Pray for workers

Preached on 14 June 2026 @ Christ Church, Billericay.  Recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjpozCozY1s from 26:10 to 43:04

Prayer

Father God, guide us as followers of Jesus, shaping our lives in His way and His wisdom. Help us grow as faithful disciples who reflect Your compassion in our daily walk.

Ordinary People

Jesus and his disciples have been travelling through the towns and villages of Galilee. We can read some of the things that have been happening in the previous chapters. He is proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.

Kingdom of God.

The promise of Daniel 2:44 is coming to pass.

“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.”

The expectation would be high, but anyone can say the Kingdom of God is near. It’s easy to say, but what does it mean. In our time we have plenty of people who are willing to stand up and tell us all how they would magically improve society, but what are any of them actually doing?

Jesus isn’t trying to raise a mob, He is demonstrating to the people what the Kingdom of God means by healing every disease and sickness. In a time when there was almost NO meaningful medical practise, this was truly something they needed, it was truly something revolutionary.

Harassed and helpless

Jesus notices the people suffer harassment and feel helpless. We still have those people today. Go into any town centre and watch the people for a while. Many may look like they have their lives under control, but most of them probably don’t. For a few, it’s obvious that they’re struggling, and I’m not only talking about the homeless.

They are like sheep without a shepherd.

Not about them

In this passage, Matthew is not really talking the people, he is really talking about Jesus’s disciples, the 12 who were with Jesus then. It is for them to look after the harassed and helpless. What he says also applies to Jesus’s disciples now – the millions, including You and I who follow Him in our daily lives.

Too few workers

Jesus calls the 12 together and tells them “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” All those people they are looking at, all those people Jesus has healed – many of them are ready to be claimed for the Kingdom of God.

Instruction to Pray

Then we hear Jesus say something really unusual “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Hardly ever do we hear Jesus give instructions to pray for something specific. He does plenty of teaching about how to pray. Some encouragement to always pray and not give up. The other instances of direct instructions to pray relate to very specific short term situations. For example, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he tells his disciple to pray that they do not fall into temptation. When He’s talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, He says pray that it will not happen in winter, or on a Sabbath.

This instruction to pray for workers in the field to collect the harvest doesn’t seem to only apply to this occasion, but for all time. That makes it a unique command.

How often do we pray for workers in the field to come and collect the harvest in our town? When was the last time I heard that in any of our intercessions? – I can’t remember.

How God answers prayer

Maybe we don’t pray this prayer because of what happens next. Jesus immediately gets them in to teams and sends them off to be workers in the field. They become the answer to the prayer they haven’t yet had time to pray. Our God answers our prayers, and maybe we don’t want to be that answer.

Training

For the disciples it’s time to put into practice what they have been watching Jesus do. If we look back at chapter 8 and just reading the headings we will see what’s been happening:

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

Jesus Heals Many

Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralysed Man

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

Jesus Heals the Blind and the Mute

Now, it’s their turn! We might consider this a training exercise.

The disciples - pairs

It is interesting how the disciples are listed in 10 verse 2. Simon and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, The other James and Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot.

If you want to check the names here against the names in the other gospels there are plenty of places that will help you with that, I’m not talking about the names. I’m seeing that they are paired up. He sends the twelve out in pairs, not as individuals. If you’ve ever had the JWs knock at your door, you’ll know there are always at least two. Yet so often we have ONE evangelist. I think we may have missed something important here.

The disciples – take nothing

Then they are given some instructions. They are in a mixed area, there are Gentiles, Samaritans, and Jews living there. Jesus tells them to only go to the Jews, they are the people who will be best able to understand the message. They are the people who have the greatest expectation, and they are the people whose leaders are letting them down so badly.

The message they are to take is the same one Jesus has been proclaiming – ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Then they are to do what they have seen Jesus doing – heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.

Nothing difficult really!!!

There are more instructions in the following verses, that seem to make it even harder:

⁹ Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— ¹⁰ no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.

So, leave your jackets and coats on the chairs, put your wallet and bank cards with them, and off you go to Basildon, or Pitsea, or Vange perhaps, to bring the message that the Kingdom of God is near. You’ll have to walk, or perhaps hitchhiking might be allowed.

You should have a lovely Sunday Afternoon.

My Experience

I remember doing some Evangelism training. In 2011, Warner took me to a “Through Faith Missions” training weekend in Woking. In those days they were doing walks in the surrounding towns and villages, “The Walk of a Thousand Men” it was called. We slept on the church floor on the Friday night, and attended various classroom sessions, then did some practice.

Firstly we had a survey and were allocated a street. This is door-knocking in disguise. Then in the evening we were taken to the local Wetherspoons. The objective here was to engage the men in the pub in relevant conversation. We were given enough money to buy ourselves and someone else a pint. That was all we were allowed to have with us. For each of these things we were paired up with others on the training course.

