The Intergenerational Time:
Have you ever prayed to God?
Have you ever had someone (your parent, grandparent or great-grandparent or friends) pray for you?
How do you pray?
Why do we pray?
I am so happy that you are here today, because we can learn and talk about how we pray and why we pray.
I think we can use water to learn and understand about prayer.
When we are thirsty, we can think and say, “Oh, I am thirsty. I want a drink.” Then we can go to the kitchen and look for a cup, and tap water, etc. Or we can ask an adult for help to get a drink. Getting a cup, going to a fountain, a faucet, getting a drink - these can all be compared to prayer. “Oh God, please help me win the game. God, please help my friend to heal. God, please get me a pet. God, please give us good weather tomorrow, for my family picnic,”. We call these prayers “Prayers of petition.” We ask for what we need or what we want in prayers. These prayers are often beautiful, especially when we pray for the happiness of others, or the well-being of our friends. Sometimes we can be disappointed because even when we pray, we might not get what we asked for or wanted.
Today, I would like to share with you about what we can learn from the Jesus prayer. A very long time ago, it was in the third century — we are in the 21st century now - prayerful women and men began to go into the deserts of Egypt and Palestine to pray, and to live a life dedicated to prayer. They are known as the Desert Mothers and Fathers. People called them “Amma” and “Abba”.) The way that they prayed inspired Christians generation to generation for the next 1800 years, especially in Eastern Christianity. Even now, it still inspires Christians all over the world, not only in the Orthodox Church but in the United Church and also in Korea. I learned this prayer for the first time in Korea when I was young. I learned it simply as repeatedly saying/praying “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” “주 예수 그리스도님, 저에게 자비를 베푸소서.”
I hope you will have an opportunity to learn about this prayer, and more ancient ways of the church as you grow, but the lesson I would like to share with you today is this:
These Amma and Abba believed and taught their friends that the goal for everyone who prays is straightforward and single - regardless of what kind of prayer we say: Being one with God. Union (being one) with God is the reason why we pray. It’s called theosis, pronouncing THEH-o-sees. Theos means God, and as a cloth soaks up water by osmosis, we are saturated with God through theosis.
(Demonstrate soaking up a cloth by dipping it completely in the water in the glass basin, taking it out and showing it to all.)
Where you drink water, where you find the tap, which cup you use, whether you drink water directly from the tap or use your hands, those things don’t really matter. The effect of the prayer is that water (God) comes into your throat, your insides, flowing to every cell of your body and quenching your thirst. Water helps you to focus on what you need to do next, because you’re not suffering from thirst anymore. More importantly, without water, you can’t survive. We need water to live.
So, I am delighted to share this teaching from countless Ammas and Abbas in our tradition that the goal of all prayers is the same, ultimately: It is like soaking yourself in the Pacific Ocean - being one with God. So, if you ever wonder about why you pray in the future, remember this: soak a cloth in water and see what happens. Drink a cup of water, and feel what changes.
Sermon: Don’t Call a Helicopter! (on Jesus Prayer)
Once upon a time my partner Min-Goo and I were dating. They were good days!
Min-Goo loved mountains; I loved the sea. That’s how many stories of relationships go; the two love opposite things, and are willing to learn what the other likes.
Min-Goo suggested climbing up one of the high peaks of Seol-Ak Mountain. It is the most beloved mountain in South Korea, but very few young Korean couples would choose this mountain for dating. In those days, I was still a city dweller who didn’t walk (to be accurate, who didn’t like to walk) long distances; I’d just call a taxi, for convenience. The peak we chose was Da-Cheong Bong, 1,708 metres tall, and we decided to climb it in one afternoon before sunset. There was a lodge where we could stay overnight on the mountaintop. Before that day, I had never climbed a mountain higher than 617 m (with my mom and my brother when we were children.)
Here’s where the story begins - you are the first audience to ever hear this story. I gave up climbing after only half an hour, once the slope began to get steeper and steeper. Suddenly, at one point, it looked so steep, like 60 degrees (show it by arms). It had only been 30 minutes, but I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, I just couldn't imagine myself keeping climbing for next four hours (non-stop)! I shouted to Min-Goo, “Call a helicopter!” Instead of calling a helicopter, Min-Goo lifted up the backpack I was carrying and took it on his back. Suddenly I felt a huge lift, both physically and in spirit, and immediately knew I could climb again. Eventually, even though it actually took more than 5-6 hours to get to the mountaintop (show the picture), I enjoyed myself because of the effect from not thinking about anything other than just walking. There was nothing you could do other than walk, especially if you wanted to finish climbing before sunset (or just you want to finish climbing. period.) And this reality of you-have-no-choice-but-walking-and-walking-and-walking created such a saturation of pure joy, and the satisfaction of keeping myself to one goal. Eventually when Min-Goo and I reached the wide-open place which had no walls of woods and rocks any more but only the blowing winds from all four directions, I knew I would become a lover of mountains.
Later, when I told my dad about what happened, the desperately ridiculous moment of wanting to call a helicopter, my father decided to teach me his secret prayer. He knew Min-Goo and I would make another climb together, and this time, he wanted me to pray "Jesus Christ" each time I moved my steps, like “Jesus” for my first left and right steps, and “Christ” for my second left and right steps, (in Korean, Ye Su, Kris toh). Ye su kris toh, Ye su kris toh, Ye su Kris toh, Ye su Kris toh for thousands and thousands of steps! And it worked! I was the fastest, steadiest, most energetic, happiest climber among all we went with in our next adventure.
