Deeper understandings Prayer
Professors question each other about this fundamental act
Editor’s note: This series is intended to be a public conversa- tion among teaching theologians of the ELCA on various themes of our faith and the challenging issues of our day. It invites readers to engage in dialogue by posting comments online at the end of each article at
www.thelutheran.org. The series is edited by Philip
D.W. Krey, president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadel- phia, on behalf of the presidents of the eight ELCA seminaries.
By Cláudio Carvalhaes and Mark W. Oldenburg
Mark Oldenburg: What does it mean to pray “in the name of Jesus”?
Cláudio Carvalhaes: It is to pray in the name of God Emanuel, the one who connects heaven and earth, the one who is God triune and a human being from Nazareth, the one who is just like me and beyond myself. It’s to be reminded of whom we
serve, follow, live with and adore. It reminds us that we belong to God, from the waters of our baptism, the eating of the meal, the witnessing of our liberator, into eternal life back to God’s embrace. It’s to commit to a way of living that is fundamentally to serve the poor. It’s to be able to cast out demons and see miracles happening. It is to love my broth- ers and sisters and be challenged by them. Ultimately, it’s to be thankful for what God has done for us.
Oldenburg: Does prayer need to be in words?
Carvalhaes Oldenburg
Carvalhaes is associate professor of worship and liturgy at the Lutheran Theological Semi- nary at Philadelphia; Oldenburg is dean of the chapel and professor of the art of worship at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.).
18 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Carvalhaes: Yes and no. While scholars remind us that prayer is the grammar of our faith, it entails other forms of communication such as symbols, gestures and feelings. Art is a way of praying that stretches us beyond our culturally used words. Dance dedicated to God in our church is a form of prayer. Keep- ing silence can be a form of prayer. Words are fundamental to us and the prayers written throughout history teach us about the manifestations of God in history. To pray without ceasing means more than words. Listening, paying attention to somebody, feeding the hungry, meditating, offering forgive- ness, sharing Jesus Christ, being gentle, attending to the suffering, working for justice—these actions are prayers too. It was Francis of Assisi who said to his friends as they entered cities: “Go preach the gospel, and if neces- sary, use words.” The same is true for prayer.
Oldenburg: Can I pray using some- one else’s words?
Carvalhaes: Yes. It’s our task to learn ancient traditions and what Christians across time and places have prayed. We must pray prayers from across the globe. If we pray the words of only one culture or tradi- tion, we turn God into a specific image, making our cultural format the only way to God. The whole process of colonization is a witness to that. Different words portray differ- ent ways of understanding God, and we are challenged to pray each other’s prayers. The work of our own Lutheran liturgical theologian, Gail Ramshaw, addresses the power of language. In books such as God Beyond Gender, Treasures Old and New: Images in the Lectionary (Fortress Press, 1995) she helps us all reimagine God. The metaphors she offers, the words she chooses, always guard the wisdom of ancient traditions and help us learn about the God whom many of us didn’t know before. She expanded the grammar of my faith. We pray ecumenically and can
learn from the prayers of other reli- gious traditions too. That is a little more complicated. But as we open ourselves to the ways in which other people pray, our own grammar and understanding of praying in Jesus’ name grows.
Carvalhaes: If somebody came to you asking, “What is prayer?” what would you say?
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