The Red Letters #8

We have been diving in deep to the Sermon on the Mount over these last couple months. Last week we skipped over the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. Over the next several weeks, we are going to dive in to the prayer of Jesus, or what could be called The Disciples’ Prayer, as it is Jesus’ instructions for how they are to pray. We’re going to read the entire prayer - this morning, we will read it in the King James Version, since that is the version we are most familiar with.

Matthew 6:9–13 KJV 1900

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

I am amazed when I see an artist at work forming something beautiful out of the ordinary. When I look at a blank canvas—I see a blank canvas. The artist sees potential for a beautiful picture. When I look at a block of marble or wood—I see only the block. The artist sees something beautiful within the object. There is within each block of wood, marble, or whatever the object a beautiful masterpiece waiting to be formed.

Within each of us there is a beautiful masterpiece waiting to be formed. Our formations are at different levels. Some are raw blocks waiting for the loving hand of the master artist. Some are in the process of being molded into the masterpiece. Some may be nearly complete. Yet, one thing is sure—God wants to make a beautiful masterpiece out of every person here.

Our Wesleyan-Holiness tradition boldly claims that holiness of heart and life is available for every believer by way of sanctifying grace. In The Upward Call, we read these words: “The essence of this doctrine of holiness has to do with the restoration of the image of God in humanity expressed in Christlikeness, and the goal of spiritual formation is to bring the believer to such Chrislikeness that it is appropriate to speak of Christ being formed in the believer’s heart.” In Galatians 4:19, Paul writes:

Galatians 4:19 NRSV

My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

Morris Weigelt said: “Until we stop running away from ourselves and hiding from God, there is no real possibility of spiritual growth.” Spiritual formation and development can only occur as we have encounters with the almighty God. I am not talking about some form of self-help or self-achievement or self-discipline. Matthew 11:28-30 talks about spiritual formation in this way—we read from the Message version.

Matthew 11:28–30 The Message

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

The Lord’s Prayer comes to us as a direct result of an encounter with Jesus. The disciples watched Jesus as He lived His daily life. They understood that He had a powerful relationship with God. They watched His prayer life in which several occasions He even prayed all night long. His prayer life prompted at least one of the disciples to request, “Lord, teach us to pray” we see that in Luke’s gospel. When the request was given, Jesus didn’t give a lecture on how to pray—He simply prayed! William McCumber suggests that “The mission of Jesus Christ is unsafe in the hands of a prayerless church. The devil fears nothing less than he fears a people who play at religion but do not pray.”

The Lord’s Prayer in the King James Version contains 66 words; the Gettysburg Address, 266; The Ten Commandments, 297; The Declaration of Independence, 300; and a US government order setting the price of cabbage, 26,911.

It’s not how long we talk, it’s what we say that is so important. It contains just 66 words, 48 of which are one-syllable words. It can be read aloud in less than 30 seconds. The prayer is simple, yet profound, short, yet comprehensive.

John Erskine, prolific writer and lecturer, said he learned the most valuable lesson of his life—a lesson we all need to learn about persistent, continuous prayer—when he was 14 years old.

His piano teacher asked, “How long do your practice?”

“An hour or more at a time,” he replied.

“Don’t do that,” the teacher said. “When you grow up, time won’t come in long stretches. Practice in minutes, whenever you can find them—5 or 10 before school, after lunch, between chores. Spread the practice throughout the day, and music will become a part of your life.”

“Consider applying this important lesson to your praying. In short moments thorughout the day let the Lord’s Prayer guide and shape your thoughts about God and life.” Spiritual disciplines, of which prayer is one “are not ends in themselves but create the conditions in which grace may flow more freely.”

The Lord’s Prayer, while it can be prayed alone is a prayer for all of God’s people. The following poem helps to illustrate the fact:

You cannot say the Lord’s prayer, and even once say “I”.

You cannot pray the Lord’s prayer, and evne once say “My”.

Nor can you pray the Lord’s prayer and not pray for another.

For when you ask for daily bread, you must include your brother!

For others are included in each and every plea.