Even with the training, to say that I was out of my comfort zone would have been a massive understatement. Doing the survey was not too bad, but the best conversations we had were with members of other churches. As for the pub, there were no conversations, except the one I had with my fellow novice. Near the end of the evening, I asked one of the leaders to show me how it was done. He was only marginally more successful and didn’t manage to establish a real conversation.

Reflection

After my licensing, at a reception in the church hall I answered a number of questions for our congregation. One of the things I said there, was that if I believed that God said “Go”, I would go. That promise has to be tested from time to time.

These experiences are never a waste of time, some of the classroom sessions had been really useful, and I learnt a little about myself and my mission too. If I were to undertake this type of evangelism, I would need a lot more training and a very specific call.

The disciples

So, how did the disciples get on? Annoyingly, Matthew doesn’t tell us, but fortunately Mark does:

6¹² They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Much, much better than the little group of trainees in Woking 15 years ago. I can think of four reasons why that might be:

• I was exploring my calling, as I suspect others were. The disciples were hand-picked by Jesus for this specific task.
• The disciples had seen a number of miracles first hand. If you talk to people who have seen or received miracles, you will see they have a different approach, a kind of enthusiasm and excitement you can’t get any other way.
• The disciples were offering to fulfil a real need – healing, we were only offering conversation, so far as the people we were speaking to were concerned.
• It’s possible the disciples were recognised in the towns and villages. We were most definitely not, coming from a town 30 miles away.

Conclusion

Jesus looked at the crowds with compassion—harassed, helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He still looks upon our towns, our neighbours, and our generation with the same compassion today.

His response was not simply to feel compassion; it was to call and send ordinary people. People with doubts, fears, limitations, and very little equipment—yet people who had been with Him.

The harvest is still plentiful. The workers are still few. And the command to pray for workers still stands, none of us should forget to pray this prayer regularly and repeatedly. And when we pray that prayer, we must be ready for God to place our own names among the answers, even if He has never done that before.

May we be willing to go where He sends, to speak as He leads, and to trust that the God who calls ordinary people also equips them with extraordinary grace.

Amen.

References 

https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/enter-into-his-gates-100-psalms-melvin-maughmer-jr-sermon-on-assurance-of-salvation-63700

Expositors Bible Commentary for both readings

Matthew for everyone - Tom Wright 

https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/the-pattern-and-practice-of-ministry-in-matthew-9-to-10/

https://desperatepreacher.com/texts/mat9_35/mat9_35.htm

https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-935-108-pentecost-3-series-a-2023

https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-11/commentary-on-matthew-935-108-9-23-3

https://biblehub.com/q/who_are_the_lost_sheep_of_israel.htm 

https://3cephas-notes.blogspot.com/search/label/evangelism 

gemini created the image and answered questions.  copilot suggested prayers, and some text.  

O Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz

Introduction

Today's reading is about prayer. There are all sort of prayers. Something I read reminded me of the song 'O Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz'. Today of all days I can echo that prayer. The particular Merc that I would like is white with go faster stripes down the sides. It usually has the number 23 on it somewhere. By the time I get it, it will be second hand, but I'm happy with a used car. Especially this one. Before I have the Lord buy it for me, 'cause there's no way I could afford it myself, it's current driver must drive it to victory this afternoon. I'm talking about Jensen Buttons Brawn GP, which is powered by Mercedes engines. That's just my fantasy, of course.

The song does provide a way to contrast the worlds view of prayer with the view that Jesus is talking about in the Sermon on the mount. Let me read it to you:

Song

MERCEDES BENZ (Janis Joplin / Michael McClure)  Janis Joplin - 1971 Elkie Brooks - 1995   
O Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz?
My friends all have Porsches I must make amends 
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends 
O Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz? 

O Lord, won't you buy me a color TV? 
Dialing for dollars is trying to find me 
I'll wait for delivery each day until 3 
O Lord, won't you buy me a color TV?  

Oh Lord won't you buy me a night on the town
I'm counting on you Lord, please don't let me down.
Prove that you love me & buy the next round. 
Oh Lord won't you buy me a night on the town  

From what you know of God, you may think it's obvious that a prayer like that won't be answered, so lets take a look through it as we try to understand what Jesus really meant when he said "Ask and it will be given". Well first you have to ask, and the song certainly manages that. There are times though when we don't ask.

When James is writing on prayer he says "^{Jas 4:2} You want something but don’t get it. You kill ⁱ and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God."

Sometimes we don't ask, because we can't believe that God could possible care about our request. Perhaps we think it is too trivial. Sometimes we don't ask, because we know what we want really isn't the sort of thing that God gives, or isn't the sort of thing that God wants.

