WEBVTT 00:00:04.840 --> 00:00:07.139 Today's reading is taken from the Gospel of Matthew, 00:00:07.259 --> 00:00:12.380 chapter 6, verses 9 to 13. This, then, is how 00:00:12.380 --> 00:00:16.920 you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:20.039 be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:24.000 done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.780 our daily bread, and forgive us our debts. as 00:00:27.780 --> 00:00:30.780 we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:33.600 not into temptation, but deliver us from the 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:38.399 evil one. The word of the Lord. My name is Kyla, 00:00:38.460 --> 00:00:41.179 and as Rob said, I am the online engagement director 00:00:41.179 --> 00:00:43.799 here. But I'm also going to be unpacking the 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:46.799 Lord's Prayer with you this morning. And so if 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:49.520 you've been around for most of this summer, you 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:51.579 probably know that we have been journeying through 00:00:51.579 --> 00:00:55.289 the Sermon on the Mount together. And if you 00:00:55.289 --> 00:00:57.329 haven't been here at all for this series yet, 00:00:57.369 --> 00:00:59.969 if this is your first Sunday with us, no worries. 00:01:00.229 --> 00:01:02.030 I'm really glad that you've joined us today, 00:01:02.090 --> 00:01:04.269 and I hope that you have felt welcomed here. 00:01:05.849 --> 00:01:07.829 Today, as Rob said, we're going to be wrapping 00:01:07.829 --> 00:01:11.189 up our series on the Sermon on the Mount. But 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:12.629 we're not actually going to do that by looking 00:01:12.629 --> 00:01:15.269 at the end of the sermon. That's where Sandra 00:01:15.269 --> 00:01:18.069 took us last week. But we're going to be diving 00:01:18.069 --> 00:01:20.689 right back into the very center of the sermon, 00:01:20.790 --> 00:01:23.719 the heart of this sermon. Now, you might remember 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:26.319 that many weeks ago now, Rob referred to the 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:30.159 Sermon on the Mount as Jesus' manifesto of the 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:33.379 kingdom of God. So it's this sermon that teaches 00:01:33.379 --> 00:01:35.900 us all about what the kingdom of God is like, 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:39.500 who Jesus is, and who we are called to be as 00:01:39.500 --> 00:01:44.379 citizens of that kingdom. And so the Bible Project, 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:46.739 it's a resource that I really like. It breaks 00:01:46.739 --> 00:01:48.840 down the Sermon on the Mount into these different 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:51.900 sections, starting with an introduction, and 00:01:51.900 --> 00:01:54.780 then three large sections of teaching, and then 00:01:54.780 --> 00:01:57.560 a conclusion. And each of those three larger 00:01:57.560 --> 00:01:59.920 sections, they've broken down into three smaller 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:03.439 sections. And right in the center of the center 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:08.360 section is the Lord's Prayer. So the Lord's Prayer. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:12.180 and prayer in general, sits at the very heart 00:02:12.180 --> 00:02:14.719 of this sermon, which I think means that it sits 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:17.500 at the very heart of what the kingdom of God 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:20.039 is about. And that means that there's something 00:02:20.039 --> 00:02:23.080 really important for us to pay attention to in 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:26.479 the words of this prayer. Now, I'm willing to 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:29.080 bet that almost all of you have heard this prayer 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:31.659 before, even before Kerlin came and read it for 00:02:31.659 --> 00:02:35.259 us this morning. We say it almost every week 00:02:35.259 --> 00:02:38.280 here at Trinity. You've probably said it before 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:40.439 in other churches. Maybe you've said it before 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:43.460 at home or with your families. And sometimes 00:02:43.460 --> 00:02:46.159 that repetition means that words will start to 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:49.979 lose their meaning for us. Now, I hope that the 00:02:49.979 --> 00:02:52.379 Lord's Prayer has not lost its meaning for you. 00:02:52.580 --> 00:02:55.539 But if it has, if the words are starting to feel 00:02:55.539 --> 00:02:58.300 a little bit stale, I just want to ask for the 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:01.280 next few minutes of your attention. And I hope 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:04.349 that God can reignite a fire in you. to sort 00:03:04.349 --> 00:03:06.689 of see the beauty and the power of this prayer 00:03:06.689 --> 00:03:09.169 as God has been showing me as I prepared to share 00:03:09.169 --> 00:03:12.250 with us today. And if you are here and you have 00:03:12.250 --> 00:03:14.330 never heard this prayer before in your life, 00:03:14.449 --> 00:03:17.870 even better. I am really excited to see how God 00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:20.789 gets to speak to you in this time as we learn 00:03:20.789 --> 00:03:25.129 