Fleet Parish Blog

‘ . . . . where two or three are gathered in my name’ 
Matthew 18:20

‘ . . . . where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’ That is the theme on which I am asked to preach today, and there is no doubt that it is the predominant text which jumps out of today’s readings. And whilst, on it’s own, it’s a great text to preach from, I have to tell you that I really struggled with this sermon, the week before last as I prepared it to preach at P&J last Sunday!   You see, these readings are so full of contrasts: on the one hand, in the passage from Hebrews, we have all of this very difficult language about entering ‘the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus’, and having our ‘bodies washed with pure water’.  And in the Gospel, all this stuff about disputes which have arisen as a result of one member of the church ‘sinning against’ another. While on the other hand, there is some encouragement - (in Hebrews) there is encouragement to come to God in prayer, approaching him ‘ . . . . in full assurance of faith . . . . for he (that is God) who has promised, is faithful.’  And then (in the Gospel), there is more encouragement, in the shape of this wonderful promise of Jesus, that ‘ . . . . if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done’, and ‘ . . . . where two or three are gathered in (his) name, there (he is) amongst them.’ 

So, as I said, there seems to be a conflict here, and the problem I have been left with, is trying to fathom out where all of this sits in relation to our Parish Prayer Programme, as I preach the third in a series of sermons, which are aimed at introducing the Programme, and encouraging you to engage with it and get involved in bringing prayer to the very centre of our parish life? Well, let’s be realistic for a moment?  It’s hardly surprising that I have found this difficult, is it?  Because I’m talking about prayer - and prayer is difficult!   I meet plenty of people who tell me that they pray, and plenty more who tell me that their prayers have been answered in some way or another.  But I don’t very often meet people who tell me that they find praying easy! I wonder if there is anybody here this morning who would be prepared to stand up now and tell us about how easy they find it to pray?  (I thought not!) 

It was Archbishop Michael Ramsay who once said, ‘I may kneel in prayer for 30 minutes, and if I’m lucky I may really pray for 30 seconds.’ And it’s hardly surprising that we all find prayer difficult, is it?  Because even Jesus own disciples were struggling when they asked him, in their confusion, ‘Lord, teach us to pray . . . .’ and in response he gave them The Lord’s Prayer. But pray, we must - because there is one thing that is absolutely certain in all of this, which is that if we don’t ask, we don’t get! And my experience, is certainly that Churches who really work at getting their prayer life right, are churches whose members are Christ-centred, are churches where there are enough volunteers to do all the things that the church needs to do, are churches where there is sufficient financial support to do all of those things, and are churches where great things do happen! 

Now, I really don’t want to offend anybody in what I’m about to say, but I need to say it anyway, and it’s this:  I don’t actually think that as churches (either here, or at P&J) that we have got there yet!  Yes, we are moving in the right direction, by having launched this Parish Prayer Programme, with all the potential that it contains - but the problem at the moment, is that much of it remains as potential, rather than as reality!  And that’s because not enough of us have yet engaged with the programme! As I said a few weeks ago, when we launched the Programme, we can’t all do everything - but I do fervently believe, that if each of us were to get involved in just one aspect of this programme, then the life of this parish would be transformed. When we launched at the beginning of last month, you were all given the launch leaflet to take home - did you all read it, I wonder?  I suspect not! Having made that rather negative statement, I do want to balance it with a positive one, which is that I, at least, have felt enormously strengthened by the support of the Prayer Hub, which I know has been praying for me, and the others leading our worship, before each of the 9.30 services the past few weeks. 

You see, prayer presents us with a wonderful opportunity:‘ . . . . if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done’, it’s almost like winning the lottery or being given a blank cheque!   But there is a catch!  And the catch is this - that we have to agree - not just two of us - that might work in our families or in other smaller units, but I’m afraid that in a unit the size of our churches, God expects more than just two of us to agree, and more than two of us to pray. And perhaps that’s where the stuff about disputes in the Hebrews reading fits in? Because agreement is crucial, and so is encouragement - we are reminded that we need to constantly encourage one another in our prayer.  And then the other crucial ingredient, of course, is faith - we have to actually believe that God answers prayer! 

We have to ‘ . . . . approach . . . . in full assurance of faith . . . . for he who has promised is faithful.’  And I can tell you from my own experience that the faithful one does answer our prayer - not always in the way we will, but in the way he wills! As I said at the beginning, I really struggled with this sermon - on and off during that week, I spent time grappling with these readings -  on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday and on Thursday - and I had only managed to write a few words, and I know that they weren’t very good words! And then on the Friday morning, at Morning Prayer, I was sharing with Mary, just how difficult I was finding this, and we prayed about it - that God would help me to find the right words. And after Morning Prayer, I walked home, poured a stiff coffee, and I found that the words flowed from the keyboard, and in no time at all I had been given what I now offer to you - a real example of answered prayer! 

Prayer is the key which will unlock all the potential which we have as a church. Prayer will provide us with all the resources to do all of the things that God longs for us to do in our community. Prayer will lift our dull and uninformed lives, into the living presence of the God of all life.  It’s not easy, but we must persevere, and as I have said before, I do fervently believe that our Parish Prayer Programme, provides us with the means to set our churches ablaze with God’s power and Glory. That is a hope, and it’s a destination on a journey - are you going to join me, so that it’s a journey we make together?