In my case I have not asked for more healing for my shoulder because I just assumed that as it is healing up well that was all God wanted to do. After what we heard last week I now realise that may not be the case.

r1) Children don't get bad things from their parents (almost always)

Sometimes we are not sure that we have any right to bother God. Ephesians 1:5 tells us that we are adopted children. God is like any good parent and wants to hear from his children. In the second part of today's reading Jesus uses the parent – child analogy to show that even evil (earthly) parents give good things to their children. The examples here are clearly great contrasts – stones and bread – they may look the same, but they are very different. Fish (probably eels as they were classed as fish) and snakes. They may look the same, but they are also very different and the results from trying to catch and eat them could also be very different. You and I would not treat our children like that. We are in general careful to give our children things that are good for them, not things that will ultimately be bad for them, so we do our best to ensure they have a balanced healthy diet – not too much sugar, or too much fat, and a good mix of vegetables and fruit. We send them to school and encourage them and support them through University if we think it will be of benefit to them. We try to keep them away from excessive hours in front of the TV or computer. We long to see them grow up and become good parents in their own right. God is a better father than yours or mine – regardless of how good your father was God is better. God is a better mother than yours or mine – regardless of how good your mother was God is better.

Sometimes we have to give our children a negative answer. This can disappoint them and upset them. It is the same with God. If you are asking for something that is harmful to you He will say 'No'. God's no is more final than any parent's, but be sure that it is a 'No' and not a 'not yet'.

In C.S. Lewis' book Voyage to Venus (you may know it as Perelandra). It is the story of the temptation of Adam and Eve written as a Science Fiction story. The people on the planet live on large floating islands and are forbidden by God from setting foot on land. However once the temptation is over, they are permitted to move from the islands to the land.

My daughter Karen wanted her ears pierced. She first asked when she was about nine. Jo said 'No'. Karen is not one to readily take no for an answer, so sometime late she asked me. I said vaguely - “when you're older” Karen kept asking, Eventually we agreed she could have them done and set the age as 14. She stopped asking until she was 13½.

r2) The song is not persistent – Merc, Colour TV, Night on the town, Next round

Persistence is another attribute that God values – because it shows that you are really keen. In the song the singer starts by asking for a Mercedes Benz, by the second verse the request has been scaled down – to a colour TV, a long way from a Mercedes even in the Sixties, in the third it is scaled down again twice! First to a night on the town, then to the next round.

There are some amazing stories of persistent prayer. The Israelites were held in slavery for four hundred years – I bet some of them were praying the whole time. Before the Welsh revival at the start of the last century (1904) there had been prayer groups meeting for another century. One of its Leaders – Evan Roberts, had been praying for revival for Eleven years. There was a member of our church who was praying for her husband for almost all his life. When he finally gave his life to Christ the holy spirit came on him and spoke to him in dreams and visions, which almost overwhelmed her. Be careful what you pray for – you may get more than you asked for!

'Ask and it will be given' sounds easy, but Jesus does not stop there. 'Seek and you will find' Seek sounds a bit harder. There's some work involved in seeking, you have to get out of your prayer chair and go an do some serious looking. This is not about asking God to help when you've misplaced your keys or you cheque book. In 2006 a team of explorers set out to find the true source of the river Nile. It's source had been a British obsession during the days of empire and many expeditions had been sent to find its source. On their 80 day expedition, the 2006 team faced dangers including crocodiles and warring tribesmen in Uganda who killed one of the diplomats helping them, but they did find the longest tributary. That is extreme seeking.

Martin Luther: "Pray as if everything depended on God, then work as if everything depends on you"

'Seek and you will find'. Much harder than 'Ask and it will be given' Jesus doesn't even stop there. 'Knock and the door will be opened'

A bishop ( I can't remember which one) once said that prayer was like knocking on the door of an apparently abandoned house repeatedly because you once thought you saw the curtain move. I found that a rather depressing description. It does however give some idea of the feeling of 'Knock and the door will be opened.' In the bishops case I don't think there is much chance of the door being opened, but Jesus promises that it WILL be opened.

That final step must be taken, you have asked for directions, got lost, gone another way, stopped and asked for directions again a number of times, and now you have finally arrived at the house. You must walk up to the door boldly and knock.

What will you find behind the door?

There is a sense in all of this that the heat is being turned up with each of the statements. Ask is straight forward, Seek is more forceful, and a Knock at the door requires it to be answered. I had not heard this type of forceful prayer until last week, when Neil told us how he prayed for his Sinus headache. 'I'm not having it Lord, I'm not having it Lord'.

