Matthew 6:7-21
After every
meeting, whether it was contentious or delightfully blissful, we would conclude
by standing up, holding hands and praying the Lord’s Prayer. This was at former
church I served. Even the
trustees, which for all intents and purposes, was an ‘old gentlemen’s network’
would get up and pray it together, holding hands.
Except for Dirk,
well sort of except for Dirk. Dirk
was from the Netherlands and he could only pray the Lord’s Prayer in
Dutch. So finally after a few
months of trustees meetings under my belt I suggested that he bring in copies
of the Lord’s Prayer in Dutch so that we could all read it and pray it in Dutch
together like Dirk. Well, it was a
good idea except that Dutch is a language all of its own where, if you are an
English speaker only, you can’t seem to make heads or tails out of some of the
characters or just how to pronounce words with double vowels all over the place
followed by the letter ij.
But we all
muddled through it with Dirk and had a few chuckles. You see Dirk who was fluent in English said that there are
some things that he just cannot say in English. Not because he cannot pronounce the words but because the
Lord’s Prayer in Dutch has a different cadence and intonation. It was more comforting to him to hear
it and pray it in his native language and because that’s what is in his heart. (Irena, you know what I’m talking
about!)]
But it sort of
doesn’t matter how our voices blend together does it? What matters is that our unique voices DO blend together in
acknowledgement that we are in the same boat upon the sometimes placid and
often times torrid waters drifting our lives away.
As it is, the
mount from which Jesus delivered his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew is a
dramatic incline from the shore of the Kinneret, or the Sea of Galilee. We have been entertaining scripture
from this very famous sermon for a couple of weeks now.
And snuggled
right smack dab in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount is where we find our
scripture reading for today about the Lord’s Prayer. Before it comes an invective about being ostentatious in our
praying and following it comes two more diatribes about fasting and almsgiving.
In this day and age where there are absolutely no positive images of religious
people in the media we need to be mindful of this.
From the extreme
religious right or left of our Christian brothers and sisters to the forces of
radical Islam, we see it all. The duplicity,
the arrogance, the overly confident assurance that God is on ‘their’ side and
no one else’s…..Matthew is clear about the expression of religion. Don’t be hypocritical and do not be
flamboyant in your expression of it. Be sincere. Be honest. It’s
between you and God only, not you and the world around you which is why the
Lords Prayer is so important.
Why? Because the Lord’s Prayer is central to
our life as Christians; if it is important enough to us that we pray it
together on Sunday mornings then it begs just a bit of our time for reflection.
While we could spend weeks on it
we will not but we will use our time today to focus very specifically on the
fact that the Lord’s Prayer is a simple prayer really. There are two parts to it.
The first part
focuses on God’s holiness and calling upon God’s kingdom, that is God’s
sovereign divine rule to come and for the will or intention of God be a reality
here on this earth just as it must be in the heavens. So we corporately acknowledge first our beloved God by whom
all things are made possible.
Then there’s the
second part, which focuses on our needs.
We’re asking God to give us just the food and necessities we need for
today, no more. Because what would
we do with more? All we need is
enough for today and then we are to ask God for forgiveness because heaven
knows that we miss the target, fall off the path, do and say things that really
shouldn’t have been done or said.
Now what is
unique about the Lord’s Prayer is that it is written in the plural. From the very beginning it starts out
with, “OUR” Father not my father. We
recognize that we all share in one common source for our lives and livelihoods
and that this one God is God to us all.
Not just some, not just Roman Catholics or Protestants or UCCer’s. Not
to just one group or one individual but God is for all of us. Quite a departure from what our individualistic
societal norms dictate.
And the rest of
the prayer follows suit. Give US
our daily bread, forgive US our trespasses. My needs are connected to your needs and it is God who can
and will provide for all of our needs.
It’s us, together. Not me
alone or you alone.
This passage
that acknowledges our commonalities teaches us about living and relationship.
We are connected through this prayer of life, you and the person next to you,
the one in the pew in back of you, the homebound person, the hospitalized, the
youth off at a workcamp, and even the person who might disagree with you. When we say ‘Our Father’ it brings us
together to admit that, we are all in the same boat! It is an intensely human kind of prayer. [i]
It
is about living into an ongoing conversation with the divine source of
creativity and love, realizing and accepting that we will receive what is
necessary and beneficial to our living.
Trusting that God will provide for all of OUR needs can free our spirit
for a clearer vision of what’s in store for us ahead.
We are in a
rather precarious position right now as a congregation. Budget talks, while not easy, are
essential. It’s been my experience
that when the budget rolls around each year, just like tax time, it makes
everyone nervous. And when we get
nervous we tend to hunker down and hold tightly to things that are near and
dear to us. This leaves no room
for the creative spirit to be a part of us and God’s spirit is what we are
about.
We need to cast
a vision together about the future of this church realizing that the church is
not about just one group, just one person, just one committee or just about the
four walls. It is about us, together
deciding what future and ministries we believe and discern that God is calling
us to. Us, together. These
conversations are hard but sacred and we need to have them and to hold each
other in prayer. We will get
there. I promise you. We will get to where GOD wants us to
be.
The reason I brought this tradition of praying the Lord’s Prayer
after every meeting here to OCC is because I believe that you care about one
another. So that after every
conversation we have, in the end we can stand united through the Lord’s Prayer
and be in relation with one another. And most importantly we can stand united before our
loving God, accept our imperfections and acknowledge that our most basic common
needs together, is Christ.
Amen.
[i] Douglas,
John Hall. Feasting on the Word, p. 288, Proper 12, Year C Volume 3.
“When
you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they
think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them,
for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“Pray
then in this way: Our Father 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. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of
trial, but rescue us from the evil one. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses.
“And
whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure
their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they
have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash
your face, 18so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father
who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“Do
not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and
where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in
and steal. For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.
