Portland observer., January 29, 1992, Page 7, Image 7

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January 29, 1992...The Portland Observer...Page 7
Portland Observer
RELIGION
Insight on the Word The Lord’s Model
Prayer: A Revolutionary Message
BY MICHAEL LINDSEY
Dean of North Portjand Bible College
The Bible te x t fo r next week's
Sunday School lesson is M atthew 6:7-
15. We encourage all our readers to
investigate the Sunday School classes
offered at y fju r local church. Strong
youth and, adult classes will strengthen
the knfjwledge o f the Bible throughout
churches, and enhance the ministry
r f our pastors and their associate m in­
isters.
When is the last time you recited
“ The L ord’s P ray er''? Is it part of your
personal devotions, or a prayer your
congregation repeats together as part of
their worship experience? O r maybe
it’s just become a part o f your cultural
heritage, a sign that you had some
Christian upbringing.
The more we recite to the L ord’s
Prayer, the more we tend to trivialize
it- to mouth its words without any real
reflection on its meaning, or its im por­
tance. So this w eek’s lesson gives us an
important opportunity to look at each
phrase o f the Lord’s Prayer, and dis­
cover its marvelous message for his
people today.
To begin with, the “ Lord’s Prayer”
is not a prayer that the Lord Jesus
himself would ever pray. He was not a
sinner (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15), and so
he had no moral debts or trespasses to
be forgiven (Matt. 6:12). In this pas­
sage, the prayer demonstrates the cor­
rect manner o f prayer for his disciples:
* ‘after this manner pray ye: ’ ’ (6:9). The
Lord contrasts this with the “ showtime”
prayers o f some Jewish leaders (6:5)
and the “ secret form ula” prayers of
the pagans, who thought they could
control G od (or the gods) through cer­
tain chants, dances or rituals (6:7). W e
ought to exam ine our own prayer life,
to be sure we aren’t guilty o f the same
kinds o f prayer abuse.
In another setting, later on in his
ministry, one o f the disciples asked,
“ Lord, teach us to pray, as John also
taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). Again,
Jesus gave them essentially the same
model (11:2^4), and followed this with
two parables and additional principles
concerning prayer (11:5-13). The words
themselves are im portant, but our Lord
intended them principally as a teaching
tool, to show the right way to pray.
W hat a shame, if people repeat the
Lord’s Prayer (or any other) over and
over, thinking they were somehow
earning m erit or grace with God, when
Jesus him self warned against that kind
of repetition!
The opening address o f the Prayer
Older Women’s
League To Meet
On Saturday, February 8, from 10:00
a.m. to noon mid-life and older women
are invited to the Portland Chapter of
the Older W om en’s League (OW L) at
2145 N.W. Overton. The topic will be
“ W here Can Mid-Life and O lder
Women find Affordable Housing?
Shared Housing Or Other Alternatives?”
Speakerswill include Maria Talbott
(School o f Social W ork, PSU), and
Carmen Schleiger (Housing Our Fam i­
lies, an organization working with
women and their families).
demonstrates its uniqueness: “ O ur
Father, who art in heaven. . .” The
basis o f Christian prayer is our p er­
sonal relationship with God. Wc em ­
phasize this when we pray “ in Jesus’
nam e,’ ’ in obedience to his commands
(John 14:13-14; 16:24). Those who
have trusted in Jesus for their salvation
have becom e part of that special fam ­
ily with God as its heavenly Father;
their position in that family is “ in
C hrist,’ ’ so they have all the privileges
o f sons and daughters o f God himself.
W hen God hears our prayers, he re­
joices in our praises and thankfulness;
and like a father on earth, he lakes our
every request seriously and answers
each one for our own good.
Do we understand that prayer is
our joyful privilege, the prerogative of
children of the Great King? Then we
should rebel against any attempt to
make prayer a dull routine, or a last
resort in crisis. We should celebrate
prayer!
Next we see three expressions of
the greatest priority o f prayer: “ H al­
lowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in
heaven.” G od’s children express in
their prayers a preoccupation with the
Kingdom o f God. Let me try to trans­
late these stately phrases of King James’
English into our m odem mentality.
First, more than anything else, I am
concerned for the “ nam e,” the repu­
tation and revealed character of my
God. I want people to know how
wonderful he is, and how much he
loves them, and I want t protect his
name from attacks o f the ungodly and
the scoffers. His reputation is more
important than my own. (Can you
honestly say that, right now?)
Second, I am concerned lor G od’s
rule to be extended over the whole
earth. N ot that the Lord is not sover­
eign right now, but his rule is not yet
recognized over all the earth. Most
people in positions of power and influ­
ence put their trust in themselves in­
stead o f God. My prayers should be
filled with specific requests that God
would extend his Kingdom rule into
new groups o f people, where the name
o f Jesus is not even known, or else
among people where he is rejected, or
his good news is perverted into bond­
age.