He was praying from a sense of need, if you've ever suffered with migraine of sinus problems you will understand how completely debilitating they can be.

r3) Motive

There are two lines in the song which suggest that the singers motives are not based on any need. They are not what they should be. 'My friends all have Porsches' – so what – do not covet your neighbour's Porche. And 'Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends' gives the impression that the singer is somehow owed something by God. The Psalmist recognised the need to have the right motives Ps 51: 5 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Greed and envy can take no part in our prayers, if they do we cannot expect a positive answer. Only if our prayer is within the will of God can we expect it to be taken seriously. That doesn't mean there isn't room for debate.

In Genesis 18 Abraham has a long debate with God about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Will you spare the cities if there are 50 righteous men, then 20, then 10. Each time God agrees with Abraham – no He will not destroy the city if this number of righteous men can be found.

r4) Not in Scope

The last reason why our singer may not get an answer is because the prayer is not within the scope of things that God is prepared to debate. What good is a Mercedes in the Kingdom of Heaven. If you want one, or if I really wanted to be the proud owner of a Brawn-Mercedes, I would have to demonstrate that there is some role for it in my ministry.

So the Mercedes, the colour TV, even the last round are not going to be considered because they are requested from selfish motives, and have no use in the Kingdom of Heaven. In this case seeking and knocking will add nothing to the chance that the request will be granted

What then can we ask for?

Anything – the thing is not the issue. The qualification for a positive answer is whether it is good for us in the long term. In a similar passage in Luke (11:13) “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

God is waiting for us to ask, hoping that we will seek, and eventually knock on the door.

What would you ask God for?

John 17:1-11 for the 18:30 Communion by extension at Christ Church

Introduction

This evening we are looking at just the first part of the longest prayer that Jesus said – at least the longest one that was written down. There are many times when Jesus is recorded as praying, but because he was on his own the disciples did not hear the prayer, and so could not write it down. Only going up to verse 11 seems to me a very strange place to stop, but lets see how it works out. As we work through the things that Jesus prayed for we must remember that this prayer was made in public, and as such Jesus would have been trying to pass on a particular message.

Background

During the week of prayer, back in January, I proposed a format for our prayer to help us to pray. It was based around the acronym ACTS:

A – Adoration

We start our prayers by telling God that we adore him. I found this quite difficult – quite strange when I first tried it, but I'm getting used to it now. By starting with adoration, we focus our minds on God, the most important thing for effective prayer.

C – Confession

Next comes confession. It is quite a natural follow on from adoration. Once you focus on God, the Holy Spirit can much more easily help you bring to mind the areas in you life that God would like to improve. Or in more biblical and direct language – we can tell God of our sins, that we are sorry for committing them, and that we have the intention of not repeating them.

Now we are focussed on God. We have confessed our sins, and God has forgiven us. There should now be nothing to block our communication.

T – Thanksgiving

Next we move on to thanking God for all that he has done for us and for those around us. We remember the many good things that we have, and the many answered prayers that we have seen.

S – Supplication.

Finally we come to the list of things that are troubling us. Maybe it was this list, or just one or two of the things on it that got us to the point of prayer in the first place, or perhaps it is just a part of your regular communication with God.

It's during this time that we can spend time quietly in God's presence listening for what he is saying to us.

I have used this form on occasions in our prayer meetings for Warner and our Church, but there have also been times when we have just prayed.

Formulas for Prayer

Jesus is not known for creating formulas for doing things, He just gets on with it. He did give us some direction with the Lords prayer, but that was only because he was specifically asked. We should realise here that the layout of this prayer is not meant as a model. There is a message in this prayer for the disciples, and for us. This is Jesus, how could it be otherwise.

Jesus prays for Himself

v1

Jesus starts by looking towards heaven, or the heavens, there was no real difference in the 1^st century mind between the sky and heaven. This is a common Jewish way of addressing God, to look towards him. Jesus then notes that the “time has come”. He is clearly running to schedule. There have been many places in John's gospel where this phrase or something similar has appeared. Right at the start, or rather before the start of his ministry, he tells his mother at the wedding that the time has not yet come. - John 2:4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My time has not yet come. “

Later he refused to go to the feast of tabernacles,

John 7:8 “You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.”

and gets into an argument with his brothers about how secret his ministry has become. They go, and he follows in secret.

Then again he upsets people with what he says, and they threaten to get hold of him, presumable to have him punished: John 8:20 “He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no-one seized him, because his time had not yet come. “

So we can see that Jesus is working to some timetable, and now is the right time.

Jesus then asks that the Father Glorify his son, so that Jesus may glorify him. This is Jesus recognizing that he will complete the work that God has given him to do.