to pray this prayer that Jesus taught us. But 00:03:25.129 --> 00:03:27.990 before we dive specifically into the Lord's Prayer, 00:03:28.189 --> 00:03:30.110 I want us to take some time to think about how 00:03:30.110 --> 00:03:33.639 prayer in general works. Because I think once 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:36.780 we understand more about prayer in general, the 00:03:36.780 --> 00:03:39.319 words of the Lord's prayer will take on a much 00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:43.199 richer meaning for us. Now, when I say that I 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:45.599 want to think about how prayer in general works, 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:48.020 there are a lot of different ways we could go 00:03:48.020 --> 00:03:51.419 in this. But I have a very specific angle in 00:03:51.419 --> 00:03:54.259 mind. I don't want to wade into the waters of 00:03:54.259 --> 00:03:56.900 how prayer gets answered or the ways that our 00:03:56.900 --> 00:03:59.780 prayers may or may not influence what God is 00:03:59.780 --> 00:04:02.360 doing in the world. Those are really important 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:04.539 topics, but they're for people much smarter than 00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:07.780 me to elaborate on and sort of figure out. Instead, 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:10.860 I want us to think about how prayer works in 00:04:10.860 --> 00:04:15.479 us. In other words, what happens to us? What 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:19.839 happens to me in my heart and my mind when I 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.000 pray in the way that Jesus taught us to pray? 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:27.579 I think something really powerful happens. Because 00:04:27.579 --> 00:04:30.279 prayer isn't just about words that we are saying 00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:34.079 to God. Prayer actually opens up a space for 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:38.199 us to collaborate with God. To share our heart 00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:41.519 with God and to have God's heart revealed to 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:45.860 us. Prayer, if we do it in a posture of humility 00:04:45.860 --> 00:04:49.540 and willingness to respond, actually changes 00:04:49.540 --> 00:04:54.480 something in us. Through prayer, God shapes us. 00:04:55.050 --> 00:04:59.709 And God calls us. To illustrate what I mean, 00:04:59.790 --> 00:05:02.069 I want to share a little bit of my story with 00:05:02.069 --> 00:05:05.230 you. So in the same year that I graduated from 00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:07.670 high school, my parents moved from Nova Scotia 00:05:07.670 --> 00:05:10.209 to New Brunswick, so to another sort of province 00:05:10.209 --> 00:05:13.730 away. And while that didn't impact my day -to 00:05:13.730 --> 00:05:16.490 -day life very much, because I had also moved 00:05:16.490 --> 00:05:19.610 to attend university, it did mean that when I 00:05:19.610 --> 00:05:21.790 went to go visit my family, I wasn't actually 00:05:21.790 --> 00:05:25.540 going home. And that was really hard for me. 00:05:25.899 --> 00:05:29.180 It was really disorienting to go to a new house 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:31.899 and a new church in a city that I didn't really 00:05:31.899 --> 00:05:35.139 know, six hours away from the place where I had 00:05:35.139 --> 00:05:39.980 grown up. And I was really angry about it. And 00:05:39.980 --> 00:05:42.920 when I took that anger to God, God led me to 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:46.000 Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 7, which says this. 00:05:46.899 --> 00:05:50.160 Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:54.110 which I have carried you into exile. Pray to 00:05:54.110 --> 00:05:57.250 the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you 00:05:57.250 --> 00:06:01.970 too will prosper. Now, I understand there is 00:06:01.970 --> 00:06:03.850 a big difference between the Israelites living 00:06:03.850 --> 00:06:06.670 in exile in the land of their enemies and me 00:06:06.670 --> 00:06:09.610 living in Fredericton with my parents. Fredericton 00:06:09.610 --> 00:06:11.449 is actually a very nice city you should all go 00:06:11.449 --> 00:06:16.069 visit sometime. But I took these words to Jeremiah 00:06:16.069 --> 00:06:20.769 to heart. And reluctantly at first, I began to 00:06:20.769 --> 00:06:23.149 pray for this place where I found myself spending 00:06:23.149 --> 00:06:26.750 spring and summer breaks. At first, those prayers 00:06:26.750 --> 00:06:29.649 were kind of vague, praying for those few people 00:06:29.649 --> 00:06:32.670 that I knew, or praying for the names of local 00:06:32.670 --> 00:06:35.750 leaders whose names I could Google, praying for 00:06:35.750 --> 00:06:39.470 the church that my family attended. But over 00:06:39.470 --> 00:06:43.490 time, I found myself wanting to learn more, and 00:06:43.490 --> 00:06:46.579 my prayers became more specific. And I found 00:06:46.579 --> 00:06:49.500 myself naturally praying for this city and these 00:06:49.500 --> 00:06:53.139 situations that I was learning about. Over the 00:06:53.139 --> 00:06:55.779 years, I have lived in Fredericton off and on, 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:58.120 and I've had the privilege of working with some 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:01.439 churches there. And I strongly believe that the 