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From Father Gavin Berriman
Dear Friends, We can pray anytime and anywhere. God listens and responds to our prayer wherever it takes place. We do not need to have special places of prayer for it to be effective, whenever we pray that place becomes Holy Ground, a meeting point between God and his world. Having said that there is something different, I believe, about praying in a church building. Places that are built, consecrated, and set aside for worship and prayer are very powerful places. I am sure that there are churches that you have gone into and felt the very holiness of the place, something about it opens our heart to God’s presence, and we are almost involuntarily drawn into its ministry of worship and prayer. So while I would never say that praying in such a place is of more value than praying at home, on a bus or on the street I would very much encourage people to make time to pray in church buildings or any other place of worship set aside for this holy work. Praying in church reminds us that prayer is not a private activity but a communal one. There is no such thing as private prayer, all our prayer is connected with the prayer of other believers and is part of something much bigger than our own private world. When I pray in church I am aware that my prayer is a part of the stream of prayer that has been offered there over many years. My prayer is added to that stream of prayer and is strengthened and supported by it. Because places of worship are set aside and consecrated for this holy work, they become a very powerful presence in the community. It is important that we continue that ministry by adding our prayer to the great stream that flows from this sacred place. I believe that our communities are greatly influenced by this stream of prayer in ways we cannot see or understand. All the life of a community is influenced by this wave of prayer and it is a vital role of every Christian to contribute to it, no matter how small or feeble we feel our contribution to be. The fact is, it isn’t small or feeble at all because it is part of something much bigger. The older I get the more and more convinced I am that prayer is the most vital ministry we can offer. When I was a young priest, in the first flush of enthusiasm, I wanted to be out there doing things, getting involved, making a difference. I have grown to realise that all of that counts for very little if it does not grow out of prayer. The few moments I spend each day in church offering prayer for those I am called to serve is of far more use to them than all my endless rushing about and busyness. It is with all this in mind that this Lent I am making sure the church is open twice a week for an hour of prayer. I hope you will take the opportunity to come and be a part of this stream of prayer that flows within, and through, St Augustine’s. You do not have to stay for an hour, just pop in for a few minutes during that period. It will simply be a time of quiet prayer in which people can come and go as they please. It is something I hope we can continue together in some way after Lent is over. The Eucharist we celebrate together each Sunday morning is the central act of prayer we share together as a family and all other prayer flows from that and returns to it. This is already supplemented by our times of worship on a Wednesday and Saturday morning and it would be nice to extend that so more people have an opportunity for midweek prayer in church. I hope you will be able to make use of this time as part of your Lenten devotions, and as an offering of love for those we are called to serve. Best wishes Gavin
Lent Group 2010
This year we join in with the other members of the Churches Together in Lee for Lent and the groups will meet at various places at different times and days of the week. The idea is you find a time and venue that suits you and then phone the host of that venue to book a place in that Group. The venues and contact details of the hosts are listed below. The groups will begin meeting the week beginning Monday 22nd February. The theme this year will be; A Way Through the Wilderness and will follow a course prepared by the theologian Paula Gooder. So if you would like to join in please contact one of the following groups: The United Reformed Church on Wednesdays at 12 noon hosted by Carol Cornelius 01689 855287
24 Fairby Road SE12 on Wednesdays at 8pm hosted by Lorraine Elliott 8318 6707
61 Exford Road SE12 on Wednesdays at 8pm hosted by Jane Upcott 8857 6774
107 Baring Road SE12 on Fridays at 10am hosted by Mary Sparkes 8857 4173
The Vicarage, Handen Road, on Mondays at 8.30pm hosted by Barbara Bird 8463 0988
Living the Lord’s Prayer Part 6 Deliver us from evil