V2-5

Jesus goes on to describe part of the work that he has come to do. God has given Him authority over all people (Jesus has been made 'King of the World'), so that He can give eternal life to those that believe in Him. Eternal life is to know Jesus and therefore God. Finally He finishes the pray for Himself, by reminding God of the Glory that he had before the world was created.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

We now move on to look at the way that Jesus prays for this disciples.

V6

Speaking to God, Jesus says 'I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world'. It struck me that God should be obvious surely. There is God, or at least some aspect of him in creation – maybe not in the crops and flowers, but in the whole of creation, the Earth with its rich diversity, and the cosmos with its many mysteries – surely all this must lead to God?

It certainly leads to something. Who ever we are we cannot help but be in awe of the night sky – when we can see it through the back-scatter of our homes and street lights, that takes the dark away from the night. I thought back to my experience of coming to faith. Did God have to be revealed? My experience involved many conversations, evenings in the Coach and Horses- discussing what the bible said about all sorts of things. At first I couldn't understand it. At first I didn't believe what it said. Slowly though, I began to see that there might be some truths there. Eventually a picture began to be revealed, I started to see the Christian faith as a whole, and it made sense – well the pieces I could see did. It's not just the biblical stories I'm talking about – its also the modelling of Christian behaviour. With out the two – the theoretical – the Bible stories, and their interpretation and explanation, and the example of how that works out in the practice of every day life, I would not have been able to make any sort of commitment. So as I look back it is clear to me that the truth was indeed revealed. I had not gone looking for it. People brought it to me. “Look what I've found”. That is also how scripture describes it.

In Chapter 12 verse 40 John records Isaiah “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn— and I would heal them.” and in 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul says “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

So the truth that Jesus brought into the world has been revealed to me and to you as is was to the first disciples by Jesus himself.

As a result we are able to turn and be healed, and because we can, and we have, we have become obedient to God.

V7

We like the disciples know that everything that comes from Jesus has come from our Father God. We have been and are still going through a process where we learn more and more about the will of our Lord. Or perhaps I should say, to keep the sense of what I'm saying:

We like the disciples know that everything that comes from Jesus has come from our Father God. We have been and are still going through a process where more and more of God's will is being revealed to us. It's an important difference. If we say that we are finding things out and learning about them, then we attribute the effort and the results to ourselves. If we say that more and more aspects of our faith and belief, and the will of God are being revealed to us, then it is God, through the Holy Spirit who is taking the action and the initiative.

V8

This sense is important in the light of the next verse. In verse 8 Jesus says that the disciples, and therefore by extension you and I, have accepted God's words. We have not discovered them, or found them, or looked them up – we have been presented with them and accepted them. They (i.e. we) knew with certainty that Jesus came from God. “and believed that you sent me” implies that he came with a purpose.

V9-10

Now a little while ago I mentioned Chapter 12 verse 40. “He has blinded their eyes ...” remember?

Who is the he? - well Paul gives us the answer in the 2^nd letter to the Corinthians - “The god of this world” better known as the evil one, or Satan. That being the case the next part of Jesus prayer should not come as a surprise. In verse 9 Jesus reminds God of who he is praying for. Its important that the context is correct. “I am not praying for the world” - not everyone. This prayer is specific. Its for those that have been given to Jesus, because those are the ones who also belong to God.

Throughout this passage we have seen that anything or anyone who belongs to Jesus also belongs to God, and the same is true of anything that's attributed to belonging to God, it too belongs to Jesus., There is no separation of ownership, if it belongs to one it belongs to the other. This is again underlined in verse 10.

Then Jesus says “And Glory has come to me through them.” What already, they haven't done anything yet. Well they have. They have accepted that Jesus was sent by God. They may not yet have accepted that Jesus must die on the cross, but they HAVE accepted that He is from God. So the next stage in God plan for salvation is beginning, and Jesus has accomplished that.

V11

In verse 11 the trouble really begins. Jesus knows that he is leaving the world. I wonder what the disciples who were obviously listening intently made of that? Jesus know that he is going home, back to be with God. Then he uses a phrase that is not used anywhere else in the bible. He addresses God as 'Holy Father'. This is just a lesson for the disciples I believe.

Then he asks God to protect the disciples, and therefore those who will believe without seeing. What sort of protection would you expect Jesus to pray for at this point?

Some sort of protection from the worst excesses of the evils the world can throw at them?

• Protect them from despots, like Caligula, who will burn them as torches?

• Protection from sickness, and diseases that lead to a lingering and very painful death?

• Protection from poverty and starvation?

No – none of these.

The disciples are in the world, and in order to complete the tasks that they have been given they must stay there. The protection is from the evil one (v20), and it is so that the may be one.