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:04.480 foundation of that work and the seeds of the 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:07.079 communities that I became part of were planted 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:10.860 through my prayers. Not because I think that 00:07:10.860 --> 00:07:13.459 my prayers actually changed much in terms of 00:07:13.459 --> 00:07:15.899 what was happening in the city or the churches 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:18.879 that I would later become part of, but because 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:23.180 through prayer, I came to love a place that I 00:07:23.180 --> 00:07:27.259 had previously written off. Through prayer, God 00:07:27.259 --> 00:07:30.180 formed my heart to break for the things that 00:07:30.180 --> 00:07:33.339 break God's heart and to rejoice over the things 00:07:33.339 --> 00:07:37.720 that God rejoices over. And through prayer, God 00:07:37.720 --> 00:07:40.959 called me to partner with God and others in the 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:43.759 work of the kingdom in that specific time and 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:48.319 place. And God uses prayer in this way all the 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:50.980 time. You might be able to think of an example 00:07:50.980 --> 00:07:53.259 in your own life where during a time of prayer 00:07:53.259 --> 00:07:56.120 you felt your heart soften a little bit. And 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:58.579 you felt compassion towards a person or situation 00:07:58.579 --> 00:08:02.139 that you had been struggling with. Or maybe you 00:08:02.139 --> 00:08:04.500 can think of a time of prayer when you felt like 00:08:04.500 --> 00:08:07.019 God really wanted you to step out and to do something. 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:11.519 In scripture, Jesus prayed and then called the 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:15.360 twelve disciples. Elijah prayed on a mountain 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:17.899 and then was empowered to stand up against the 00:08:17.899 --> 00:08:21.959 evil rulers of his day. And Mary's prayers carried 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:24.600 her through the ups and downs of her life as 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:28.279 Jesus' mother. God works through our prayers 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:30.730 not just to answer them, but to do something 00:08:30.730 --> 00:08:34.870 in us. And I don't think it's actually a huge 00:08:34.870 --> 00:08:38.090 surprise that prayer works in this way, especially 00:08:38.090 --> 00:08:41.970 if we make it a habit. Just like any habit shapes 00:08:41.970 --> 00:08:45.210 our lives. So if you go for a run every day, 00:08:45.269 --> 00:08:47.289 that will improve your fitness and your endurance. 00:08:47.669 --> 00:08:50.269 If you sit around every evening and doom scroll 00:08:50.269 --> 00:08:53.509 social media, that will change your brain chemistry. 00:08:54.129 --> 00:08:57.529 In the same way, setting aside regular time for 00:08:57.529 --> 00:09:03.639 prayer changes us. So then, how does the Lord's 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:06.600 Prayer change us? What does this prayer actually 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:10.259 tell us about what Jesus is like and who we should 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:14.500 be as his followers? And what does God call us 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:17.620 to do through the words of this prayer? That's 00:09:17.620 --> 00:09:19.779 what I want us to spend some time unpacking together 00:09:19.779 --> 00:09:23.070 this morning. Quick word about the structure 00:09:23.070 --> 00:09:25.830 of the prayer as we answer those questions. So 00:09:25.830 --> 00:09:27.669 the Lord's Prayer, as it's presented in scripture, 00:09:27.850 --> 00:09:30.549 has two main sections. So the first one goes 00:09:30.549 --> 00:09:33.070 something like this. Our Father in heaven, hallowed 00:09:33.070 --> 00:09:35.610 be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be 00:09:35.610 --> 00:09:41.169 done, on earth as it is in heaven. In broad strokes, 00:09:41.529 --> 00:09:44.850 this section is all about the big picture. It's 00:09:44.850 --> 00:09:46.909 about praying for God to come and to work on 00:09:46.909 --> 00:09:50.580 the earth in powerful ways. And contrary to how 00:09:50.580 --> 00:09:52.600 I have sometimes thought about this section, 00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:55.879 it's not just like a prelude to the actual prayer. 00:09:56.299 --> 00:09:58.779 And it's not just this part where we say some 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:00.960 really nice things about God so that God will 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:03.200 do what we want when we get to part number two. 00:10:03.860 --> 00:10:06.679 This is actually something that's really powerful 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:10.259 for us to pray. And then we get to part two, 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:13.100 where it goes something like this. Give us today 00:10:13.100 --> 00:10:15.889 our daily bread. And forgive us our sins or our 00:10:15.889 --> 00:10:18.509 debts or our trespasses. As we forgive those 00:10:18.509 --> 00:10:22.090 who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation. 