Third, la m aware o f the injustices
in this world, and I recognize that
these demonstrate just how far the
Kingdom has yet to spread. As the
prophet heard the voice o f Yahweh, I
must cry out “ let justice roll on like a
river, righteousness like a never-fail­
ing stream !” (Amos 5:24, N1V). As
Dr. Ralph W inter puts it, the L ord’s
Prayer calls for a rebellion against * ‘the
way things are,” the status quo. W hen
we see around us the rise of crim e, the
innocent victims of abuse, the hate-
mongers, the exploiters o f women and
children in pornography, and so many
other evils, we refuse to accept the
situation as inevitable.
O thers may sink into com placency
or despair; some others may take up
humanistic or humanitarian causes with
great vigor. But the L ord’s Pray calls us
to lift up the evils o f our society to the
goodness o f a holy G o d -to call on him
to bring his perfect will, his righteous
Kingdom rule,, against these evils to
destroy them. He will often m ove his
people to take up the causes o f justice
and holiness, but the success must be­
gin with submission to God, as we pray
“ thy will be done.”
Only after we have celebrated our
relationship with God, and wrestled in
prayer with the Lord, concerning his
Kingdom and his will, do we turn to our
practical daily walk with God. Again,
there are three concerns in our daily
lives, which Jesus invites us to pray
about consistently as we live for him:
true physical needs, forgiveness for
ourselves and others, and pow er to
overcom e evil in our lives.
Let me make just one observation
on these model prayers, and our typical
“ prayer requests.” If I really have prayed
for G od’s will to be done, I will be
content if God decides something I
w ant is not the best for me right now. I
should seek only those possessions which
will enrich my relationship with God
and other people, and bring glory to his
name. I must recognize that som etim es
we have to suffer for a little while, and
that the L ord’s grace is sufficient (1
Peter 5:10; 2 Cor. 12:9; John 9:2-3).
If G od’s kingdom is my greatest
desire on earth, I will be able freely to
forgive others, “ as God in Christ has
forgiven” me (Eph. 4:32). Their sins
and m istakes are nothing to m e -o n ly
an opportunity for G od’s grace to
triumph! And I will never toy with sins
of the flesh or the spirit, for my rela­
tionship with my Father and my Savior
is too precious, too beautiful, to take
lightly.
If you are like me, you still have a
long way to go, to perfect these atti­
tudes. Is there anything we can do?
Sure! W e can pray the L ord’s P ra y e r-
slowly, carefully, and with a holy un­
derstanding!
Piedmont Foot Patrol Celebrates
Its Second Year Of Patroling
c o n tin u e d fr o m
block area paralleled by Martin Luther
King and North Vancouver boulevards.
Most o f the homes they pass are modest
but well-cared for. If they see a garage
door open or shrubbery that might hide
a burglar, they will make a note to stop
back the next day to talk with the owner.
Along the way, the patrol picks up
litter and encourages residents they meet
to attend an upcoming neighborhood
association meeting. They go out of
their way to escort a middle-aged woman
to her home and stop to encourage a
young couple who are converting an
old tavern into a recreational center for
local teen-agers.
The m ood o f the patrol is upbeat
and friendly. “ W e’ve got little gray­
haired ladies and even a high-school
student in our patrol,” says Radigan.
“ Before we started walking last year,
prostitution was chronic along our stretch
of Lombard and King boulevards. It’s
really dropped off now, and the word is
out on the street that sooner or later
you’ll bum p into our patrol.”
The Piedm ont Foot Patrol is one of
six that are extensions of Portland’s
Neighborhood W atch program. Sev­
eral patrols have received the praise of
crime prevention specialists and police
officials.
Capt. Alan Orr, com m ander o f the
North Precinct, works with the foot
patrols in his jurisdiction and says that
the Piedm ont patrol has contributed to
the 70 percent drop in prostitution and
significant drop in burglaries in the
area over the past year.
“ If you take a look at Martin Lu­
ther King Boulevard for instance, you’ll
see that strong law enforcem ent, the
forfeiture ordinance o f custom ers’ cars,
and citizen involvement, especially the
foot patrol, have brought about a major
reduction in prostitution,” says Orr.
“ We caution the patrol that they are
not the police.” Still, their presence
clearly demonstrates their ownership
and concern about the neighborhood.
Paul Craig helped organize the
Piedmont patrol after confronting a pair
of armed burglars in his home. He
wants the patrol to begin looking at
ways to make the neighborhood more
attractive to potential homeowners.
“ Just watching for crime can be a
pretty negative thing,” says Craig. “ We
know that over the long term, we need
people to make a com m itm ent to solv­
ing all o f the problems of the neighbor­
hood. T hat’s why the fool patrol is one
part o f that process.”
