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Sermon preached at
The American College Chapel
On May 2, 1999
THE LORD'S PRAYER - IN ITS CONTEXT
I Introduction
OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME, THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
On these familiar lines will be our meditation this evening.
As we all know these petitions form the first part of the Lord's Prayer.
The Lord's Prayer is THE norm of Christian prayer and tells us how and what we should pray. It is the most prayed prayer among Christians, individually and communally. The literature about it is immense: more than 2500 articles and books have been published on it over the years.
Nearly 2000 years ago, on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth was asked by his followers for instructions on how to pray. In response, Jesus recited this short prayer. It is recorded in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 11 verses 2 - 4, written in a final form about 80 CE, and in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6 verses 9 - 13, which was completed approximately in 85 CE.
The longer version of this prayer from the book of Matthew has become the standard in the liturgy and daily prayers of over one billion Christians worldwide.
The Lord's Prayer is unique, and unsurpassed even to this day. While the individual petitions are paralleled in various contexts in Jewish religious literature, nothing comparable to the prayer as a whole is found.
Most Christians are taught the " Lord's Prayer " at a very early age and continue to recite it throughout their lives either privately, at churches, schools, or even social gatherings. And we know how well we recite it. The recital is automatic and flows from the mind and tongue with robotic familiarity.
The constant danger is that the Lord's prayer easily becomes a prayer for all kinds of occasions: for good weather, for poor souls, for peace in the world, for better health, for birthdays, for funerals, etc., etc. In short, it becomes a way out when we do not know what to pray.
The effect of such overuse is that we no longer know, experience, and appreciate its real meaning.
II
During the times of Jesus, religious groups were marked by their own prayer customs and forms. The Pharisees, the Essenes, and the Disciples of John all had their own prayers, which distinguished them from other groups. The disciples in Luke Chapter 11 verse 1 asked Jesus for an "Identification Prayer," something that would bind them together and identify them as the followers of Jesus.
" And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."
Well, it was also to bring to expression their chief concerns.
Their chief concern - THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Unless we are concerned about God's Kingdom and its arrival here on earth we have no business to be coming here and say that we have been to Church to pray as Christians.
The disciples asked for a prayer that would be their "badge," their distinctive symbol, something to show that they are the disciples of Jesus.
In the church this prayer, the distinctive symbol, is carried above the head like a battle standard as the mark of discipleship.
I think, we should qualify to use the Prayer which Jesus taught.
The very prayer, which we recite, can turn around and ask us " Do you really mean what you say?"
The disciples, as followers of Jesus, asked for a prayer.
Jesus answered by giving them a prayer that is "the clearest and, in spite of its terseness, the richest summary of Jesus' proclamation.
The Lord's prayer is, therefore, not just a prayer, it is
THE MANIFESTO of our Christian faith.
Someone has rightly said that the Lord's Prayer is Jesus' message of the kingdom of God summarized in prayer form.
It is the prayer, which all Christians should regularly offer to God in order to be enabled to live as his children ever more completely until the day when his sovereignty is perfectly established.
This prayer should enable us to live as children of God, every day, till the day when his Kingdom shall be perfectly established on earth.
III
The prayer consists of an introduction - "Our Father, who art in heaven," and seven petitions in the Matthew version. A closing doxology, "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory," was added to the prayer in ancient times, although it does not appear in most manuscripts of the Bible and is only a footnote in the Revised Standard Version.
Of the seven petitions, the first three are concerned with the glorification of God, and the last four are requests for divine assistance to humankind.
IV
I, confine my self to the first three petitions -
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Do we make these petitions keeping the ideal of the Kingdom of God in mind? The whole prayer is to be understood in the light of the teaching about the kingdom of God, because --------
The KINGDOM is very central to Jesus. It has led Karl Rahner, a theologian, to observe: " Jesus preached the Kingdom of God, not himself."
The topic of Jesus' preaching was not himself nor was it just God; it was GOD IN HIS RELATION TO THE WORLD.
Let us not forget that to Jesus the coming of the kingdom of God was of utmost importance. In the Gospels Jesus appears as the 1. Representative (Lk 17:20-21), 2. the Revealer (Mk.4:11-12; Mt.11:25-26), 3. the Champion(Mk.3:27), 4. the Initiator(Mt.11:12), 5. the Instrument(Mt.12:28), 6. the Mediator(Mk2:18-19), and 7. the Bearer(Mt11:5) of the Kingdom of God.