00:10:22.409 --> 00:10:26.330 But deliver us from evil. So the first section 00:10:26.330 --> 00:10:28.789 takes this aerial shot. And the second section 00:10:28.789 --> 00:10:31.309 is like the close up. It draws our attention 00:10:31.309 --> 00:10:34.730 to the daily stuff of life. And it asks God to 00:10:34.730 --> 00:10:37.590 guide us and provide for us in some really important 00:10:37.590 --> 00:10:41.909 ways. Now. If you're familiar with this prayer, 00:10:41.990 --> 00:10:43.509 you might be saying, well, Kyla, what about the 00:10:43.509 --> 00:10:45.789 last part of this prayer? The part that goes 00:10:45.789 --> 00:10:47.570 something like, for thine is the kingdom, the 00:10:47.570 --> 00:10:50.789 power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. That 00:10:50.789 --> 00:10:53.710 is also an important part of this prayer, but 00:10:53.710 --> 00:10:57.210 it's actually not likely original to Jesus or 00:10:57.210 --> 00:10:59.629 to the gospels of Matthew and Luke, the other 00:10:59.629 --> 00:11:01.669 place in scripture that we find this prayer. 00:11:02.610 --> 00:11:05.529 The earliest written manuscripts of these gospels 00:11:05.529 --> 00:11:09.720 end the prayer after deliver us from evil. And 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:12.139 the first place in written history that we see 00:11:12.139 --> 00:11:15.399 this last sort of line show up is in what's known 00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:19.279 as the Didache. The Didache is an ancient Christian 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:22.440 manual that was composed sometime before 300 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:26.059 AD. So it's this book that tells us all about 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:27.919 what the early church was like. It gives them 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:30.559 instructions for how to live as followers of 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:34.080 Jesus in their context. And it's there in this 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:37.200 Christian manual or this Christian handbook that 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:40.940 we read this. As the Lord commanded in his gospel, 00:11:41.059 --> 00:11:45.159 thus pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:48.919 be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:52.799 as in heaven, so also upon earth. Give us today 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:55.620 our daily bread and forgive us our debt as we 00:11:55.620 --> 00:11:58.860 forgive our debtors. And lead us not into trial, 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:02.139 but deliver us from evil. For thine is the power 00:12:02.139 --> 00:12:08.039 and the glory forever. So some later copies of 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:10.720 the Gospels of Matthew and Luke then also include 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.580 this line, perhaps partially because it became 00:12:13.580 --> 00:12:16.120 part of the sort of oral tradition of the church. 00:12:16.340 --> 00:12:18.940 And we can see in some of Paul's letters that 00:12:18.940 --> 00:12:21.679 he adds these sort of benedictions to prayers 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:24.960 as well. It was a pretty common practice. But 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:27.500 regardless of whether this line was originally 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:29.960 part of the Lord's Prayer and originally said 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:32.940 by Jesus or added later, I think it's safe to 00:12:32.940 --> 00:12:35.320 say that although it's not going to be the focus 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:38.100 of our time together today, it's still a really 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:40.399 valuable part of the prayer and a really valuable 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:45.539 part of church tradition. So, now that we understand 00:12:45.539 --> 00:12:47.620 the structure of the prayer, we can start to 00:12:47.620 --> 00:12:51.159 dive into the words themselves and explore how 00:12:51.159 --> 00:12:54.159 God might be shaping and calling us through this 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:57.480 prayer that Jesus gave us. And actually, the 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.700 very first word of the prayer sets us up in a 00:13:00.700 --> 00:13:04.139 really important way. The first word is our, 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:08.139 our Father. And what that signals to me is that 00:13:08.139 --> 00:13:10.500 this prayer isn't primarily meant to be prayed 00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:14.539 alone. The entire prayer uses plural language, 00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:19.220 our and us. And it does this because Jesus intended 00:13:19.220 --> 00:13:21.559 that the disciples would pray this prayer together 00:13:21.559 --> 00:13:25.200 as a group. Now, I don't think that that means 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:28.159 we should never pray it alone. But it does mean 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:30.059 that there's something really meaningful to be 00:13:30.059 --> 00:13:32.799 gleaned from praying this prayer together. as 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:35.940 a group of people learning to follow Jesus together. