Prayer and the Word (Proper C24)

I meet Thursdays with the local ministerial association, ecumenicalism at its finest, perhaps a rare thing. Of the many things we discuss weekly the lectionary is usually where we wind up. Glen the Moravian minister prints off the readings from Vanderbilt for us and we all share our thoughts. Coming to this group is the main reason I became a lectionary preacher. The lectionary is not common in our tradition; my dad tried it for six months once. But being a postmodern Christian concerned with a vintage faith I was eager to learn from my brothers. I’m new to all of this and have been exploring what it means to be a lectionary preacher for some months now.

Today it interested me that this week’s reading has two threads that run dependant on the variant Old Testament readings. If you preach the Genesis and corresponding Psalm you wind up in the gospel talking about prayer. If your one of the few who has the Jeremiah reading (I picked that so I could run a series from Jeremiah, not knowing only my Methodist friends were accompanying me) you wind up in the Epistle talking about the Word: covenant, evangel, and law.

What does all this mean? I see the threads intersecting in Jeremiah 31:34.

“for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
says the LORD.
"For I will forgive their iniquity,
and remember their sin no more."

The greatest prayer of importunity that I can think of is “Lord let me know you!” Like Jacob crying out in the wrestling “bless me!” As my friend Cliff Randall prayed this morning, “God throw us to the ground and make us cry uncle.” The mystery of prayer is that in wrestling we submit. Jeremiah speaks of a day coming when we will all know the Lord with dearest intimacy. That day has not yet come; those with faith and valor will seek him. The new covenant gives us access. “Let us approach the throne of Grace boldly.”

Ah but I get away from the text. Jeremiah tells us that day comes to our lives when God forgives. His children know him! May our importunate cry be, “Lord have mercy!”