Messy Prayers

Mark 1:29-39 Rev. Tyler Amundson February 5, 2012

It would be easier, God,

To stay with what we know,

To take only well-marked paths

To familiar places

In our heart and soul.

But if we are to come to you

Then we must leave behind

The comfort of what we already know

And accept your invitation

To journey into your infinite mystery.

Take our hand,

Guide our steps,

Give courage to our heart and soul.

Amen [i]

Yesterday, as I was driving home from our church I said a messy prayer of my own. The world seemed to be in chaos, a mess. I saw four people speed through red lights, one guy peal out of the Starbucks parking lot, and all I could pray was the messy prayer “get me home.”

Today we find ourselves in the middle of Jesus story and his ministry. You will hear very clearly the messy/chaotic world around, but listen to see where the prayer is. Our scripture today comes from the first chapter of Mark and it covers some of Jesus' early ministry.

Mark 1:29-39

The Message (MSG)

Directly on leaving the meeting place, they came to Simon and Andrew's house, accompanied by James and John. Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed, burning up with fever. They told Jesus. He went to her, took her hand, and raised her up. No sooner had the fever left than she was up fixing dinner for them. That evening, after the sun was down, they brought sick and evil-afflicted people to him, the whole city lined up at his door! He cured their sick bodies and tormented spirits. Because the demons knew his true identity, he didn't let them say a word. While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. Simon and those with him went looking for him. They found him and said, "Everybody's looking for you." Jesus said, "Let's go to the rest of the villages so I can preach there also. This is why I've come." He went to their meeting places all through Galilee, preaching and throwing out the demons.[ii]

A side note about the verse where Simon's mother in law jumps up from sickness and cooks dinner. I won't preach on it today, but there is a whole sermon in there. I don't know exactly what I would preach about it. I'll let you imagine where I could go.

Did you catch the prayer amidst the chaos of Jesus ministry with people? If you don't pay attention to where the prayer is it will pass you by. Jesus is healing, casting out demons, preaching, and teaching then he goes off to pray. He is quickly tracked down by his disciples to return to the ministry amidst the chaos of the people.

Let's all take a minute and imagine this time in history more clearly. Life is busy in Galilee. There are busy towns and villages with people going about their lives. In this place life is not simple. It is busy and hurried much like our own time. There are laws to negotiate. These laws are both religious and the law of the state, Rome. People are battling with disease, illness, and other unknown things that unsettle there lives. People have to manage their finances, make a living, support their family, and find purpose in life. Chaos exists then as it does now.

Jesus himself is amongst the people. He sees those suffering from illness, disease, mental illness, and other afflictions. He works hard to offer them healing. I am sure he also sees those oppressed by the system: the poor, the homeless, criminals of the state, outcasts of the church, or anyone that society casts aside. He works hard each day to bring them ministry and peace among the chaos.

Jesus takes one minute aside and our Bible doesn't comment much on it. We know it is short because the authors of the gospels speak of how he was interrupted. However, even where it is described in Luke 4 there is no description of what this prayer looked like. This time of Jesus' prayer is something left to our own imagination. It is important to note that directly after this prayer Jesus seems resolved to continue his ministry. The gospel writers want us to know that this time of prayer was very important despite it happening amidst the chaos. And it was important enough for Luke and Mark to both include it.

When I try to imagine this time of prayer my mind first wants to go to the images of Jesus we are taught by popular culture. The images where Jesus is this perfect teacher and so he can magically steal away into a peaceful realm. The place I first picture him praying is where birds are chirping, water is flowing clear, and the breeze is blowing lightly.

Suddenly, I remember that this was a short prayer threaded in the small moment between events. Rarely are we allowed to withdraw to a serene place in these moments. With the knowledge that it is hard to retreat from the world we are reminded that Christ's prayer was probably short, messy, and intense.

I think the reality for most people is that prayers are messy, intense and generally interrupted by the things happening around them. Christ here is reminding us that prayer is simply a moment to step aside and recognize where we are in our walk. Messy prayer is the kind of prayer that allows us to see the peace amidst the chaos, the purpose amongst the confusion, and the ministry in the world.

As I was preparing for this sermon I went back to the first book that taught me about a theology of messiness and finding peace in the chaos. It is title This Blessed Mess by Patricia H. Livingston. It is a great book about Patricia Livingston's deep engagement with chaos and that it is within the beauty of chaos that we find God.

In one section she is talking about a time when there was immense change happening in her family life. Chaos stemmed from mental illness affecting her family on several fronts. During this time she was working at Notre Dame and listening to a respected scripture scholar, Carroll Stuhlmueller, speak on the Psalms. Due to the chaos in her life Patricia Livingston, the Author, was thinking about all the other things happening in her life. Here is where I want to share with you the Author's exact thoughts:

“Stuhlmueller (the scriptural scholar) was saying that the praise psalms were praising God for creation, and often for creation in the sense of deliverance from some kind of turmoil. My focused sharpened when I heard the word turmoil.

He said that the concept of creation for the biblical people was never creation out of nothing (as we commonly think of it), but always creation out of chaos.

He told us that the Hebrew word for chaos was tohu wa bohu. “Doesn't that sound like what it is?” he asked. “If you have something called tohu wa bohu, you know you've got trouble!”

