Pray It Forward

                            “Pray It Forward”
                            John 17:20-26
                            Rev. David Hutchinson
                            Sunday, May 16, 2010

    Do you ever wonder what Jesus would say about you?
    If you could listen in while Jesus was speaking - - or praying,
for you,
what do you think you would hear?
    If Jesus were in this sanctuary on a Wednesday afternoon alone, praying for us at Westminster, and a couple of us were standing quietly in the corner, in the back, over his left shoulder, overhearing, what would Jesus pray - - about us?
    It’s not a rhetorical question…
        There is a clue in the Bible.   It’s the scripture reading for this morning.
    The reading is repetitive.  Words are used over and over.
        It’s almost like a chant, or meditation.
    In this section of the Gospel of John, Jesus prays for believers in the future.   Which is us.
    So listen, while I read Jesus prayer,   for us…
    You might try closing your eyes and bowing your heads…
        [ read John 17:20-26 ]
    As I read these words over in the past week I wondered HOW this prayer has been answered.        If it had been…         How it had been...
    It doesn’t seem to be completely answered…does it?
    I sometimes wonder about prayers of mine that seem to go unanswered.
    I think the fact that this prayer is not yet fulfilled IS part of its power.
    Because I believe the prayer is BEING answered.
    I believe that this particular prayer is in the PROCESS of being answered.
    I think it is a HUGE prayer that stretches across time.
    I believe this prayer was spoken by Jesus in a MOMENT…
        But that it is a prayer…for all ETERNITY…
            A prayer for eternity, spoken in a moment.
     Similar words were spoken by Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield in 1863…5 years before the establishment of what we now call Memorial Day.  Or as it used to be called “Decoration Day”.  We’ll celebrate Memorial Day again in a few weeks.
    Lincoln said this in 1863:
    “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here…but it can never forget what these soldiers did here.”
    Well, as it turns out we have remembered what was said.
    But what we DO in response to the struggles that led to the civil war is at best unfinished.
    Lincoln went on:
    “It is for US the LIVING…to be dedicated here to the unfinished work - - which they who fought here - - have thus far so nobly advanced - - that these dead will not have died in vain - - that this nation - - under God - - shall have a new berth of freedom…”
    The words of President Lincoln, and the words of Jesus prayer, in the Gospel of John share a common concern for unity.  Lincoln, quoting the Bible, said, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand”. 
    Lincoln’s words and Jesus words ALSO point to the unfinished nature of this hope.
    What is our unfinished work?
    What is our prayer for the future?
    In what way are we an answer to Jesus prayer?
    In Indonesia, there is a word “Belum”, which Americans don’t have in our vocabulary. “Belum” means “not quite yet”. The writer Robert Fulghum has pointed to this word as an answer to many of our dilemmas, and as a call for dedication:
    Do you know the meaning of life?
        Not quite yet…belum.
    Is the world coming to an end?
        Belum.
    Can we live happily ever after?
        Belum.
     Is it hopeless to think we might try?
        Belum.
    Not quite yet.
    Not as long as there are people willing to pray for the future.
    Ten years ago there was a boy named Trevor McKinney who not only hoped for the future, but made his prayer for the future as an action. At 12 years of age, while beginning the seventh grade in Las Vegas, Nevada, he responded to an assignment from his social studies teacher, Eugene. The assignment was to devise and put into action a plan that would change the world for the better.
    Trevor called his plan, “pay it forward”.
It might be described as a charitable pyramid scheme. But one, based on good deeds rather than profit. “Paying it Forward” means the recipient of a favor does a favor for a third party, rather than paying the favor back.
So instead of payback…
    Pay it forward.
Imagine a world without payback…
Imagine a world in which people are looking forward…with hope.
So for Trevor that means doing a favor for three people, and asking them to return the favor by doing favors for three OTHER people…and so on…
Trevor’s story was made into a movie with Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt.
In the movie, two boys are discussing the idea and whether it will work:
“…this whole thing could be great. Except it won’t be. Because, well we all know it won’t. Because people are no good. They won’t really pay it forward. They will take your help but that’s all.”
“I know we were both thinking that” the other boy responds.
“But then the sky lit up. A big comet. A second one.
I ain’t sayin’ there will be a third.
But TWO anyway.
That’s a lot.   Spooky…”
Will the sky light up for us too?
Some of the children at Westminster have come close to lighting up the sky for me. As part of the “Worship for Life” program, they have created T-Shirts which express their faith. They are here today, some of them, wearing those shirts. If they would come forward…
A few of them wrote about what their T Shirt picture meant to them…
    [ would they say a few words…? ]
    [ me read their words ]
Before you go I want to say…these shirts are a kind of answer to Jesus prayer for the future…I believe. I am thankful for this glimmer of prayerful hope for our future.
    [ thank, you can return to your seats ]
I was thinking about all this last week and wondering if you had to be young to be hopeful about the future. And then I saw Betty White on Saturday Night Live. Now I’m not saying there was much about the program that was reverent nor prayerful! But Betty White at 88 years of age showed us how to look forward in a way that was I believe remarkable.
Betty White, who was born before the great depression, introduced the musician Jay-Z!
It is stunning, if you really think about it. 
Is it hopeless to think we might hope and pray for the future?
    Not quite yet…my friends.
    Not quite yet.
Not as long as there are people willing to pray it forward.
What would it mean for us at Westminster to pray if forward?
Well we’d have to pray, first of all.  Which we do…
And then be attentive to the prayers of others.
And then receive those prayers…
And then look around…
Are there three people you could pray for today?
Right now?
What would it be like to tell them you had?
And if you did, would they then pray for others?
OK how about we try it.
Take 15 seconds and consider who you might pray for…
    [ pause 15 seconds ]
Now…homework.
Find some time this week to pray.
And then, as we prepare to celebrate the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, next week, I encourage you not only to wear red, yellow, and orange…but to read Acts chapter 2.
As we consider the Pentecost story in scripture next week, one question to ask is this: HOW is IT that the Holy Spirit is ALIVE among us?  What does that mean? 
How is that an answer to Jesus prayer…?