And all God's children said, "Amen!" (some thoughts about unity)

“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
    as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
    Yes. Yes. Yes.

“In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part."

Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in Matthew 6:7-15, The Message

Last week I spent an inordinate amount of time (for me) at prayer. In seven days, I attended five prayer gatherings at five different locations in Barron County. (If I had been more motivated, I could have attended a sixth one but opted to stay home one night and vacuum instead.) So, here's what my week looked like in a thumbnail sketch:

Praying through the Lord's Prayer together at Northside

A week ago Saturday night, fifteen of us from five different congregations in Chetek met at Northside Christian Fellowship, a Christian and Missionary Alliance church, to pray through the Lord's Prayer together. It was a Concert of Prayer led by Kirk Petterson, the President of the Wisconsin College of Prayer, and it involved worship, brief reflections from the pastors present on the various aspects of the Lord's Prayer, followed by spontaneous prayers shared in the group as a whole or in clusters of three or four. With the exception of Pastor Guy from Chetek Lutheran, we all hailed from evangelical fellowships. Our worship leader, Noah, a seventeen year-old young man, led us capably and sensitively through the three hour prayer event. It was a quiet, intimate time of refreshing, like a glass of cold water on a warm day.

Morning Star gathering at St. Joe's

On Monday night, my wife and I attended a charismatic Catholic prayer meeting at St. Joseph's in Barron. While St. Joe's is a part of four-parish cluster and served by Father Jim, the man who really functions as the pastor of the four congregations is Deacon Michael Cullen who hails from Ireland. He's a godly man who longs to see the Holy Spirit work in greater measure within the Catholic church. Like the gathering on Saturday night there were fifteen of us present – some from Barron, some from Chetek and a car-load from Superior. Annette, Michael's wife, suggested we go around the circle and introduce ourselves after which Michael gave some brief instruction and then turning to his worship leader, a wonderfully gifted guitar player named John, we began the gathering with what I would call a hymn to Mary. As two of the four Protestants present, Linda and I were a bit uncomfortable at that moment but the words of the paean spoke about admiration for her willingness to say 'yes' to the Lord's leadership. As far as I could tell there was no apparent bowing down to her. Not being familiar with the tune, it was easy to just be politely quiet while they sang the song. But after that, whatever else it may have looked like, the next hour and a half was frankly what I think the old folks from Full Gospel used to refer to as a Holy Ghost prayer time drifting between worship chorus (to Jesus) in English and lots of singing in the Spirit, sharing Scripture with each other and impressions - “words” - from the Spirit. The last twenty minutes or so was spent in intercession during which someone would lead out praying for something on their heart after which the rest of us responded in a prescribed liturgical refrain. We concluded by joining hands and praying the “Our Father” together. Frankly, I haven't been apart of such an enthusiastic and vibrant group of intercessors in a long time – especially so many who delight to sing in the Spirit. I enjoyed this gathering a lot.

With Pastor Norm in the Upper Room

On Tuesday night, at the invitation of Tammy who attends Refuge, I drove up to Rice Lake to participate in a gathering of the Upper Room. Located strategically on a hill that overlooks South Access Road as it heads east toward the shopping district on Rice Lake's south side, Kevin and Dawn live in a home with a front room made to order for large groups to gather, worship, pray and follow the Holy Spirit. On this particular night there were perhaps twenty-five of us present. I don't recall now how long this weekly gathering has been going on but folks from around the county come together every Tuesday night to seek the Lord together. Most nights, I was told, they just put a worship CD on and “soak” in the Lord's presence but this past Tuesday they had live worship led by a young man in transition from one ministry to another. The evening included choruses, prophetic singing, and lots of laying on of hands on one another. Some fell down after receiving prayer, a few broke out in “holy laughter.” The gathering usually begins around 7 o'clock and apparently goes until it's over so that people have the freedom to leave when they need to. I excused myself around 9. From my perspective it was a bit chaotic but that's not to say what was going on wasn't real. For my part, I found myself wanting to just stand at the window and pray over the city except the “window” seats were all claimed so I had to content myself with looking out from across the room. There was one persistent star in the sky that made me think of Sam Gamgee moment of insight as he and Mr. Frodo crossed furtively across Mordor in search of the cracks of Doom - “that in the end, the shadow is but a passing thing.” The joy of the Lord was clearly evident on those who were present.

