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Get your own, Free HomepageThis past Thursday evening, we hosted an evening of music and testimony from the Rev. Prentice Minner. A large part of Prentice's story is the story of his young son, P.T. who will be 3 years old on December 23rd.
When P.T. was one year old, Prentice noticed some subtle but troubling symptoms in the baby - some lethargy, some labored breathing, a slight fever - and, ignoring the advice of friends to "wait and see," Prentice listened to what God's Spirit was urging and took the baby to the doctor.
P.T. was subsequently diagnosed with "Pompe's Disease" (pronounced "pom-pay's), named for the scientist who first identified the condition. Pompe's is a rare and devastating muscular disorder. In children, the disease is characterized by extreme muscle weakness - a sort of "floppy baby" syndrome - with respiratory complications and an enlarged heart. All of this is caused by a recessive genetic disorder that results in a missing crucial enzyme. This missing enzyme makes the muscle cells continually store too much sugar and, consequently, they deteriorate.
The incidence of Pompe's is very rare - about one in 50,000 births. For most children diagnosed at an early age, death from Pompe-related complications typically occurs before age five. There are only 8 kids in this country alive today with this disease, of which P.T. is one. Currently he is the only one of these who is not on a respirator or feeding tube.
In his testimony to us and in his profile on the Children's Pompe Foundation website, Prentice said that after being informed of P.T.'s diagnosis, "...I was then sent to a specialist in San Francisco who told me, 'Your son will succumb to the disease.' I absolutely refused to accept the death sentence - no matter the X-rays, the diagnoses - and began my Journey, which is now known as 'the Miracle Journey' for P.T."
Since then Prentice and P.T. have been on a long road of driving to see the best experts on this disease in New York, singing and seeking prayer support for P.T., sharing their story, refusing to give up. And of the results thus far Prentice writes, "P.T. continues to keep his doctors 'intrigued' with his ability to walk on his own, eat and digest food very well. Now he is also able to say many words that we can clearly understand, is very active physically, sings and plays drums."
Now, church, I want to tell you...I am a witness to that last part. I sat here with others of you on Thursday night and watched that little child...all of 34 months old...play this little miniature set of drums! Now, no...he wasn't quite Buddy Rich or Ringo Starr (or some other drummer you may know if you're under 40!)...but, by golly, he knew how to keep the beat (which is more than I can say for some of us!) and when to crash the symbols and how to crescendo to the "big finish" at the end of the song! It blew my mind! I would have been impressed if he was a "normal," healthy kid. But the fact that he is also a "medical miracle" made it all the more amazing!
And yet...the part of their story I want to emphasize this morning is not P.T.'s surprising condition and abilities but his father's faithful persistence! You see, Prentice refuses to give up hope. He keeps praying and does not lose heart. And he puts action behind his prayers!
That is exactly what Jesus says to us this morning through our reading from the Gospel of Luke. The Gospel writer, in an unusual example of biblical clarity, spells it right out: "Jesus told his disciples a parable (a story) on the necessity of praying always and not losing heart...." Then He proceeded to tell them a story that, in first century Aramaic, would have been perceived as rather comical...as though Jesus thought it was rather comical to have to explain this concept at all.
In order to help our 21st century, mostly American minds wrap around this, listen to this version of the story from Robert Martin Walker's book, Politically Correct Parables. He titles the story, "The Unintentionally Single Womyn and the Insensitive Judge."
"In a certain urban center, there was a womyn who was, by the death of her significant other, suddenly maritally unencumbered. Her job had also been terminated without notice, leaving her involuntarily leisured. She immediately suspected that ageism was the cause of her termination, even though the company claimed they were only restructuring the work force and, therefore, had to downsize.
When her lawsuit came before the insensitive judge, he looked uninterested and dismissed it with a wave of his hand. 'I find no proof of discrimination here,' he barked. But the womyn was persistence-gifted. She reargued her case before the judge, claiming that she was terminated because she was chronologically disadvantaged. The judge again dismissed her case as a nuisance suit.
After this, the womyn became even more persistent. She pitched a tent outside the courthouse and called it 'Injustice City.' The newspapers sent reporters to cover her story. She became a local celebrity, appearing on talk shows and giving magazine interviews.
