Contemplation: Open for Prayer
Contemplation: Open for Prayer
October 9, 2022
Mark 1: 29 - 39
As we read through the gospels, we frequently encounter Jesus going off to pray; I included two passages from the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark. The first section reports Jesus’s baptism followed by his 40 days in the wilderness where he was tempted as that event is generally described. The second part is Mark’s presentation of the latter half of Jesus’ first day of his ministry, which seems really to be Mark’s suggestion of a typical day for Jesus, followed by an early morning prayer. In both pieces we see Jesus alone to pray. What was Jesus doing during those periods of prayer? To the degree he was a human being, Jesus was contemplating his ministry and mission.
I found it interesting that as I looked for scriptural references to contemplation, I found a number of very brief accounts that only suggested one person or another was engaging in contemplation. On the other hand, we have the books of Job and Ecclesiastes that might be considered extended stories of intense contemplation. (And those two Old Testament books are much too complicated to be the basis of today’s sermon.
But I will cite Job’s final comments in the central, poetic section of the book. It suggests the thinking and praying that Job did after he got his chance to challenge God, charging God with improper imposition of suffering and humiliation, and then God’s response to him.
42:1Then Job answered the LORD: 2“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3’Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?” – God’s charge to Job. Therefore (Job says), I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4’Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me’ – Job’s bold charge to God. 5I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear (what the teachers and priests taught him), but now my eye sees you (now I have encountered your presence); 6therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
The book of Job can be considered to be an extended contemplation or meditation on the nature of God and on the adequacy of the conventional wisdom that is articulated throughout parts the Old Testament and especially in the Book of Proverbs. So, in this case contemplation is the careful study, reflection, or consideration of the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament.
Hopefully, we will not have to go through Job’s kind of travail in order to learn to contemplate the messages of the Bible and our understandings of God. But the spiritually thriving churches in our book’s study were deeply engaged in contemplation of the scriptures, contemplation of the members’ roles or mission in God’s plans for the church, and contemplation of their ways of practicing the faith – how they love God and love their neighbors.
In the Ephesians lesson we hear the writer praying that God will give the members of the Church in Ephesus 17”a spirit of wisdom and revelation” as they come to know God so that 18“with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.” That is a whole lot of contemplation for the Ephesian Christians. It would be really good for us to contemplate the same issues in our faith journey.
Today and in the months and likely years to come I will pray and I will challenge you to grow in a spirit of wisdom and revelation. I urge you to know God with the eyes of your hearts enlightened, to know what is the hope to which God has called you, to what are the riches of God’s glorious inheritance, and to what is the immeasurable greatness of God’s power for us who believe. That is theological contemplation; that is what we need to learn to do.
The third lesson, from the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, reports Jesus’ baptism followed by his “temptations” in the dessert wilderness. Then, in what is likely presented as a typical day in Jesus’ ministry we read that Jesus got up early in the morning and went to a deserted place to pray.
Forty days in the wilderness was a long time. Certainly, it included much more than the three temptations that are reported in the Bible. The bulk of Jesus’ time was surely devoted to contemplation of the meaning of his baptism. He had seen the Spirit descending on him and he had heard a voice from heaven saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
Our usual or orthodox theology assumes that Jesus was fully God, so this event would not have been a surprise or concerning. But many of the very early followers of Jesus assumed that Jesus was fully human and that in his baptism God adopted Jesus as Son. That position would be suggested by Jesus’ immediately going out into the dessert wilderness for forty days where he was at least tempted to be someone other than God’s messiah. During that extended period of being alone, Jesus would have contemplated over and over again what he was being called to be and do. Through that contemplation Jesus seems to have determined the nature of his ministry to first his local community in Galilee and ultimately to at least the entire Jewish people and perhaps/probably to all the people of the world.
Then on the second day of his ministry, Mark reports that Jesus rose early in the morning to find a deserted place where he could be alone to pray. What would you think Jesus prayed about?
If we assume the “orthodox” theology, Jesus may have been calling home like ET did. But if we assume that Jesus was really human, he would certainly have been contemplating his situation, his commitments, the effectiveness of his teachings so far, and his role as prophet or messiah in Galilee. Jesus’ frequent prayers were continuing contemplation and testing the locations and contents of his teachings, healings, and other activities.
Now, we were not baptized to be God’s Messiah; but we were baptized to be God’s special sons and daughters. And we need to contemplate what our baptisms mean – whether we were baptized as infants, teens, or adults. Whether we were ever baptized and confirmed or not, we need to contemplate our relationship with God and with the Church. Who are we? Whose are we? What does God have for us to do?
The thriving spiritual churches that were studied for the book that our class is reading emphasized dedicating time to silence in the worship services, in committee meetings, and in the members’ daily schedules. Silence to pray, to meditate, to discern, to contemplate – silence to listen to God or to listen for God’s words or insights or instructions.
But our world is noisy. The radio and television stations offer us continuous noise – remember, when we were kids, the radio and television stations went off the air at night? No more. And our telephones no longer stay of our desks or even stay at home; no, our phones stay with us twenty-four-seven. And our phones are no longer just phones; they are computers and message centers and answering services and video players and news casts and propaganda machines and gossip carriers. They are continually inviting us into their aura.
Silence is counter cultural. So is living Jesus’ way of life. But Jesus’ way of life is what we are about.
During our class session on Tuesday evening, we decided gradually to add some silence to our worship time and to our committee time. We already shared a couple quiet minutes for personal prayer this morning. You may have noticed that I have also scheduled some personal meditation time at the close of the sermon. These moments are for reflection, praying, and listening. They will be brief to begin; we will see what happens to them over time.
Silence will provide us time to practice praying – asking God for special help and listening for God’s comments and instructions. Silence will give us time to reflect on the scripture lessons for the day and on their meanings and relationships to our every day living. Silence will give us more opportunity to find ourselves in God’s will and way. Silence will remove some of the barriers between us and lives of faith.
Let us think about these things – during the next couple of minutes of silence.
Amen.
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