes me."
I think that prayer is a
conscious articulation of our honest hopes for the well-being of ourselves and
others.
The letter we read today
urges the church to broadly define who those 'others' are.
Even in a world where we
are at the whim of powers over which we have no control, we can still hope for
peaceful living.
Even as we long to know
God's perfect realm, we can be grateful that (on this earth) we live in God's
world and that we share this land and air with others, both in and beyond our
communities.
//
Let us pray:
God of promise,
We pray knowing that you don’t need our prayers. You are already aware of our joys and hopes -
our desires and needs. We pray to keep
ourselves open to what it means to have holiness in our lives. May we see your work in us and around
us. We pray for earthly leaders that all
may be able to lead quiet and peaceful lives.
Amen.
79MV
“Spirit, Open Up My Heart”
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