Bible reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-7.

Message.

The deacon came storming up to me as soon as the service ended. To say she was apoplectic with rage is an exaggeration – but she certainly wasn’t a happy bunny. “I object very strongly to being preached at in the prayers”, she said, “And I object even more at being told which political party I should vote for!”.

Let me set this lady’s anger in context. It was the Sunday before a General Election. Tensions were running high in our part of London; it had seen riots just a few years before and the local Council and the national Government were both following agendas which many people regarded as divisive. My predecessor as minister had been strongly political , so much so that he’d displayed a large banner outside the building declaring, “This church votes for the such-and-such party” even though, of course, that wasn’t true of everyone in the congregation, certainly not this deacon. That’s why she had interpreted my prayer – in which I’d been very careful not to let my own views intrude – in the way she had. If she’d heard my words as support for one party and criticism of another, that was her problem – she was wrong.

But perhaps this lady had a deeper issue, not that we talked about it that morning: perhaps she felt that politics have no place inside the church. I can understand that point of view: on the one hand we may think of church as a place where we can escape from all our world’s horrors, problems and arguments, while on the other we may regard politics as “mucky”, “worldly” or simply “unspiritual” – so how can they be mentioned in a service of worship which focuses on Christ? (I have to say that this point of view doesn’t seem common in America where many of the white-majority Evangelical churches seem to have gone overboard in their support for Trumpian values, while of course the black churches have long been vocal for civil rights. Mind you, I’ve never been to the United States so I may be very wrong!).

The apostle Paul, writing in the first century to his protégé Timothy, gives instructions for church worship. We might have expected him to begin with hymns of praise, prayers of adoration or the preaching of God’s Word, but he doesn’t; his first point is a plea for prayer to be offered for all people and, in particular, for kings and everyone else in a position of authority. I wonder why Paul “dived in” here? Was he worried that the church services were so full of praise and excitement that intercessions were getting squeezed out? That’s certainly the fear today of the distinguished Baptist minister Paul Beasley-Murray who writes, “Many churches have given up on praying for others. The more contemporary the worship, the more likely it seems that prayers of intercession will be missing … Praying for others is to be a regular part of Sunday worship”. I agree.

I think, however, that there’s another reason for Paul writing as he did: the vast majority of Roman politicians, judges and other authority figures were not Christians but pagans; as I’ve said before, the Emperor himself was beginning to be regarded as a god. The view in the churches may well have been, “They’re not our people, they deny Christ – so why should we waste our time praying for them?” I can’t say for sure whether this view was around in Paul’s time; but it was certainly challenged by the great preacher John Chrysostom in around 400 AD: “The soul of some Christians might be slow at hearing this and may resist this exhortation: that at the celebration of the holy mysteries it may be necessary to offer prayers for a heathen king”.

So we are to pray for our political leaders – and, to be honest, I think they need all the help they can get – we are living in a complicated and fractured world. The Scottish theologian William Barclay had a lot to say about this: “This passage distinctly commands prayer for kings, emperors and all who are set in authority. This was a cardinal principle of communal Christian prayer. Emperors might be persecutors and those in authority might be determined to stamp out Christianity. But the Church never, even in the times of bitterest persecution, ceased to pray for them”. Barclay reminds us that Peter wrote in his letter, “Fear God and honour the Emperor” – this at a time when the monstrous Nero was Emperor. Barclay concludes, “The Church always regarded it as a bounden duty to pray for those set in authority over the kingdoms of the earth; and brought even its persecutors before the throne of grace”. The language is old-fashioned but the sentiment is clear.