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:39.720 Praying in this way reminds us that we are not 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:43.299 alone in our pursuit of the kingdom of God. We 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:45.980 are part of a larger community of disciples, 00:13:46.179 --> 00:13:49.299 whether we like it or not, whether we all get 00:13:49.299 --> 00:13:53.340 along with each other or not. This larger community 00:13:53.340 --> 00:13:56.320 of disciples, bigger than even just this church, 00:13:56.580 --> 00:14:00.669 is really diverse. It's a community of people 00:14:00.669 --> 00:14:04.009 who are different from us in lots of ways. People 00:14:04.009 --> 00:14:08.250 who irritate us, people who hurt us, people that 00:14:08.250 --> 00:14:11.730 we don't always understand, and people who will 00:14:11.730 --> 00:14:15.289 believe some things differently than us. But 00:14:15.289 --> 00:14:19.250 all of this is the church. The people that we 00:14:19.250 --> 00:14:22.289 have the least in common with are the ones who 00:14:22.289 --> 00:14:26.129 pray beside us and for us, just as we pray beside 00:14:26.129 --> 00:14:30.990 and for them. So when I ask God to give me my 00:14:30.990 --> 00:14:33.830 daily bread, I'm not just asking for myself. 00:14:34.409 --> 00:14:38.549 I'm actually asking for God to give us our daily 00:14:38.549 --> 00:14:42.669 bread. I don't get to ask for my needs without 00:14:42.669 --> 00:14:46.590 an eye to the whole community of Christ. Asking 00:14:46.590 --> 00:14:50.370 God to meet your needs and mine, to meet our 00:14:50.370 --> 00:14:54.299 needs together. The provision of my daily bread 00:14:54.299 --> 00:14:56.679 is wrapped up in yours, and your forgiveness 00:14:56.679 --> 00:15:00.980 is bound together with mine. We come before God 00:15:00.980 --> 00:15:04.440 as a community, setting aside our squabbles and 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:07.000 our differences to pursue the kingdom of God 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:13.559 together on earth as it is in heaven. Now, if 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:15.759 you've been around the church long enough, you've 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:18.500 maybe experienced some disappointment, frustration, 00:15:18.620 --> 00:15:21.940 or heartbreak at the hands of other followers 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:26.000 of Christ. I know that I have. And I don't want 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.600 to dismiss that. It's important for that pain 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:32.600 to be healed. And sometimes it's necessary for 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:36.360 boundaries to be set. But that pain, no matter 00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:40.240 how big, cannot become an excuse for opting out 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:43.779 of the community of Christ. Take a step back 00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:46.100 from certain roles or groups or individuals, 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:49.460 sure. But don't take a step back from Christ. 00:15:50.100 --> 00:15:53.700 And ultimately, the call to Christ is a call 00:15:53.700 --> 00:15:57.799 into community. We can't follow Jesus if we're 00:15:57.799 --> 00:16:00.679 trying to do it all alone. We need each other. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:05.639 So that's our. And that's just the first word 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:08.649 of this prayer. But don't worry, I'm not going 00:16:08.649 --> 00:16:10.710 to spend that much time on every word. We will 00:16:10.710 --> 00:16:13.049 get done in time for our second service to start. 00:16:16.669 --> 00:16:20.490 The hour is pretty specific in its focus. It's 00:16:20.490 --> 00:16:23.190 talking about the followers of Jesus, the people 00:16:23.190 --> 00:16:26.230 who are praying this prayer. But the prayer as 00:16:26.230 --> 00:16:29.669 a whole is much more broad. We pray that God's 00:16:29.669 --> 00:16:33.049 kingdom would come on earth, across the whole 00:16:33.049 --> 00:16:36.120 world. not just our little community or our country 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:39.299 or the people that we like, across the whole 00:16:39.299 --> 00:16:41.919 world. We're praying for God to do something 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:46.179 global. And so in this first section, God shapes 00:16:46.179 --> 00:16:49.779 us by fixing our eyes on God and the work that 00:16:49.779 --> 00:16:53.039 God wants to do in the world, leaving the particular 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:55.980 concerns of my life on the back burner just for 00:16:55.980 --> 00:17:00.379 now. The three basic requests in this first section 00:17:00.379 --> 00:17:03.139 are that God's name would be hallowed or would 00:17:03.139 --> 00:17:07.079 be understood as holy, that God's kingdom would 00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:11.019 come, and that God's will would be done. And 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:14.140 the context for all three of these requests is 00:17:14.140 --> 00:17:17.599 the earth, that each request would be fulfilled 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:22.799 on earth as it is in heaven. And those are huge 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:28.819 requests. God's name. God's kingdom, God's will 00:17:28.819 --> 00:17:32.960 are so much bigger than we can possibly grasp. 00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:36.420 And yet, thankfully, God gives us little pictures 00:17:36.420 --> 00:17:38.200 of what they look like throughout scripture, 00:17:38.500 --> 00:17:41.079 and in particular, throughout the life of Jesus. 