The reason why I share this story is because mountain climbing can be a good metaphor for why we pray and how we pray, especially the Jesus Prayer. According to Frederica Mathewes-Green, the author of The Jesus Prayer: The Ancient Desert Prayer That Tunes the Heart to God, the Jesus Prayer arose in the early church as a way to practice continuous prayer, as in Thessalonians 5, (today’s reading) “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances.” "Pray without ceasing."
Among Ammas and Abbas who began to gather and pray in the deserts in Palestine and Egypt, in the third century, with time, the form “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me” emerged as the universal favourite.
I would like to share two things about this prayer.
First, Matthewes-Green emphasizes that the Jesus Prayer has been treasured in the Christian East ever since its birth in the desert, more than 1,500 years ago. Because this prayer is so simple, accessible to anyone, lay or ordained, educated or illiterate, in a quiet monastery or during busy days in the city, over the centuries, uncountable numbers of people have come to know God’s constant nearness by practicing this fluid, continual remembrance of Jesus’ name. One thing I like about this prayer is its resemblance to the Buddhist stream that taught lay, illiterate, women believers that nirvana is open to them even without education, if they could call Bodhisattva/Buddha’s name with their most sincere, whole being and heart, even just once in their lifetime. This teaching of equality was revolutionary. These people, looked down-upon and left out, would enter nirvana and extinguish their constant cycle of suffering by the prayer of calling the divine names.
Second, Matthewes-Green quotes “In the west, it is usual to think of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism as opposite extremes; but to an Orthodox they appear as the two sides of the same coin.” (that’s from Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s classic book, The Orthodox Church,) Isn’t it interesting? If you wonder what the Orthodox viewpoint is like, here’s the answer: in contrast to the West “Spirituality is not a word used much in Orthodox contexts. The reason is that everything is “spirituality”. Christian Orthodoxy is itself a spiritual path, rather than an institution or set of propositions. From the outside, Orthodoxy must look exuberantly chaotic, but from the inside it is a closely coordinated collection of wisdom (some elders term it a “science”) about how to pursue theosis. (Remember? Theosis means: Being one with God like a cloth being soaked in water.) In the East, the goal of everything is united organically to be a single, united path of spirituality, aimed at the clear goal of theosis. And in Orthodox spirituality, there is a quality of urgency. If it is not now, then when? We need to be watchful, to be awake, not to sleep. Life is serious. Salvation (healing) is serious. And in every moment, we must decide anew to follow Christ.
So how do we pray the Jesus Prayer (aka Prayer of the Heart)?
The Jesus Prayer Has Three Stages in Practice. You begin praying the Jesus Prayer by repeating the words of the prayer out loud or at least moving your lips. This is called verbal prayer. After some time, the saying of the Jesus Prayer becomes silent or mental and is repeated only in the mind. This is mental prayer. Finally, the Jesus Prayer becomes a continuous prayer in the heart, the inner core of our being. We begin with vocal prayer and do not force the move to mental prayer. This will happen naturally when you are ready. This is why the Jesus Prayer has another name, “Prayer of the Heart”. The mental prayer begins to descend into the heart - “into the heart” not just metaphorically, but also to the physical heart. This blending of matter and spirit can be surprising to Western Christians.
I read about a Korean practitioner who practiced this prayer 3000 times a day, then 6,000 times a day, then 12,000 times a day with the guidance of a spiritual mentor. He said, practicing this prayer helped him gain unbelievable spiritual balance and joy in his life, being saturated with health, bliss, freedom and comfort.
There is a huge height, depth and width of the Eastern Christian tradition to learn and explore - I cannot do justice to it within a 15-minute sermon. But I know many of us, young and old, including me, would benefit from learning and practicing interior prayers such as the Centering Prayer, the Jesus Prayer, among others, especially when our daily lives are so busy and heavily dependent on social media that sends us constant notifications, alerts, messages that pull us to respond and react. (This phenomenon is a concern not just for the young people, because over half of all smartphone users have a need to check their smartphones every few minutes. On average a person spends 165 minutes of the day, which is over 17 percent of our waking hours staring at the small box - the digital screen -) We need to learn how to nurture our interior quietness, silence, stillness and rest to resist keeping pulled away from the interior life and grow the sense of who we are.
This prayer also challenges us to rethink our beliefs in self-reliance and reorient us to reflect on the reality of our ‘neediness’: our neediness of not only shelter, clothing and food but also our need of love, our need of interior beauty, peace and happiness. The Eastern Orthodox understanding of God includes God’s healing compassion. Therefore, when we ask, “have mercy on me”, we express our trust in God’s healing compassion, and God’s presence in simplicity, with love.
Of course, the most important thing to remember in learning and practicing the Jesus Prayer lies in the metaphor of climbing up a mountain. No amount of complaining at the foot of the mountain will elevate us; only walking without ceasing will get us to the mountain top. The Jesus prayer teaches us the spiritual benefit of praying: praying without ceasing and pursuing theosis. It teaches the spiritual benefit and meaning of repentance, continuation and persistence, left steps and right steps, both on the ascent and descent of the mountain. No helicopters needed – just persistence and prayer.
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