Prayers answered

“Prayers Answered”
November 15, 2009
Twenty-fifth Sunday of Pentecost
Year B
1 Samuel
Mark 13:38-44

It seems that every few years now there is a different prediction that the end is coming near. Remember all of the hoopla that was made about Y2K. None of the computers were programmed to read the year 2000 – and everything was going to shut down – and life as we know it would end. I am sure that I am missing another one since then.
Well now, it has been decided that the world will come to an end in 2012. The 5000 year old Mayan calendar will end in the year 2012 – And this end is not predicted by Christians waiting for Christ to return – this end is much older and deeper than that, so it must be true. People have been talking about it and preparing for it for years now – and now it is only 2 years away.
The new movie 2012 debuted this Friday – Friday the 13th mind you. That is not my genre of movie, so I didn’t watch it – but I saw the previews. They reviews say that this is the movie of all movies. The director took scenes from every destructive movie ever made and made this one even more destructive. You see all types of icons – the Vatican, Rio De Janero’s statue of Jesus, even the city of Los angeles – totally fall apart in this movie. Signifiying that this is indeed the end of the world as we know it. This is indeed a time of cataclysmic change. This is indeed the end of the world. The end of the world as we know it. That is just it. People have been predicting the end of the world for centuries. People – Christian and non Christian have been asking the same question of Jesus as asked in Mark 13 – when will we know – tell us when will this be, and what will be the signs that all of these things are about to be accomplished? When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, earthquakes and famine – this is but the beginning.
And we take Jesus at his word – and we believe that the end of the world must be total chaos and destruction. We have to feel and witness something big, and painful and worldwide in order for the world to change. In order for the world of Jesus to come into the earth – the earth must be totally destroyed. – right? Wrong? In order for the end of the world to come – we have to be destroyed. Right? Wrong. We got it all wrong.
This verse is called the little apopcalyse – the big apopcalyse is the book of revelation. And yet Jesus is not talking about endings – he says that this is the beginning of birth pangs. The world will not be destroyed – but recreated. Life as we know it does not come to an end- it simply transforms. The mayan prediction of 2012 – has been intentionally distorted by our culture – who seems to love sensationalism and exaggeration. The prediction is not that the world will end after 5000 years – but that after 5000 years a new era of understanding will be ushered in. A time when people are able to let go of old things – and look at life from a brand new perspective.
A time of cataclysmic change and transformation. But the transformation is not about what is going on out there somewhere – the change is about what is going on in here. Jesus constantly reminds us that God is not concerned about outward appearances – God is concerned about the condition of our hearts.
In a world that is in deep pain and groaning. In a culture that is asking itself some serious questions, in a time when life is seriously evaluating itself and its values – we are being asked to have a change of heart. A change in who we are and how we relate to the world.
We have no idea of what events will lead us to our final destiny – we have no idea of what the world will go through within the next two years, we have no control over even what the future holds for us – but what we do know is that the time has come for us to transform.
The thing is – we come to this point in our faith every year. As the old Christian year winds down- and the new year is about to begin – we are taken in scripture to the questions and the tumult of the apopcalypse. We are reminded of the end of the times. But we are never challenged to die – we are always challenged to begin again. To realize that in every ending – there is always a new beginning. It is time for us to start looking for those new beginnings, those unexpected births, those moments of faith.
Every year we relive the circle of life. Every year we relive the birth, life , death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior to be reminded that transformation is a normal occurance. The lesson for us is to be prepared for a catalcymic transformation in every moment of our lives.
If every moment is special, then every person is special. The entrance of every person into the world is a story to tell the began in the hopes and dreams of our ancestors long ago.
There is another theme for our scriptures for this time of year. A reminder that every great man who came into the world to bring about hope and change – was raised and nurtured by a faithful mother. That is an interesting pattern in the bible. In the story of Jesus, we learn about his mother Mary. In the story of David, we learn about his great grandmother Ruth, on the story of John we learn about his mother Elizabeth, and in the story of Samuel – we learn about his mother Hannah.
Samuel was a man who bought great change to the Hebrew culture. He was not a king, he was a kingmaker. HE ushered his people into a new understanding of leadership. He was the last of the judges over the people, and he made Saul and them David a king. He spent his life as a priest in the temple – he realized that even that system was not working – because priest had become corrupt.
Our scripture read is a celebration of his mother’s answered prayer. Where she acknowledges that it is time for a change, and that in God’s answered prayer the world would be shaken up and turned upside down, so that the people on the bottom would now be on the top.
Hannah was a second wife with no children, and she got tired of being mistreated by the other wife, who had plenty of children for her husband. Hannah prayed that if God would just give her a son – she would give that son back to God and raise him as a priest. Well – she got pregnant and after three years she did indeed give her son Samuel to be raised in the temple. It was her faith that gave the world a transformational leader. It was also her willingness to trust God to answer her prayer. How well do we trust God with our prayers?
A man was really sick and needed a very serious surgery. He prayed to God that things would go well for him. But just to sweeten the deal he promised the surgeon that he would donate enough money to build a new wing for the hospital if things turned out. Well the surgery turned out – and the surgeon came to the man a few months later – reminding him of he bargain that he had made with the hospital before the surgery. The man had forgotten about that bargain. He said o gee, I really must have been sick to have made a promise like that. I am better now, - I don’t need to pray anymore.
What would have happen had Hannah had the same attitude – and not kept her promise to God? What bargains do we make with God in our times of need – how are we in maintaining our faithfulness?
We would all agree that we live in some really tough times, and that we all have some really tough challenges ahead. We may not all agree on what it takes to change the circumstances, but we all agree that the circumstances need to be changed. We are all looking for that cataclysmic transformation for things to be different. For the peace that God promised us all to begin and to spread throughout the world.
Some need to see the sensationalism of 2012 in order to realize that things can truly be different. All of us – especially the faithful of God need to realize that every moment and every life is a part of the great change. God uses our lives, our moments, our faith to bring about the greatest change. The toughest jobs in life are given to the faithful who are willing to trust in God and willing to be used by the creative movement of the holy spirit – present and every changing our lives one prayer at a time. Amen.