Turning Back to Jesus -- A Prayer in Secret

 

I was grateful for Paul’s sermon last month which described the Israelites going through the wilderness in stages, revealing God’s will for the Israelites was really the growth they experienced in the journey through the wilderness, not necessarily arriving at a certain goal. Spiritual growth, maturing, civilizing, and becoming a people who trusted in the goodness of God even through the difficult times was the goal of the journey.  Listen to it again (the sermon date is 9/25).

I pray that this is my work as a priest and pastor, and as a father and spouse, as a human being—to grow spiritually, to mature, and to become wiser and more joyful as I move into life. Yes, mistakes, missteps, wrong priorities are all part of the wandering, but God never gives up on me.

One of the gifts Christians have is always being able to turn to Jesus whom we can fully trust to illuminate, refresh and enliven the stages of life we are in.  Like the early Christians who discovered him mysteriously “alive”, “risen” we too can discover Jesus alive again and again. His wounds meet our wounds, his sorrow our sorrow, his delight in faith and generosity, meets our joy in serving, his forgiveness meets our repentance, the bond of love in him is never broken.

When we go to Jesus in our prayer, we find him ready to speak “Peace” to us again and again. Even after everyone has failed him, he returns to speak “Peace” (John 19:20ff). No matter how far away you have become, Jesus always says “Greetings”, “Shalom” to us when we simply turn our inner attention on his life.  When he discovered at his baptism that God’s voice for him was being beloved of God, his whole life’s mission was to communicate to us that everyone he met were beloved of God, beloved enough to share in ministry with him.  There is nothing more dignifying about life than to become beloved of God this is true for everyone.

When we return our attention to him in secret, with the attention of our heart, we discover again the invitation to join him, to reflect something of his love, his joy, his peace into this world. His love moves in us. Freedom gets traded for anxiety.

 he prayer that helps me most is that ancient prayer, the Jesus Prayer.  I like it because I join with millions of other Christians who have found grace in these words for centuries. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy upon me a sinner” is a prayer which early Christians spoke and we have these words spoken in various forms in the Gospels by blind men (Matt 9:27, 20:30; Mark 10:47; Luke 18:38), the Canaanite woman (Matt 15:22), and elsewhere.  The healing power of his love reclaimed lives.

One practioner of this prayer, Seraphim of Sarov, a Russian monk, in the early 1800s committed himself to this inner prayer. ‘With this prayer on your heart’ he said of the Jesus prayer, ‘you will find inner peace and sobriety of the body and soul.’ At the same time it is dynamic in its impact, becoming like a spring of living water’ flowing ceaselessly in the soul. 

When you are overwhelmed, anxious, disconnected, stale, grateful, bored, proud, turn your attention to Jesus and let him speak. Let him invite you to his journey. Let him remind you, you are beloved, and discover again that the Holy Spirit is alive, the Christ is mysteriously present to you, and you will never go away hungry.  Say the name “Jesus” on your heart and let him transform your life, in secret. No need to tell anyone. He is trustworthy.  Get some time in quiet with him. You will never regret the time.

With affection,

Jon+