The Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem is a part of the temple that had stood between 516 BCE and 70 CE. Herod the Great began restoring this temple around 19 BCE. This work took over fifty years and was destroyed by the Romans only a few years after completion around 70 CE. Today the lower portion of this wall is what was left after the Roman destruction. The Western Wall is a very sacred place for the Jewish people because the temple was considered to be the very place where God resides on earth … and so, to come and pray at the Wall is to be in the presence of the Divine, to have the ear of God. The wall became known as the Wailing Wall after non-Jews witnessed the Jewish people mourning the destruction of the temple, and lifting up loud wailing prayers.

Visiting the Western Wall was one of the most vivid of my experiences in the city of Jerusalem. People from all over the world come here to pray … to petition to God in this place where it is thought God is particularly attentive. So fervent is the belief about the special efficacy of these prayers that there are fax machines and email services set up so that people can send prayers to the Wailing Wall with the assurance that someone will then print them out and fold the paper into the cracks of the wall. It is a very moving experience to both witness and to offer prayers at this site. My visit to Jerusalem was at a relatively calm period in this volatile region. So security, while strict, was a bit more relaxed than at other times. That meant a bit more freedom to move around and spend time at the wall. It was a crowded place, a very noisy place … with wails of prayer being lifted up and a particular bowing of the body towards the wall over and over again. I can no longer remember the specifics of the prayer I offered up that day … writing it on a scrap of paper and folding it into one of the chinks in the wall … but I do remember feeling as if God indeed was listening in a special way.

Much of the prayer that takes place at the Wailing Wall are petitions to God … deep, deep needs that one has … a longing to know that there is still a God in the midst of life's darkest tragedies and injustices. They are prayers of lament and complaint … a knowing that God gives us space for us to voice everything. As we said last week, there are no inappropriate prayers, the only thing inappropriate is the lack of prayer. We bring what we have, who we are, what's going on in our lives from the most trivial problems to the greatest injustices. There's been a lot of Fiddler on the Roof talk among our Senior Highs the past several months because several of our high school students had parts in their school play. The lead character of Fiddler, Tevye, had a good handle on his prayer life … everything was lifted up to God. As he pulls his milk wagon we get to hear his petitions. They range from the small – did you have to make my horse go lame? to the major – did you have to disrupt my daughter's wedding?

Our scriptures this morning are reminders that there is a place for our cries, of "how long, O God." From the prayer book of the Bible, the Psalms, we have the deep groaning: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?" Many years later, Jesus will utter that same cry from the cross. I figure if Jesus uttered such prayers, then surely we are called to do the same. We utter them in the certainty that God is listening to us … listening to the most minor trivia of our lives, to the deep groaning pain when we aren't sure we can take another step forward. Even more than the certainty that God is listening, there is the trust and assurance that God will act. Jesus knew that as well. He would not have bothered to petition in the Garden that the events to come could be avoided … he would not have bothered to cry from the cross if he didn't think God was listening to his prayers. In this tradition we too are called to bring our laments, our complaints to God. This week I invite you to write a prayer of lament. You might want to use the following formula which is based on the lament psalms: 1. Address God and name God in an intimate way. (Remember how Jesus used Abba, daddy.), describe how you know that God is with you in the most frightening of times – yea, though I walk through the valley of shadows, you are there. 2. Tell God very specifically what the trouble is in your life. 3. Name your petition, boldly ask God to act. 4. Add motivation … even if it seems childish. We've done it before – God if you do this, I'll never again … 5. Tell God again what the hurt is. Dare to be extreme. Jesus was! 6. Finally, find a way to express confidence in God. Even to give praises. Jesus expressed this in the garden by saying, not my will but yours be done. I also invite you to our version of the wailing wall. Right off the sanctuary is a Whiting Chapel. There you will find an altar set up with a wall of stones. The youth group will be using the wall to bring their prayers to God during their service this Wednesday night. You are also free to come to this altar any time during the week when the church is open (Which is just about always!) and spend some time in deep prayer, placing your prayer of lament in the stones.

Perhaps the most important thing about praying our complaints and laments is the fact that in them we are called to action. Even as we are well into the darkness of Lent, we still know how this story ends. We have the ultimate answer to the evil of the world – God's love triumphs. Yet, even as we know this, we also know that we live in between this already and not yet. There is so much in our world that is not yet. As the church, the body of Christ, we are called to name those things … our personal pain and grief, the despairs and injustices of the world, even when it is a great risk to do so. Because to name them is to name the work we are called to do … the work of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth.

Knowing there is nothing greater than the love of God in Jesus Christ, we can go forth in the name and example of Jesus Christ, working towards the "already."

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