There are a huge number of document written about Christian Unity, and it would not be right to for me to spend the entire sermon on the subject. Christians appear divided even on this. There are those who rant about the lack of Christian unity, saying that the body of Christ is broken, and that this sin above all others is the worst sin. They complain that the church is not in fact THE church at all, but has turned into a choice of whatever flavour you want – Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Reformed, Anglican, Pentecostal, and anything I haven't mentioned.

There are those that make excuses one way or another, who see the limited unity that we have as sufficient. If you can say with you mouth and believe in your heart that “Jesus is Lord” that's all that is required. The rest, they say, doesn't matter. One baptism, one Holy communion services, whether you speak in tongues, or have other gifts of the spirit, whether you meet in a cathedral, or a house, or via the web, whether there is a bishop in charge, or just a group of elders, whether they are men or women, whether they are heterosexual or not – none of it matters.

Of course, there are as many different places where you could draw your line as there are Christians in the world.

For me, and just for me, I'm sad that we cannot speak clearly with one voice on the really important matters of the day:

• The starving and poverty stricken – and there will be many more of them soon

• The headlong rush towards growth, (called greed) that is damaging the world.

• The breakdown of society, particularly in the western world, where individualism is the key to life.

• The oppression, both political and religious, of various minorities around the world.

Instead I find a church that concentrates its efforts on deciding if women should become bishops, or spend way too much time debating the sexual preferences of its clergy, and whether that should be part of the selection process for ordination.

So we are not one. I expect that some of you will have disagreed with some of what is said. Perhaps this isn't even what it means to be one.

Perhaps what it means to be one is to recognise that we have been shown something – that something has been revealed to us. As a result of what we have seen, been given and accepted, we have changed sides.

Now we are for God. Now we are not trying to go our own way, now we are trying to go God's way, but God's way can be difficult to find in a broken and sinful world. There are some things we know about Gods way that help us to see where to go.

God sent his son into the world to reveal God to a few people, that they would then reveal him to a few others, and a few others, and so on.

When Jesus returned to heaven after the ascension he was met by Gabriel at the entrance to heaven:

“Well Lord, how did the mission go?”

“Very well thank you”

“What are your plans now?”

“I have given my message to a few fishermen, a tax collector , a zealot, an some others”

“Yes, Lord, I have heard that, so what's the plan?”

“They will take the message to everyone else”

Gabriel starts to get a bit grumpy “Yes , Lord, I know, but what is your plan now?”

Jesus replies “That's it – that's the plan”

Too Busy not to Pray (Slowing down to be with God)

Bill Hybels
Inter-Varsity Press
ISBN: 0-85111-329-X

I read this book as part of the preparation for the week of prayer at Christ Church. Our vicar Warner recommended it. The back cover overview starts "Why should we pray? How can we when we are so busy?". Thats covers some of the reasons why I wanted to read it. Others include the questions of technique - just exactly WHAT can you do that will help you engage with God. The clue to this is in the sub-title, of course. I also wanted to know about hearing God's word. Many years ago I read "Listening to God" and found it very helpful. Applying some of the suggestions in here improved my prayer life, but over a period of time things get stale, thats how I am (and how most people are , I think). So its is good to find a book that addresses things slightly differently, and allows us to take a new approach. Bill starts his book with three chapters about God. What you understand about God, and how much you really believe it will have an impact not only on how you pray, by also on your motivation to pray at all. Then there are some techniques, based around the ACTS acronym - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. Bill recognises that we will not simple jump into a new way of praying and find that it works brilliantly, he suggests that practice is required. I agree.

The book ends with some discussion on listening to God, and evaluating what you hear - to be sure that the source of the message is indeed the Holy Spirit, and not just our own internal cravings, or something much worse. As a pastor of many years understanding, he has some good examples to share. They may well make you think of some "What if I'd .." situations in your past.

As a way to improve or perhaps establish your personal prayer life this is a useful read. I am currently trying some of his suggestions to see how they work for me. Everyone, is of course different, but most of us aren't THAT different, so its likely there will be something useful for most people.

Luke 21:5-19 How should we pray for the persecuted?

Introduction

The disciples must have been stunned when Jesus said that the Temple would one day lay in ruins. They had been standing around admiring the fantastic building with its amazing decoration. The picture is of a model. Jesus was right, so there is little evidence of Temple left in the real world. The wailing wall is all that remains today of the temple footings.

Understandably the disciples wanted to know the details. When is it going to happen? How will we know its about to happen? Jesus of course does not say to them “In 70 years from now, the occupying force will get so fed up with the unrest and squabbling in Jerusalem that they will finally loose patience, and destroy the Temple”, rather he chose to teach them about some of the other things they were going to have to face.

