So when I was little, I remember there was this
older man in church. The elders would lead the
worship. They'd be praying or reading scriptures
or giving short sermons. And there was this one
man that whenever he went up, I knew that that
prayer, was going to be at least 10 minutes long
and oh my word the prayers were just so long
and I remember as a as a kid I'm like you know
eight nine years old and I remember thinking
if I put my elbows right here on the pew lean
forward in a very devout and holy way and put
my forehead onto my hands in a nice holy gesture
then I can get a nice little nap in And it's
like, oh, yes, thank you, Jesus. Very, very grateful.
Oh, man. And then once I heard that there was
no more talking for a little while, I was like,
OK, I think we're done. And it just made me think
so much about it. Is this what praying really
is? Is this what it means that we have to make
sure we've quoted all these scriptures and that
we've gone into all the things about how terrible
the world is and all the problems that we think
that we see? How much of this is what it is that
God wants? Does God have these expectations to
pray the right way and make sure to go into all
these things enough? And it made me wonder, when
will I be able to pray like that? When would
I be at this point? whenever we're young and
and even later in life we oftentimes pick up
on certain rhythms or assumptions and you know
we see prayer often as a kind of formula saying
the right thing and then maybe God will finally
listen and do what it is that we want. Do I need
to make sure I have plenty of scriptures I can
quote? Do I need to make sure that I'm telling
God about how terrible the world is? Do I need
to make sure that I have expounded on anything
and everything that was on my mind with God and
used some big, six -syllable vocabulary words?
The thing is that in my mind, I'm thinking, what
is the right way to pray? Did I even pray hard
enough? to make it count with God. You know,
we pick up on certain rhythms, certain assumptions,
certain formulas that we follow, things that
we click with. And oftentimes though, we may
feel guilty because our prayers don't match what
it is that we think God would want to hear from
us. And then sometimes, even when we pray earnestly
and things don't work the way we thought, then
we wonder, maybe my prayers were broken. Maybe
God isn't actually listening to someone like
me. And we wonder, what would actually get God
to listen in the first place? What are the things
that we have believed? And what do we still believe,
even when we should know better? What we believed
and what we still do, it leads us to think about
some of the claims, the beliefs, and the philosophies
that have been widely accepted throughout history.
Things that people believed that were later proven
to be false but with tragic consequences. Let
me talk a bit about some of the claims that have
happened and some of the beliefs and then some
of the philosophies. See, some of the claims
that used to exist, one of them was smoking was
once targeted as healthy with ads saying it sued
the throat. helped digestion and reduced stress.
Now, we know that smoking causes cancer, heart
disease, and countless other illnesses, but tobacco
companies had funded misleading studies, used
doctors and ads, and suppressed negative evidence.
People genuinely believed smoking was good for
you until it was finally proven otherwise. Or
even in much of the 20th century, There were
many doctors who believed that infants couldn't
feel pain the same way that adults do. In reality,
infants do feel pain. Now, many people, though,
would try to have the surgeries on infants without
anesthesia. A misunderstanding of neurology and
also the desire to avoid the complications of
anesthesia actually caused people to hold to
an assumption. because it made them feel better
about their decisions. They were so sincere about
not wanting to hurt the infants, but what they
held to was very, very wrong. And that gives
us pause as we look at our third example, because
for centuries, bloodletting or draining the blood
from people was believed to cure fevers, infections,
and even mental illness. Makes you grateful for
ibuprofen today. But bloodletting often weakened
the patients for obvious reasons and sometimes
even hastened the process of death. There was
this ancient belief about four humors that existed
and you're trying to get rid of one of them to
help the others, but it persisted because of
a lack of anything else for them to believe.
But as we can see, even when everyone's trying
their best, the old frameworks can oftentimes
lead us down the wrong path. If those generations
were wrong about things that were so basic, what
are we missing now? Are there voices today that
we ridicule or ignore just like others did before?
How do we know when it's time to rethink what
we've always assumed? But what about some of
the previous beliefs that existed? In the ancient
world, people looked at the universe and saw
it as full and overflowing with unseen powers
in their daily lives. And it wasn't just the
Hellenistic idea of the Greeks and the Romans
with their multitude of gods and demigods. Even
in Judaism, there were strong traditions of mysticism.
