Prayer That Makes A Difference

Please stand as you are able as we read God’s word:

Matthew 5:14–16 ““You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

This is final week of Pray Like A Moravian series. I hope you’ve grown to appreciate this remarkable community of Herrnhut, refugees from Moravia that in many ways turned the world upside down by the power of their prayer life.

We saw a couple of weeks ago how in 1727 they experienced a Moravian Pentecost moment following a time of deep repentance and reconciliation.

Last week, we saw how they began possibly the first 24/7 movement in the world, dedicated to the goal of Count Zinzendorf to send the gospel to the nations. The fire had been lit at Hernnhut and they were waiting to go and make a difference.

In the early hours of 1731, a villager named Leonard Dober was having a bad night. He was part of a group of single men who had committed themselves to 24/7 prayer. But on this night he lay in bed unable to sleep. His mind was racing and heart pounding from a dream that seemed real. In his dream, Dober had witnessed images of enslaved Black men and women in the Caribbean islands, and had repeatedly heard the voice of God calling him to go and preach freedom to the captives.

The inspiration for this dream was obvious. Zinzendorf had just returned from Denmark to witness the crowning of the Danish king. However, the story he chose to relate to the people of Herrnhut was not of crown jewels or royal audiences, but rather a conversation he had there with an African slave named Anthony Ulrich.

Anthony came from the Danish-owned island of St. Thomas. He was a bright and intelligent speaker, but more than that, he had heard the message of Jesus and been baptized as a follower. He had told Zinzendorf about the situation of the enslaved people on St. Thomas, especially their spiritual condition. The story Zinzendorf related fell on receptive ears. The wait, at least for Leonard Dober, seemed to be over.

Some of the initial enthusiasm for the project was dampened a few days later when Anthony Ulrich arrived at Herrnhut. His appeal was as compelling as before, but he was also very sobering in describing the conditions any prospective missionary would face. He described the long hours, poor conditions, and evening curfew the enslaved Africans lived under. Ulrich said the only realistic way to live and work among them was to become a slave yourself.

At that point, many in the congregation concluded it was unfeasible. But Dober wasn’t daunted in the least. His response was simple and absolute; if the only way to reach slaves was to share in their condition, then slave he would be. Dober was ready to put his life on the line to make a difference.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let me start with a question: What are we actually praying for when we pray “thy kingdom come”?

I think at least one reason that church kept me disinterested as a young person is that most of what I heard seemed to only be concerned with what happens after I’m dead. I don’t want to overgeneralize, but the message I primarily walked away with was that Hell is hot and Jesus was asbestos underwear. He was fire insurance for the next life. And for this life, he mostly just wanted you to not sin - which was very difficult for a adolescent boy.

Without being too cynical, I guess you could say that the difference I saw in the people I went to church with is that they tended to be more moral. At least most of them. They didn’t cuss or watch R-rated movies. But as far as it influencing their day to day life very much, I had a hard time seeing it. It didn’t seem like the gospel - the good news about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection - made much of a difference. But when I prayed “thy kingdom come” I understood that there was an implied “now”.

I knew that we were saved by the good news, but no one told me we were saved to be good news. Apparently no one told Israel either - or maybe they forgot.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isaiah 58:1–5 “Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?”

This part of Isaiah was likely written after the exiles had returned from Babylon. They were back in their land, but things were not looking up. Yet they don’t understand why. They accuse God: “Why do we fast, but you do not see?” In the Bible, fasting is often seen as “prayer on steroids”. It showed your humility and earnestness. You could pray without fasting, but fasting always involved prayer. They are essentially asking why their prayers weren’t making a difference.

And so God answers. He lays out the charges against them.

They come near as if they delight in God, but in truth they forsake his commands.

They serve their own interests in their prayer and fasting.

They oppress their workers.

They fight and throw fists.

They come before God in superficial religious rituals, while neglecting and oppressing the poor and marginalized.

They wanted the Lord to do right by them, but they were unwilling to right by others. The Lord wasn’t condemning their rituals, but rather the falseness within them. Isaiah had already written, and Jesus would later quote, “These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.” They had forgotten that to be God’s chosen people didn’t mean “favorite”; it meant they were appointed to display God to the nations. They were to make a difference to those around them.

But their acts of righteousness were a farce. The word in Hebrew for righteousness is tzedek. It’s closely tied in the OT to another word: mishpat, which is translated into English as justice. To be righteous and to do justly are two side of the same coin. Together, they are found more than 300 times in the Old Testament. God is a God of righteousness and justice. For instance, Isaiah would later write, Isaiah 61:8 “For I the Lord love justice...” God’s people were supposed to be different. They were supposed to be good news for others.

Justice is a biblical concept that runs throughout the Bible, yet many in the church have been taught to cast a wary eye when the topic comes up - especially if it’s paired with the word “social”, as in social justice. As young married’s, Julie and I belonged to a wonderful little church in Ponca City, OK. Beautiful, loving people. One day I expressed some curiosity about a local Episcopal church that had a weekly soup kitchen for the poor. I thought that seemed kinda Jesus-y. But when I brought it up to an elder, I was told that what they were doing was just the “social gospel”. Meaning, feeding people somehow got in the way of the real gospel, which was about saving their soul from Hell.

