Dear Friends
What is prayer? Why do we pray? Is it to control God, to curry favour with God, to get God to do what I want? And, if so, is this any different from those who pray to gods or trust to luck?
Pagans knew magic. They had interracted with gods—fallen angelic beings, demons—and had worked out the precise language to use and offerings to make to achieve a purpose. Their priests could turn staffs into snakes (Exodus 7:11–12) and could read the signs from those whom they worshipped to divine the will of their god. And whether it was a bountiful harvest, fertility or victory over another tribe, their god could be relied upon to provide for them, through their king, by this magic. And this is satisfying, this is easily understood, a quid pro quo—the pagan offers worship to a god and the god guarantees victory.
Until another, more powerful, god comes along and wipes out the tribe.
The children of Israel came on the scene and turned this all around. For them, they are not trying to control God, domesticate God, tame God—taking his power for their own gain—they are trying to do the will of God and be united to him. They are not practicing magic, they are praying: placing themselves in God’s presence and trying to become, through God’s power, more like him. The sacrifices, the worship, the prayers, are not to change God—to get him to do what we want him to do—but to change us, to sanctify us, to become heirs of the Kingdom.
When the Three Holy Youths were threatened with the fiery furnace for not worshipping the golden image, they did not say, “our God is more powerful than yours and he will defeat you,” rather they said,
We have no need to answer you in regard to this thing.
Daniel 3:16–18
For there is a God in the heavens, whom we serve, and he is able to save us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us from your hands, O king.
But, if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image you set up.
They did not create a deal with God—”We will worship you if you deliver us.”—but placed their hope, their faithfulness and their love in the living God who acts as he knows for our Salvation. They did not know what the end result would be yet, live or die, they trusted in the Lord.
And all too often I turn back to magic: “God, do this one thing for me and I will continue in my worship of you.” And I convince myself it is for altruistic reasons, good reasons—”I am doing it for others, not for myself,” I lie, “I want healing in the world and that those whom I love to have good jobs and do well.” And were I a pagan this would make sense: what makes this truly diabolical is I name Father, Son and Holy Spirit to get it—I have perverted Christianity into a type of paganism.
And I must change, I must not continue on this path to evil. I must, instead, pray. And my prayer is not about changing God, it must be about changing me, about my repenting. Yes, I may ask for things but for all I ask I must be prepared, being a child of God, for our heavenly Father to say “no.” And when I don’t get what I want I still know our Father loves me, cares for me, and has mercy on me and the world and I must continue in my prayer.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, leave aside magic and pray. Pray that we may all be changed by the power of God into heirs of eternal Life. Pray that we may repent. Pray that we all receive God’s mercy. Let us leave aside magic and all its fantasy and turn again to the living God.
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Sermon
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
“Every one who acknowledges me before men,” says the Lord,
“I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven.”
And this is clear to us and is concise, we confess Christ and he will remember us in his Kingdom. But this translation lacks a little precision, for when speaking positively, the Lord does not say, “acknowledges me,” but, “acknowledges in me.”[*] We are not merely to give a mental assent to the proposition of Christ, the concept of Christ, the idea of Christ, the Lord is calling you and he is calling me to be in Christ. For our faith is not an idea but is founded on the very person of Christ: “For as many of you,” says the Apostle, “as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27) We have not agreed with an idea, we have “put on Christ” so that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)
Today we celebrate All Saints who,
“through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”
These holy ones—men and women, rich and poor, free and slave, Jew and Gentile—have acknowledged in Christ and Christ has acknowledged in each one of them before the Father since when we are in Christ he is in us. But the reverse is not possible, we cannot “deny in Christ” because we cannot deny ourselves, we cannot deny the one to whom we are truly joined, so the word “in” cannot be used for the negative.
…
Read last Sunday’s Sermon, Acknowledge in Christ.
Archive of Past Sermons.
Services this week
Friday 16th June
Discussion on the Book of Numbers, 8 pm
Online only
Saturday 17th June
Great Vespers, 6.30 pm
At St Francis’ Hall, Eastleigh
Sunday 18th June
Matins & Divine Liturgy, 9 am
At St Francis’ Hall, Eastleigh
Online session is via Google Meet: please get in contact for the details.
Please join us: all are welcome, come and see.
Attending Church
We meet at St Francis’ Hall, Nightingale Avenue, Eastleigh, SO50 9JA. Come and See.
Can I help you?
I am here for you, you need only ask. Is there a way I can support your life of faith? Get in touch.
Can you help the community?
Yes, absolutely. Offer yourselves to the Lord: pray! Make available to him all your talents and ask him how he would like you to use them — listen for his reply.
Your prayers!
With love in Christ
Fr Alexander
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