National Day of Prayer–Where is the Church?
May 6, 2010
In Luke 14 Jesus tells the parable of the dinner. The man in the parable is giving a big dinner; he has the table loaded with good food and he sends his servant out to those to whom the invitation was sent to attend. As we read, “…they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, “I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’”
As the parable unfolds, the man, upon hearing this from the servant when he returns, becomes angry and gives all the seats at his table to others—the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame, and others from the highways and along the hedges—so that his house may be filled. He ends this parable with these chilling words: “For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.”
We live in a nation where our highest government official declared a national day of prayer—a time for our people to gather and pray, each according to our faith. So I ask you, where was the Church today? What were the excuses that kept us away from our sanctuaries as God created space for our community of faith to lift up the needs and desperation of our country to God Most High? How many crowded the temples of other faith traditions? And crowd those temple for the prayer hours every single day? I’m put to shame by their devotion when we can’t muster up half as much enthusiasm for the Creator God!
We love to quote 2 Chronicles 7:14: “if…My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, [and] will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place…” Where were we today? What excuses did we give for not acting on the passage we love to quote?
It seems to me the Church does not take corporate prayer seriously; maybe it’s because we don’t understand intercessory prayer and how much it can change hearts and a nation, or maybe it’s because haven’t experienced the unleashing of the power of the Holy Spirit when people gather and pray together, I don’t know. I’m wondering what kept us away from our sanctuary today. What could have been more meaningful and more Kingdom-focused than coming together and praying for our nation, our state, our community, our congregation? May God forgive us for our passivity.
We are all so familiar with the words of Psalm 23 that I wonder if a parallel there to the parable of Luke 14 escapes our notice: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” How many of us are making excuses about why we cannot come to His table?
There was a table prepared today—not by any man or woman, but by the Almighty God in the spiritual realm. If you weren’t there, you missed a great feast!
