Proper 12/C:
7/25/10
The Rev. Dee Anne Dodd *
St. Paul’s, Wallingford CT
Note: DAD is Dee Anne Dodd . . . GOD is GOD!
GOD: 8:00 – Jane Smith 10:00 – Abby Paige
One of the things about being a priest is that people sometimes assume that you have a direct “pipeline” to God. Of course that's ridiculous. Like everyone else, we’re interested in the question the disciples ask Jesus in today’s Gospel. “Lord, teach us to pray.”
Jesus responds by giving them what we now call the Lord’s Prayer: “Our
Father . . . "
GOD: You rang?
DAD: God, is that really you?
GOD: Of course it is!
DAD: Wow – it works! Let me try again, “Our Father, who art in heaven . . .”
GOD: Yes?
DAD: God, please don’t interrupt – I’m busy trying to preach a sermon!
GOD: Yeah, you’re always busy.
DAD: Well, aren’t you pretty busy yourself? Now, if you please,
I’d like to get on with the work I thought you’d given me to do. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, “Our Father who art in heaven…”
GOD: There, you did it again. You called me. Don’t you know how powerful those words are?
DAD: I thought they meant you were up in heaven – somewhere distant, out of sight.
GOD: Where do you think heaven is?
DAD: I suppose it’s anywhere you want it to be. I know you’re not sitting on a star in some faraway galaxy. Well, I suppose you’re there too, but if I really think about it, heaven is any place where we can imagine you – those places where we are aware of your presence and sometimes even deep within ourselves.
GOD: That sounds about right. So now that you’ve called me by my special name – “Abba, Father” – what’s on your mind?
DAD: Excuse me, but I wasn’t actually praying the prayer – I’m just reciting it. We know that Jesus taught this prayer to his disciples and we pray it here just about every time we get together, so I thought it was worth exploring.
GOD: Now that’s an understatement. Please proceed.
DAD: "Hallowed be thy name..."
GOD: Hallowed? I don't hear you using that word too often. Do you think you might define it for the people?
DAD: OK. It's just an old-fashioned word for holy -- as in, God's name is holy, special, blessed.
GOD: And it means "You shall be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy,"
DAD: Me, holy?
GOD: That's right -- you and everyone else too -- all set apart in my name for a special, holy purpose.
DAD: Wow. There's a lot more to the Lord's Prayer than I thought.
GOD: You're right about that. Now go on...
DAD: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
GOD: Do you really mean that?
DAD: Of course I mean it . . . well, at least I want to mean it. I know it would mean big changes in the church and in the world and in me. But I believe that your will for the earth is guided by love -- tough love sometimes, but love just the same.
GOD: You got that right. But what are you doing about it?
DAD: Doing? Well, I was trying to preach, but you interrupted my train of thought.
GOD: Preaching, talking about me, is good. But what else do you do?
DAD: Well, I'd like to do more but it's hard. Just when I try to pray, the phone rings. I keep meaning to bring in more stuff in for Master's Manna, but I keep forgetting and leave it at home. I'd like to make more parish visits, but my family needs me too. Life seems so chaotic sometimes. I just wish you had more control of things down here like you do in heaven.
GOD: Do I have control of you?
DAD: Well . . . I try to follow a rule of life that balances prayer and work and play.
GOD: That's all well and good. But I was wondering about those times when you think you know best. You can be quite the know-it-all sometimes. And aren't you rather critical -- even of me? And what about ...
DAD: OK,OK. Do we have to rehearse all my faults here in front of the entire congregation? God, I'm trying.
GOD: Indeed, you can be very trying!
DAD: Let's get on with it, shall we? "Give us this day our daily bread..."
GOD: I'd watch the bread if I were you.
DAD: Oh great, now even God's on a low-carb diet!
GOD: OK, smarty, just remember who gave you that sense of humor. And who gives you your daily bread . . . or veggies or chocolate or whatever! And it's not just for you alone.
DAD: I know that. I always say "us" -- "give us our daily bread" -- even when I pray by myself.
GOD: I should hope so. But if you really mean "us" then maybe you'll have to be satisfied with a little less, so there's enough for all those other "us" folks out there.
DAD: I hear you, God.
GOD: It's about time. Prayer is a dangerous thing. You could wind up being changed, you know. You called me and I'm here. But then again I'm always here -- whether you notice or not. And I always answer prayers -- just maybe not in the way that you want. But then you don't always know what's best. In fact, I wish you'd understand that prayer is at least as much about listening as it is about talking.
DAD: Listening's fine with me because I'd rather not say the next line.
GOD: But this is the one I've been waiting for!
DAD: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us . . ."
GOD: Does that include Tricia?
DAD: I knew you'd bring that up! God, you know how nasty she was to me and all those rumors she spread. And she didn't just hurt me, she hurt people I love.
GOD: You know how I feel when people I love are hurt. And I could get revenge. In fact. some people mistakenly think I do, and they blame me for their misfortunes. But that's not what I'm about. I'm about forgiveness. I even forgive those who murdered my Son.
DAD: Thank God for that.
GOD: Forgive Tricia, then you'll know a little bit more about how I forgive you. You may lose some of that self-righteousness, but I promise that you'll finally be at peace with yourself.
DAD: I know that in my head; it's a little more difficult to get my heart to go along.
GOD: Trust me, forgive her. Let it all go, even that last ounce of bitterness. Give it to me. I can take it.
DAD: Like I said before, thank God. But I still need your help with another matter: I have a hard time forgiving myself, even when I believe that you forgive me. Can you help with that too?
GOD: Gladly. But let's give that some time later, shall we? Now get on with the prayer for the people here.
DAD: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil..."
GOD: Remember now, don't put yourself in temptation's way. When you get yourself into a mess don't think I'm only here as an escape hatch. You could save us both a lot of trouble if you took time to listen to me before running off on a wild goose chase.
DAD: But I thought it was your job to keep me out of trouble and temptation. I thought the Lord's Prayers was so familiar that we could just say it without thinking about it. I never thought I'd be challenged by the prayer that Jesus taught.
GOD: Well, think again. Now please finish the prayer.
DAD: "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever."
GOD: Do you happen to know what shows the world my power and glory?
DAD: I'd love to, actually, because I want to do what's right.
GOD: Finally you're on the right track. My glory is to have my people love me and seek to do my will. My power is in you -- all of you -- when you don't just recite the words but really live the Lord's Prayer. So keep at it, and keep listening. There's no telling what might happen.
DAD: I never expected this to happen.
GOD: So be it: Amen.
*In collaboration with the Rev. Hope Eakins and the Rev. Pat Hames.