00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:46.619 We see God's name honored when Jesus cleanses 00:17:46.619 --> 00:17:48.940 the temple to remove all of the price gouging 00:17:48.940 --> 00:17:50.980 and the distractions that prevent people from 00:17:50.980 --> 00:17:54.500 entering into worship. We see God's kingdom. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.319 through all of the miracles that Jesus performs, 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:00.019 from feeding the hungry, to healing the sick, 00:18:00.180 --> 00:18:04.200 to raising the dead. And we see God's will manifest 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:07.599 throughout the entire life of Jesus, but in particular 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:10.440 when Jesus prays in Gethsemane for God's will 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:13.839 to be done, and then follows that will, despite 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:19.299 the cost, all the way to the cross. This is the 00:18:19.299 --> 00:18:22.240 stuff that we're praying for when we open the 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:26.049 Lord's Prayer. For unjust systems to be overturned. 00:18:26.049 --> 00:18:29.470 For healing to take place. For needs to be met. 00:18:29.650 --> 00:18:34.289 For life to come out of death. That's really 00:18:34.289 --> 00:18:38.210 big stuff. It's bigger than anything that we 00:18:38.210 --> 00:18:43.769 could possibly do. And it requires God. And yet, 00:18:43.910 --> 00:18:47.190 the beauty of the story of scripture is that 00:18:47.190 --> 00:18:50.789 God chooses to do this big daunting work in partnership 00:18:50.789 --> 00:18:55.690 with humanity. Jamie Arpanrici, a community leader 00:18:55.690 --> 00:18:58.569 and author in Winnipeg, writes that implicit 00:18:58.569 --> 00:19:01.670 in each of these petitions is a call for our 00:19:01.670 --> 00:19:05.950 submitted participation in God's response. It's 00:19:05.950 --> 00:19:08.470 an affirmation that while no human effort could 00:19:08.470 --> 00:19:11.309 ever make God's name holy or bring about his 00:19:11.309 --> 00:19:14.509 kingdom or accomplish his will, by his spirit, 00:19:14.589 --> 00:19:19.430 he has chosen us as his instruments in bringing 00:19:19.430 --> 00:19:24.539 them about, if only in part. We have an important 00:19:24.539 --> 00:19:28.700 role to play in answering this prayer. The Bible 00:19:28.700 --> 00:19:30.920 Project founders Tim Mackey and John Collins 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:32.980 compare this part of the prayer to an athlete 00:19:32.980 --> 00:19:35.920 who's talking to their coach. So imagine that 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:37.660 an athlete goes to their coach and they say, 00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:40.880 Hey coach, may your team be the best team and 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:43.380 may your name be honored when we win the championships. 00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:47.319 Now, that's a very nice thing to say. But of 00:19:47.319 --> 00:19:49.319 course the coach will look then at the athletes 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:52.079 and say something like, Great, go work hard. 00:19:52.490 --> 00:19:55.109 Do your training and make sure that that happens. 00:19:55.829 --> 00:19:59.069 Of course the coach is involved, and without 00:19:59.069 --> 00:20:03.210 good coaching, that team will fail. But the athletes 00:20:03.210 --> 00:20:05.549 themselves have a critical role in making these 00:20:05.549 --> 00:20:08.829 things come about. If they don't train and work 00:20:08.829 --> 00:20:11.029 hard and listen to the instructions of their 00:20:11.029 --> 00:20:15.289 coach, then their words are meaningless. Now, 00:20:15.369 --> 00:20:17.490 I think this metaphor is a little bit limited 00:20:17.490 --> 00:20:20.230 because I don't think God actually needs us in 00:20:20.230 --> 00:20:23.079 order to accomplish God's will. But nevertheless, 00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:28.019 God chooses to work with us. And so we have an 00:20:28.019 --> 00:20:30.859 active role to play in ushering in the kingdom 00:20:30.859 --> 00:20:34.940 of God. And in that way, even as these words 00:20:34.940 --> 00:20:37.339 remind us that the things we long for are beyond 00:20:37.339 --> 00:20:40.960 our ability, God uses these words to call us 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:45.359 into action. So what does that action look like? 00:20:45.779 --> 00:20:48.140 I think that's where the second half of this 00:20:48.140 --> 00:20:50.869 prayer comes in. While the first section, as 00:20:50.869 --> 00:20:53.410 I said, takes this aerial shot, the second section 00:20:53.410 --> 00:20:56.549 zooms in on the particular concerns of our lives 00:20:56.549 --> 00:21:00.529 here and now. Our daily bread, our relationships 00:21:00.529 --> 00:21:05.349 with God and others, our challenges and the temptations 00:21:05.349 --> 00:21:09.950 that we face. And what this says to me is that 00:21:09.950 --> 00:21:11.990 the kingdom of God isn't just about the spiritual 00:21:11.990 --> 00:21:14.769 stuff, and it's not just about hoping for good 00:21:14.769 --> 00:21:18.529 things to come someday. It's also, and importantly, 00:21:18.730 --> 00:21:22.150 about the real stuff of life. And in light of 00:21:22.150 --> 00:21:24.390 the fact that we are formed into a community 00:21:24.390 --> 00:21:28.509 and called into partnership with God, we ought 00:21:28.509 --> 00:21:31.549 to care very much about the real stuff of our 00:21:31.549 --> 00:21:34.990 lives and our neighbors' lives right here and 00:21:34.990 --> 00:21:39.390 right now. And the first step to caring about 00:21:39.390 --> 00:21:42.410 this real stuff is admitting to God and to one 00:21:42.410 --> 00:21:45.990 another that we have needs. That might sound 00:21:45.990 --> 00:21:48.890 pretty basic, but in a culture that places a 00:21:48.890 --> 00:21:52.029 high value on individualism and self -sufficiency, 00:21:52.390 --> 00:21:55.210 admitting our needs can be surprisingly difficult. 