Unbinding Our Prayers
Luke 5:1-10
February 16, 17, 2008

I believe that the Spirit of God is moving in our church! And it is not that I don’t believe it was moving in our church before. Obviously, God has been working in and through the lives of faithful people in this place for a long, long time! But I believe that the Spirit of God is moving in our church in new and exciting ways!

About a month ago when I shared the “State of the Church” address, I offered some confessions about some serious personal spiritual introspection. I talked about some conversations with Dr. Straub, the book Half-time, the movie The Bucket List, the book Unbinding Your Heart. I mentioned that I want our coming years together to mean something—to make a difference—to matter—to be a time of growing closer to God and to each other. Since I made those confessions, people have been popping out of the woodwork! I have heard from folks who have been thinking about the same kinds of things, dreaming the same kinds of dreams, hoping the same kinds of hopes. A number of you have shared some of your God-stories—stories of the Spirit. Some of you have told me about the way God is opening your mind and heart as you pray. Some of you have talked about what a breath of fresh air the book Unbinding Your Heart has been for you.

If you are a guest today, you have come into a church that is on an exciting adventure with God! We just started what we are calling the “E-vent!” Last Sunday, 2/10@10, Dr. Gary Straub set the course for the coming six weeks. Over 300 people packed into Chalice Hall! During this season of Lent, we are listening for God—opening ourselves up to different directions, promising possibilities, and challenging changes that God might have in store for us! And you are invited to join us! Gather with us on Sunday mornings—or read the book and pray with us each day during Lent.

Last Sunday Dr. Straub reminded us of something most of us already knew—mainline Christian churches are rapidly declining in number and influence in our country. Some of us have admitted our own reluctance to bring new people into Christian faith. And some of us have started to give some thought as to why our faith makes a difference in our lives. We have all been invited to consider our motivation for sharing the Christian faith with people who don’t have a faith.

TODAY, I WOULD LIKE FOR US TO THINK ABOUT WHAT MAKES FAITH SHARING MORE EFFECTIVE. And the first thing I want to recognize is that it is NOT because we aren’t working hard enough! We church people work hard. We’re masters at hard work! We resettle refugees and hammer away at Habitat projects and sponsor youth groups and work behind the scenes. We paint and prune and plow and put in long hours at meetings. You don’t have to be around this place very long to realize that we’re busy, busy, busy! A good number of us put in long days at work or taking care of families—and then add on long hours at church! Then we drag ourselves home, exhausted! And we’ll do it again and again and again. We’re surrounded by determined, committed, hard workers for the Lord! Many churches are not shrinking because the folks are not working! Not that you’d know it from some of the sermons you have heard!

I’m stepping on my own toes here as I think about all the times I’ve talked to you about commitment, about rising to the challenge, about trying harder, about giving more. I need to apologize if I have added more to your load. Some of you have been working as hard and fast as you can! I wonder if that heavy, guilty, give-me-a break, feeling is what Simon Peter and his fishing friends experience when Jesus shows up? Jesus says, “Put out into the deep water and let out your nets (again!)” Simon groans, “We’ve already been fishing!” “Can’t you see that we didn’t catch anything!?” “Been there, done that—all night long—and don’t want to do it again!” And yet, instead of telling Jesus where to go, they somehow have enough respect for this rabbi to go where he tells them. They gather up their clean nets, toss them in the boat, and head out into the deep water. And this time, Jesus is their fishing guide! And you know the net results of their expedition! “Into the deep water…into the deep water with Jesus.” Wow! The metaphor jumps out at us like a holy mackerel!
I’m not the brightest bulb in the world, but that simple phrase is a signal to me that this isn’t just some old fish tale. We’re talking about God-things now. Jesus wants these guys to join him in his work for God. He will soon invite them to become “fishers of people.” But before he hooks them into employment with God, it seems that he wants to be sure they “get” something. He wants them to know that if they’re going to be effective in this new kind of fishing, they will have to let him be their guide. They will have to have him along. When Luke wrote this story down a long time ago, we can imagine that it was written for a church that was working very hard. Who knows what they had to endure as they tried to pass the gospel on to the next generation? Maybe, in just a few decades after Jesus’ physical presence, the church had started getting tired with all the work they were doing? Perhaps their efforts weren’t producing like they once did? Is it possible that Luke gave them—and gives us—this story to remind us that hard work alone doesn’t cut it? We must continue to go into the deep water with Jesus. We must continue to pray, to listen, and to trust Christ’s guidance if we expect the church to flourish instead of flounder.