Listen to what Jesus says in Luke chapter 16 verse 16 - " The law and the prophets were until John; since that time the Kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth unto it." John the Baptist preached, that the Kingdom of God was at hand. Matthew chapter 4 verse 17 says: " From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." So the disciples were directed to preach. Matthew chapter 10 verse 7 reads, " And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is at hand."
The word " Kingdom" occurs 160 times in the entire New Testament, with 120 occurrences in the Synoptic Gospels.
The word "Church" is used only twice: Mt 16:18 and Mt. 18:17. This has led a critic to comment: " JESUS PREACHED THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND WHAT CAME OUT WAS THE CHURCH." The Kingdom is not one with the Church, though the business of the Church must be to help forward its growth and to guard what has been gained already for the Kingdom.
Unless we are praying the Lord's prayer keeping the 'kingdom' in mind or against the background of the kingdom of God, we will not be true to the spirit of the prayer.
Now let us take a look at some ideas about the Kingdom of God.
First the Kingdom of God is not a geographical area that can be located anywhere in the world or out of it. It is not a "place" or "location" such as we might, in our limitedness, conceive. Remember our Lord saying that it is within us. It is both in us and out of us. The Kingdom of God is there where his will is fully and freely obeyed and done.
Second it is both a gift to be received and an ideal to be achieved.
Third its content does not signify something that is purely spiritual or outside of this world.
Fourth the Kingdom of God is a present reality and also our future hope. On the one hand, Jesus spoke of it as having come already and being in the midst of the disciples; on the other, He referred to those who should see its coming with power in a far future. He also insisted that the Kingdom was present already, the kingdom is a present reality at the heart of history and would grow like a grain of mustard seed.
The Kingdom is the consummation of history, the final fulfillment of mankind's social destiny, the accomplishment of God's own intentionality for the whole of creation.
The prayer reflects a community based on an eschatological hope, that is, a community praying for the completion of God's final plan. Thus the prayer becomes more meaningful when prayed along with other fellow Christians. And our one prime goal is to hasten the coming of the Kingdom of God through our attitude, thought, speech, and deed.
The stress should be on the eschatological element.
i.e. THE COMPLETION OF GOD'S FINAL PLAN.
The petitions concerning forgiveness, temptation, and deliverance from evil are also, in fact, best understood in relation to the end times.
I found a beautiful sentence - 'The Kingdom is not to be in another world but is the old world transformed into a new one.'
It is the cosmos purified of all evils and full of the reality of God.
It is the liberation of the world we live in, know, touch, smell, and suffer, from all that corrupts and destroys it.
It is encountered in society: but this society is not the Kingdom.
Now think of the words - ' Our Father, who art in heavens, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'
V We have to ask ourselves:
1. Am I in that relationship with God and man to pray 'Our Father'?
2. Will my conduct make God's name holy? You might ask, is it not already holy? Answer: Yes, in itself it is holy, but not in our use of it. God's name becomes holy when both our teaching and our lives are godly and Christian.
3. Do I really wish for the coming of the Kingdom of God?
4. Am I willing to surrender my will to God and make room for the operation of His will in my life?
What is the will of God?
That we " turn from our sinfulness and live."
It is the will of the Father that none of us should be lost, but that all who follow His only Begotten son should have eternal life (Jn. 6:39-40).
Again in First Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 3, "For this is the will of God, even your perfectionment"(or sanctification)
Hence the words "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
We are, in a way, praying for an end to the present world and its order, and for the full, all encompassing presence of the Eternal Kingdom. This is Christianity as taught by Jesus.
Are we in the right place?
Am I in the position where God wants me to be? In other words, Am I a disciple of Jesus in the true sense?
The Lord's Prayer is not a mantra to be chanted as a ritual. It is the definition of Christianity.
May God grant us the wisdom to first place ourselves where God wants us to be and then become instruments in the process of the transfiguration of this world into the Kingdom of God.
To pray "Thy Kingdom come" is to strive that all men might share the overmastering consciousness of God as the ruler of our lives. The Kingdom would begin by changing not institutions but men. Slowly, like leaven, its influence would spread, until the whole mass of human life is altered by its power. The method is to be not of changed institutions, but of a changed life which in time would create better institutions. The Kingdom of God "within you" must be the source of the Kingdom without.
This is the meaning of the Lord's prayer.
OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN,
HALLOWED BE THY NAME, THY KINGDOM COME,
THY WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. AMEN.