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So this morning we wrap up our series on the Lord’s Prayer.
Last week I suggested to you some one-word prompts to help you as you use the Lord’s Prayer to guide your prayer life, let me remind you of those:
(SLIDE)
The Lord’s Prayer instructs to pray for:
RELATIONSHIP—Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name
GUIDANCE—Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
PROVISION—Give us this day our daily bread
MERCY—And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us
PROTECTION: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
Even when you don’t use the actual words of the Lord’s Prayer, this model is a good one to keep in mind for how you talk to God…which was Jesus’ intent when he gave us these words.
But this morning…we come to words that Jesus probably didn’t give.
(ADD TO SLIDE)
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
If you look in the New International Version of the Bible, which is the version we use here in our worship services, you won’t find this line in either Matthew’s gospel or Luke’s gospel.
Why is that?
The answer is simple: it’s not in the original Greek manuscripts.
Most scholars agree it’s a later addition to the text, most likely coming from the ancient Jewish tradition of adding a doxology to prayers…doxology meaning a liturgical expression of praise to God.
The earliest example we have of a doxology like this being added to the Lord’s Prayer comes from an ancient document called the Didache, which was written as a book of instruction for living a Christian life.
So a question naturally arises…why do we use this when we recite the Lord’s Prayer?
If it wasn’t in the original prayer Jesus taught, why do we say “For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever?”
Well, first of all, I think it’s worth noting that even though the words probably aren’t from Jesus…they are still biblical.
Take, for example, this verse from 1 Chronicles:
(SLIDE)
“Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.”—1
Chronicles 29:11 (NIV)
The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to Timothy, uses similar language in a brief prayer from chapter 1:
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.
Amen.”—1
Timothy 1:17 (NIV)
This kind of language isn’t uncommon, and it’s certainly appropriate.
So when we pray it at the end of the Lord’s Prayer, we are really using biblical language to bring a worshipful end to our prayer…a worshipful end which I think is important.
It’s important because it re-orients us as the prayer comes to an end.
After coming to God with our requests, and as we prepare to finish our prayer and return to whatever we were doing…this final line reminds us who we are and what it is we’re seeking in our lives as Christians.
As I said a couple of weeks ago, there’s a real danger in Christianity these days that we become what some call “consumer Christians.”
Consumer Christians see the goal of their faith to simply be the bettering of their own lives.
Believe me when I say…it’s rampant in the States.
Consumer Christianity has invaded so many congregations…it’s scary.
I personally feel it’s kind of a holdover from the self-actualization culture of the 70s and the "Me Decade" of the 80s.
Did that understanding of the ‘80s extend to the UK?
In America we call it the “Me” decade because so much of it was about…well, me.
And the way it invaded Christianity is that suddenly churches started teaching that God's greatest goal is to make me a happy, successful person.
The idea is probably best captured by the title of an extremely popular Christian book in the States for the past 20 years… “Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps for Living at Your Full Potential.”
Now don’t get me wrong…I do think God desires the best for us.
Jesus himself said that he came that our lives might be abundant and full.
But how do we define “abundant” and “full?”
It’s not measured by happiness, or wealth, or success…
…the abundant life Jesus points to is rooted in a much higher ideal, an ideal that this doxology in the Lord’s Prayer points us toward.
Our lives were designed to be all about God’s kingdom…God’s power…and God’s glory.
When those rise to the top…when those become our goal and our focus…then we find ourselves entering into a life that is more abundant…more fulfilling than we can possibly imagine.
So for this morning let’s take a look at each of these and discover a bit of what we’re praying for in this doxology.
For thine is…
(SLIDE)
The Kingdom
Now we’ve already encountered this language in the Lord’s Prayer, haven’t we?
We encountered it when we prayed…Thy kingdom come.
When I preached on that petition, I said that the kingdom of God was ultimately about God’s in-breaking shalom…God’s purposes and priorities coming alive in the world today.
I said that when God’s kingdom is experienced here on earth:
(SLIDE)
Lost people are found.
Broken people are healed.
Oppressed people are set free.
Hungry people are fed.
The hurting find comfort.
The despairing find hope.
The wronged find justice.
Friends…this is the Kingdom right here.
The problem…the problem is that we as human beings often become very obsessed with other kingdoms.
And I’m not talking about Westeros or Middle Earth…as awesome as those can be.
What I’m talking about is our human tendency to become way too narrow in our thinking.
I don’t want to harp too much on my homeland, but a perfect example of this is what’s going to happen in America this coming week.
On Tuesday millions of Americans will go to the polls for our midterm elections, which I believe are perhaps the most important elections of my lifetime.
I personally believe that the future of American democracy is on the ballot.
And one of the threats to that democracy is the narrow-minded view of so many Christians who believe God’s kingdom is all about getting the right people into office.
“If we just elect the right people,” they say, “then America will be a Christian nation again.”
Never mind the fact that America was never really a Christian nation.
But the reason this scares me is that God doesn’t tell us to focus on human governments and kingdoms.
In fact, Jesus himself rejects them.
When he’s being tempted in the desert, Jesus is shown all the kingdoms of earth and is offered them…if he will only bow down and worship satan.
And how does he respond?
(SLIDE)
“It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”—Luke
4:8 (NIV)
Jesus rejects the offer of earthly kingdoms, because…as he will say later on…his kingdom is not of this world.
Not of this world.
We need to be reminded of that.
Because the question is…who are we trusting in the midst of the many crises our world is facing right now?
Whose kingdom are we focusing on?
Don’t misunderstand me—I believe Christians should vote, and I believe our faith should impact how we vote.
But let us never forget that Scripture teaches our ultimate citizenship…is not an earthly one.
Our eyes…our minds…our hearts…and our churches need to be centered on God’s kingdom priorities.
And this phrase in our prayer doxology reminds us of that.
YOURS is the kingdom.
It re-orients us.
Thine is the Kingdom.
And also…
(SLIDE)
Thine is the power.
Again…I could go on a huge tangent here about elections and political power, but I don’t want to sound like a broken record.
There are lot of things we could talk about when it comes to God’s power.
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