I could bore you by quoting some of the so-called “Church Fathers” who continued in the same line. I’ll spare you that, but do want to mention that all of them, together with Paul himself, say something which we’d want to question: that earthly rulers are appointed and endorsed by God, and should be respected as his agents. (The Old Testament prophet Isaiah makes the same point when he seems to say that the Persian king Cyrus would be the saviour of Israel). Can we really accept that God sets in place, or at least tolerates, leaders such as Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot of Cambodia’s “killing fields”, or some of the figures we see today? That’s a discussion for another day; but we find it hard to square up that thought with our beliefs about a God who loves justice, freedom and life itself. Yet we must remember that Paul, Peter and their contemporaries had no illusions about the kings and rulers they told their readers to respect: they knew very well that they could be tyrannical and cruel. It’s all a bit of a puzzle!

So Paul tells Timothy that the churches’ services should include prayer for local and national leaders. In passing, I’d say that that doesn’t always happen as, even in churches which do spend time praying, the intercessions may be inward-looking or personal: for the forthcoming Harvest Festival or evangelistic outreach, for example; or for Mr Jones’ bad leg, Mrs Brown’s children facing exams or Miss Smith’s forthcoming operation. It’s not wrong to pray for such things, of course not; but we need to pray for bigger issues as well. The question is, how? The “Christians in Parliament” group which includes MPs and Peers from all the political parties gives us some useful guidelines.

They exhort us to pray for our MPs, that they will make wise decisions on behalf of their constituents and also that they will be able to cope with the stresses and strains of public office. It can’t be easy for them knowing that one slip of the tongue, one post on social media, can result in a storm of criticism and the end of their career. The Christian group also suggest praying for the tone of debates in both Houses to be measured and constructive, and that Christian members, whether MPs or Lords, will model disagreeing well and be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. I’d want to add to those things prayer for those Christians to be unafraid of voicing their concerns and values while humbly recognising that others have differing views.

But that’s not all. The Parliamentary group wants people to pray for politics which embody, wisdom, integrity, self-sacrifice, compassion and policy-making for the good of all – these are values which need to be clearly at a time when confidence in politicians is at a low ebb. In more general terms they say that we should be praying for the King, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; and that our Government would be a strong force for good in foreign policy and in bringing relief to suffering people throughout the world. Those are big issues to pray about – although I hope ones on which we’d all agree; and of course we can and should also scale them down to Senedd and Council level.

Most of what I’ve said is pretty uncontroversial, and I hope it answers the question of why I always mention “real-life” issues in my prayers each Sunday. However, as I prepared this message, I came across an article which made me think. It’s by Diana Butler Bass who describes herself as “an author, historian and public theologian … one of America’s most trusted commentators on religion and contemporary spirituality”. She is an Episcopalian (that is, Anglican) Christian. And she writes about “prophetic prayer” by which she means prayer for the upturning and overthrowing of society, for an end to injustice and the beginning of a new world. She claims that the Bible is full of such prayers, including Mary’s “Magnificat” which calls for the proud to be humbled, rulers to be cast from their thrones, and the rich to be sent away hungry. This kind of prophetic prayer will include heartfelt cries such as, “God, we plead for the cause of the poor!”, “May your justice roll down like a river!” and even “Lord, free us from immoral leaders!” She remarks the comment that white-majority churches have tended to shy away from praying like this, while it has been common in black and Hispanic congregations. Butler Bass believes that prophetic prayer is – to use her words – “oddly appropriate” now; she definitely wants proud and wealthy world leaders to be humbled, forced to recognise that they cannot control everything. This is bold, even aggressive, praying which seems to contradict Paul’s spirit of meek submission to those in charge. But didn’t the old Psalmists sometimes pray like that? They gave us a good example to follow.

One more thing before I close – and a final word for those who think that “the big world outside” has no place in our services, where we want to feel cosy and safe. It’s this: Jesus left the safety, we might say the comfort and security of heaven, to come into our world. True, he didn’t get involved with politics, although some of things he said and did had powerful political implications. Nevertheless Jesus showed that our faith cannot be divorced from life, it can never become a bolthole from reality. “I urge that petitions, prayers, requests and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people; for kings and all others who are in authority”, wrote Paul. We must hear and heed his words.