OPERATION P.U.S.H.

Tenth Sunday after TRINITY

16 August, AD 2009

TEXTS:  I Corinthians 12:1f (Spiritual gifts)

St. Luke 19:41f (House of prayer)

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone . . . All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”  (I Corinthians 12:4-6, 11)

“And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, ‘It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.’”  (St. Luke 19:45-46.

As always, on the Lord’s day, we have gathered to hear the Word of God and to feast at His Heavenly Table for nourishment and the salvation of our souls and bodies.  Again, we are challenged to measure the state of our souls and our life as Christians, in this world, as over against what our Lord holds up to us as the standard or canon of the Gospel message.  While on the surface, our two lessons – one from I Corinthians and the other from St. Luke’s Gospel seem unrelated, there is a commonality between them which bind the two into rich, fertile ground from which we gain the necessary spiritual nourishment to grow into being the sons and daughters of Christ the King.

Beginning with St. Paul’s text from I Corinthians, then, St. Paul is teaching that among the many things we receive from the Spirit of God who dwells within us, there is the manifestation of gifts.  Some people, through the grace of God and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit are given the gifts of prophecy, of tongues, of discernment, of knowledge even to this very day.  But the source of all these gifts differing is from God Himself, through the Holy Spirit given to His people severally as He wills.  This points to and strengthens the fact that the Church is made up of many members; all working for the up-building, and not the down-tearing of God’s Kingdom and Church on earth.

But there is one gift that all of us possess as faithful Christians, and that is the gift and ability of prayer.  Prayer is, simply, communication with God.  And while we can and should pray to God throughout the course of our day, regularly, we are also commended to come, on every Lord’s day, to His house of prayer, the Church, and offer thanks, praise, supplication, and glory to God our Father for the great gift of our salvation given to us through His Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ.  It’s not that this is the only place we can pray, but the Church has been given to God’s people as the physical location of His presence among them and as a place of His people’s worship.  That is what Isaiah reminds us of in chapter 56, verse 7:

“These (meaning the Lord’s faithful people) will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

A House of Prayer for all peoples.  It is clear that the Church is the place of God’s presence and our main activity is that of worship and prayer.  So prayer is a gift given to all people who believe and trust on the Name of Jesus Christ.  

Jesus certainly reminded the people of that when He came into Jerusalem and cleansed the Temple.  He said, “It is written, ‘My house is the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.’”, speaking to those who had established the system of money-changing for Temple worship.  It was clear that their actions had despoiled the original purpose of worship in the Temple of God.  It was no longer a house of prayer, but a common exchange market, which sought to make a profit in the name of religion.  Their senses had become dull and even blind to the original call of their being, which was, to worship God through prayer.  Lest we, too, should forget that we have this gift of prayer at our disposal always, and are called to use it, I would like to tell you a story – a parable, really.

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with bright light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man He had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This, the man did, day after day.

For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down with his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore, and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, the Adversary decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man’s weary mind: “You’ve been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn’t budged. Why kill yourself over this? You’re never going to move it” —thus, giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.

“Why kill myself over this?” he thought. “I’ll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort and that’ll be good enough.” And that’s just what he planned to do— until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord” he said, “I’ve labored long and hard in Your service, putting all my strength to do that which You’ve asked. Yet, after all this time, I haven’t even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What’s wrong? Why am I failing?”

The Lord responded compassionately,

“My friend, when I asked you to serve Me— you accepted. I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength— which you’ve done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me— with your strength spent, thinking that you’ve failed. But is that really so?”

“Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscular. Your back sinew is mighty. Your hands are callused from the constant pressure; and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you’ve grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you’ve done. I, my friend, will now move the rock.”

At times, when we hear God’s word in our heart or on our soul, we tend to use only our own intellectual gifts to interpret what He wants.  But, What God ACTUALLY wants is just simple OBEDIENCE and FAITH IN HIM, through PRAYER!  This is all summed up in the little acronym P.U.S.H., which means -  Pray Until Something Happens!  Be persistent in prayer.  Pray without ceasing as St. Paul urged the Thessalonians to do.  There is a reason why prayer is found throughout the pages of Holy Scripture;  1) Because we are called to it as Christians and, 2) Because it works!  Jesus said, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (St. Matthew 21:22.)  And St. Paul is just as strong in his words to us as well, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”  (Ephesians 6:18).  As I read somewhere, When everything seems to go wrong, just P.U.S.H. … When the job gets you down, P.U.S.H. … When people don’t react the way you think they should, P.U.S.H. … When your money looks tight and the bills are due, P.U.S.H. … When people just don’t understand you, just P.U.S.H.  Pray until something happens!

Therefore, for the rest of this Trinitytide season, I want us to join together in Operation P.U.S.H. – Pray Until Something Happens.  Say the Daily Offices from the Prayer Book.  Pray the Psalms.  Add some new prayer discipline to your own daily life.  If you don’t have a prayer life, come to me, Fr. Ben, or Dcn. Dave and we can help you start one.  There is no proficiency to prayer.  All it has to be is from your heart to God.  Pray for the Province. Pray for our Bishop.  Pray for our Church, especially.  Pray for me.  Pray for Fr. Ben. Pray for Dcn. Dave.  Pray for your personal needs and for those of your family.  Pray for the sick, the ill, the friendless, and the needy.  Hold all of that up in intercession before God’s throne of heavenly Grace and keep doing it until something happens.  That is our task and our calling.  Over the years you will find that you have become like the man in the parable and you will have grown stronger through prayer, and more and more out of self and into the people of God.  Let the campaign of Holy Prayer begin in your lives and souls today and reclaim St. George’s as a House of Prayer for all people!

And now, unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost be ascribed all might, majesty, power, and dominion as is most justly due this day both now and forever; world without end.  Amen.

SOLI DEO GLORIA – JEU+