Prayer Practice: Thy will be done

from my message on April 13, 2014, from Matthew 26:36-46

(sound of a heart beating)  Can you hear it?  It's a heartbeat.  It is the heart of Jesus beating for us.  We are in the garden of Gethsemane with him.  His heart is breaking for us.  He is grieved, agitated, grieved unto death over us.

And he is praying, "My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want, but what you want."  It is the prayer of relinquishment, of letting go, of ceding control, of yielding.

How many times have we prayed this same prayer?  100's, 1000's, every time, we have prayed the Lord's Prayer, we have said it, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done."

And we mean it.  We have aligned our hearts with Jesus' heart, and we have really meant what we prayed.
Some of us are parents.  When we had kids, we gave up some control.  There were late night feedings.  There were trips to the emergency room.  We tossed out our agenda.  Thy will be done.

Some of you have callings.  It's not just a job or a paycheck.  It's a calling.  Your profession takes you to places and people you do not choose.  The schedule is not always convenient. You may be "on call."  You give up some control.  Thy will be done.

Some of you have other callings as followers of Christ.  You get up early on Tuesday mornings to be down at First UMC at 5 a.m. for Feed My People, to serve breakfast to those who live on the streets.  You get up early on Saturday morning to drive nails on a house for Habitat for Humanity.  You are a youth, and you choose to sleep on a hard bunk and work in the hot sun as you do a mission trip.  You cede some control.  Thy will be done.

Sometimes our hearts align with Jesus' heart.  Sometimes we break His heart.  We have tachycardia, as we race ahead of what Jesus' will for us.  We have heart arrhythmia, as our hearts get out of sync with His heart.  We mean "thy will be done," until it conflicts with our will.  Then we want to do our own thing.

I had a member in a former church.  She was brilliant, a physics teacher, who from time to time worked for NASA.  She took every Bible Study we ever offered.  She was faithful in worship, bringing her family with her.  But she had one reservation.  When we would talk about following Jesus, she would say, "I respect Him and His teachings.  He is a great model to emulate.  But I just can't give up my control.  I can't give up my will.  I can't go that far."

I know that we have not fully prayed "Thy will be done," because of some words in our vocabulary.  If we truly lived into Thy Will Be Done, then we wouldn't have words like "Holocaust" or "Food Insecurity" or "Homophobia" or "Racism" or "Sexism" or "Pay Inequality."   We continue to break God's heart.

I realize that this prayer of relinquishment, Thy will be done, is a major league prayer.  That's why I have saved it till last in this sermon series on Prayer Practice.  Today, I invite us to start small, to take some baby steps toward Thy Will Be Done.

Let's start with the marriage relationship.  Cathy and I load the dishwasher differently.  I put the cups in the upper rack, underneath that folding shelf.  The saucers go up top too as well as the glasses.  The dinner plates, pots and pans go down below with the silverware.  I can get twice as many dishes in the dishwasher as Cathy can.  She just throws them in there anywhere.  Plates up top, glasses on the bottom.  It just drives me crazy (there should be a support group!).  Since Cathy has retired, she now does most of the dishes.  I have just had to let this go.  Thy will be done.

It could be with children.  They may choose colleges and majors and careers that you would not have picked.  Let it go.  Thy will be done.

You may have co-workers.  They do things in a different way, in a different order than you do.  Do you have to win every battle.  Sometimes, you may need to simply not say anything.  Just hush your mouth.  Walk away.  My spiritual director gave me a practical tip we can practice right now. When you find yourself in one of these conflicts, simply reach over and feel your pulse in your wrist.  You will have to pause. You can connect with the heart of Christ beating for you.  Thy will be done.

You may find someone sitting in your pew next Sunday (Easter).  They may also take your parking place.  You are going to breath and welcome all of the guests.  Thy will be done.

In this Healthy Church Initiative, we are being challenged to give up some of our control.  We may be doing things not for our own pleasure, but for those who need to be here.  We will listen for Jesus' heart beating for all of His children. Thy will be done.

It is not easy to pray this way.  In fact, the only way I can do it is to surrender even this prayer to Jesus.  Jesus has to pray it for me, with me, until I can pray it and mean it also.  That's why Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He reverses what happened in the Garden of Eden.  He prays, "Thy will be done," to replace our grabby, "My will be done."

He does this to offer us a wonderful gift:  the ability to lay down the terrible burden of always having to get our own way.  Besides that, can we want any better for ourselves than He wants for us?

Listen for Jesus' heart.  He is praying, "Thy will be done," until we can.

That's the good news I have to share today.