00:21:56.509 --> 00:21:59.470 Sometimes I think it's easier to admit our needs 00:21:59.470 --> 00:22:01.930 to God, at least when we're talking about some 00:22:01.930 --> 00:22:04.509 of the physical things. Most of us can readily 00:22:04.509 --> 00:22:08.430 pray for our food or for healing or for financial 00:22:08.430 --> 00:22:11.680 difficulties that we're facing. We've sort of 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:13.339 been taught that that's the stuff of prayers. 00:22:13.460 --> 00:22:15.500 Those are the things that we bring to God, right? 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:19.940 But what about those more spiritual or intangible 00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:23.380 needs? Our need for forgiveness or our need for 00:22:23.380 --> 00:22:27.400 wisdom and guidance? Are you just as ready to 00:22:27.400 --> 00:22:29.839 come before God and admit when you have messed 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:34.440 things up and need to be set right? Are you ready 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:36.960 to come to God and say, I don't actually know 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:40.900 where I'm supposed to go. Because those are also 00:22:40.900 --> 00:22:44.359 an integral part of this prayer. We pray for 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:47.339 forgiveness, but in order to do that, we need 00:22:47.339 --> 00:22:50.380 to admit that we need it. We need to come before 00:22:50.380 --> 00:22:52.940 God saying that we have made the wrong choice, 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:56.640 and that we need God to cleanse us and set us 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:00.559 on our feet again. And we pray, asking God to 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:03.400 keep us from temptations, to deliver us from 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:06.779 evil. But again, this requires us to admit our 00:23:06.779 --> 00:23:10.259 weakness before God. To ask God to keep us from 00:23:10.259 --> 00:23:13.240 trials and to deliver us from evil is essentially 00:23:13.240 --> 00:23:16.500 asking for God to protect us from the things 00:23:16.500 --> 00:23:19.940 that we know will cause us to stumble. To spare 00:23:19.940 --> 00:23:23.000 us from the tests of life. To have the wisdom 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:26.240 to choose the right thing even when we don't 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:31.240 know what to do. We ask God for all of that because 00:23:31.240 --> 00:23:33.859 we know that if we are left on our own, we don't 00:23:33.859 --> 00:23:36.220 actually have the strength and the wisdom to 00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:39.880 do it. We will likely succumb to the easy answers, 00:23:39.940 --> 00:23:43.200 even when those answers are in opposition to 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:46.079 the kingdom of God, rather than working in partnership 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:50.359 with God. And so we come before God and we admit 00:23:50.359 --> 00:23:54.420 that we all have needs. But the Lord's Prayer 00:23:54.420 --> 00:23:57.960 also calls us to come to one another and admit 00:23:57.960 --> 00:24:01.380 our needs. I don't just need God's forgiveness. 00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:06.059 I need yours. And if the provision of my daily 00:24:06.059 --> 00:24:09.220 bread is wrapped up in yours, then sometimes 00:24:09.220 --> 00:24:11.599 I will have to come to you and admit that I don't 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:15.180 have enough bread. And that, at least for me, 00:24:15.380 --> 00:24:18.859 is where it gets a little bit more scary. It's 00:24:18.859 --> 00:24:22.160 one thing to tell God that I am broken and needy. 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:25.519 It's a whole other thing to say that out loud 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:29.559 to the person sitting across from me. And yet, 00:24:29.700 --> 00:24:34.630 that's the way that community works. is the calling 00:24:34.630 --> 00:24:38.309 of Christ. We don't get to do the Christian life 00:24:38.309 --> 00:24:42.309 alone. We need one another, and that means we 00:24:42.309 --> 00:24:46.269 need to admit our needs to one another. We need 00:24:46.269 --> 00:24:48.990 to come to one another and honestly admit the 00:24:48.990 --> 00:24:52.130 places where we have been hurt and where we have 00:24:52.130 --> 00:24:54.750 hurt other people, whether intentionally or not. 00:24:55.769 --> 00:24:58.890 And then we need to admit that we need the grace 00:24:58.890 --> 00:25:02.549 and mercy of God from one another. Because without 00:25:02.549 --> 00:25:05.289 it, there is no hope of becoming the kind of 00:25:05.289 --> 00:25:10.650 community that Christ has called us to be. Admitting 00:25:10.650 --> 00:25:14.150 our needs is a scary, vulnerable thing to do. 00:25:14.690 --> 00:25:17.470 Which is why it's so important that the other 00:25:17.470 --> 00:25:21.309 calling that comes through this prayer is mutuality. 