He explained that those ancient people considered chaos always to be lurking on the edge of creation, ready to take it over at any moment.

Stuhlmueller's class had a profound effect on me. Perhaps due to the power of timing, I was comforted at a very fundamental level. I felt deeply reassured that there was not necessarily something wrong with me if life seemed to be on the edge of chaos.”[iii]

Livingston's words have a profound statement about the power of prayer amidst chaos. Many times we imagine prayer in the serene garden, for most it is among chaos that prayer happens. We are all on the edge of tohu wa bohu. I hope we all take away this word from the sermon today, tohu wa bohu...chaos itself.

Be comforted we all live near tohu wa bohu...chaos. Messy prayer is using what is among us during chaos to create peace and beauty in the world around us. Prayer takes on many forms. When I have talked recently with youth and young adults I stress that prayer is personal ritual. It is the time you take aside to ground, so you can go into the world to be Christ's example of love to people. These practices range from meditation, to yoga, to exercise, sports, hiking, or even various forms of work. Prayer too is also the traditional time of reciting words and conversing with God.

Whatever you find prayer to be. It is not meant to be pretty or clean, but messy. Messy prayer happens because life dangles on the edge of chaos. It is surprising what can come out of the messy prayers that come from chaos.

Beauty is one of the typical results of chaos and messiness. We see this in the beauty of nature which is created from chaos of things coming together. A perfectly formed natural scene usually has undergone many chaotic formations by the powerful elements all around us. Beauty that humans create tends to come from chaos too. Take for example this beautiful quilted banner we have hanging here in the sanctuary as an example of a completely chaotic and messy prayer of some amazing women who created it. This quilted banner was created by Lenore Adams, Andrea Atwood, Kim Gardner, Linda McKinney, Donna Turcott and some others that helped along the way. I find myself on certain Sundays watching this banner move with air in the room. The quilted colors seem to float as the air gently waves the fabric. It is truly an act of beauty, but it was a chaotic and messy process to complete it.

However, imagine the work of prayer that created from chaos this beautiful piece. It all began with Andrea Atwood choosing a pattern adapted from a book in our church library. Then she and others gathered with the donated fabrics for this banner. They had to sort them all by color and then ordered them from light to dark, then sewed them into 15” squares. Remind you this is all random fabric that these women are working with, then once those sewn squares were cut from 15” to 12”.

By the way, Andrea shared this joke with me and I think it appropriate for both our messy theme and our conversation of the making of this banner. “How do you spell Sewer? Now how do you spell someone who sews? That is why people call themselves quilters.”

Anyway, back to the story of the banner. It just so happens that the pattern that Andrea picked from the book in the library was written by the person that Lenora Adams had taken a class. God's not in the mess of chaos?

When the group had most of the squares done the group had to guess what shades were missing. They then purchased the missing colors with donations. Remember this was back when our congregation was transitioning from our old building to this new one. The group had the challenge that their never seemed to be a place to meet because so much of the space was being used by groups during the transition. Despite this the group find a place to organize the squares and the banner began to take shape. They then sewed it into three large chunks, because it took that many rooms to organize all the squares, three rooms full of squares. Then Lenora took the quilt home and worked diligently to sew the three pieces together. Then the quilt went to Corinna Zook who is a professional long arm quilter. Finally, returning to Lenora took it home and after 4 or 5 days hand the edges bound with fabric, sometimes working by hand. Finally she attached the quilters label to the back.

Then the banner was hung up by placing a scissor lift here in the sanctuary. The first Sunday it was up was when the group saw it all in one piece and they were wowed by its size. It was 15 by 25 feet and the largest thing our professional quilter had ever done and as big as three king sized quilts. And the amazing piece about this beautiful banner is it was done at almost no cost. Our professional quilter Corinna Zook charged barely enough for costs, the study group that donated for the missing shades of green donated $35.00, some other donations, and the time and energy of some very committed women. [iv]

These women shared a messy prayer that happened in the midst of chaos and produced something we can share in each time we are in this space.

Messy prayer is us living our lives, praying to recognize the guidance, and then allowing ourselves to do our ministry in the world. Messy prayer is praying as we live and living as we pray.

As we imagine what Jesus' prayer was like in the midst of his busy ministry. I imagine it not as a step into serenity, but instead a moment to say, “God give me the strength to walk amongst the chaos and do go.....”

“Hey Jesus where are you? We are looking for you.”

Simon interrupted him. Wait a minute. Isn't Simon's mother in law is the one who cooked for everyone too. We need to tell Simon to give everyone a break.

Jesus didn't even finish his prayer because he lived amidst our tohu wa bohu, the chaos on the edge of our world.

Messy prayer is when we ask God to present with us, so that we can create from chaos beauty and peace. I wish all of us many messy prayers in our lives. Look what can come from our mess.

May we all find peace amidst the chaos in our messy prayers.

[i] J. (1999). God hunger. Sorin Books. Pg. 131.

[ii] Peterson, Eugene H. The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2002, 3 February 2012 <http://www.biblegateway.com/>

[iii] Livingston, P. H. (2000). This blessed mess. Sorin Books. Pg. 23.

[iv] Story written by Andrea Atwood, January 5, 2012