When the Little Ones Cry

When do you pray? What do you pray for when you do pray? When should we pray? Some say that monks live a life of prayer. Actually, while I prepared this sermon, I was listening to some recordings of Gregorian Chant. These are sung prayers that monks are typically known for. I think that chant is one of the most beautiful types of prayers. In monasteries, it is possible to hear prayer at most hours of the day and night. Most monasteries will follow a schedule of prayer that will include gathering the entire monastery together at various hours… midnight, 3AM, 6AM, 9AM, noon, 3PM, 6PM, and 9PM. This will be the typical daily schedule. Everything stops for prayer. Monks will then be expected to practice private prayer as well in the time in-between the gathered prayer. Then of course there will be prayer in worship as well as prayer said before meals. Yes, this is a life of prayer. Of course it’s not a life that all of us can live – not that we are any less dedicated and faithful to God, but the lives we are called to lead cannot accommodate such a structure. Yet, we are called to pray, and the Apostle Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing.” So, when do you pray?

So often, the times we pray are times in which we suffer, when we feel like we need God. The times that we pray are typically the times in which we face some sort of obstacle, or stumbling block. Typically, we tend to pray when we’re conscious that we need God. But when everything is going well… well, how often do we stop and pray? When everything is going well, doesn’t it seem like we’re in control? Doesn’t it feel like we’re empowered? Usually we are empowered in certain ways when things all seem to be going well. And even though our reading from James this week reminds us to sing songs of praise when we’re cheerful, we don’t always turn to prayer when things are going well.

I think this puts us at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of our relationship with God. I knew a woman once whose co-worker, knowing she was religious, asked her if it was bad to only pray when she was having trouble. The woman answered that it wasn’t bad, but that not praying when things seem to be going well makes you miss out on another opportunity to develop your relationship with God.

And the fact is, we live in a nation in which things typically go pretty well, so we may not feel much need to pray a lot of the time. We’re the richest nation in the world. The poverty line in the United States is a household income of approximately $15,000 a year. This is well above the income of most people in the world. Actually in some societies, an income of $15,000 would be seen as a wealthy income. We as a nation have some great financial power. Even in this congregation we have great financial power compared to some of our neighbors. We do have resources that others don’t have. Just yesterday, a group of men from the congregation spent the morning working on the cemetery and the landscaping at the parsonage. We had at our disposal a front-end loader, shovels, rakes, and other tools. We were pretty wealthy with these resources that allowed us to get quite a bit of work done in a short amount of time.

The truth is, the typical American has much, much more than the typical person in the world. And with all the stuff we have, we also can start to want to have more stuff. Sometimes we, as a society, try to find ways to get what we want from other nations at a lower cost, so we have more money and can therefore get more things for ourselves. Sometimes, for example, we overlook the fact that some of our clothes are made in sweat-shops, by people who are being paid next to nothing or are even slaves.

In our Gospel reading this morning, Jesus says, “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believes in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.” There is some academic debate as to who the “little ones” are. Some say that it’s the children that Christ referred to earlier in the chapter. Others believe that he meant new Christians. Either way, it’s a reference to the least and the last of society. Those who are not empowered or who do not have many opportunities. Then Jesus goes on to talk about what seems to be self mutilation. If your hand causes you to sin, then cut it off… or if your eye causes you to sin, put it out… and even your foot! This was a pretty strong sacrifice Jesus was demanding, because the idea of being an amputee was not only frightening, but you needed both of your hands, and feet, and eyes to truly function in the society at the time. You also needed all these things to worship in the temple. Anyone who was blemished in any way – including being an amputee – wasn’t allowed in the temple to worship and would immediately become an outcast in society. Jesus was saying that it was better to be at an outsider in society than to sin.

So often in today’s world we focus on our things, our money, the stuff that seems to empower us in this world. We start to focus on these things that act as our hands, feet, and even eyes in our society. Money in particular here in America. We protect our money as it is the way we move through and get things in this world. We tend to protect it so much that we will often keep much more than we really need and not share it with the less fortunate. We’ll sometimes look for the deals and purchase things that are made in different lands which have questionable labor laws. I sometimes wonder if our focus on money is not a stumbling block to the “little ones” of our time. I sometimes wonder if focusing on our money and things can blind us to even seeing the little ones. I sometimes wonder if the little ones have trouble seeing God because of the suffering they go through as we look to our things. Yes, the little ones who suffer can pray, and should pray as our reading in James urges. And God will hear the prayers. James even says “the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” But I can’t help but think of the millstone and the fire and worms that await those who put stumbling blocks out and who would prefer to keep their sinning hand, foot, or eye, and wonder how our hearts would change if we were praying more during the good times and not just the bad.

Prayer is important. It is powerful and it is empowering. Prayer is one of the typical means of grace, that is, prayer is a typical way in which we receive God’s grace. When we receive God’s grace, we’re changed somehow. We see things differently. That’s one of the reasons we readily pray when we’re suffering… prayer helps us to see God in our suffering situation… prayer helps us to see hope in suffering.

Prayer does the same thing when we’re cheerful and we feel empowered. Prayer still changes us and helps us to see things we never saw before. Prayer can help us to see that the things we thought gave us power, like money, may really be a way in which we’re causing a little one to stumble or a way in which we’re blind to those we are called to help. Through prayer, we may find that having so much may really be like having two hands where one is causing us to sin.

When do you pray? I know I pray when I feel like a little one who is stumbling. But I wonder just how often I pray when I know I have two hands, feet, and eyes, but am causing another little one to stumble. Do I pray then? When do you pray?

SDG