The judge said to himself, 'Despite the fact that I do not acknowledge my Higher Power and am insensitive to persons' needs, if I don't rule in this womyn's favor, my reputation is going to land me on Jerry Springer.'
So when the womyn presented her case again...he granted her real and punitive damages in the amount of several thousand denarii."
Jesus found it laughable to think that any child of God would have to be so persistent in seeking a response from our Heavenly Parent. Surely if such a stinker of a human being could be eventually persuaded to act, wouldn't God "grant justice to those who cry out to God day and night?"
God is not the insensitive judge in this story...but we are to be the persistent widow. "Pray always and never lose heart." That is a pretty clear directive. Yet, Jesus asks, "When I return...will faith be found...?"
Just like our counterparts 2000 years ago, we human beings have a problem understanding that the purpose of prayer is in the relationship...not in the results. God wants to be in an ongoing conversation with our lives and yet we continually look at the temporary, transitional circumstances around us and give God the ole "Regis" response: "Is that your final answer?!"
Prayer is not "magic." God directs actions which take time to operate and bring results. "Praying always" does not mean always praying. Just like Prentice has done with P.T., we are to put action behind our prayers. I've told you before: God does not do for us what we can do for ourselves. Where God comes in is to do those things we cannot do for ourselves.
Is there something you are praying for in your life right now? Then the first question must be, "What are you doing about it?" Then, "What else can you do about it?" Then, "Is there anything more you can do about it?" Then...when there is truly nothing else you can do...that is where persistent prayer and constant faith become imperative. God's response or action may take time. Perhaps more time than you think it should take. We tend to see time in chronological terms. Delayed action seems to us to be no action. But God is not bound by chronological time. God acts when conditions are ripe, in the time of fulfillment. We need to wait in patient but persistent asking, so that we can discern the right time in God's larger plan.
And we need to understand that our agendas may not match God's agenda. Many, many times we do not get what we pray for. On September 16th we held up in prayer a woman from the M.C.C. church in New York who had been severely burned in the World Trade Center attack. We asked for her healing and then we put action to our prayer and sent well over $11,000 to assist with her and her family's expenses. Last Sunday, God's answer to Renee's need for healing came...and she died. Now that's not what we meant to happen. But, the truth is, that was the merciful thing. Did we secretly hope that our big, bold act of faith would produce a miracle? Who are we to say that it didn't? Something I read about a thing called Resurrection promises that what we discover after death will be the greatest miracle of all.
You see, God's ways are not our ways. God is full of surprises. We don't always get it. We ask, "Why?" Why do things like the World Trade Center attacks happen? Is that part of "God's great plan?" I seriously doubt it. Why does some jerk perpetrate a cowardly act of "violence-by-mail" causing an innocent person to contract and die from the Anthrax virus? Why? Why? WHY? I don't know.
What I do know is what Jesus promises: Evil will not win in the end. It will ultimately be self-defeating. What we must do is live in harmony with that which is good and just and right; what we must do is be in a perpetual, active, living relationship with God. To do that, we must pray always and not lose heart.
I have a quotation from the 14th century English mystic, Julian of Norwich, that I keep up in my office: "Pray inwardly, even if you do not enjoy it. It does good, though you feel nothing. Yes, even though you think you are doing nothing."
Preacher and author Barbara Brown Taylor writes, "I have a 7-year-old granddaughter named Madeline. She is blond, skinny and tall for her age.... What I want Madeline to know is that the best thing about prayer is the relationship itself. Whether or not she gets what she asks for, I want her to keep asking. I want her to pester God the same way she pesters her mother, thinking of 12 different ways to plead her case. I want her to long for God the same way she longs for her father, holding fast to him.... When she complains that none of this does any good, I am going to ask her to tell me the difference between how she feels while she is praying versus how she feels when she thinks about giving up. Hopefully, she is going to tell me that she feels more alive when she is praying, and that is when I will tell her the story about the persistent widow...."
One of the most remembered speeches Winston Churchill ever gave was also his shortest. During a time when his country and our world where engaged in a seemingly endless war, he stood and said to his audience, simply, "Never, never, never, never give up."
This morning Jesus Christ is asking every one of us: What part of "never" do you not understand? Amen.
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