Creekside Church Sermon of March 23, 2003 "The Jesus Prayer " Luke 18:9-14	Rev. David Bibbee
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It was these playmates that lured me into a garage, pushed me through a door and locked it behind me. One kid's father was a beekeeper, and in that small garage were twelve beehives. Bees were swarming everywhere, and began landing on me. I was too petrified to move or scream. In no time, it looked like I was wearing a bee suit. My captors were watching through the window. At first they thought it was funny, but got sacred when I was completely covered. The father came running, put on his bee suit, grabbed a smoker and smoked them off me. What was so amazing was that I didn't get a single sting.

That event made me sort of a neighborhood urban legend. From it, I learned two things. One, never trust the Pickens brothers again and two, I learned to stand still. It's an important skill when darts and arrows fly at you and bees cover you. Unintended benefits came from it. Later in life, I learned it is a key component in prayer. Standing still before God; ceasing activity, just being…still before God. This is the meaning of prayer. The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, put it this way, "To pray is simply to choose for the while to be with God, no more, no less."

Prayer is a deliberate choice, not a particular posture, nor carefully crafted prose with lofty language. Prayer is making yourself available to God. You can do it in an empty sanctuary or a crowded room, in privacy behind a closed door, behind a desk, in front of a computer, or at a stove. It is not concerned by what others may see or say. Prayer isn't tracking down the Almighty, but deciding to place ourselves in a mind-set, and a soul-set to be found by God.

Jesus told a parable to people who inflated their worthiness at the expense of those they despised. "Two men entered a church to pray. One owned a Christian bookstore. The other ran a tattoo parlor next door. The purveyor of books stood, wrapped himself in himself, and prayed, 'God, I'm so glad I haven't ended up like the low lifes…the body-piercers, the pawn shop brokers, the liquor store clientele, and this tattoo artist. I worship every Sunday and belong to the Wednesday Bible Study Bowling League… and I tithe!' The other man stood at the back pew, his chin on his chest. He didn't have much to say. He took an inward look and was undone. With nothing to commend himself he could only cry out, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner'"

"I tell you," Jesus said, The man with tattoos all over his arms and the dragon on his back went home justified, not that pious, pompous bag of wind." When Jesus told the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector he didn't realize the tax collector's words would echo today in a prayer that bears his name. "Lord Jesus Christ, son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner." This is the Jesus Prayer.

Last Sunday we focused upon a portion of a large prayer called "Saint Patrick's Breastplate." In comparison, the Jesus Prayer is very short-one sentence long, but it has been a strong link between Jesus and those who have prayed it. I was curious to see what information about the Jesus Prayer was available on the Internet. What I discovered floored me. For this little prayer there are 1,690,000 sites! You could say this is ample evidence of how many people the world over want to learn about and in particular, live it.

Centuries ago there was a famous book called, "The Way of the Pilgrim," about a man who wanted to learn to pray constantly. His desire was sparked by Paul's admonition in 1 Thessalonians 5 to, "Pray without ceasing."

The Life of Abba Philemon was written during the sixth century. Until recent history, the Jesus Prayer was known primarily in the Russian and Greek Orthodox traditions. We know, for instance, that the prayer was influential in the lives of the Russian novelists Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.

Lets look at some specifics of the prayer. Some of you remember the TV game show, "Name That Tune." The goal was to correctly identify a song by hearing as few notes as possible. Contestants would say, "I can name that tune in four notes." Orthodox Christians say, "I can sum up the entire Gospel in one sentence prayer. "Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy upon me, a sinner." Bill and Gloria Gaither's most popular song begins, "God sent his son, the called him Jesus, he came to love, heal and forgive..." This is a succinct summation of Jesus' ministry. God's final name is Jesus.

In Jesus, the fullness of God is revealed. "At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord...." Our first response to God's glory revealed in Jesus is seeing the truth of ourselves as sinners who fall short of God intentions for our lives. Need number one is mercy and forgiveness. This little prayer tells us who Jesus is, who we are, and what we need.

You each have received a Jesus Prayer book mark. Whenever you see the words, remember its the gospel in a nutshell. On the back of the bookmark are Bible verses upon which the Jesus Prayer is based. Praying the prayer involves repeating it over and over. Some people shorten it to, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me," or "Jesus, have mercy." Regardless the version, the prayer presupposes the belief that Christ is present to us. To believe this, and not merely recite the words is a work of the Spirit. As Paul said in 1st Corinthians 12, "No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit."

