1 Lord, teach us to pray... Matthew 6:5-13 My Dad loved children and children loved my Dad. He was into doing magic tricks and kids, particularly little kids, were always fascinated by those tricks. He had one whereby he could make it appear that he could pull his thumb right off his hand. In another he made a penny disappear as he rubbed it right into the skin of his arm. However, the one that kids loved the most was the one where he would hold a penny or nickel between two fingers of one hand and make them disappear as he slipped his other hand over it. Then he would search for the lost coin until he found it in the child s hair. As children, we would ask him to do it again and again, but then finally we would say, Daddy, teach me to do that. When we see someone doing something that is significant and that we would really like to do ourselves, it is not unusual for us to say, Hey, teach me how to do that. The disciples of Jesus had probably heard lots of people pray in the synagogue, but they must have recognized that the prayers which Jesus prayed were different from the usual prayers they heard. They also had noticed that the manner in which John the Baptist and his disciples prayed was also different. It tells us in Luke 11:1 that they went to Jesus and asked, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. Fortunately for us, Jesus wanted to pass this ability on to them. This was not a protected piece of information that he wanted to keep a closely guarded secret. He wanted to teach them how to pray. The pattern of Jesus is that if anyone came to him with a sincere and teachable heart, he was more than willing to pass on to that person whatever it was that his Father desired him to pass on to others. What Jesus taught his disciple has become what is possibly the best known prayer in the world. Frequently referred to as the Our Father or the Lord s Prayer, it is the most recognized prayer among Christians. We pray it every Sunday. I know that it can become a bit of a rote prayer when we say it every week, but I especially want our children to learn it. They certainly won t learn it in school like I did when I was young. We use the Lord s Prayer every Thursday when we do the service for the residents at Centennial Park Place. I notice that some, whose minds are confused, are able to repeat this prayer, just as they are able to sing the old hymns. But at the same time, I would also like us to understand just what we are praying for when we repeat the words of the prayer. I would like to see us be able to pray it on a deeper level.
2 Before we go any further, let me say something about the fact that there are different forms of the Lord s Prayer. Catholics use one version. Protestants use another. When we turn to the gospels, we find that Matthew has one version of the Lord s Prayer while Luke has an abbreviated version, as you can see below. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-13) Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. (Luke 13:2-4) Not only do we see differences between Matthew s and Luke s versions, but we also notice that there is one portion of the prayer that we are familiar with which is missing completely. What we find is that the words For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. appear in the King James Version but not in newer translations of the Bible. The reason for this is simple. The KJV was translated from manuscripts that have a late date, while our newer versions are translated from much earlier manuscripts that translators did not know even existed in 1611. So which one is right? Are the Catholics right to use the version that appears in Matthew? Certainly in terms of the more recent scholarship, the Our Father is closer than The Lord s Prayer that we use. And why do we use the word debts while so many use trespasses, or more recently sins? This last one is very easy to answer. It is mostly in Presbyterian churches that you find the word debts used. It s a Scottish thing. Good Scots would much rather be forgiven for their debts than for their sins or trespasses. I say this tongue in cheek. Quite frankly, I don t think it matters what you use. None of these things that I have mentioned change the meaning of the Lord s Prayer much. I know that some people get all bent out of shape if we don t pray it a particular way. I have been criticized because I say forever and ever. Amen. But does God get bent out of shape for something as trivial as that? That is how I learned the Lord s Prayer as a child and that s how I pray. There are times when the inclusion of a word changes the meaning of the text. This is not one of them.
3 We need to note that before Jesus gets specific, he begins by giving some general instruction on prayer. It is very easy after reading verses 5 and 6, to get the idea that Jesus is opposed to public prayer. Clearly, if that were true, then the early church did not understand him, for we see them on numerous occasions involved in public or corporate prayer. Actually, this is a discussion of motives when it comes to prayer. Obviously, those who tend to pray more in public than in private can very easily slip into the trap of being less interested in God s approval than in human praise. The concern is less for true piety than in having a reputation for piety. As one who prays a lot in public, this is a caution which I need to take seriously. The next two verses also contain a further caution. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. These verses caution us against meaningless, repetitive prayers. The length of a prayer or repeating the same phrases over and over again do not necessarily make for an effective prayer. God knows you and he knows your personal needs. Too much information does not make him more disposed to granting your petition. The Lord s Prayer, which is to serve as a model for prayer, begins in verse 9. It begins by referring to God as Father. Now God as Father is not a central theme of the Old Testament. Not until we come to Jesus in the New Testament do we find God addressed as Father. Jesus refers to God as his Father and he instructs his disciples to call God Father as well. There is no indication that anyone spoke of God in such a personal way before Jesus did. Notice the pronoun that the prayer starts with our. That pronoun does two things. First, it makes it plain that this is public or corporate prayer. So it is good to use the Lord s Prayer in public worship. Second, the pronoun makes it plain that our God is a very personal God. We are not praying with words like O transcendent Being. No, the opening words of this prayer establish the relationship between us as followers of Jesus and God. He is not the God of all people indiscriminately, but he is Our Father. He is our Father in heaven or our heavenly Father. God s name is a reflection of who he is and so his name is to be used in a way that reflects our reverence for him. God is to be treated as holy. I find it helpful to define the word holy as set apart. When we speak of Communion, we refer to Holy Communion. It is something which is set apart or special. God s Name is also holy. It is set apart from all common names. If we go back to the Ten Commandments, we find these
