God Asleep?

God Asleep? is my suggested worship theme for Sunday, July 21, 2013. The focus scriptures are Genesis 18: 20-32, Luke 11:1-13, and Psalm 85.

What effect do human beings have on God?

This question lurks in both the Genesis story of Abraham bargaining with God over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and in the teaching of Jesus on prayer.  In the story from Genesis, God appears intent on destroying two evil cities, but Abraham is bold enough to inquire if it is just to destroy everyone when there may be 50 – or even 10 – individuals who are upright. As they talk this over, God agrees to forestall the punishment of the sins of the many for the sake of the few who are blameless – if any such can be found.

In Jesus’ teachings on prayer, there is the vivid parable of the householder who receives guests late in the night without anything to offer them. The rules of hospitality in the Middle East being strong, the host runs over to borrow bread from a neighbor who is asleep with his whole family in a single bed. Shamelessly he knocks on the door until his neighbor grudgingly gets up to lend him the bread for fear that all the children will wake up. It may take some doing to rouse God, the parable suggests, but keep at it for those who seek will find, and to those who knock, the door will be (eventually) opened.

How alert and responsive is God to our needs? Is God open to bargaining? Is persistent prayer eventually effective in getting God’s attention? Or are humans the ones who are asleep and unresponsive to God’s call? Is God knocking on our doors with generally poor results? As Paul Newman famously says at the end of the movie Cool Hand Luke, “What we have here is a failure to communicate!” Why?

Here is a Call to Worship based on Psalm 85 – a psalm which optimistically aims to persuade God to wake up and help God’s people. Please use or adapt anything helpful to you.

Call to Worship     From Psalm 85

L: God you blessed your land and reversed Jacob’s fortunes. 

     You forgave our ancestors and pardoned their sin. 
P: You didn’t get mad. You held back your anger.
L: Restore us again, O God of our salvation! Put away your wrath.
     Don’t hold our wrongdoings against us forever!
     Revive us again so we can rejoice in you.
P: Give us your grace, O God. Save us!
L: Let us listen for God’s answer. Surely God’s peace is ready to dawn.
P: Love and faith will hold hands.
     Justice and peace will kiss.
L: Truth will spring up from the earth and justice will rain from heaven.
P: God’s blessing will yield a harvest of bounty.
     God’s goodness will create a path to our future.
All: Alleluia! Let us worship God!