Visions of angels and cosmic battles and heavenly
intermediaries and the sense that divine beings
were somehow controlling the events behind reality.
In the book of Daniel you start to see hints
of this, but in other apocalyptic writings it
talks even more about the Prince of Persia and
Michael the Archangel waging war in heaven, spirits
and angels and forces and elemental principles.
The average person didn't think of the divine
as one clear person. So people did what people
always do, they hedged their bets. They tried
to tap into a little bit of this God and a little
bit of that power. They looked for the rituals
and the prayers and the knowledge and the secret
forces that could give them an edge in dealing
with life. And if we're honest, not a lot has
actually changed today. Now, today we're less
likely to call things gods. But we still search
for some kind of greater power that's behind
everything. Sometimes, It's spiritual. We have
the crystals around our neck. We make sure that
we're talking to our guardian angels and we look
at our horoscopes. Sometimes it's social or political
with the deep state and the system and big tech
and big pharma, all of the days that are larger
than life. And sometimes it's even a moral war
where everyone who disagrees with us is demonic
and everyone that's on our side is righteous,
heroic. superhuman. And sometimes the conspiracy
theories we chase are not because of wanting
to solve puzzles or finding truth, but because
deep down we want to believe that there's something
bigger that must be at work. Something hidden
that must be pulling all the strings. The idea
that life is just ordinary or broken in mundane
ways, it's just not very satisfying. We create
grand unseen enemies or saviors We turn our flawed
politicians into messiahs and our annoying co
-workers into demons. We need it to be more.
And so we inflate everything into cosmic terms.
But the truth is, our enemies aren't demons and
our friends aren't superheroes. They're just
people. Real power doesn't lie in outmaneuvering
secret elites or reciting the right slogans.
We want to believe there's a bigger force at
work, because if there's a super villain, then
maybe we can be a hero. We turn everyday human
problems into epic cosmic battles, not because
we're evil at it, but because we're hungry for
meaning. But when that hunger isn't grounded
in Christ, it becomes paranoia and division.
In Colossians, Paul makes a bold claim. See to
it that no one takes you captive through hollow
and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human
tradition. In Christ, all the fullness of God
dwells bodily. In other words, everything people
were searching for, the presence, the power,
the closeness of God, it's already in Jesus.
Completely. And if you belong to Him, that fullness
is already yours. Even prayer isn't about trying
to reach God or convince God to listen. It's
not about climbing some spiritual ladder. It's
about growing into the fullness that you already
have in Christ. See, prayer becomes less about
spiritual anxiety and more about abiding in a
relationship that's already secure. See, today
we don't talk about elemental or spiritual forces,
but we do follow ideas that act like spiritual
forces in our lives, our own personal mantras.
I've just got to look out for myself. Everything
happens for a reason. Good vibes only. I make
my own destiny. The universe is testing me. as
long as it makes you happy. These feel empowering
and practical. They offer a kind of emotional
support and control, a way of simplifying a chaotic
world. But believe it or not, those are actually
not in the Bible. Don't bother looking. See,
when they don't come from Christ, they're detached
from grace. They're disconnected from community.
They're grounded in self -effort and wishful
control, but we live by them. There's a scene
in The Chosen, where Mary pours out expensive
perfume on Jesus' feet. And one of the Pharisees
is furious. He clings to a principle and says,
this should have been given to the poor. Which
sounds very righteous, right? And it's a wise
idea, but he cannot see past it to realize that
Jesus is giving Mary dignity. in that moment,
acceptance, grace, personal connection, not trying
to shame her for making a poor decision. The
law, when it's twisted into a mantra, it blinds
us oftentimes to love. See, each of these philosophies,
it's a subtle way of saying to God, if I think
or believe the right thing, I can make the world
work for me. It's a form of control. But Paul
says these ideas actually take us captive. Why
well first they can make us miss what actually
matters if the mantra is working and life is
going smoothly We can just ignore our pain and
injustice and suffering of others Because it
doesn't fit the vibe We lose our compassion our
awareness sometimes even our calling because
the mantra has trained us to filter out anything
inconvenient or uncomfortable That doesn't fit.