Peter echo these things in his letters:

^{1Pe 4:12-19}

So it is clear that we are to face the same thing that Jesus was talking about in the discussion with his disciples. After telling them about the end times he says 'but before all this' and goes on to describe the the persecutions they will suffer, and we know from early church history that many of them did indeed suffer significant persecutions. So did the early Christians that followed them.

Signs of the End Times

So what are the signs of the end of the age that Jesus mentions, and how many of them can we see.

v8 Many will come in my name.

The other night I had a long conversation with my daughter Karen about Jehovah's Witnesses. [The table History of Eschatological Doctrine] She has a couple of old ladies at her door trying to explain to her the truth as they see it. Jehovah's Witnesses I told her do not believe that Christ is divine, but while researching them a bit more I also found out that they have made some very specific claims about when Jesus will return. As you can see from the chart they have claimed that Christ will return in both 1871 and 1914. Clearly He has not yet returned. I'm using the Jehovah's Witnesses as a specific example, I know there are others, but the point is they have been proven wrong – in this case twice. We should ensure people that (and be sure of it ourselves) that the time of Christ's return will NOT be revealed to man ahead of schedule. That's because as Christians we are to live by faith.

v9/10 Wars and revolutions

We have heard of many wars, and we probably know a few that are going on. There are of course places in the world where there is just unrest – some times it is very violent. For example the troubles in Northern Ireland were never officially described as a war. I have tried to make a list of current conflicts, but it is not easy so take a look at these and see how many you know:

Burma
Pakistan
Iran
Iraq
Turkey
North Korea
Darfur, Sudan
Waziristan, FATA (Pakistan)
Balochistan, Pakistan
Chad
Lebanon
Gaza Strip
Southern Somalia
Northern Niger and Mali
Uganda
Zimbabwe
Rwanda
Saudi Arabia
Afghanistan

are there any to add?

v11 Earthquakes, Famines and Pestilences

I have included volcanoes in this section. There are four in Indonesia, either erupting or threatening to erupt Kelut, Karangetang, Soputan, Anak Krakatau, we could also include Tsunamis – the result of earthquakes. For pestilences we could include influenza epidemics, and potential epidemics, because fear is generated not only by the event but also by the expectation of the event.

“But before all this”, Jesus say, in verse12, there will be persecution, and there was, in one way or another almost from the day of the resurrection onwards. The disciples, were already in hiding when Jesus first appeared to them , In Acts they were in fear of the authorities. We are now in the times that Jesus was talking about. Over the last 2000ish years there have been countless war, disasters and plagues. Through out that time there has not been a time when Christians have not been the subject of some sort of persecution, just as Jesus, and a little later, Peter said. I'm now going to look at three stories of persecutions and ask whether there are things this passage teaches us about our response.

INDIA Five Nuns Beaten; Militants Attack Church Service - VOM Sources

MADHYA PRADESH - On October 25, five nuns were beaten by 20 Hindu militants in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The militants surrounded the house of a local believer, where the nuns were attending a prayer meeting, and accused the nuns of forcibly converting local Hindus to Christianity. When the meeting was over, the militants attacked and beat them until the police arrived and took the nuns to safety. All five nuns were injured, and one is in serious condition due to head injuries she sustained in the attack. Pray God encourages them as they heal from their injuries.

Psalm 107:20 He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.

SUDAN Suicide Bomber Kills Youth, Wounds Others in Sudanese Church – VOM Sources
On September 27, a suicide bomber in military clothing detonated a grenade, killing five youth and critically wounding four others, in Sudan's Upper Nile state. According to The Voice of the Martyrs' contacts in Sudan, "A pastor was having an overnight service in Khorfullus town, when an unidentified man walked into the service and detonated a grenade, killing himself, five children and critically wounding four others, including the pastor and his wife." VOM contacts added that the bomber was dressed in full military clothing, normally worn by government officials. VOM is assisting families affected by this tragedy during this difficult time. Pray God comforts and encourages the families of those killed. Pray for a speedy recovery for those injured.

Psalm 118: 17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.

Isaiah 40:31 those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

CHINA Prominent House Church Leader Repeatedly Beaten by Police – China Aid Association
On October 11, prominent house church leader, Hua Huiqi, was repeatedly attacked by police at his home. According to China Aid Association, "Hua was reading his Bible at his home despite police surrounding his house. He was sent to Beijing Tiantan Hospital, because he lost consciousness after repeated beatings from the police." China's Public Security Bureau (PSB) recently put Hua under house arrest. PSB officers had been surrounding his house when they attacked him. Pastor Hua's 77-year-old mother, Shuang Shuying, remains very ill in prison, serving a two-year sentence. VOM contacts say she is being held hostage by police in order to put pressure on Pastor Hua to reveal names and information of believers. Pray for Hua's speedy recovery and for God to encourage him. Ask the Holy Spirit to convict his attackers and draw them into the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

3 John 1:2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

Psalm 107:20 He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.

