13
May 2007 St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
Easter
6
Vienna, VA
Jesu Juva
“Praying
in Jesus’ Name”
Text:
John 16:23-33; Revelation 21:9-14, 21-27
Grace,
mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Alleluia!
During this Easter
season, we have again been reminded that eternal life is not something simply
tacked onto the end of this life that we now have, but that this life that we now
have is really the prelude to eternal life.
For the Son of God did not come into this world, take our human nature,
live, die, rise, and return to the Father simply to make our life in this world
better for a time, but to give us that life that is
true life. Life that
will never end.
And so what awaits us
in the future is greater than what we have now.
Greater in every way. It is the glory of the life described for us
again in the reading from Revelation – the life God always intended for
us. Of a paradise we have trouble even
imagining. Life free
from the trials of this world. Life free from those old enemies of sin, death, and the devil. Life, body and soul, filled only with the joy
of perfect peace in the presence of our God and Saviour.
And so what is most
real is not the life that we have now, but the life that the death and
resurrection of Jesus has won for us. We
sometimes get deceived into thinking that what happens “out there” is the real
world, and what happens “in here”, in Church, is an escape from the real
world. But that is simply not the way it
is. The life of God is greater than
that. Even those saints of the Old
Testament who lived over 900 years on this earth lived but a tiny fraction of
their life here. They live on, and so
will we, because Christ is risen and gives us life.
Now I bring all of
that up to serve as a helpful background to the Holy Gospel that we heard
today, that we might understand it rightly.
For there we heard this wonderful promise of Jesus: “Truly, truly,
I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to
you.” Many people get excited
when they hear those words, and rightly so.
But they are so frequently misunderstood. For what do these words mean? Do they really mean that I can pray for
whatever I want, and as long as I tack on the words “in Jesus’ name” at the
end, then I’ll get it? The new car, the
nice house, the job, or friend, or relationship I wish for? You know that doesn’t work. Tacking the phrase “in Jesus’ name” onto the
end of our prayers is not a magical formula like abracadabra, or “Open
Sesame.” It is not like an unlimited
gift card we can use with God. For our
heavenly Father would never give us what is not good for us, no matter
how we prayed for it.
And then, what
happens when God receives competing and opposite prayers, both prayed
“in Jesus name”? The farmer who prays in
Jesus’ name for rain for his crops, and the family who prays in Jesus’
name for sun for their picnic? One
will be disappointed. So how does God
decide? Is it for the ones who pray with
more faith? Is it for the ones who live a better life and are therefore more
deserving? You’ll hear some make that
claim, to the end that people begin to despair of praying, doubt God’s love for
them, wonder if they will ever be good enough, and give up on
God.
But when Jesus spoke
the words of this promise – on the night when He was betrayed, the night before
Jesus would lay down His life on the cross for the life of the world – Jesus wasn’t
promising His disciples the riches and wealth of this earth! (If only they asked in the
right way.) He had been teaching
them all along that His kingdom was not of this world – would He now, at such a
time, direct their hearts and desires to the things of this world? Of course not! . . .
And it seems to me that such prayers are not prayed in Jesus’
name – no matter what words you use at the end of your prayer! But are rather prayed in my own name,
for these are my wants, my desires, my plans, not Jesus’.
So what does it mean
to pray in Jesus’ name? Well first and
foremost, it is not a formula!
Someone once pointed out to me that the Lord’s Prayer doesn’t have “in
Jesus’ name” at the end. Neither do
Luther’s morning and evening prayers, or the common table prayer. Have we been praying all those in vain all
these years? No!
So what does it mean
to pray in Jesus’ name? It is to pray by
faith in the divine name that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
all share.
It is to pray with
prayers based and grounded in the Word of God, for His speaking to us teaches
us how to speak to Him. And so it is to
pray not with the mind of man, shaped by the world, but with the mind of God, shaped
by His Word.
It is to pray with
our hearts set on things above, not clinging to the things of this world. And so it is to pray knowing that Jesus has
not only overcome the world out there, but has also
overcome the world (and all its desires!) in my heart.
It is to pray in the
reality of my baptism, that I have been born again
from above, a child not of this world, but a child of God. And so it is to pray knowing that this world
is not all there is; that this life that we now have is the prelude to eternal life,
because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
And so to pray in
Jesus’ name is to pray in the name and the reality given to us by our Saviour,
and not in the name and the reality and agenda that the world sets for
us. And so it is much more than mere
words tacked onto the end of a prayer – it is the faith which connects us to
Jesus and joins us to Him.
But that also means
that when we pray, although we pray as individuals, we never pray alone. Our prayers join with the prayers of all the
people of God, united by faith in Christ Jesus, of all times and places. Yes, even with those Old Testament saints who
lived so long and so long ago, who didn’t use the words “in Jesus’ name”, but
nevertheless prayed in this way too; as they “called on the name of the
Lord.” (Gen
4:26b) For prayers in Jesus’ name are always bigger
than us. They are the prayers of the
Church.
For the Church is the
reality gathered and formed in Jesus’ name. We are called and gathered in His name
in the Invocation. Here we are baptized in
His name, and then absolved in His name. Here we eat and drink the body and blood of
the One who bears the name. And
then we are blessed with His name and sent out with His name. Here we are immersed in His name! For in His name we receive all the
blessings and gifts of life and salvation that He has for us,
that He won for us. And again,
not just us, here, now, in this place, but the whole Church, the angels,
archangels, and all the company of Heaven who are gathered in the name,
around the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And thus gathered by
our Saviour and receiving His gifts, we respond in prayer. Our prayers in songs of
thanksgiving and praise. Our prayers on behalf of ourselves and the world. Our prayers formed in His name, His gifts,
His promises, His life.
And then we take
these gifts and prayers out with us into the world. We live our lives out there as an
extension of the life given us in here. For prayer that starts here doesn’t end here
or stay here, but goes out into all the places we have been put. To bring the blessings here received to
others. Praying
individually, but never alone. For we pray and we live in the name given to us here – the
name of adoption, of forgiveness, of holiness, of life. To the end – what did Jesus say? – that our joy may be full. The joy of life so many have lost and are
looking for! The joy
of faith. The
joy of forgiveness. The joy of unity in Jesus’ name.
Now
having said all that, that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t want us to ask
Him for the things that we need in this life, and even things that we want. Don’t feel guilty about that! As Luther said, if God is our Father (which
He is as we live in Christ Jesus!), then we can ask Him as dear children ask
their dear Father. For
anything. For
everything. . . . But the reality of eternal life does put our
lives and prayers here in the proper perspective, and shapes what we want
to ask for. And while God wants us to
enjoy this life and the things of this life, even more does He wants us to
enjoy eternal life with Him. And while
cars and boats and money are nice, there is more. Much more prepared for us.
And so to pray in
Jesus’ name is to pray in that mind; in one mind with Christ
our Lord. The One who
came down from Heaven and joined Himself to us for eternity.
And that means that
when we pray in Jesus’ name, we pray not alone, and not only with the
Church on earth and in Heaven, but we have this confidence also – that we
are also and really praying with Jesus. For in the end, to pray in His name
means that He makes our prayers His own.
In
the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.