Lord's Prayer part 3

Lord I Need You

Our Father who is in heaven,

uphold the holiness of your name.

Bring in your kingdom

so that your will is done on earth

as it’s done in heaven.

Give us the bread we need for today.

Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,

just as we also forgive those

who have wronged us.

And don’t lead us into temptation,

but rescue us from the evil one.

DOXOLOGY Praise God from whom all blessing flow

Praise God all creatures here below

Praise God above ye heavenly hosts

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

TABLE

You might have noticed that Matthew doesn’t include the final line that we’re used to praying at the end of the Lord’s Prayer…

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

It’s in some manuscripts, but not the oldest ones. And that’s why it doesn’t show up in your Bible (or maybe it does?) but through centuries of use, we’ve come to think of that last line as part of how Jesus taught us to pray…

But perhaps we’ve also had what Glenn Packiam calls and “understandable aversion” to that final line. He says,

“When we hear kingdom, we hear empire; when we say power, we think abuse; when we say glory, we imagine narcissist. But Jesus reconfigures each word in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount.

The Kingdom comes to the poor and the powerless - the only kingdom in history to actually be good news for the poor.

Power becomes strength for someone else’s good — breaking the cycle of retaliation and violence with generosity and grace.

Glory is the thing only the Father who sees in secret can give — and it lasts forever.

The Kingdom, you see, is like the King.”

So, today, we gather around this Table. And we hear echoes of the last few weeks - and of the prayer we have just prayed. We come to this Table that is not the Table of Southwest Community Church. Not a Baptist Table. Or a CBWC Table. Not even a Kamloops Table, though it is here in Kamloops that we gather on this day. But this Table is hosted by the King of the Kingdom that we have caught a glimpse of… a Kingdom that has come and is coming. And this Table is hosted by the King Himself. The same One who on the night he was betrayed, took bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’

“In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.’ For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.”

You will be served - please keep the elements until all have been served and then we’ll take them together.

Serving

Eat and remember.

Drink this and be thankful.

Let’s stand and sing!

Our Father

BENEDICTION