Blem ofKNU English Church
Yoni Moorgan
March 9, 2008
The Problem of Worry!
The word "worry" (Greek--merimna) means "anxiety, care, that which divides, distracts the mind and which draws a troubled person’s mind in different directions." Sometimes the word is used of a healthy and helpful concern and care (1 Corinthians 7:32,34; 12:25; 2 Cor. 11:28; Phil. 2:20), but it is also used of an unhealthy and harmful concern and care, which we call "WORRY."
People worry about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.
Matthew 6:31 Eat & drink
Matthew 6:34 Tomorrow
Matthew 10:19 What to say & how to say it
There are at least six reasons why we should never worry:
1) Worry is disobedience.
2) Worry is unbelief.
3) Worry is a form of atheism.
4) Worry can lead to physical problems.
5) Worry is illogical (senseless).
6) Worry can do no good.
Let’s take time to consider each of these:
1) Worry is Disobedience.
In Philippians 4:6, the Lord says, "Be Careful (full of cares and anxieties) for nothing" which means "worry about nothing" or "do not worry about one thing" or "stop worrying about everything." Therefore, whenever we worry about ANYTHING, we are DISOBEYING God’s command here in Philippians 4:6! When God tells us not to worry, He means it! God sees worry as SINFUL DISOBEDIENCE. Is that how we see it?
2) Worry is Unbelief.
The Lord Jesus gave some important instructions about "WORRY" in Matthew 6:25-34. In this passage, what verse clearly indicates that worry is UNBELIEF? The person who is troubled with worries and cares is really saying, "I DO NOT BELIEVE that God loves me and cares for me and is able to take care of my problems!" Worry and trust cannot live together in the same house. As long as trust abides, worry can never enter. When worry comes in, trust has already left! Worry starts where faith ends.
3) Worry is a Form of Atheism.
The atheist says, "There Is No God” Psalm 14:1). The person who worries is really saying, "THERE IS NO GOD who can handle my problems and take care of my life and my future." The one who worries, as well as the atheist, is a Fool (Psalm 14:1).
4) Worry Can Lead to Physical Problems.
Stomach ulcers and other physical problems can often result from needless worry and anxiety. Not only is worry spiritually unhealthy, but it is also physically unhealthy. Worry can never help us, but it can harm us.
5) Worry is Illogical (Senseless).
Worry makes no sense. In Matthew 6:25-26, the Lord Jesus illustrated how ILLOGICAL worry really is. Let’s look first at verse 25:
Take No Thought (do not be anxious, do not be worried) for your LIFE, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your BODY, what you shall put on (Matthew 6:25a).
The Lord Jesus then asked, "Is not the life more than meat (food, nourishment)?" What is the answer to this question? YES. "Is not the BODY more than raiment (clothing)?" What is the answer? YES
Which is greater (more important), the life that God has given to you or the food that God has given to you? Would you rather have your LIFE or would you rather have a HAMBURGER? Can you survive without a hamburger? Can you survive without your life?
If God has given you life (which is the greater gift), will He not also give you the food and drink that supports life (which are the lesser gifts)? The worried person is really saying, "The God who gave me LIFE is unable to give me FOOD and DRINK." Does that make sense?
Which is greater, the body that God has given to you or the clothes that God has given to you? Would you rather have your BODY or would you rather have a SUIT or a DRESS? Can you survive without a suit or a dress? Can you survive without your body? If God has given you a body (which is the greater gift), will He not also give you clothes that cover the body (which are the lesser gifts)? The worried person is really saying, "The God who gave me my BODY is unable to give me CLOTHES to cover it." Does that make sense?
Illustrations: Suppose a father gave his child an expensive battery operated toy as a birthday present. Do you think this father would also supply batteries to go with it? Suppose a father goes to all the trouble of constructing a basketball court (with hoops and everything) in the backyard for his son. Do you think he would also supply a basketball to go with it? When Mom cooks supper, does she also supply all the plates, glasses and silverware to go with it? If God has given us a life and a body, will He also supply all of our needs (Philippians 4:19)?
Now consider verse 26 (Matthew 6): "Behold the birds of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them." Again Jesus asked a question: "Are you not much better than they?" Which are more important and valuable to God, birds or men (Matthew 10:31)? If God feeds and cares for birds (which are of lesser value), will He not feed and care for men (which are of greater value)? If a mother feeds and cares for the family pet, will she not do the same for the family children? If a father takes good care of the family car (feeds it with gas, keeps it clean and polished), will he not do the same and much more for his children? The worried person is really saying, "The birds are of more value to God than me!" Does that make sense?
6) Worry Can Do No Good.
Worry has never been able to help anyone. Worry has never accomplished anything. Worry has never solved even one problem. Worry can look at problems but it can never solve problems. Worry does absolutely no good. The Lord Jesus said it this way, "Which of you by worrying (by being anxious, by worrying) can add one cubit unto his stature?" (Matthew 6:27).
The word translated "stature" is used in two different ways. It often means "age" (John 9:21,23; Hebrews 11:11), but it can also mean "stature" (how tall a person is)--(see Luke 19:3).
