|
|
Sermon
for 8 Pentecost Yr C, 25/07/2004 Based
on Lk 11:1-4 By
Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson Pastor
of Grace Lutheran Church, & Chaplain
of the Good Samaritan Society’s South
Ridge Village, Medicine Hat, Alberta “The Lord’s Prayer” Our modern age, in many respects, is a very practical one. In North America
especially, we are known for our utilitarian philosophy of life. We ask, “Is
this useful in some practical way?” If it is not, we tend to say that it has
no meaning or purpose for us. Many people tend to make fun of or even scorn
the academic world with all of their theories and principles. The academics
are viewed as too “stuffy” and “sheltered” from “the real world” because they
live in their “ivory towers.” Most people want to live in a very practical
way. The bookstores are filled with best-seller, practical “How To” books: everything from how to
live a happy life, to how to find the job you want, to how to fix your car,
and you name it—the list goes on forever.
The life of Jesus was also a very practical one. He was able,
more than anyone else, to blend the theoretical perfectly together with the practical. In today’s gospel, Jesus
answers the request of one of his disciples by showing them how to pray. This prayer, known as the
Lord’s Prayer, has proven to be so practical
that over 2,000 years later it remains an endless source of power and
influence for millions of Christians who pray those wonderful words.
Unfortunately many Christians do not experience the power and influence of
these wonderful words because they are so familiar that they pray the words
by rote. That is why to be grasped by the power and influence of the Lord’s
Prayer it is necessary to meditate and ponder the meaning of these wonderful
words, which Jesus has taught us. The Lord’s Prayer appears in two of
the four Gospels: Matthew’s and Luke’s In Matthew it is part of Christ’s
Sermon on the Mount and—as you can see—Luke’s version is shorter than
Matthew’s. In the Luke the prayer begins: “Father, hallowed be your name.” The
Good News Bible states it this way: “Father: may your holy name be honoured.”
When Jesus calls God Father in this prayer, he is revealing something very
unique and marvellous about God. In many of the world religions god or the
gods were transcendent—that is, they were far removed from human beings. Many
of the gods were to be feared because
they could bring people tragedy or death or some terrible curse at any time.
Some of the gods had to be appeased and cajoled before human beings could
benefit from the gods. Fear and superstition dominated the relationship
between human beings and the gods. But Jesus changed all of that; he called
God Father, and by doing so he was showing us how close and intimate a
relationship we human beings actually have with our God. He was saying that
our relationship with God is like the most close and loving relationship
between a parent and a child. The care, the tenderness, the trust, the
confidence that we place in a loving earthly parent is like that which we can
have in God only multiplied so much that we cannot even begin to comprehend
how great. God our loving heavenly Parent supplies all our needs, protects
us, guides us, comforts us, gives us such a perfect friendship that we are
able to tell God everything—especially
those things that we are not able to tell any human being. To call God Father
is to know and rest in the confidence of a relationship which is totally
loving and trustworthy.
That is why we pray: “…hallowed be
your name.” If we know and rest in the confidence of a totally loving and
trustworthy relationship with God; then we shall want, more than anything, to
keep God’s name holy, revered, awe-inspiring and honoured. In this life we
don’t throw our most valued earthly treasures on the manure pile. We usually
find a special place for them out of pride and respect for them. The same is
true with God’s name. We need to always guard and discipline our lips and
tongues so that we don’t throw God’s name into the garbage. God’s name is very special and if we are to keep it
that way then we shall want to care for it as we would a precious treasure.
Most of us prefer to keep a good reputation for our name. We do so by living
a lifestyle worthy of respect. When people spread rumours, lies and gossip
about our reputation they no longer respect us and can even seriously damage
our reputation and name. When someone swears, curses and uses God’s name as
garbage they are damaging God’s name and reputation. If we really love and
trust God we will want to keep God’s name holy.
