Last week, we used our time in worship to explore the Lord’s Prayer. I grew up in a church that disliked any thought of repetition week after week in the service. So I don’t remember using the Lord’s Prayer as a child. My first real introduction to it was in a Presbyterian Church in Buffalo. It seemed like one more slow part of a service that was slow to begin with. I went to that church because there was a vibrant college age group. I wasn’t worried about the boredom or relevance of the worship service. I would have gone to church there if we used the longer version of the Nicene Creed every Sunday.
And so last week on the Lord’s Prayer was new for me. And I have used it most days this week with a remarkable effect. Did anyone here have the same result?
There have been very few services where the after effect was so wonderful that I can’t stop thinking of it. And so we are going to have a second service today on the Lord’s Prayer, this time from the book of Matthew. If you are looking for a prayer guide that is guaranteed to make your week better, then prepare your hearts, because we are going to look again at a powerful prayer that Jesus left us as a gift
On Sunday, there was a meeting to discuss church problems we need to solve. I didn’t sleep well last Sunday night, and Monday morning I woke up with the Lord’s Prayer on my mind at about 4am. Remember that the first phrase of the Lord’s Prayer dares to call the Almighty God, High king over all kings, very God of Very God, -- dares to call that God Father. Our Father, which art in heaven. It is a sign of the great love that God has for you, inexplicable, unchanging, and determined to love you on all days. I started to repeat that phrase because I needed the reassurance of a love like that. Friends, we have been praying the Lord’s prayer too fast. The problem with any routine is that we get so comfortable with it that it becomes like an old chair that we never sit in but also don’t want to throw away.
I found a renewed sense of God’s love for me as I prayed that first phrase of the Lord’s Prayer. I never did complete the prayer. I finally got the day started. On Monday came news from the United Methodist Church on Burma. The Buddhist monks led the protests in the last two weeks. Normally monks in Burma are not political, but the repression and murder became too much.
In one monastery, there are 200 monks, most of them young men, serving for a year or two before going on to marry. They were lined up against a brick wall and the army, one by one, smashed their heads against the wall until they died. Only 10 monks survived the day. The events have been so brutal that Muslims and Christians have formed part of the human chain around Buddhist monasteries to try to prevent the army from entering.
Friends, when we hear of the image of God being so desecrated on the earth by murder like this or the torture revealed by our own government this week, at those moments I feel a despair for life itself. It feels to me at such time as though the basic elements that keep the universe together are about to fly apart.
And so on Tuesday morning, I was back to the Lord’s Prayer, not because I had chosen to follow a pattern this week. It just seemed that the service last week was preparing me for the prayer needs I would feel as the week started, On Tuesday morning I started to repeat Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
By this time you can guess the result. There was such sweet joy to realize that these crimes against humanity will not pass by our Lord. The justice that God realizes in heaven is the promise for the earth. We may get bowed down, but there is no reason to be crushed. The gospel that we have trusted is ready to meet the challenges of this cruel new century. As the communion ritual says, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
The Lord’s Prayer helps us to stay focused on what really matters in life. It gives you the confidence to keep your witness burning like a bright light, using your life to witness to the saving power of Christ and being a witness to stop war and point to peace.
During the colonial period in American history, an eclipse of the sun caught the members of a New England state legislature off guard. In the midst of general panic, a motion was made to adjourn, but one of the legislators stood up and said, “Mr. Speaker, if it is not the end of the world, we shall appear to be fools. If it is the end of the world, I choose to be found doing my duty. I move you, sir, let candles be bought.”
I want to lead us to the Protestant addition to the Lord’s prayer, a portion not found in Scripture, but much loved. Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen.
The ending reminds us God has already planted a new kingdom among us, springing up like a mustard seed. It is a time of hope. And God has the power to reign. The prayer starts with the tenderness of a parent towards you, reaching out to assure you of a love that will never betray you, a love that forgives and gives you the peace of forgiveness. But that same Father God has the power to do all that is contained in the six phrase requests of the Prayer. Hallowed be thy name, thy will be done, give us this day, forgive us our sins, lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil. God has the power for you.
Friends, if you haven’t got a prayer, you do have a prayer. And you don’t need to pray the whole prayer every time. If you face a problem this week, choose the prayer phrase that you need and plead with Almighty God, your Father, to come and answer.
And then the prayer ends with the word that we always use, -- and it means, I truly mean this from the bottom of my heart – Amen.