PRAYER IS ONE WAY TO GO INTO THE DEEP WATER WITH JESUS. Prayer is one of the most effective ways we have to hear and heed God’s guidance. Now, it’s not that we don’t pray as a church. But I suspect we work a lot more than we pray? It’s kind of like the commercials that IBM is running on television. You may have seen them—one has a room full of people, quiet, resting comfortably on the floor. Somebody walks in and wonders, “What are you doing?” A woman responds: “We’re ideating.” At the end of the commercial, you see in bold print: “Stop Thinking—Start Doing!”

But the commercial is a lie—it is misleading. Because whether we are in a corporate community or a community of faith—just “doing it” is not enough. Action alone is not enough—it’ll simply lead to burn-out. Time must be set aside for “ideating and innovating” in the corporate world. In the church, time must be set aside for prayer and reflection and meditation and intercession and discernment and spiritual alignment. For instance, most of the time we pray before our church meetings. But how many times do we meet to pray? How many times has the Executive Committee or Board or other small groups in the church spent all of their meeting time praying? What could God do through us if we spent half of our meeting times in prayer? Now I confess, I’m starting to get nervous just standing up here saying these words! I can feel myself resisting—because I’d rather concentrate on performing than praying! But talking with Dr. Straub and reading Unbinding Your Heart has challenged me in this area of my life—and in my role in this church. What would NOT get done if we prayed more? What could God get done through us if we prayed more?

Martha Grace Reese tells about a church that tried prayer as the meetings, rather than just before meetings. Three high-energy, go-getter women were the new evangelism committee for Benton Street Church. They were fired up to do great things for God that year. They brought in Reese as a consultant to get some direction about what they could DO. A calling campaign? A Bring-a-Friend Day? Maybe direct mail marketing? Reese said, “No. Not that. Not yet.” She told them to pray for three months before they did a thing!!! The evangelism committee at Benton Street was looking for activity, hard work, something to do; they wanted to fish! But Reese told them to be still and pray…for three months!

Prayer is a different kind of hard work, of course, but this evangelism committee learned how to do it. They prayed together for one hour every week. At the Board meeting, when it was their turn to report, they said, “We’re praying; she’s making us do it. We’re just praying.” People giggled. But then some interesting things began to happen. Board members started giving them prayer requests. After three months of “doing nothing but praying,” interest in evangelism had increased dramatically. By the end of the year, 65 people were helping with evangelism. New visitors started to come in droves. Twice as many people were baptized as the year before, and twice as many babies were dedicated. Now if you think that sound a little fishy, take a look at Luke 5:6 again. “When they had done what Jesus commanded, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break!” Apparently, going back into the deep water with Jesus makes a difference? Prayer expresses our willingness to do what Jesus wants us to do. Prayer prepares us to be effective in whatever work we do for Jesus.
Prayer helps make room for the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Spirit provides the power, the energy, the enthusiasm to make it happen! So let’s try it. Some of you already have prayer as a part of your daily life. Many of us do not. Let’s face it—most of us would rather stay in the boat than jump into the deep water with Jesus. But we can all grow in prayer—and so can this church. Let’s begin to pray as a church like we’ve never prayed before. Let’s be less responsible to being “busy” and more responsive to God. Let’s give up over-activity for Lent and take on a regular time for prayer.

I believe God will start doing some amazing things with us. But I don’t know what it will be… Maybe a renewed sense of vitality, a fresh sense of the presence of God, and new sense of purpose, new outreach efforts?
Most likely it will be something we never imagined. Today’s story starts out as a simple fishing trip, but ends up in worship. These hard working folks parked their boats, fled their fish, walked away from their work—and followed Jesus. In the months ahead, let’s set aside some of our work and pray like we’ve never prayed before. Let’s dive in to the deep water with Jesus.