Samwise is correct: the shadow cannot last forever

Wednesday nights during Lent this year, Linda and I are participating in a weekly study on prayer based on the Kendrick Brothers movie War Room (a movie about the power of prayer) held at Chetek United Methodist Church. As they like to say about us, we two are the token “Refugees” in their Methodist camp. The gathering begins with a simple soup supper followed by the study in their Sunday School room. Once again, 15 seems to be the magic number as that is how many are on hand this night. We watch a clip from the movie and that springboards our discussion on the topic of the week (this past Wednesday night was all about spiritual accountability). The conversation that follows was life-giving and insightful. These are sweet people who clearly love the Lord Jesus and it is good to be with them. Before we conclude we spend a few moments in prayer together. Dorothy is a dear senior lady who is going to have a spot on her lungs checked this week so before I go we step to the side and I pray over her.

Friday was the World Day of Prayer (World Day of Prayer) and this year's local gathering was sponsored by Chetek-Dovre Lutheran and Dallas-New Scandinavia Lutheran churches and held at Chetek Lutheran. The gathering began at 1 but prior to that we were all invited to a soup and sandwich lunch in the fellowship hall. By my count there were ten local congregations that were participating and maybe 50 people on hand. It was strictly speaking a liturgical prayer event where the only spontaneous prayers offered were from Pastor Guy, who gave the invocation, and Pastor Noel, who gave the benediction, peppered in between with a handful of simple hymns familiar to us all. Prior to the benediction, the Anderson brothers sang “The Lord's Prayer” as a special music selection. Growing up, praying written prayers was the only way I knew how to pray. But that was a lifetime ago and I've been in the charismatic branch of the Church way longer than I ever was a Lutheran so that praying this way I now personally find constraining and not really praying at all. But that's just me and I understand this is a more comfortable way for them to do it. I don't think God is displeased at all. In fact, what was very clear was the quiet, burgeoning sense of joy the ladies who had organized the event felt to see so many out for the gathering as the local World Day of Prayer event had lapsed for the past several years. (To be fair, if 50 people showed up at Refuge to pray the way Refugees like to pray that would be exciting to me as well.)

So what do I glean from this smorgasbord prayer experience? First and foremost, I love the Body of Christ. Granted, I live in a county largely populated by people of European descent but I love the diversity of expression you can find within the various Christian fellowships in our county. It is, I feel, a strength despite the fact liturgical types may view Charismatic folk like myself as a bit too emotive in worship than decorum may call for. At the same time, we who have no problem raising up holy hands in the sanctuary can't help but feel that those who prefer following a prescribed liturgy that is written out like a map are like those who like to travel but only within shouting distance of home. All that beside and above it all is the Father to whom we all pray, praying the prayer our mutual Savior taught us to pray. I can't help but feel he likes it and like any good dad loves it when his kids get together and actually enjoy and appreciate one another's company.

But issues remain – and will, I suspect, until the Day of the Lord. Personally, much of our differences settle out on worship styles and traditions. We worship the way we do because that's the way we like to do it time out of mind (even if we got Scripture and verse to back it.) On the other hand, there are legitimate matters that divide us. Last week, in the midst of my prayer buffet, I had an earnest conversation with a fellow pastor in our city who wanted me to understand why his congregation never participates with the community prayer events that we frequently host. When the ELCA decided to begin ordaining homosexual ministers and performing same sex unions, for many it was akin to bowing down to Baal. To the question why refuse to join in a prayer meeting with folks from Chetek Lutheran, whose delegates and pastor were personally against the measure, the response from some is simple: “What fellowship has light with darkness?” How do you overcome a barrier like that? I do not know. Most Baptists I know would not go out of their way to be rude to a Catholic Christian but would question in their heart whether those folks are really even saved. How can you join hands and pray the Our Father with people you're not even sure are part of the family of God? God knows.

I suppose everybody has to call it as they see it. “Jesus is the main thing. All the rest is details” is a nice enough saying except it infers that those who are holding out on joining in do so because they think they're better than us or know more than the rest of us. But what if it's a matter for them of breaking faith with the Lord they love? How could I ask a brother to do that?

For my part, I take people one at a time. I refuse to judge a person because they are from a particular fellowship and denomination if only so they don't judge me according to mine. And what of Jesus' instruction to his disciples when they reported they sought to dissuade another from ministering to a demonized man because he wasn't “one of us” (Mark 9:38): “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.” (vv. 39-41). Why do we seem to ignore this basic simple instruction when the need suits our purpose?

I believe that within every Christian fellowship in this city there are wheat and weeds growing in the same field. At the end of the age, harvest and sorting will happen not because of the recitation of correct doctrine but because we are known by God which is, perhaps, more important than knowing God after all. Until I am shown differently, I will gladly join with other disciples of Christ their peculiar (to me) faith traditions aside with the hopes that I will learn from them and be provoked to love and good deeds in the work of the Kingdom.

O God, like never before, Your kingdom come!