Oh they're having trouble they must not be following
the mantra right they just need to follow it
better and then they'd be okay I don't need to
bother or second sometimes they make us blame
ourselves when life breaks down when the mantra
fails when a relationship ends or an illness
comes along or a dream we had dies we don't question
the mantra we question ourselves We feel shame.
We didn't try hard enough. We didn't believe
hard enough. We didn't think positively enough.
We didn't control the variables properly. It's
not the mantra's fault, it's ours. Or third,
they can lead us to worship the wrong people.
Because we find someone who seems to embody the
mantra. They look strong, successful, fearless,
at peace. So we give them our allegiance with
our TikTok subscription and our YouTube enrollments.
But when they lead us to dismiss mercy, humility,
truth, we don't speak up because we've made them
the measuring stick instead of Jesus. Instead
of asking, is this Christ -like, we're too busy
asking, does this fit the brand? Paul invites
us to something more real, though. Just as you
received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live
your lives in Him, rooted and built up. It's
not a mantra. It's a relationship. It's not about
self -protection or self -promotion. It's about
becoming someone whose life is shaped by the
crucified and risen Christ, who suffered, loved,
forgave, and set captives free. Because in Christ,
His fullness, the fullness of God, changes it
all. See, Christ doesn't give us clever slogans.
He gives us Himself. His fullness is what changes
things. He doesn't promise control. He offers
union, fullness, freedom. In Christ, you don't
have to manipulate the universe. You already
walk with the Creator. You don't have to pretend
to be happy. You can bring your real self, the
broken one, the one that's still loved anyway.
You don't need a mantra to survive the day. You
have a Lord. who holds all things together. You
don't have to chase the conspiracy or the slogans.
You don't need the vague energies or the comforting
cliches. You don't have to inflate your enemies
or idolize your allies. You don't need anything
more than Christ. You only need more of Christ.
So the real question becomes, does this belief
I'm holding reflect the character of Christ?
Or is it an empty echo that I picked up from
the world? See, that's something we all share.
Even as adults, followers of Christ, we can get
caught up in all kinds of sayings and spiritual
mantras. Everything happens for a reason. Let
go and let God. God won't give you more than
you can handle. And we even attach power to specific
words and habits. Like if we just say the Lord's
Prayer every day, we should be good. Right? The
Lord's Prayer. Now, looking at the two Gospels,
Luke and Matthew, they're not exactly the same.
Luke is a little more concise and a little more
streamlined. Matthew's has a little fuller wording
that many of us recite from memory, and then
of course our version has a blessing at the end.
There's a very good chance that Jesus was asked
this sort of thing more than once, and so each
time was spoken depending on what the audience
needed that time. But they both carry the same
heartbeat. Whether it's short or long, formal
or conversational, the essential gestures are
all there of trust, surrender, grace, humility,
hope. But let's be clear. Jesus didn't give us
the Lord's Prayer so we could chant it like a
magic spell. As if saying the exact words in
the exact order is what makes it holy. It's not
like the volume of our prayers gets louder because
we added thy kingdom come. And yet, to be honest,
if we ever stopped praying the Lord's Prayer
during worship, I know there are a lot of you
who'd go looking for another Lutheran church,
let's be honest. Some of us though, saying the
Lord's Prayer, sometimes we act like it's almost
more essential than the sermon. Those are pretty
boring anyway. But maybe that's okay, as long
as we remember it's not about being recited,
but rather that it's about being lived. Our Father
who art in heaven, We don't live alone. We're
part of a family rooted in God's care. Thy kingdom
come, thy will be done. We don't chase our own
agenda. We open our hands and say, God, use me
for your purpose. Give us this day our daily
bread. Fullness doesn't mean excess. It means
enough for me and for others. Forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive. Fullness makes room
for mercy. For releasing others from the debts
we hold over them. Lead us not into temptation.