00:25:22.089 --> 00:25:24.349 We aren't just called to come to one another 00:25:24.349 --> 00:25:26.970 and admit our needs. We're actually then called 00:25:26.970 --> 00:25:30.170 to meet those needs for one another in partnership 00:25:30.170 --> 00:25:34.380 with God. As I said before, I don't get to ask 00:25:34.380 --> 00:25:37.519 for my daily bread without also asking for your 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:40.900 daily bread. And that means that if I have more 00:25:40.900 --> 00:25:43.240 than enough bread for today, that bread doesn't 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:46.480 actually belong to me. It's a gift given to me 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:50.240 by God to be shared with you. And in case it 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:52.380 wasn't clear, I'm not just talking about bread 00:25:52.380 --> 00:25:56.200 here. Yeah, it's our daily food and our material 00:25:56.200 --> 00:25:59.039 needs, our housing, our clothing, water, health 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:02.680 care. But it's also all of that stuff that keeps 00:26:02.680 --> 00:26:06.500 us going and that makes life worth living. Love, 00:26:06.500 --> 00:26:12.859 hope, peace, faith. We need to share those things 00:26:12.859 --> 00:26:16.400 with one another too. To offer the hope that 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:19.480 I have to another when I see them feeling hopeless. 00:26:20.579 --> 00:26:24.940 We ask God to give us, not just me, not just 00:26:24.940 --> 00:26:28.849 you, but to give all of us together. Everything 00:26:28.849 --> 00:26:31.170 that we need to be a community that embodies 00:26:31.170 --> 00:26:34.569 the kingdom of God. And that includes both the 00:26:34.569 --> 00:26:36.789 physical stuff that we need to keep us alive 00:26:36.789 --> 00:26:40.269 and the care for one another that carries us 00:26:40.269 --> 00:26:44.210 through the ups and downs of life. And I think 00:26:44.210 --> 00:26:46.769 that's why Jesus can transition so smoothly between 00:26:46.769 --> 00:26:49.769 asking for bread and asking for forgiveness. 00:26:50.529 --> 00:26:52.970 Because it's not just about the physical stuff. 00:26:53.329 --> 00:26:56.750 It's about all that we need. And all that we 00:26:56.750 --> 00:27:00.579 need... comes as a gift from God that shapes 00:27:00.579 --> 00:27:03.900 us and calls us to share that gift with others. 00:27:04.759 --> 00:27:08.019 I can't ask God for something that I am not willing 00:27:08.019 --> 00:27:12.019 to offer to you. Because the truth is, it's all 00:27:12.019 --> 00:27:15.039 God's anyway. Whether we are talking about our 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:17.880 daily bread or our grace, we do not have a right 00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:21.819 to any of it. It is all God's. Freely you have 00:27:21.819 --> 00:27:26.599 received, now freely give. Or as John says, we 00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:31.980 love because God first loved us. The love and 00:27:31.980 --> 00:27:35.400 grace of God is an incredible gift, but just 00:27:35.400 --> 00:27:38.819 like bread, it's not meant for hoarding. It's 00:27:38.819 --> 00:27:41.859 a gift that we receive directly from God, but 00:27:41.859 --> 00:27:44.539 that miraculously becomes even greater when we 00:27:44.539 --> 00:27:49.099 choose to share it with another. So can you see 00:27:49.099 --> 00:27:51.539 the challenge and the beauty of this prayer? 00:27:52.140 --> 00:27:54.920 This is not the kind of thing that we say quietly 00:27:54.920 --> 00:27:57.759 with our hands nicely folded as our minds wander 00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:01.240 off to the next thing on our to -do list. If 00:28:01.240 --> 00:28:04.519 we take this prayer seriously, we see that Jesus 00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:08.259 is calling us to wholehearted discipleship that 00:28:08.259 --> 00:28:13.059 reshapes our entire lives. That calls us into 00:28:13.059 --> 00:28:16.779 a messy community of faith where we put God first, 00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:21.740 we admit our needs, And we care deeply for one 00:28:21.740 --> 00:28:26.599 another using all that God has given us. Dr. 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:29.819 David Niranje, a theologian, activist, and bishop 00:28:29.819 --> 00:28:33.599 in Uganda, wrote this. To pray these simple sentences 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:36.619 is a commitment to dismantle the current political 00:28:36.619 --> 00:28:39.740 and social order of inequality and violence. 00:28:40.039 --> 00:28:43.859 And to seek a path where all have access to the 00:28:43.859 --> 00:28:48.920 table. It's a commitment. that we make before 00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:52.720 God and one another, that then calls us into 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:57.059 action to seek that path that brings all to the 00:28:57.059 --> 00:29:02.559 table. That, my friends, is the shape and calling 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:05.819 of the prayer that Jesus gave us. Coming together 00:29:05.819 --> 00:29:09.839 as a community formed by Christ to do the work 00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:13.619 of Christ in a broken world through the power 00:29:13.619 --> 00:29:18.480 of Christ. May God use this prayer to work in 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:22.460 our lives and in our world. Thanks be to God.