I may be on some shaky ground when I say this but I have always thought of this passage as one of the few passages that contain a hint of humor in the Bible. If there is one statement many would agree with is there are not many laughs in the Bible. Yet this passage in which Abraham is at his marketing best on behalf of the residents of Sodom does have a certain whimsy. I have often thought if I was going to buy a new car I would want Abraham to come along to negotiate. At the heart of this story are the tenacity of Abram and the intimacy of his relationship with God. It also reveals the underlying yearning of God to show mercy no matter our sins.

Again we have set before us what is called the Paschal Mystery. The power of the death and resurrection of Jesus and the difference it has made in all of us lives. In his dying Jesus destroyed the hold that death and sin had on us humans. In His rising like Jesus we have left behind the prison of both death and sin and entered into the realm of life shared with the Risen Lord. That is what we recall and are grateful for each time we gather at the table of the Lord to share the Eucharist that nourished this life in the Lord.

There are two gospels that record the prayer that Jesus taught His followers. The form of that prayer with which we are most familiar is from the gospel of Mathew. This is from the gospel of Luke. There is the additional emphasis on the influence that perseverance in prayer can have. Prayer does not change God it changes us.

One of the questions that come my way often enough and one that stops me up short has to do with prayer. Some will present the question “Father how do I pray? I used to pray when I was younger now I don’t know how to pray.” When I hear that question I wonder where to begin.

Initially I am uncertain as to what we are talking about when the subject of prayer is brought up. There are so many aspects of prayer that are not realized. There can be private prayer and public prayer. There can be devotional prayer and liturgical prayers. Prayer can be petition and asking. It can be thanksgiving. Prayer also can be praising. It can be rote as well as meditation and contemplation. Sometimes we are not sure that we are praying when in fact we are.

Yesterday I went over to the emergency room at Lutheran General in response to a call about one of our parishioners who has been confined to bed for years. As I entered the cubicle where she was there sat her husband alone with his thoughts and worries at her bed side keeping vigil awaiting the results of the tests that had been taken. As he sat in silent worry he was at prayer. Together we prayed the Anointing of the sick. I left him with his uncertainties .As I drove back I was in awe of her lengthy sickness and his faithful attentiveness. I thought of the ancient belief of the Jewish tradition that holds that there is a great deal of sin and evil in the world. Most of us contribute to the world’s evil. Yet there is also the belief that there are a certain few whose goodness is so deep and so pure that their goodness and holiness makes up for the rest of us. They are called the Anawim, the saving remnant. I thought of that husband and wife who to me are members of the saving remnant. God had entered into my thoughts and heart and the Holy Spirit had prayed in me when I did not realize it. Sometimes prayer is not what we do but what God does in us.

For any of us to pray we need to have an intimacy, intimacy with God. Some of us would never presume such closeness with God and yet Abraham had no trouble as he negotiated on behalf of the people of Sodom. Can you believe someone could be so presumptuous and tenacious? If one is close to another one can take risk and be at peace. I will forever love Tevye the poor milkman with a number of daughters he has to marry off and who was unable to provide a dowry for his daughters. In the play Fiddler on the Roof in one of his many conversations with God Tevye tells God about his poverty. “I know it is no sin to be poor. But it is no great honor either.” How intimate is our relationship with God?

Another element that plays a part in prayer is time. I have often said that time is friend not an enemy. Yet so many of us expect and demand instant results. Think of the flowers in the gardens and the crops in the fields. The seed was planted but it is only with time that the flowers blossomed and the earth yields its abundance. Time is a friend.

The purpose of prayer is to bring about a change in us not to coerce or persuade or bribe God. There is a difference between what one wants and what one needs. So often we storm heaven with our wants and whims. It is only with time that we get in touch with our real needs. God already knows them. Prayer does not change God but it can change us.

A key element for any effective experience of prayer is that our concern be for others. When we pray is our concern exclusively about ourselves? How often is our prayer for others like Abraham’s? Yet when we pray for ourselves are we willing to risk asking not for our wants but for our needs? Our needs are fulfilled by the Holy Spirit who is given to those who ask the heavenly Father.

                                               Homily preached at the 9:30 liturgy

  Sunday July 29, 2007

  Reverend William D. Mannion