I admit that I have prayed these prayers blindly – without considering what God requires of us. On reading this passage, I realised that there is much more we should be praying for. We should be seeking the advancement of the kingdom, while most of these prayers appear to be only for the well being of those at the sharp end of the fight. Jesus says in this passage that those who are persecuted, and brought in front of the authorities are to be witnesses for Him, and are to be given the words to speak that His persecutors will not “be able to resist or contradict”. I believe that this is one of the prayers we should be praying, after all, God knows our needs, but Jesus still tells us to pray for 'our daily bread'.. VOM, though, does not come close to making such bold prayers (they have to have an 'acceptable public face'. Lets look again at what they ask us to pray for, and see what else we might include based on Luke 23.

[review 'pray' statements above.].

INDIA – Do the nuns have no contact with the outside world, clearly not, they were in someone's house at a prayer meeting. What should we pray for here? That they get the opportunity to witness to the authorities. That they are given the words to speak, when the time comes, and that God's words will be effective and irresistible. For courage for them to continue with their prayer meetings in people houses, even if this will lead to further incidents.

SUDAN – Certainly pray for the comfort of the families, certainly pray for healing for those who are injured. What about praying for the on-going work of the church, that it's mission and it's outreach does not suffer, that the witness of the congregation is strengthened, that the attack is a spur to the church to be even more open about their beliefs.

CHINA – At least here we have prayer for the attackers, that they would hear the word of God, and come to know Jesus Christ. This attack is one of a series, and Pastor Hua has featured in a number of recent e-mails. So we should start to pray for the longer term situation, as well as courage and determination for the Pastor to continue his work. We should pray that his attackers hear God speak to them through the Pastors words and actions, and take note of what they hear.

What about the persecution in our own country. It is considerably more subtle than the persecution in many parts of the world. We do not find that extremists from other faiths beat up nuns, we do not have suicide bombers (whether with tacit approval from the authorities or not) targeting our churches, we do not have our clergy beaten up by the police. None of this occurs at all in our country, not yet anyway. There is persecution though.

The persecution that occurs in our country results from the (apparently) best possible motives. Take the case of the Mathericks – Vince and Pauline – from Chard in Somerset. They had been foster parents for at least 6 years, and had looked after 28 children. Social services threatened to take their current foster son away because they were not prepared to teach him that same sex relationships are as valid as marriage. This is a type of persecution, it says “You must accept our belief system, or we will not allow you to take your place in society”. Christians tend to be singled out for this because they are not militant, or an obvious minority, indeed much of the country would claim to be Christian at some level. What really surprised me was the response in the press. I had naively thought that there would be a degree of sympathy for this couple. People who have been trying to help out in society, and are now up against it because of a new law. Quite the reverse. Some attacked their Christianity “What kind of Christianity is this? To abandon a child because of something that hasn't even happened? “, and the more extreme were along the lines of “what right do they have to push their view on innocent children?” and “These people should not be allowed to care for children – Its a form of abuse” Happily the couple have now reached a compromise with the council and the local social services, and will continue to foster children. One response to this agreement was:

“This is harmful and wrong. Displays no common sense or care for the children. It propagandises them. What if a child is gay in this house? How will they get the care and support they need by being told their very existence is a sin. When in truth it clearly isn't.”

John Pace, United States

How should we pray to support this couple? During the crisis, which only lasted a few days, but I'm sure took a toll on them, I would have prayed that their witness, their standing up for their views, and their refusing to cross lines would lead to them being a witness to the council and to the social services managers, and that many would have been brought to a point where they have to think about Jesus. Well I would have, if I'd read this passage, but I hadn't so I didn't.

How should we pray for this couple now? We should pray that they will continue to foster children, and that they will continue to be open about their beliefs. We should pray that their determination to have a Christian attitude in the face of whatever is thrown at them is not diminished. We should pray for the children that go through their care, that they will come to accept Christ as their saviour. We should pray that the regular social services contacts that they have (because fostering can be relatively short term) come to value them for the work they do, and themselves get to hear the word of God through the words an actions of this couple.

These people provide an example to us – The nuns in India, The church in the Sudan, Pastor Hua in China, and the Mathericks in England. They know where they have to take a stand. What are our lines that we will not allow to be crossed? Where do we say “so far and no further”? There has to be a point at which obedience and love for Christ will bring us into conflict with some form of secular authority somewhere. While we are not in that position, lets try to pray intelligently for those who are, remembering that they are on the same mission as us – to make Christ known throughout the world.

Peter says “if you suffer as a Christian do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name”

Jesus says “by standing firm you will gain life”.