Although this is entitled: “Deliver us from evil”; it will also includes the petition just before it: “Lead us not into temptation”. It is there we begin. On the first Sunday of Lent we read the gospel passage about the Jesus being driven into the wilderness to be tempted. I think that passage, and the prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane on the night before he died, is at the heart of this evenings theme. Before you go any further just read the passage of his temptations from Matthew 4. Firstly, Jesus is tempted to break his fast by turning stones into bread. Some have suggested that the temptation is to become very popular among the poor, by embarking on a very different mission to feed the hungry around him – sort of Bob Geldoff style. But while that would have made him very popular, it was not his mission. His mission was to feed the hungry, but with food that would last, not just something that would temporarily relieve their hunger but have no lasting effect. He withstands the Bob Geldoff temptation but then the devil goes for the David Blaine. “Jump off the Temple roof and let God’s angels help you land safely. Now that’s a bit of magic that will make them sit up and take notice. Forget Saint Bob, go for the big celebrity status, then they’ll listen to your message.” When that failed to find its mark, the devil went for the jugular. “Follow my path rather than God’s and I will give you everything you can desire. God is only going to lead you on a hard path, you know that, and there will be very little in it for you. My path will be much easier; you can still do good, but benefit from it yourself – everyone’s a winner!” Now there is no evidence whatsoever for what I am saying next, but I wonder if it is not at this point that the Lord’s Prayer takes shape in Jesus’ life. Hallowed be your name; Your Kingdom Come; Your will be done; I trust you for my daily bread; lead me not into temptation; deliver me from evil; For yours is the kingdom the power and the glory. Those three things in the last line are the very temptations that Jesus withstood. “These kingdoms shall be yours”; “you have the power to do great things”; and “get this stone into bread thing right and you will have all the glory you want.” There’s an old chorus I used to sing in Sunday School that came back to me while I was writing this: “Choose you this day who you will serve; choose you this day who you will serve; but as for me; I will serve the Lord.” Out of this encounter Jesus made his choice; and the words of the Lord’s Prayer are the pattern of life he chose and shared with his disciples. It becomes even more dynamic when you see or hear the Lord’s Prayer inverted, when we see it as the opposite of what it is meant to be. So instead of beginning “Our Father”, it might begin: “My private divine power source”. And then go on in the same vain:“Exalt my name above all others; Give me a life where my will is always done; Let me take whatever I desire without any consequences, or need of apology; May those who wrong me know that I will take my revenge in good time; May I be allowed to do as I please, and feel no responsibility for evil; May mine be the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Is this not the very temptation that Jesus faced in the wilderness? >>>>>>>>>
So the Lord’s Prayer is his mission statement. It is his act of commitment to the will of God; one he passed on to his disciples; that has now been passed on to us. Every time we pray it we are renewing our act of commitment. The whole point of this course is to show that it is more than simply a prayer. It is a commitment to a way of life. And the very temptation we are praying that God will help us withstand, is the temptation that Jesus faced in the wilderness, and again in the Gethsemane; that of wanting our will to be done and our desires and wishes fulfilled. The temptation to desire life as I want it, with me in full control. “Lead us not into temptation”. The greatest temptation that we ask God not to lead us into is the temptation to live as if God were absent. The temptation to live with “me” at the centre of “my” universe. The Lord’s Prayer, line by line, is an antidote to me wanting life my own way. Our Father: this is not just about me. Hallowed be thy name: You are central. Thy Kingdom come: May we see life as you see it. Thy will be done: May we willingly embrace whatever you ask of us. Give us this day our daily bread: Help us to trust in your provision. Forgive us our trespasses: We will get it wrong again and again. As we forgive those who trespass against us: We’re all on the same journey. