the Jesus Prayer

from my sermon on 10/24/10 from Luke 18:9-14

Breathe....very slowly in and out. Keep breathing. In Luke's Gospel we find Jesus teaching more about prayer and spending more time in prayer than we do in any of the other gospels, so I think it would be appropriate for us to pray during this time together. So breathe and get into the rhythm of praying.

As you breathe, I have a gift for you....the Jesus prayer. As you breathe in, "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God," and as you breathe out, "Have mercy on me a sinner."

Say it inside your soul....say it out loud with me...write it down to remember it....say it to Jesus. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

I first encountered the Jesus Prayer when I was in my first year as pastor in San Saba in 1983 or 84. A group of us pastors had gotten together to form a study group. We got from Perkins School of Theology a list of readings and audio tapes. We would come together once a week to study and pray. One of the lessons was on the Jesus prayer. You recognize the words of the tax collector as the basis of the prayer. Now the tax collector was voted in his senior class as "least likely to be saved." How do you feel about tax collectors today? Well, they were even less liked back then. They were independent contractors who tried to squeeze as much money as they could from their fellow citizens. Their neighbors looked at them as traitors because they worked for the oppressing government of Rome. They were considered as ritually unclean. In short, nobody liked them. So we find the tax collector standing far off from the Holy of Holies, not lifting up his eyes, beating his breast and saying, "God, be merciful to me a sinner."

Now over the centuries the prayer has been expanded. Have you ever thought of this? The Bible can not only be read and studied but also prayed. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, they substituted the word God with teh words Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God. It became the Jesus Prayer, and it became very important to their spirituality. One Russion monk is said to have recited this prayer with every breath and then with every beat of his heart. He became the Jesus Prayer.

Are you still breathing and saying, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me?"

A year or two later, I did the Workbook of Living Prayer by Maxie Dunnam. There on page 105 was the Jesus Prayer. The exercize asked us to reflect on the terms used in the prayer. Here were some of my reflections:
Lord--Who or what is #1 in my life? Who is my master? Is it security...or money...or reputation?
Jesus--did God really become human? Take on our flesh? Did Jesus put his elbows on the table? Did he cuss? Did he worry like I do?
Christ--God's chosen one, not the expected, exalted military or political ruler, but a crucified Savior. One who is broken, so we might be whole.
Son of God--the revelation of who God is, God self-revealed, God with us
Have mercy--my need for forgiveness. This does away with all of my attempts to earn salvation on my own.
Me, a sinner--this fact is ever before me. I try to cover it up with bravado, with being a know-it-all, churchiness and religiousity. I am always looking for the faults of others, so I don't have to deal with my own.

I know that I am the Pharisee. I am very religious. I am a professional pray-er. I go to meetings, and people say, "here's Lynn, Preacher, would you say a little prayer to get us started?" Go to a dinner or other setting, and it happens all over again. You're the professional; say a little prayer. I fast...I literally go without eating as a spiritual discipline. I tithe....I literally give 10% to the church....and beyond that to many other causes. I am holy....but how easily that can become holier than thou. I am righteous....but how easily that can become self-righteous. I am the Pharisee. I look down on others. Thank God I am not like them--the greedy, dishonest, impure, especially that tax collector. It is so easy to not see others as persons of worth, to put others down and to lose one's soul.

Last week, the theme was the promise of persistent prayer. This week the theme is peril of presumptive prayer. Are you still breathing? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

I know you never do this, but I will be standing in line at HEB. It is the express checkout line. It very clearly says, "12 items or less." But the person in front of me as 14 items. I know because I have counted them. Then go to pay with a check....from out of town....and then they have coupons. And I am so important and my time is so valuable that I am just about to explode. That's when I breathe and say, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."

I am so good with words. At times I have taken my words and aimed them like a laser guided missile with exact precision right into the hearts of those I love the best like my wife or 2 sons and struck where I could cause the most damage. I have killed with my words. Sometimes there has been collateral damage. I didn't even intend to, but caused harm anyway. Then I breathe and say, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

The Jesus Prayer is not some magic incantation, not some secret formula. In fact the Orthodox Church even has issued cautions about only doing the Jesus Prayer and nothing else. But there is a real gift for us if we pray it. It expresses our deep need for a Savior. It is our cry for help.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.