Christian Reflection and Prayer

The Pig and the Cow

"Why is it," said the rich man to his minister, "that
people call me stingy when everyone knows that
when I die I'm leaving everything to the church?"

"Let me tell you a fable about the pig and the cow,"
said the minister.

"The pig was unpopular while the cow was beloved.
This puzzled the pig. 'People speak warmly of your
gentle nature and your sorrowful eyes,' the pig said
to the cow. 'They think you're generous because
each day you give them milk and cream. But what
about me? I give them everything I have. I give bacon
and ham. I provide bristles for brushes. They even
pickle my feet! Yet not one likes me. Why is that?'
Do you know what the cow answered? " said the
minister. "The cow said, 'Perhaps it is because I
give while I'm still living.'"

(from Lisa Sharon Harper)

 “Some Nights” by Fun has a rocking military beat.
It’s rowdy. It’s fun. It’s creative. And it starts with
an electric choir of voices singing:

Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck
Some nights I call it a draw
Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle
Some nights I wish they'd just fall off

And here’s the part that blew me away…

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost
Oh, Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for, oh
What do I stand for? What do I stand for?
Most nights I don't know anymore...
Oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, oh,
Oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, oh”

Then it breaks into an awesome military beat that
gets you wanting to march through the streets.
“What do I stand for,” cries a generation. “What do
we stand for,” I ask?

Here is my attempt to sing the answer back to our
broken generation. This is what the church stands
for. This is what is worth dying for.

What do we stand for?  What do we stand for?
Most nights … I wonder if we know … anymore, oh!

There was a time when the call was clear.
Wilberforce blew the horn of freedom.
Stopped the slave trade
Dead in its tracks.
But that wasn’t enough—not nearly enough. No!

With an altar call Charles Finney drew
A line in the sand
On one side darkness,
The other side light
He said come get clean
And enter the Kingdom!
And by the way, that means
forsake our slavocracy!

With a booming voice
Sojourner Truth said,
“Ain’t I a Woman?”
Jeering crowds tried to squash her voice
But in the name of Jesus, she stood strong
Shared stories of her slave daze …
And soon tears flowed!
She turned hearts in the north
Then supplied black soldiers—black soldiers
In war, oh!

Then up in the north
After the war
Industry boomed and
People turned into cogs in a wheel
Church pastors stood witness
As steel whips cracked babies’ backs
“Organize,” they cried!
And up came the unions!

That’s what we stood for! That’s what we stood for!
Most nights… I wonder if we know … anymore, oh!

And the church marched on!
Through suffrage and Civil Rights
Vietnam and Afghanistan
No nukes and Great Societies
The church cried…
“Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy is God!”
Oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, oh,

They said, “Hey, Jesus, whatcha think of this?”
He cried: “Feed the hungry!
Clean the water!
Welcome the strangers in your land!”
He cried: “End poverty!
Make the sick healthy
Set the prisoners free!” Oh!

And I still wake up, I still see your ghost
Oh Lord, I see for sure what you stand for, oh
If we die on a hill, then we’ll die for this

That’s what we stand for! That’s what we stand for!

Most nights… I pray … that we’ll know…

On Jan. 1 we celebrated the 150th anniversary of
the Emancipation Proclamation. Our forbearers
stood and died for the reform of our nation — a
reform that made us a more holy, cleaner society.
But we are not finished. The job is not complete.
In this anniversary month, feel free to take these
adapted lyrics, set them to music and sing them
in your church. Perhaps, someone sitting there,
trying to discern how they want to invest their life
will catch the vision. Perhaps the Holy Spirit of
God will whisper to them: “The Gospel is bigger
than you ever imagined … and yes, it is worth
standing for.”

Lisa Sharon Harper is director of mobilizing at
Sojourners.

Scripture:

"Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert
mind and a thankful heart."
Colossians 4:2, NLT

Reflection:

Have you ever grown tired of praying for
something or someone? Paul says we
should "devote" ourselves to prayer and be
"watchful" in prayer. Our persistence is an
expression of our faith that God answers
our prayers. Faith shouldn't die if the
answers come slowly, for the delay may
be God's way of working his will in our lives.

When you feel tired of praying, know that
God is present, always listening, always
answering--maybe not in ways you had
hoped, but in ways that he knows are best.