Just Shut Up for Lent

Scripture is full of prayers. Psalms, the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus’ prayer in the garden, Paul praying for the early church – these are all wonderful models of praying, of talking with God. But one prayer we often overlook is the prayer of Samuel.

That’s right, the prayer of Samuel, the boy in the temple who couldn’t even recognize God’s voice calling in the night. But eventually, with the help of Eli, Samuel heard God’s call and responded with a six word prayer of his own:

“Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10)

Speak, for your servant is listening. I’ll admit, I can’t remember the last time I began to pray to God with words like these. Most of my prayers begin with empty promises, effusive praise, or supplications that are best described as the begging of a petulant child. When I pray, I am quick to speak, and slow to listen.

But what if we spent less time talking and more time listening when we pray? What if our only prayer was, like Samuel's, an invitation for God to speak? I suspect such a practice would remind us who is really in control (hint: it’s not us!). It would also be an act of faith, a living out of our belief that God can still speak to us. And in that holy silence, if we actually shut up long enough, we might hear the voice of God.

Of course, we may not really want to hear God’s voice, and that is why we so often fill the silence with narcissistic ramblings. If we let God speak, what will God say? As long as we are talking, we have the security of controlling the conversation.

As Lent begins, we are choosing to discipline ourselves for the next 40 days. If you want to give something up, give up talking so much when you pray. If you want to take something on, take on the discipline of holy silence. As we pray, God just might have something to tell us. But we’ll never know unless we shut up long enough to let God talk.

"A Note About Social Justice...

...and a God Moment."

For the first time, I have a guest blogger. Over the last year, we've been encouraging folks at the church to look for "God moments" that occur "between the Sundays," as I like to say, and then share them with us in worship or in other ways. Earlier this week, I received an email from a member of our church who wanted to share a God moment with me. With this person's permission, I share the email in its entirety, with only a few minor editorial corrections.

Over the past year and a half or more, a co-worker and I have had a lot of conversations about politics and economics, and have touched a little bit on church and religion. Since he doesn't have much knowledge and very little interest in church, it just isn't something that we spend much time in conversation about unless I bring it up. Today, during another friendly debate on the appropriate role of government in society, he abruptly asked me, "So, what does your church do in the community? Like, how many people do you feed and clothe?" It is honestly the first time he expressed any interest in the actual ministry of the church. And it wasn't interest in the style of worship on Sunday morning. Or our Sunday School classes. Or if we have a gathering space to drink coffee or not. "HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU FEED AND CLOTHE?"

At the risk of diverting attention away from making disciples of Jesus Christ, and focusing on ministry with the community (which would be to feed and clothe people), I just want to highlight that these ministries in themselves are evangelism in ways we might not realize. I have often struggled with how to share my faith with this coworker. Turns out, it's easy to share your faith when you are telling someone about the after-school program that provides the best dinner a kid may get in a week. It's easy to share your faith when you talk about the cooperative church-run store for minimally-priced clothes.  And it is hard to get work done on an afternoon full of such interesting conversation!