We're not just surviving this world. We're becoming
more like Christ, resisting the easy shortcuts
that would rob us of who we're meant to be. Deliver
us from evil. Because there is a struggle. But
the enemy is not each other. It's anything that
tries to pull us out of love, out of peace, out
of Christ. You want to know what fullness looks
like? It's this. It's a life that's not just
packed full of busyness or religion or opinions,
but one that's grounded in Christ, open to others,
and at peace with God. See, the fullness in Christ,
it's not abstract. It has a body. It's human.
It's real. Jesus didn't float above the world
and every once in a while just spit out some
nice sayings. He entered the dirt, the tears,
the blood, the bread. Any fullness that tries
to bypass needs and suffering. is false. Prayer
that avoids the real world isn't full. It's hollow.
That's where Jesus steps in. When the disciples
ask Him how to pray, He doesn't give them a secret
password. He's showing them the shape of a relationship
with Him. Jesus invites us into something relational,
not ritualistic. And then He reminds us who the
Father is. The one whose name is holy, whose
kingdom is coming. The one who gives us what
we need daily, who forgives, who rescues, who
listens. Jesus ends the section with a beautiful
promise that if you are, if you who are flawed
and inconsistent know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your Heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?
I know it's hard to believe, parents. You are
flawed and inconsistent. But, even so, That's
not what we see in God. So how much more will
He give us good gifts? Not just stuff, not just
outcomes, not just answers that go the way we
want, but His Spirit, His presence, His life,
the real gift. That's what Jesus wants us to
know. Because here's the thing though, you will
never fully grasp that unless you're reading
all of Scripture. If you just try to take little
pieces of Jesus like He's in a vacuum and hold
onto this one piece, you're going to misunderstand
who He is. Because every story, every covenant,
every psalm, every prophecy, they point to and
culminate in Him. We miss the magnitude of who
He really is, the fullness of God, if all we
want to engage with is a few lines that make
us feel comfortable. So what have you been praying
for? How have you been praying? Or maybe you've
been holding back. Maybe you're afraid that your
words aren't eloquent enough. Maybe your life
isn't holy enough. Maybe your faith isn't strong
enough. Maybe you've been repeating the same
phrases and you hope that something will finally
stick. But here's the invitation. It's not to
focus so much on praying perfectly, but rather
to pray honestly. Instead of obsessing over the
outcome, Focus on the presence, not the performance.
When you ask, seek, and knock, you're not just
rattling off a list to God. You're drawing near
to your Father who already knows your needs and
loves to give you Himself. Maybe it's time we
stop chasing the spiritual techniques and start
resting in Christ. Because the real gift God
wants to give isn't always the thing that we
wrote down. But it's the Spirit that transforms
and leads us. Because let's be honest. We've
all clung to a few slogans, a few traditions,
a few favorite scriptures that we put on the
wall or on the pillows, and we hope that they're
enough. But God's inviting us to something deeper.
A life in Christ that's full, not because it
gives us everything we want, but because it gives
us what we need the most. Living in the fullness
of Christ is what brings. Life. We're not promised
a magic formula. We're promised a faithful God.
We're not promised instant results. We're promised
daily bread. We're not promised worldly power.
We're promised the Holy Spirit. Because when
Jesus finishes His teaching in Luke 11, He doesn't
promise that every prayer will be answered the
way we expect. He doesn't promise that we'll
gain some victory or an inner calm because of
the mantra we've chased. He says that God, who
is better than even the best earthly parent,
will give what is truly good, the presence of
Christ, the connection to the Kingdom. That's
the fish, not the snake. It's the egg, not the
scorpion. It may not look flashy, it may not
be the next viral video, or satisfy our craving
as we're driving down the street, but it's the
fullness that we're made for, rooted in Christ,
not... philosophy or conspiracy not tossed aside
by desires and phrases, but instead living in
the prayer of who Christ is and who we are called
to be. So may this morning we die to the old,
the mantras, the phrases, the heroes, the slogans,
the philosophies, the transactions that we thought
we were making with God. And instead, may we
rise into the fullness of Christ. the one who
embodies all of God, who meets us in our asking
and fills us with what we didn't even know we
needed in the first place. Thanks be to God.