Matthew 28:16-20 It Will Take a Miracle March 7, 2010
How many of you ever read the classic book, Anne of Green Gables? In the story, one of the characters, Miss Cornelia, a staunch pillar of the Presbyterian Church, asked one of her friends, Susan, about another woman’s illness. Susan replies, “Oh I’m afraid she’s going to have to rely on the Lord now.” And Miss Cornelia replies, “Oh no. Surely it is not as bad as that.”
If you remember some of the statistic numbers I gave to you about the UnitedMethodistChurch two weeks ago then you too may think, “Oh No. Surely it is not as bad as that.” Sadly it is as bad as that. Our denomination has been in decline for 40 years. And it is not only United Methodism. All the Mainline denominations have suffered loss since the 1960s. Of course, many of us worry about our entire nation. Over the past 40 years, we have seen the decline of families and community connections while watching the rise of violence, drugs, and crime. There are four times as many people serving jail time today than in 1980. “Oh No. Surely it is not as bad as that.” Sadly it is as bad as that. It seems I’m afraid that we are now going to have to rely on the Lord as Susan told Miss Cornelia.
We are in the third week of a sermon series on evangelism. We are talking about how we can share the good news of God’s love that changes lives and transforms the world. Jesus in this scripture passage has called us to share the good news with all the world. But I have to say that as I look around at our society, as I look at the lost and sad lives of so many people, when I look at the state of the United Methodist Church, I think that it is so far gone that it will take a miracle to turn it all around. It will take a miracle. Well, here is the good news. God still does miracles. God has promised to do miracles in our lives when we respond to God in faith. Today I want to walk about the first steps toward sharing the good news with people. And that first step is a miracle. The miracle of prayer.
Let me tell you a story. BentonStreetUnitedMethodistChurch is an old well established church in the mid-west. They are a good group of about 200 people but the church has seen membership and attendance decline for 15 years. Furthermore, as the people and funds have dropped, the ministry they are able to do has diminished. A few years ago, they were wondering what to do. They loved the Lord and loved their church, but they wondered if the best times were behind them. So they formed a team and invited a young woman pastor to meet with them about evangelism. The team was very excited. They kept asking the pastor what to do to share the good news of God with people. Finally, this pastor asked, “Will you trust me and do what I ask you to do?” “Sure, Cathy, anything you say.” “Would you form a team and spend three months praying together? Do not do anything else or make any other decisions for three months?” “Whhhhhaaaaaaat??” “Yes, the young woman told them. Form a team and pray. Meet once per week for one hour to really pray. Pray for the church, for members, for discernment, for people in your community. Pray that God will open your mind to new ideas. And pick a time each day that you will all pray by yourself wherever you are. You can maybe read a book about prayer too but mostly just pray. What do you think?” “Well, I thought we would do something.” “You will be doing something. You will pray.” “Well, can Connie lead our meeting?” “Why don’t you pray about that? I’ll meet with you again in a couple of months to see how you are doing.” “Hmmm. Okay.”
Well, thus began the three months of prayer. The team of four met every Wednesday evening at 6 pm to pray for an hour. Connie was present but did not lead. They decided that every morning at 7:30 am, wherever they were, they would stop for a few minutes and pray. They read a book on prayer and looked on the internet about prayer. They went to the Admin Board meeting which asked them, “Well, so what is the evangelism team doing?” “We are praying. We are not allowed to do anything yet. But we are praying for all of you by name.” Some Board members laughed a little. Some nodded their heads and smiled. But some began to slip little notes of prayer requests to the team members.
What happened at the end of three months? This team shot out of the gate like a rocket. Within three more months, they had 30 people involved in their “evangelism team.” At holidays, they have many special events to invite people to come to the church. They welcome new visitors. They have a welcoming center where they give out small gifts. People bake bread and “loafers” deliver it to the homes of visitors. They pray for new people. They have started a Bible study at a neighborhood nearby. Some already established Bible studies purposefully split in half so as to have two Bible studies and to invite new people. I could go on. Two years later, they had 80 new members. Instead of the usual 3 or 4 infant baptisms, they had 16. 15 of those were from new families. But perhaps most significantly, two years later, 65 people were now meeting on Wednesday at 6 pm to pray for an hour for the church, for the people, for the community.
Prayer is a powerful thing. Prayer places us in touch with the almighty power of the God of the Universe. But a life of prayer has two aspects. Prayer is both individual and prayer is with other people. You and I each on our own need a time of daily prayer. Without that commitment, not much will change in our own lives, our church, our community or our nation. Prayer changes everything. E. M. Bounds, a chaplain in the American Civil War said, “What the Church needs today is not more machinery or new organizations or more novel methods, but people whom the Holy Ghost can use--people of prayer, people mighty in prayer.” That is still true 150 years later. The prayers of godly people are mighty in power. In the Scottish Revolution of the 1560s, Presbyterian pastor John Knox came into open opposition to Queen Mary of Scotland. During the height of the conflicts, Queen Mary told one advisor, “I fear John Knox's prayers more than an army of ten thousand men.” Listen. We in this church need men and women of prayer like that. We need people committed to daily prayer in their own lives. We need people committed to joining here at the altar each Sunday before worship to pray. We need people who meet together in prayer. We need warriors of prayer like Kohn Knox who will strike fear into the evils of our day and age. And until we have that commitment to prayer, not much will change in our sharing the good news of God that changes lives and transforms the world.
Look in your bulletin. There you will find a tear out section. It says “God has called me to disciple _____________. I will begin to obey God’s call by taking the following actions_____________________. I want you to take a moment to think and pray on those two statements. I know there are people around you, in your life, whom God is calling you to love, touch, share, and bring change. Maybe you can write down something right now. Maybe you can take that home and look at it this week. Maybe as you come to the Lord’s Table this morning, you will hear God calling you. Maybe you will bring those names with you to the table to pray and ask God to change lives with His love.
In the early 1900s, Sir George Adam Smith tells how he and his guide were mountain climbing in the Swiss Alps. It was stormy and they were making their climb on the sheltered side of the peak. When they reached the summit, they were filled with the exhilaration. Sir George forgot about the fierce winds, stood up tall to look around and was nearly blown over the edge to the glacier below! The guide grabbed hold of him, pulled him down, and shouted: "On your knees, sir. You are safe here only on your knees!" Listen. We live in hard times. And you are safe here only on your knees in prayer. You will find power only on your knees in prayer. There will be change only on our knees in prayer. Amen.