Next, Jesus teaches us to pray: “Your
kingdom come.” This may however be translated as “reign” or “sovereign rule.”
The kingdom, the dominion, the sovereign rule of God is viewed in this prayer
as both present and future. Now, today, the rule of God is breaking
into this world. Jesus also said in Luke 17:21: “…the kingdom of God is within you/in the midst of you/among
you.” It is, in part, here, now,
already. We need a passion for God’s reign in our time. It is
unbelievable that some 2,000 years after Christ our world would still have as
much hatred, violence and evil as it does. If we had maintained Christ’s
passion for God’s reign in our lives and in the world, it would not. Remember
God’s reign is over our hearts, lives, minds—everything that is ours—we are
Christ’s feet, hands, and mouth in this world. He is counting on us to be
loyal subjects of his commonwealth and to do our part so that one day the
dominions of this world shall become the Dominion of Christ.
Jesus goes on by teaching us to pray:
“Give us each day our daily bread.” The Good News Bible has: “Give us day by
day the food we need.” This petition begins with, “Give us…” NOT “Give me…”
We are not praying here for getting my selfish wants at the cost of other
people going hungry. We are family; we are Christ’s body; if one member
suffers, we all suffer. “Daily bread” does not mean an endless supply of
extravagant luxuries, while two-thirds of the world’s people don’t even have
enough food let alone any of the other things that we enjoy in this country.
“Daily bread” means receiving not what
we want but what we need—the basic necessities of life. We pray for our
daily bread, remembering that Jesus travelled light, had no place to lay his
head, yet, at the same time had all he
really needed. We pray this with
thankful hearts and do not take our daily bread for granted. We pray that
everyone shall have the daily bread
they need.
Jesus goes on by teaching us to pray:
“And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.”
Jesus knew that no prayer would be complete without asking for forgiveness.
We are all sinful people in constant
need of forgiveness. Jesus our Great Physician knew that nothing could kill our souls as well as
our bodies like grudges, unforgiven sins, stored-up anger and resentments and
feelings of guilt. Isn’t it interesting that an increasing number of
medical doctors are saying the same thing today?! Many people would enjoy
better health if they could truly
forgive. If we pray this petition and still continue to have stored-up
anger, resentment and hatred towards others then we need to ask Christ for
the grace to have the ability to forgive and we need to really want and mean
that with all of our heart. Forgiveness requires effort on our part as well
as Christ’s grace. Here are some practical steps to healing and forgiveness.
First, pray for the well-being of the person you have a hard time forgiving.
Second, if possible, unload the problem and guilt together with the offender.
Third, negotiate the difficulty in a caring, friendly way. Fourth, trust each
other and live in forgiveness. Fifth, encourage each other. Jesus our Great
Physician performs major surgery on our sin and wants us to have a healthy
mind, body and spirit—that is why it is so important that we forgive one another.
Finally, Jesus teaches us to pray:
“And lead us not into temptation,” or “do not bring us to the time of trial.”
The Good News Bible has: “And do not bring us to hard testing.” The reality
of life is that we are all tested in
one way or another. In school we
must write exams. Certain jobs require apprenticeships, internships and
probation periods. Then we have other tests, which often come without warning
when things have been going well—a sudden illness or death in the family,
that unexpected job lay-off, the relationship that seemed good turns sour and
somebody you trusted slanders you. How do we respond? Do we become bitter,
angry, resentful and drown ourselves in self-pity? Do we fight fire with
fire? Or do we remain patient, kind, loving, faithful and endure these things
with a view to a hope-filled future? Most of these tests come in order that
we may be more firmly anchored in Christ. Without his help we will most
certainly fall and crumble; that is why we need to pray each day, “and lead
us not into temptation.” May our
Lord’s Prayer continue to be a constant source of power and influence as we
seek to put into practice the meaning of those wonderful words. May our
relationship with Christ continue to grow and be strengthened as we draw
close to him by praying the prayer he taught us. Amen. |
|