A TEACHER’S VISION

Luke 11:1-13

February 15, 2009 – Rev. Jerry Duggins

It wasn’t the first time they’d seen him pray, but there must have been something different about the way Jesus prayed. His disciples, a fancy word for students, were becoming curious. Grown men and women, mostly unexceptional, who nevertheless could not have been ignorant in the ways of prayer, suddenly wanted to know how Jesus did it. Surely, many of them must have attended synagogue in their youth or received some instruction from parents at home.

But then, prayer is a bit of a mystery, isn’t it? Just the way his disciples ask the question tells us that every rabbi must have had some unique things to say about it. “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” Perhaps they were a little jealous of John’s disciples. Maybe they were thinking that praying in the manner of Jesus might increase their own prestige. I prefer to think that Jesus has simply sparked their curiosity.

Even today, we recognize people who are “good” at prayer as gifted. So much of the time, we stumble over finding the right words, knowing the right thing to pray or just feeling wholly ineffective. People don’t get better. World peace never happens and the money for the mortgage payment doesn’t come in as we had hoped and prayed for. Most of us feel inarticulate and ineffective when we pray. We aren’t even curious anymore until we encounter someone who’s good at it.

Well, Jesus was good at it, but he didn’t apparently rush to share his knowledge with his disciples. He waits patiently for them to ask. He waits for curiosity to take hold. But it’s not a passive waiting. He let’s them see what he’s doing. He sets the example. He somehow makes it known that prayer is important, a passion in his life. He lays it out there for them until he hears the words every teacher longs to hear from her/his students, “Lord, Teach us….”

I won’t pretend to know what’s important to teachers in public education today. They are well able to speak for themselves. But I can say, that for Jesus, teaching isn’t primarily about the knowledge; it’s about instilling “curiosity.” Most people are well able to learn on their own, but only if they have the will or desire to do so. It’s not the learning itself that is most important to Jesus, but the love of learning. You’ve no doubt heard people say, “I’ve forgotten more than I know.” Unless we experience some kind of brain trauma or are afflicted with something like Alzheimer’s, the flip side of this expression is that we forget very little that we love.

So Jesus wasn’t one for lectures, wasn’t one to fill his disciples’ heads with facts and figures. As a teacher, he began by inspiring curiosity, by awakening the love of learning that lies at the core of the human heart. And when this love surfaces, he gives it more than it asks for. You see, he doesn’t just teach the disciples to pray. He uses the lesson on prayer to open up a whole new world. In this brief teaching, Jesus presents his vision for life, for the good life.

He begins by teaching them a model prayer. And if time allowed, there are many riches that might be plumbed from this shortened version of what we know today as the Lord’s prayer. After reminding them of their familial relationship to God (Father) and the respect that such a relationship demands (hallowed be your name), he tells them to pray for God’s kingdom, for daily bread, for forgiveness, and for release from trials. These are all things that address the human heart, the desires of the heart. Jesus is saying that we should set our hearts on the things of God’s kingdom, that we should satisfy our hearts with the needs of the day, that we should cleanse our hearts of the evils we commit and that we should keep our hearts from temptation. We pray these things, because making the heart right requires assistance from God. In short, Jesus’ vision for the disciples is to get the heart pointed in the right direction. It’s not about saying the right words or doing the right motions, but about the right heart.

“Lord, teach us to pray….” Jesus starts with their curiosity, but he fills it to overflowing. He doesn’t stop his teaching with the words of the prayer, but goes on with a teaching about the heart. He tells a story about how people can do the right thing even when their heart is not set right. He tells the story this way to emphasize something we often forget: God’s heart is set right. God does desire for us and for all people a good life. And so we should persevere in our prayer, but more than this we should let our curiosity get the better of us.

Jesus emphasizes in the disciples’ moment of curiosity that God wants us to ask; God wants us to search; and God wants us to knock. Jesus’ vision isn’t just about the facts, it’s primarily about the relationship. I love how Jesus ends this “supposed” teaching on prayer. “Is there anyone among who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if a child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion…. How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit, to those who ask…?”

I sometimes hear retired teachers talk about running into someone they had in school many years ago. Without exception, none have expressed an interest in hearing what their former students remember from class. What they want to know is whether life is good today. They are delighted to hear about successes and good experiences, thrilled just to know that their former student is happy. Without exception, this what God desires for us: not that our heads be filled with knowledge, but that our curiosity be filled to overflowing, that our hearts are set right, that we are enjoying a happy and healthy relationship with God and with God’s creation.

I can only imagine how difficult it is to teach a student who doesn’t want to learn, but what a great joy it must be to teach someone whose curiosity seems to know no limits. May each one of us become just such a student of God and of life. Such, I think is Jesus’ vision for us. Amen.