Saint James UCC of Hamburg, NY

Acts 7:54-60; Mark 14:32-36

Preached by Rev. Robert Matlack
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Since the beginning of human life, people have prayed to God, and one of those times when they have consistently turned to God in prayer is in times of crisis. There are very few atheists among those facing terminal illnesses. There are very few atheists on unemployment lines or where people face desperate circumstances. Whether or not a person prays regularly when everything in their life is "normal", most people do pray in times of crisis. It is in those times that we lose any illusions that we had that we are the Masters of our own Destiny. In times of crisis we face the reality of life and of death, that they are not separate unrelated events, but that life inevitably leads to death. In times of crisis we are reminded that this gift of life which we like to take for granted is a gift given to us by someone far greater than we are, for it is a gift from God.

When Jesus was faced with his own arrest and crucifixion, He prepared Himself for that experience by taking time to go off by Himself to pray. There in the Garden of Gethsemane He asked His disciples to stand watch while He moved off and spent some time talking to God. This was not a unique or strange experience. Jesus regularly talked with God, but the gospels record a number of occasions when Jesus was facing special challenges, and inevitably He prepared for those times in prayer.

If we knew that tomorrow we would face incredible suffering and then death, who among us would not spend time in prayer? Who among us would not want to share our fears and concerns? Who among us would not seek a different way if one was possible? We're told that Jesus too shared those feelings. "Distress and anguish came over him, and he said to them ‘The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me.'" This was a difficult time, a difficult experience, even for Christ. Yet in prayer Jesus discovered a sense of acceptance and readiness for what was to come. Yes, He would prefer it if He did not have to be crucified. That was clear in His prayer. Yet the bottom line of His prayer to God was the words, "Yet not what I want, but what You want." Above all things, the Son of God knew that God was God, and that it is God's will that must be done.

Stephen offers us a different image of someone praying when they know that death is near. Stephen was selected for office in the early church as one who was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. He was a man who was close to God, performing miracles and wonders among the people in God's name. In fact, he came to the attention of the authorities because of the impact that he was having. Stephen was able to teach and preach "the Good News" in a way that inspired people to respond.

Because of the response that Stephen was getting to his preachinge, he was summoned before the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews. People had been bribed so that they offered false testimony against him. But perhaps the most damaging testimony of all was that which Stephen himself gave, for he preached to the high council, reminding them of their stubbornness in resisting God's word and God's will. Stephen said to them: "How heathen your hearts, how deaf you are to God's message!" As he reminded them that they had killed God's Son instead of listening to His message.

As you might expect, the Sanhedrin was not used to hearing messages like this from people who were brought before them on charges. They didn't like being accused by Stephen. They didn't like being held accountable for their actions. So in anger, they rose up, rushed out and stoned Stephen to death. Their anger overcame them, and they killed God's messenger once again.

As Stephen experienced their anger and knew that they were going to kill him, and even as the stones were hitting his body, Stephen prayed to God. Stephen prayed for two things: he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" that indeed he might be taken up to God, and he prayed, "Lord! Do not remember this sin against them!" Stephen was not vindictive or angry at their response. I suspect rather that he was saddened, saddened that once again they refused to hear, once again they refused to believe.

There's a story of an overweight man who prayed for years that God would take away his appetite, but God never did. He continued to gain weight until he was disgusted with himself. "Lord, why don't you answer my prayer and take away the desire to eat?" he asked. "Then what would you have to do?" was the response he received. Sometimes we would just like God to take all of our problems away, to magically remove them from our life. But that isn't the way that life usually works, and that isn't what God promises us.

Sometimes it seems that our purpose in life, or at least one of our purposes is to carry certain burdens - to struggle with loss and pain and grief, to experience times of temptation, and even to face death. You see God never promises us that life will be easy or even that it's desirable to be easy (even though we'd all like to try it that way for a while). God never promises to take away all of our suffering and pain. God never promises to take away our struggles or those things that we fear. God never promises to make life easy for us.

When we look at the Bible, we find many of the faithful facing difficult times, facing pain, suffering, and even persecution for their faith. Look at the example of Jesus. No one could be closer to God than He was and is. No one could be more faithful that Christ was. Yet He was not spared pain and suffering and anguish. In fact that was what needed to take place in order to further God's will. Or look at Stephen and how he was stoned to death. Or look at Paul who was beaten and imprisoned, and in the end may well have been martyred for his faith, or Peter who was crucified upside down.

Being a Christian has never been an easy lot, and if our expectation is that prayer will magically remove all of our pain and suffering and make things happen the way that we want them too, then we will often be disappointed. For we are still human and God is still God. We are not the ones who decide issues of life and death - nor should we be, for we do not have the wisdom or ability to do so.

Why then should we pray in times of pain if God will not magically remove the source of our pain? We pray because God promises us what we really need.

When we pray to God in times of pain and anguish, we often pray as Jesus did, wondering if there might be another way, wondering if this suffering can be taken from us, and that's certainly okay. God understands, for God knows our suffering, and sees to the depths of our hearts. But we also need to remember that the most valuable response that we receive to our prayers is not always the one we expect, for the most valuable response that God gives is the gift of God's presence, the knowledge that we are not alone, but that God is there with us, walking with us, guiding us, even as the psalmist said, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

God is with us through all that we face. We are not alone. Thanks be to God!

Amen.