At the time I accepted that conclusion. Yet, my dissatisfaction with my experience of faith only grew. Was the gospel only supposed to make a difference in a person’s afterlife? I could relate with John Wimber’s testimony when, as a new Christian, he asked his pastor when they were going to “do the stuff”. The pastor was confused and asked, what stuff? John said, you know the stuff Jesus did - healing and casting out demons. The pastor replied, oh John, we don’t do that stuff. And John thought, “I gave up drugs for this?”

The truth is that the gospel IS social. We are saved by the good news; but we are saved to be good news. And if our gospel doesn’t result in the manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth - and not only saving souls for heaven - then it is less than the full gospel that Jesus delivered.

There is a tendency within American Christianity to make faith something that is inward, spiritual, and focused on the afterlife:

Inward in that we are only required to believe the right things, not necessarily practice those things.

Spiritual in that it has bearing on my soul but no bearing on the physical outworking.

Focused on the afterlife - what happens to me when I die, yet doesn’t necessarily inform how I should live now.

This separation of the spiritual from the physical is why we can find examples of people who claim Christianity yet consistently act in un-Christlike ways. We believe the right doctrine. We (try) live by the right rules. And we hope to go to heaven when we die. But is this the prayer that God wants? Is this the kind of prayer that will make a difference?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isaiah 58:6–9 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.”

So what is the kind of prayer that God responds to? What is prayer that makes a difference?

To summarize Isaiah, it is to:

Give compassion to those who need it.

Stand up for those who can’t stand for themselves.

Advocate for the powerless.

Do practical acts of mercy and kindness for those who are marginalized - the poor, the vulnerable, and the immigrant.

When our prayers are joined with this kind of action, God promises the best blessing of all - his presence. His presence shall break upon you, his healing will spring quickly. He will go before and behind you, and when you call, he will answer.

He has given us his Spirit, empowering us to be his hands and feet to a world that is lost in darkness and looking for light. Jesus said Matthew 5:14–16 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Our righteous and justice-filled acts is a blazing beacon of those looking for light. We become the answer to our prayers - prayers that make a difference.

If you are a Christian, that means you have been saved by the good news - the message of Jesus’ offering for the forgiveness of sins and a new life for those who put their trust in him. But you have also been saved to be good news.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leonard Dober made it to St. Thomas. He would be among the first missionaries ever sent out by the Protestant church in history, the first to go as a layman instead of ordained clergy, the first to be sent out solely by a church and not a state body, and the first the work among enslaved people.

When he arrived, they would not allow him to sell himself into slavery bc he was white. So he took manual jobs at the plantations in order to gain access to the slaves. They weren’t allowed to hold public meetings, so they met with individuals in their homes. Initial progress was slow and hindered by the plantation owners and the appalling witness of their so-called “Christianity”.

These first missionary expeditions were incredibly challenging and didn’t show signs of immediate fruit. Tobias Leopold made the journey to St. Thomas to take over from his friend Leonard Dober. He brought 18 villagers from Herrnhut with him. Within a year thirteen of them were dead, including Leopold, from malaria, yellow fever, and dysentery. Eleven more villagers arrived in 1735. Two months later seven more were dead and others had to return home due to health.

Then there was silence. When no news reached Zinzendorf for three years, he decided to go for himself to check on the mission work in St. Thomas. He was concerned that he would arrive on the island to find all the missionaries dead. One of the men traveling with him said, “In that case, we are here”. On their arrival he discovered that his fears were unfounded: far from being a failure, the mission had triggered a spiritual awakening among the enslaved Black population, and over 600 had come to faith in Jesus. While Dober and those who followed after him were not able to change the system of slavery - that would happen a few years later - they were able to give these slaves freedom in Christ.

By the end of the century, the tiny community of Herrnhut - never growing to more than 300 people - managed to send out over 1,000 missionaries to unreached people all over the world. This was a community that had been saved by the good news that become the good news for others, devoted to prayer that makes a difference.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think there are two basic questions we need to ask ourselves:

Have I received the good news - all of it? Have I only responded to Jesus for fire insurance, or have I actually surrendered my life to him as Lord?

Am I being good news to others? The truth is that God knows us best. He made us. And he knows that our greatest happiness is found in surrender. That doesn’t make sense, but it is true. When we surrender our wants and desires and goals to follow God into the unknown - and usually the inconvenient - we discover a blessing there we didn’t expect. We find that this is nowhere else we’d rather be.

We are saved by the good news; we are saved to be good news.

Invite a response during communion...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Communion

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” As we come to communion it’s important to remember that Jesus has saved us for a purpose, but the first purpose is fellowship with him. Eating together in the ancient world implied friendship and commitment, and at this table we share again a meal with Jesus - a meal where we receive him into our self.

On the night that he was betrayed...

Come Holy Spirit and overshadow these elements. Let them be for us your body and blood so that we can participate in your redemptive work for us. May we find mercy, healing and salvation through the finished work of the cross. Amen.