A few blocks south of the Pied­
mont neighborhood, Alan Lashbrook is
preparing to lead his own foot patrol
through the Overlook neighborhood.
His equipment is the same — flashlight,
walkie-talkie, and distinctive orange
jackets and caps that he designed.
Lashbrook, a firefighter with the
Port o f Portland, started the first foot
patrol three years ago in an attempt, he
says, to drive prostitutes and drug deal­
ers out of the neighborhood, especially
along North Interstate Avenue.
Now, he says, neighbors feel se­
cure enough to come out in the eve­
nings again. They hold block parties,
garage sales, and exchange telephone
numbers and house keys when one of
them is going on vacation.
Best of all, he says, neighbors are
watching out for each other.
“ W e’ve been out enough now that
people call us by our first nam es,” says
Lashbrook. “ They know that we have
credibility with the police and that if
we report a situation, the police will
respond im m ediately.”
Lashbrook says his patrols have
stopped at least one burglary in prog­
ress, and he personally rescued two
people from an automobile that smashed
into a telephone pole.
With neighborhood burglaries and
prostitution on the decline, Lashbrook’s
patrols are going after the few remain­
ing drug houses and trying to eradicate
graffiti they find sprayed on neighbor­
hood businesses.
Expenses for the foot patrol for
jackets, caps, flashlights, and two-way
radios run about $150 for each volun­
teer, Lashbrook says. Neighborhood
fund-raising activities and donations
pay for some o f the costs, but he says
many members pay for the equipment
out of their own pockets.
The report from the Sabin neigh­
borhood foot patrol is mucli the same.
John Campbell coordinates the dozen
volunteers and says that in the six months
since the patrols began, he has seen a
marked reduction in drug dealing and
other crim inal activities.
Volunteers wear bright yellow T-
shirts, calling themselves Sabin United
Neighbors, or SUN for short.
“ W e know that our presence is
making a difference," says Cam pbell.
“ But w e’re also looking at long-term
objectives such as breaking down isola­
tion and helping support better feelings
among racial and ethnic groups in our
neighborhood.”
The success of foot patrols in North­
east neighborhoods prom pted the Port­
land Bureau of Parks and Recreation to
test a pilot project in Lents Park using
similar volunteer walking patrols.
“ W ith the passage o f M easure 5,
we have had to eliminate funding from
our 1991 budget for private security for
parks,” says Dean Williams of the Parks
Bureau. “ We know that any legitim ate
presence in the parks will displace de­
structive behavior. Volunteer walking
patrols may be our answ er.”
M eanwhile, foot patrol members
say they are tired o f all o f N ortheast
Portland being painted with the same
brush. They want people to know they
care about their neighborhoods and that
they are out walking several times a
week to make this part o f the city safe
for families.
When they find an abandoned house,
a neglected rental, or a suspected drug
house, they pass the information on to
the neighborhood association, which
talks with the owners or brings pressure
on city agencies to correct the problem.
Next they want training sessions to teach
landlords ways to deal with trouble­
some tenants, neighborhood beautifi­
cation programs, and more extensive
crime prevention programs.
Residents adm it that foot patrols
alone will not revitalize the neighbor­
hoods, but all say they have seen a
major reduction in crim e and feel more
secure knowing they are around.
“ W ith their help, unrecognizable
people on our block have dropped to
near zero,’ ’ says Ronald G rice, a Pied­
m ont resident since 1968. “ The police
can ’t be here all the time, so we have to
be observant ourselves.”
Sharon M cCormack, inner N orth­
east crime prevention coordinator, agrees
with community policing as a way to
complement crime prevention efforts.
“ We know that it is the first step in
revitalizing Northeast neighborhoods,"
she says. “ W e are already seeing suc­
cess in the growing num ber of owner-
occupied and long-term renters who are
choosing to stay in Northeast neighbor­
hoods.”
PortïânTÔbsen^er encourages our readers to write
letters to the editor in response to any articles
we publish.
_____ _____ ________
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e---------- — -------
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UPS Receives Social
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From Martin Luther
King, Jr. Center for
Nonviolent Social
Change
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On Jan. 18, United Parcel Service
(UPS) received the 16th annual Social
Responsibility Award from the M artin
Luther K ing, Jr. Center for Nonviolent
Social Change. The award is presented
to the corporation which best exem pli­
fies the spirit o f social responsibilty
that was demonstrated by Martin Lu­
ther King, Jr. during his lifetime.
Kent C. Nelson, U PS’s chairman
and chief executive officer, accepted
the award on their behalf.
The award was presented by Coretta
Scott King, Dr. King’s widow and the
founder of the King Center, at a break­
fast ceremony in Atlanta.
UPS, based in Atlanta, is a w orld­
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more than 180 countries and territories.
With revenues of $13.6 billion and
volume of 2.9 billion packages and
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