December 8, 2019
Matthew 6:9-15
My thesis for the study:
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus teaches us how to live in the world. Jesus gives actual instruction and formation. More than rules or law, the SOM is a set of convictions about moral truth.
9“Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.c(3157)
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us to the time of trial,d(3158)
but rescue us from the evil one.e(3159)
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;
15 but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
INTRODUCTION
1. The Lord’s Prayer is one of the most widely known and loved part of the New Testament. The Lord’s prayer is one of a few pieces of Christian scripture that people might know by heart. John Hodgman shares this fact about himself: he says the Lord’s Prayer every evening, as a result of saying it with his mother every evening in her dying days. My understanding is that Bruce Springsteen ended his Broadway show by singing the Lord’s Prayer. Many congregations say the Lord’s Prayer every time they gather. It is easy to argue that Jesus teaching on prayer is the most significant and powerful thing he teaches.
2.
3. Welcome: Hi Pals, this is Blaine Hill with the Simply Stated Podcast for you, the Journey Sunday School class at Lake Murray Presbyterian Church in Chapin, SC. This season of the podcast is on Jesus sermon on the mount, in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. Today we are reading Matthew 6:9-15 , which includes the Lord’s Prayer. I’ll get the basic ideas of the passage simply stated, then we’ll try to draw some wisdom out of the passage (person of Jesus, theology, eternity, ethics)
4. Read 6:9-17
A BLOCK
5. Our-this is a prayer for the community, so even if we are alone praying in secret (6:6), we are praying with other people.
6. Father—Jesus sets the prayer in the context of close, family intimacy. Our requests, and the implied expectations, are not a business exchange or magical superstition. We are in a family relationship in prayer
7. Structure. Pretty easy to notice 6 distinct request
a. One, Hallowed be they name. This si a request that the holiness of the LORD God would be be made known—to us and the world.
b. Two, Thy Kingdom come. Worth remembering that a kingdom was not an abstraction for Jesus’ original audience. They lived under the empire of Rome and were hoping for a regime change.
c. Three, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. First it is a a decision to put our lives under God’s direction. It also places our desires under God’s plan
d. Sometimes divided into two table, much like the ten commandments. The first three requests are about God; last three are about us. The phrase “on earth as it is in heaven” directs our attention toward earthly matters.
e. Four, Give us this day our daily bread. Request for our needs, which opens up a doorway into all of what we might needs.
f. Five Forgive us our debts, as we forgie our debtors. Simple request for forgiveness of sins, using the metaphor for finance. Notice, this clearly carries and expection of us as children of God.
g. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. First notice that our translation actually says time of trial, which can be understood as time of testing. Either way, it is a situation in which we could fail and need deliverance. We have external enemies. There is a power in the world which seeks our destruction. That could be a purely spiritual reality, the evil one, the devil. But we also need deliverance from evil social structures, situation and conditions.
8. Shockingly direct expansion on prayer about forgiveness. Clearly in the household of God the children are expected to forgive. Period. Those are the house rules. We live by them by asking for forgiveness and extending God’s forgiveness. Jesus tells a striking parable about this in Matthew 18:23-35, if you want to follow up. It is a doozie!
B BLOCK
9. Teach us about Jesus: Remember, the person who taught this prayer, has conquered death and is alive. We can ask him about what he means, though Jesus’ customary mode of answering our questions is pretty elliptical.
10. How to pray: Luther’s Frequent, intense and brief
11. Prayer to use and “a pattern according to which we are to make other prayers;”[i]
12. Which request holds your attention most strongly?
13. [In the class have participants circle the petition that appeals to them most.
14. Ethics:Each request toward God denotes an ability and requirement of the person praying.
“Each of these six petitions involves an act of God, and each spedifies or implies participation on the part of the believer. That is, each involves the sovereignty of God and the freedom and responsibility of the human person.” Ken Bailey[ii]
Think of the request that most grabbed your attention.
I am assuming that you can see how the request illuminates who God is. What does your request help you see about yourself, someone made in the image of God, redeemed by Christ, and living in the power of the Holy Spirit. What freedom and responsibility does your petition specify or imply.
Let me give you an example.
I pray “Thy Kingdom Come.” I want God’s Kingdom to come where people have adequate housing and access to good schools. I’m drawn to this in part because my part of the county is wrestling with zoning questions, housing values and expectations for the countryside. On top of that, our rapidly growing school district is struggling with providing school space-where and if to build new schools, school zone boundaries, and who gets to attend which schools.
Praying “Thy Kingdom Come” presses me to ask some pretty uncomfortable questions about how I talk to the people in my neighborhood about the proposed apartment complex, CVS and Chik-fil-a near our home. It is likely that they will affect housing values. But what responsibility, and freedom, do I have to work toward an element of the Kingdom of Heaven near my home?
At the same time, praying “Thy Kingdom Come” can empower me to ask, “how will we build up decent housing and education in our community?”
Which part of the Lord’s prayer is grabbing your attention?
Could it be more than a need, but a call as well?
CLOSING
[i] WLC Q187
[ii] Bailey, Ken. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels. Intervarsity Press, 2008, Downer’s Grove, IL. Page 105