The Jesus Prayer involves three steps. The simplest way to remember is, "Lips, mind, and heart." You begin with the simple recitation of the words. The goal of the desert monks was to say the prayer 10,000 times a day! You can get by with less. At first it may seem like nothing but a mechanical recitation, but by doing it we fix our focus upon Jesus. I heard someone say you could achieve the same result by repeating any word.... like 'sandwich'. I suppose it depends upon whether you would rather focus on Jesus or baloney. From a recitation of our lips the prayer then moves into our minds.

The most common problem with prayer that frustrates of efforts is distractions-- simple sounds and the constant stream of random thoughts which flow through our minds. We began our worship by singing "Teresa's Prayer"-- "Christ be in my mind and in my thinking." This is what repeating the prayer does. There comes a point where we are not just saying the words. The thoughts of Jesus seep into the recesses of our minds and takes over our thinking.

I remember the third step because of the way Pat Helman once described it to me. She said, "There comes a moment after the prayer is woven into your daily practice that it goes, 'THUNK!' It drops from your head to your heart and becomes part of you. It is as if the prayer prays you. This may take a long time to happen, years even, because it doesn't come according to our efforts, but God's. It is a gift.

Being the practical, nuts-and-bolts, "Just give me the recipe" people you are, you are probably chomping at the bit wondering, "What does it do? What's the value?" We don't have time for a lengthy answer, but let me briefly offer some suggestions. Think of all the thoughts which pass through your mind in the course of a day. Think of the emotional energy some of these thoughts require of you. The deadline for a job you haven't finished. The bill you don't have the funds to cover. The fight you had with your child. The anxiousness we feel when thinking about consequences of the war. Worry, frustration, and fear take over

What if you recited the Jesus Prayer at such moments? Instead of being possessed by negative thoughts, replace them with the name of Jesus. From the lips, to the mind, into your bloodstream, into your bone marrow, into your heart, soul, and mind he comes. The process may be slow, but over time we begin to see the world and people with new eyes... Jesus' eyes. Worry for ourselves turns into compassion for others. We are not the only ones orchestrating our response to daily life. Over time, recitation of Jesus' name puts him at the helm of our lives.

Every day we are aware of the moments when we do not act like Christians. We think, we say, and do unbecoming things. For instance, I think that one of the hardest places to be a Christian is behind the wheel of a car. There are lots of jerks on the road whose sole purpose in life is to tick us off. What if, instead of blowing your stack and getting irritated and impatient, you brought to mind the Jesus Prayer? Instead of allowing ourselves to be carried here and there by the moment at hand, we can be carried into Christ's presence. This week, take note of the negative thoughts you have about people or situations in which you find yourself. When it happens, begin praying, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me." Be aware of what happens when you do. Like developing any new discipline, it takes lots of practice, but over time it becomes habit forming. What better habit could we develop than allowing the light of Jesus' love to radiate from us?

The goal of praying the Jesus Prayer is not go "get"something. When he was a child he hated peas. One day he went to a nice restaurant with his mother and grandmother. The waiter brought him his order, and next to the Salsbury steak were PEAS. He ate around them. "Eat your peas," his mother said. He played with them for a while. "Eat your peas!" she said with greater emphasis. "I hate peas!" he protested. "We'll not leave this place till you do." Just the, grandma pulled a five dollar bill from her purse. "Eat the peas and its yours," she said. "Don't give him that mon......." mother said, but it was too late. He was shoveling peas in his mouth albeit with a grimace. Daughter glared at mother and he pocketed five bucks.

The next night the family gathered for the evening meal. "What's for supper?" he asked. "You'll see," mother said. His plate was placed before him with, you guessed it, a heaping helping of peas. He ate around them. "Eat your peas," she said. He played with them. "Eat your peas," she ordered. "No! I hate peas!" "You ate them yesterday," his mother reminded him. "That's because Grandma paid me," he replied. Then his mother said something from which he could never recover. "You ate peas for Grandma for money. Eat them for your mother for love. If you love me, you'll eat the peas." The guilt of not doing it would be more than he could bear. He is now a middle-aged man. He still hates peas, but at the sight of them he sees his mother. He loves her, so he eats the peas.

Oh, the things we do for love! The point of practicing the Jesus Prayer is not to get something from it like peace and well being, or holiness, or greater spiritual insight and depth, or ever to be a better person. We pray this prayer for one reason-- it carves a space out of our frantic, crazy lives so we will stop running and simply stand still. We do it to stand in the presence of Jesus with no other reason and no other thought than the miracle of standing there.... Jesus and you. Jesus and me.

The sermon concludes with the congregation singing verse #1 of "I Stand Amazed in the Presence."

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