4 words, You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (Exodus 20:7) God s name is not to be used lightly or carelessly. Now Jesus calls us to pray for the coming or the in breaking of God s Kingdom here on earth. The Kingdom of God was one of the main themes of Jesus teaching. Kingdoms always have a ruler and the ruler referred to here is God. What are we asking for when we pray Thy Kingdom come? We are asking to see that day come when God s reign and rule is established in the lives of all men. God s Kingdom started breaking into this world and into people s lives with the coming of Jesus, but it will not be complete until the end of the age when Jesus returns in might and power. So when we pray, Thy Kingdom come, we are asking to see God s saving rule extended into people s lives now. We are also crying out that the end of this present evil age will come and come quickly. We are literally praying for the end of this world and life as we know it. I am not sure that we really understand what we are praying when we pray this next phrase. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What is it we really want? Do we want to see God s will done or are we more interested in seeing our own will accomplished? What is really more important in our lives, God s desires or our desires? You see, most of us don t have a real reference point for what it would look like for God s Kingdom to come and for his will to be done. For the most part we like it here on earth and we prefer what we know, so I expect that most of us would like things to stay pretty much the same. The other alternative would be a radical change where all evil would be replaced with God s goodness; the lion would lie down with the lamb; our swords and weapons of war would be beaten into ploughshares; disease and death would disappear; and everyone will acknowledge Jesus as Lord and King. But then, so would many other things that we cling to would disappear. In the petition Give us this day our daily bread, we have a request that can cover all our food needs, but also all our physical human needs. As someone with a poetic flare has pointed out, we must pray for our needs not our greeds. This is a prayer for provision one day at a time, but if you are like me, you want to know not just that you
5 are going to have bread for today, but also for tomorrow and next year and on through retirement to the very end of our lives. What we forget is that life was very precarious for the first century disciples and so it is for many in our world today. What percentage of this world s population live from hand to mouth and have no knowledge of where their next meal is going to come from? What all disciples of Jesus are reminded of here is not only do we live one day at a time, but that all good things, even our ability to work and earn money to buy food, come from God. Now comes the time when we ask for forgiveness. Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. As I have already pointed out, sometimes the word trespasses is used here and sometimes, in newer translations, the word sins is used. Which one is right? Well, Presbyterians, the Greek that is used here literally means a debt. However, as I said earlier, which translation we use of this word really amounts to the same thing. If there is an obligation we failed to uphold, then we have a debt. If there was a boundary and we crossed the line, then we have trespassed. If it was God s target that we were aiming at and we missed, then we sinned. No matter which word is used when praying the Lord s Prayer, they all communicate the same thing. We have messed up. There is not one of us here this morning that this does not apply to. The long and the short of it is this: if God forgives us for those obligations that we have failed to uphold, then we must be prepared to do the same for others. If God has forgiven us for crossing forbidden boundaries, then we must do the same for others. If God has forgiven us for missing his mark, then we must be prepared to forgive others who have done the same. Finally we come to the part about temptation. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Temptation refers to enticement to sin. The sense here is that we not be overwhelmed by temptation and therefore sin. There is an ancient Jewish prayer that goes: Do not bring me into the power of a sin, a temptation, a shame. Of course, the word that we translate temptation could also mean testing or trial in the sense of suffering, persecution or martyrdom. Instead, we are to ask to be delivered from evil, or as the phrase is often translated, but deliver us from the evil one. The reference here is most likely to Satan. There are two reasons for this. First, the expression deliver from is most often used of persons. Second, the first mention of temptation in Matthew is the temptation of Jesus, who
6 undergoes a period of temptation from the Devil. We are no match for the wiles of the Evil One, who Jesus alone can vanquish. We must trust our heavenly Father for deliverance from the Devil s strength and wiles. Rev. Stephen G. Dunkin Graceview Presbyterian Church Etobicoke, Ontario February 2, 2014 www.graceview.ca Benediction Go now, and live as people of God. Be at peace, and care for one another; Suffer with one another and rejoice with one another. Give your attention to the Word of God and proclaim the good news of freedom to all. Finally we come to the doxology which closes the prayer, but which was not part of Matthew s original work. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen. While it doesn t appear in any manuscripts before the second century, it must be admitted that even in Jesus day, it would have been unusual for any Jewish prayer to end without an ascription of glory and praise. So while it may not be part of the original, it is very biblical and reminiscent of David s words in 1 Chronicles 29:11. Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. What a note on which to close our examination of the Lord s Prayer. And may God delight your heart and sharpen your vision; May Christ Jesus keep you, thought and word, in his grace; And may the Holy Spirit be the one who sustains you in all the circumstances of life.