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory: This is not about me. The greatest temptation for all of us is not to trust God’s presence and purpose in life. It is one thing to trust God’s presence and purpose when all is going well, when life is as I would want it to be. It is quite another thing to trust God’s presence and purpose when my will is not being done. Jesus would often chide his followers with the words: “Oh ye of little faith”; the biggest temptation we all face is the temptation not to trust - not to trust God’s presence and purpose in our life. Jesus faced this temptation ultimately in the garden of Gethsemane. His life was falling apart. Suffering, betrayal and death were imminent. The voice of temptation he heard in the wilderness would be there again. “You’re not so sure of God’s will and purpose now, are you?” Everything within him screams “Take this away from me – let it be different.” And yet, somehow he manages to trust God in what is to come; and at that moment angels come and minister to him. Notice, at the two key moments in his life, when the temptation not to trust God is at its strongest, as soon as he surrenders to God he finds comfort. Both in the wilderness and in Gethsemane the angels come and minister to him. Trusting God is at the heart of resisting temptation. And the final petition of the prayer is just that, a petition of trust: Deliver us from evil. Jesus was a devout Jew and would have been steeped in the Psalms. “Deliver us” is one of the most common petitions in these great Jewish prayers, It occurs again and again and again. It is very likely that they provide the context for this petition in the Lord’s Prayer. We have a very narrow concept of evil in our language today. When we think of evil we tend to think of concentration camps; torture; or extreme acts of inhumanity. In biblical times it had a much wider brief and included all the things that assail us in life, and causes great suffering. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
So, in the Psalms, God is asked to deliver me from my transgressions; or deliver me from deceitful men; deliver me from my enemies; deliver me from the mire; or from my persecutors; or from oppression; from affliction; from suffering and so forth. It is a simple petition that says to God: “I am in your hands. I put my trust in you.” The Psalms also affirm that: “God is our help and our deliverer” or “God is my rock and my deliverer.” God is our deliverer and all we can do is place our trust in him; and surrender each moment to him. This is the prayer Jesus is offering in Gethsemane. “Deliver me from this”. But the context of this petition is already set earlier in the prayer: “Nevertheless, thy will, not my will be done.” This prayer for deliverance is not a prayer telling God what to do; it is a prayer of trust and surrender that God knows what he is doing. Our deliverance does not necessarily come in the way that we would expect it or desire it. Before we ask for deliverance we have already prayed thy will be done, and we have already prayed for help to resist the temptation to demand life on my own terms; to live as if God were absent. By the time we pray “Deliver us” we have set the context for that prayer, so that it is a prayer of humble trust, not arrogant demand. In the garden Jesus went through great mental anguish and had no qualms whatsoever about asking God to change the way things were. But, at the same time, he placed his trust in God and left it in God’s hands, rather than try and dictate to God how it should happen. Jesus knew that at times our deliverance comes in surrendering to our situation, rather than having it taken away. And Jesus discovered, again and again, that in trustful surrender to God is comfort, that when we surrender it all to God, the ministering angels appear in one form or another. So the final two petitions of this great prayer are all about trusting God’s presence; and surrendering to God’s presence in all events and experiences of our life. They are about trust; and resisting all temptation to think we know better. They are about placing God at the centre; and asking God to help us resist placing ourselves at the centre. As the Psalmist says: It is God who is my strength and deliverer. This evening’s theme also tells us that the Lord’s Prayer is not just some idealistic dream that is impossible to live, or live up to. It is a pattern of living that grew out of a life that experienced everything that we do. It grew out of a very real temptation of Jesus to follow his own path; to take the easier options; to make himself central, and be wrapped up in his own world. It came out of a life that struggled at times to understand God’s will and plan; that struggled to understand at times why life was the way it was; that had to confront the big questions: Why me? Why this? Why now? As I said earlier I think the prayer grew out of his own experience in the wilderness, and found its fulfilment in the garden of Gethsemane, and in all that followed. This prayer, this pattern of living handed down to us, was developed and tested in a life that experienced it all, from the greatest joy to the greatest pain. It is not the prayer of a dreamer, nor of a detached super hero; It is the prayer of a lover. One who deeply learned to love. To love God; to love life; to love creation. And in that love learned to trust. Gavin
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