From the beginning to the end of it. It does not once say “me”.

This powerful prayer should always be prayed in the plural.

There is power in the words of this prayer: one observer wrote that when we pray the Lord’s Prayer we should then go to wait expectantly at the window of heaven. The power of praying the Lord’s Prayer can be illustrated by the following story:

“Dad, I’ve got a great birthday present for you,” Jeff told his father during a long-distance phone call. “I quit smoking.”

“How, Jeff?” His father asked.

“During my annual physical, the doctor said if I quit now, my lungs would suffer no permanent damage,” said Jeff, a 3-packs-a-day smoker. “I prayed the Lord’s Prayer.”

“You prayed the Lord’s Prayer?”

“I knew it would be rough, so I made a vow to God that I would stop. I figured that I could let myself down, but I couldn’t let God down. Every time I started to weaken and to reach for a cigarette, I’d say the Lord’s Prayer. Sometimes I’d say it 40 times a day.”

The Lord’s prayer may not just revolutionize your pryaer life it may change your life.

Yet, the Lord’s Prayer is not to be used just for our own gain. Often times prayer is where we turn when we see no other alternative instead of being a part of our every day life. A man encountered a bit of trouble while flying his airplane. He called the control tower and said, “Pilot to tower, I’m 300 miles from teh airport, six hundred feet above the ground, and I’m out of fuel. I am descending rapidly. Please advise. Over.” “Tower to pilot,” the dispatcher began, “Repeat after me: ‘Our Father who art in heaven...”

One evening, a little girl was saying bedtime prayers with her mother. “Dear Harold, please bless Mother and Daddy and all my friends,” she prayed. “Wait a minute”, interrupted her mother, “who’s Harold?” “That’s God’s nae,” was the answer. “Who told you that was God’s name?” asked the mother. “I learned it in Sunday School mommy. “Our Father, Who art in heaven, Harold be Thy name.’”

When we pray to God, we are not praying to some stranger who does not care about us. We are, rather, praying to our Father! This intimate term implies a closeness to God—we have the same relationship with God that Jesus Himself had, God is our Father. Teh term “our Father” sometimes may be distorted by imperfections of earthly fathers “A study found that children’s feelings about God usually reflect their relationships with parents, especially their father. Those with harsh parents are much more likely to fear God than those whose parents are loving. To those with loving earthly right, and for others it is a new joy to experience. ‘Our Father,’ the object of our prayer, is an intimate God who is loving, caring, and personally involved in our lives.”

“Our Father” implies:

We’re all family members.

God is the creator of all things and every person, but He is only father to those that are a part of the family. There was a time when the Lord’s Prayer was only said by those who professed to be Christians. It emphasizes His love for all of His children. Saying “our Father” also reminds us that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all working together to build His family and we must work together to keep the family strong!

An Open-door policy.

Our Father is always accessible to us at all time! We don’t have to beg or beat on the door to get His attention—we only need to say “Our Father.”

He knows my name.

In the old movie, “Cheaper by the Dozen” there is a scene where a doctor is removing tonsils from 11 out of 12 kids in a family. The doctor had decided a few days earlier that they all needed them out except one girl. While doing the surgeries, the girl was brought in who was supposed to keep her tonsils. The doctor looked at her father and asked why this particular girl was brought in. The doctor insisted that the girl’s name was one name while the father insisted that her name was something else. Finally, the father convinced the doctor that He knew the name of each of his children. God knows the name of each of His children as well. He knows not only our name, but every thing about us.

4. Gifts a Father would choose.

A good father provides for his children. A father that loves his children will not give them things just because they want them; he will provide the things that are best for the children. As an earthly father delights in giving good gifts to his children, so does our hevenly Father delight in giving good gifts to us!

He’s not just any father—He is “Our Father…in heaven.” This implies that He is somehow different from earthly fathers. Earthly fathers, even the best of them, often make mistakes, but our Father in heaven is a perfect father. When considering the comparison between our heavenly father and earthly fathers one man put it this way: “When I’m the kind of father I should be, that’s what God is like. Where I am not so hot, I hope you’ll learn the all-important contrast. Whenever the Bible says that God is like a father, you can understand it means God is like a perfect father. You know I’m not perfect. But I’m going to keep on trying.”

