Matthew 6:7-15
Jan Edmiston
When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Good Morning Trinity Presbyterian Church. I’m very happy to be with you this morning on this first Sunday after your former pastor, Steve Lindsley has left for a new call. Thanks be to God.
Thank you Rebecca for that kind introduction. Yes, my name is Jan Edmiston and I’m the General Presbyter of Charlotte Presbytery and so honored to be in your pulpit today.
Does anyone here know what a General Presbyter is? Some people think I’m the Presbytery, but I am not the Presbytery. In fact, you – Trinity Presbyterian Church – and the 92 other congregations in seven counties in this part of North Carolina are the Presbytery and I bring greetings from the Offices of the Presbytery of Charlotte.
One thing Rebecca didn’t share was that I was born and grew up in Chapel Hill where I also went to college and so I’m a lifelong Tarheel fan. And as we move towards March Madness very soon, I’m not going to preach a sermon about my love for college basketball. But I do have a related story.
It was October the 9th 1997 – a Thursday. And I got a phone call from my very frugal brother who never called before 11 o’clock at night. Remember when it was cheaper after 11:00 pm? He called me at three o’clock in the afternoon and I was sure something catastrophic must have happened and he said to me without saying hello, without identifying himself (and of course we didn’t have caller ID in 1997.) He simply said this: “What are the four scariest words you can think of?
The question paralyzed me. “What are you talking about?” I said, and he repeated himself: “What are the four scariest words you can think of?” Well, I can think of many combinations of four scary words but this is what he said: Dean Smith is retiring. For a lifelong Tar Heel fan that was indeed very scary but honestly they were not the four scariest words I could think of. I’m a pastor. I once worked as a hospital chaplain. I’m a mother, a wife. I watch a lot of scary movies. I can think of a lot scarier four-word combinations than “Dean Smith is retiring.”
- The cancer is back.
- There’s been an accident.
- I’ve been laid off.
- The bank is foreclosing.
- I want a divorce.
- I got fired today.
- The test is positive.
- The test is negative.
- I don’t love you anymore.
Actually that’s five words but that’s maybe the scariest of all either to speak or to hear.
Between the fires in California and the wars in the Ukraine and Gaza, and gun violence and political nastiness, there is quite a bit to be afraid of these days. And to be honest, many of our churches in Charlotte Presbytery are scared that giving is down and attendance didn’t bounce back after COVID – or the culture will continue to become so secular that being part of a Church will no longer be a priority for more and more of us. And so we become anxious and – in some congregations there is conflict when we are anxious. But I bring you the Good News that God is in the unknown, and God is in these anxious moments, and God is always with us. We get into trouble when we forget this.
We get into trouble is when we lose our way or lose our focus.
We get into trouble when we focus on our buildings over our neighbors, our rules over relationships, our institutional survival over making disciples of all nations. And I’m not saying that buildings or rules or survival are unimportant. I’m just saying that Jesus didn’t die for those things which brings me back to the Four Scariest Words.
- For Noah the four scariest words might have been go build an ark.
- For Abraham they might have been leave your father’s house.
- For Mary the mother of Jesus I’m sure they were: you’re having a baby
On the scariest night of Jesus’ life you might remember that he was praying in a garden. He was by himself. He was afraid and he said: Father – if you are willing – take this cup from me yet Thy will be done. Jesus prayed – more than once – the four scariest words in the Bible: Thy will be done.
These are scary because – honestly – we want our will to be done. We want an easy ride in life. We want creature comforts. We want impressive children. We want church to be the way we want it to be. We want our families to take our advice. We want the boss to listen to our excellent ideas. We want our will to be done.
But we are not God and God’s ways are not always our ways.
And sometimes loved ones die too young and fires burn down homes and floods destroy neighborhoods and war breaks out and bones break and hearts break and even spirits break. Sometimes children die at the hands of other children or police officers make life-threatening mistakes or politicians fail to inspire us.
But the extraordinary truth is that God is bigger than wars and terrorism and gun violence and politics and even death.
Scripture teaches us that God can even use evil for good. (You can find it in Genesis Chapter 50.) I believe that God’s heart is the first to break when innocent people die or when children feel unloved or when people are hurt or betrayed.
Have you ever known somebody whose body was riddled with cancer or maybe somebody who lost everything in a natural disaster or maybe somebody who just didn’t have two cents to rub together and yet they are people who are filled with deep peace? Have you ever known anybody like that? They are not afraid. They know that God’s Word is deep within them and if they are afraid, they’re not afraid for long.
I remember when my husband Fred and I sent our kids off to college and there they are without our supervision, when I would have no idea what time they’re getting to bed or if they’re doing their homework or what they’re eating or what they’re drinking and I would often pray desperate prayers: Dear God please watch over my children.
But if I’m really brave – at the end of those prayers I add but thy will be done because although I might believe I know what’s best the truth is that God knows what’s best. Always. This is the God who can even redeem evil as he did in. Genesis. This is the God who loves us and died for us.
This God will save us even from the things that scare us the most.
Now don’t get me wrong. Those who follow Jesus are not exempt from the pain of life but God has promised that there is something beyond this life. There is something beyond what scares us the most and it’s a better plan than any of us can possibly imagine. To believe this is an act of faith and it sets us free. All throughout this presbytery, all throughout the world we are people with uncertain futures.
Four more scary words perhaps:
- Our Pastor is leaving.
At this moment, we don’t know who your Transitional Senior Pastor will be – much less the next person you will elect to be your called and installed pastor a year or two from now. But this is a great time to pray: Thy will be done.
We don’t know what the future holds but in faith we believe that God holds that future and so we can confidently pray thy will be done in faith.
Those words don’t have to be so scary. In faith they become our stronghold.
Tomorrow we celebrate the official birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr who once wrote: “Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God.”
It’s also the day when our nation inaugurates a new President, and this particular President has been known to make some of us cringe or some of us angry or some of us feel stronger. People have a lot of feelings about both Martin Luther King and this President. James Taylor – a native of Chapel Hill – wrote a song years ago about Martin Luther King and there’s a line in that song that resonates today:
There is a feeling like the clenching of a fist. There is a hunger in the center of the chest. There is a passage through the darkness and the mist. And though the body sleeps, the heart will never rest.
Shed a little light, Lord. Shed a little light.
The God who loves us, the God who came to use in the form of a human baby, the God who died and rose for us – this God is still among us. We pray The Lord’s Prayer almost every Sunday during worship and sometimes we don’t think about the words we are speaking. But it’s still true that we can pray every word with the confidence of little children:
Thy will be done.