His name is hallowed:

“A boy in Connecticut innocently prayed, ‘Our Father which art in New Haven, Howard is Thy name.’” His confusion brings a smile to our faces, but do we really understand what it means to hallow His name.

Randall Earl Denny in his book The Kingdom, the Power, the Glory relates a story that one of his Seminary professors “told of three sisters who sang ‘The Lord’s Prayer.’ The children had trouble pronouncing the word ‘hallowed’

‘When they sang the prayer it sounded more like, ‘How loaded is Thy name.’ Maybe they really had something. God’s name is loaded with grace and power and glory with abounding benefits and overflowing blessings.”

Yet His name is much more than this. As we look at the words of teh Lord’s Prayer we see first of all the address: “Our Father which art in heaven.” We then see the first petition of this powerful prayer “hallowed by Thy name.” R.C. Sproul in his book, “the holiness of God” says: “We often confuse the words ‘hallowed be Thy name’ with part of the address as if the words were ‘hallowed is your name.’ in that case the words would merely be an ascription of praise to God. But that is not how Jesus said it. He uttered it as a petition, as the first petirion. We should be praying that God’s name be hallowed, that God be regarded as holy.” He goies on to say, “There is a kind of sequence within the prayer. God’s kingdom will never come where His name is not hallowed. His will is not done on earth as it is in heaven if His name is desecrated here. In heaven the name of God is holy. It is breathed by angels in a sacred hush. Heaven is a place where reverence for God is total. It is foolish to look for the kingdom anywhere God is not revered.”

We have lost the sense of the holiness of God. The holiness of God caused Moses to take off his shoes becasue he was standing on Holy ground. His name is considered so holy by the Jews that to this day they will not prounounce the name of God. Rather, every place that the name “Yahweh” appears they say “elohim”. When Isaiah realized teh holiness of God, he was struck with a sense of his unholiness.

Isaiah 6:1–5 NIV84

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Rather than praying a petition for God’s name to be holy we have alowed the Lord’s Prayer to become meaningless. His name is hallowed, not by what we say but by what we do. When we say “hallowed be Thy name”, we are saying that there must be no part of our lives that are beyond His descretion. “Knowing God intimately gives us confidence to surrender our lives to Him. We honor the lord by giving Him the throne of our hearts, so He becomes Lord of all in us.”

We must regain a sense of His holiness if we are to experience all that He desires for us. We must rever God by what we say. We must rever God by our living. We must revere God concerning the spiritual disciplines. We must revere God continuously. To pray “hallowed be Thy name” with meaning we must know who God is and submit ourselves entirely to His Lordship.

The Communion Supper, instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament, which proclaims His life, His sufferings, His sacrificial death, and resurrection, and the hope of His coming again. It shows forth the Lord’s death until His return.

The Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit. It is to be received in reverent appreciation and gratefulness for the work of Christ.

All those who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit.

In unity with the Church, we confess our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. And so we pray:

The minister may offer a prayer of confession and supplication, concluding with the following prayer of consecration:

Holy God,

We gather at this, your table, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who by your Spirit was anointed to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, set at liberty those who are oppressed. Christ healed the sick, fed the hungry, ate with sinners, and established the new covenant for forgiveness of sins. We live in the hope of His coming again.

On the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Likewise, when the supper was over, He took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to His disciples, and said: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.” Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Matthew 26:27–29, Luke 22:19)

And so, we gather as the Body of Christ to offer ourselves to you in praise and thanksgiving. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these your gifts. Make them by the power of your Spirit to be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ, redeemed by His blood.

By your Spirit make us one in Christ, one with each other, and one in the ministry of Christ to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, let us pray:

(Here the congregation may pray the Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Before the partaking of the bread, let the minister say:

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

Before the partaking of the cup, let the minister say:

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, preserve you blameless unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.