LIFE IS SHORT!
DEATH IS SURE!
SIN THE CAUSE !
CHRIST THE CURE!
WORRY CAN DO NO GOOD!!!
1 )What Should I Do Today, WORRY or WORK?
"Do not worry, therefore, about tomorrow: for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough evil (trouble, problems) of its own" (Matthew 6:34; translated from the Greek).
Worry is concern and anxiety over the future. We worry about what might happen tomorrow. Do we know what will really happen tomorrow (James 4:14; Proverbs 27:1)? Who does know what will take place tomorrow (Isaiah 46:9-10; compare Mark 13:23; John 14:29; 16:3-4.)? We do not know what the future holds, but we know WHO holds the future!
Today’s cares are ENOUGH! How foolish to ADD tomorrow’s cares to those of today! Tackle today’s troubles, and let tomorrow take care of itself. The Lord does not give us strength to face tomorrow’s problems today. He gives us strength to face today’s problems today (2 Corinthians 12:9-10; Philippians 4:13; Colossians 1:11). The burden of tomorrow’s cares added to the load of today’s trouble is too much for anyone to bear. According to Matthew 6:34 we must put all of our strength and energy and resources into solving today’s problems. If we WORK on tackling today’s troubles then we will not have time to WORRY about tomorrow’s troubles.
2) Casting My Cares on the Christ Who Cares
"Casting all your cares (worry, anxiety) upon Him; for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
1. What must I do with my care and worry (1 Pet. 5:7)? The word "casting" means "to throw something upon something else." In 1 Peter 5:7 the believer is to throw their cares upon Christ.
2. How much of my care and worry should I throw upon the Lord (1 Pet. 5:7)? ________
Imagine if you could hire one of your friends to do all of your worrying for you! It would be wonderful if they could handle all of your cares. Whenever a problem or difficulty should arise, all you would need to do is tell them about it, and they would worry about it for you! You would not have to worry about it at all! That would be their business. You would then be free to live as if you did not have a care or worry in the world! You have thrown all your care on another person. You do not even need to worry about how much money you should pay your friend for doing all your worrying for you. That is their worry! (Jay E. Adams, You Can Stop Worrying, p.3).
The Lord will not do your worrying for you, because GOD NEVER WORRIES about anything! Yet the Lord tells you to throw all your care upon Him. If you give your cares to the Lord and leave them with Him, then you will be free from worry! Let God carry your cares.
3. Why should you decide to throw your care and worry upon the Lord (1 Pet. 5:7)?
God cares about you! God is concerned about you. It matters to God about you. It is a concern to Him about you. He ever cares and He never stops caring about you. HE CARES FOR YOU!
Does God care for birds (Matt. 6:26)?
Does God care for lilies (Matt. 6:28)?
Does God care for sheep (Matt. 12:11-12)?
Does God care for oxen (1 Corinthians 9:9-10)?
Does God care for sparrows ((Matt. 10:29-31)?
IN LIGHT OF THE ABOVE . . .
Matthew 6:26: "Are you not much better than they?"
Matthew 12:12: "How much then is a man better than these?"
Matthew 10:31: "Are you not of more value than they?"
DOES GOD CARE FOR YOU ?
Which would cause you the most concern and which would you care about the most? Losing 500 won or losing 10,000 wonl? Which is of more value? If a person is concerned about losing 500 won , will they not be much more concerned about losing something of greater value?
God’s Loving Care
Animals die all the time and we usually think nothing of it. Often we see dead animals by the side of the road, and we pay little attention to them. We do not place a great value and importance upon sparrows, but THE CREATOR DOES! Matthew 10:29 says that not one sparrow will ever fall on the ground without the knowledge and consent (permission) and concern of God the Father. Sparrows are important to God! He created them! Who is much more important to the Lord (Matthew 10:31)? If God watches over sparrows, will He not much more take care of your living and dying?
"But the very hairs of your head are numbered" (Matthew 10:30). On the average, the human head has about 140,000 hairs. If you do not believe this, count them for yourself! The Lord knows exactly how many hairs there are on your head! If you were to lose one hair (and several fall off each day), you would think nothing of it! But is God mindful of that hair? Who is more concerned about that hair, you or God? Who is more concerned about the PERSON who lost the hair, you or God? Does God care about you more than you care about yourself? If one of your hairs is important to God, are not you as a PERSON much more important to Him? If God cares about the hairs that you have, do you think He cares about the problems that you have? If He is concerned about your HAIRS, is He not much more concerned about your CARES? Then, why worry?
If we would only believe that GOD CARES, then we would be free from worry. Believers often worry because they foolishly think the Lord does not care. Did the worried disciples think the Lord cared for them (Mark 4:38)? What was their real problem (Mark 4:40)? They had no faith.
3) Why Worry When You Can Pray?
"Be anxious for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN UNTO GOD" (Philippians 4:6).
In this important verse, the Lord first tells us what we must not do, and then He tells us something that we must do:
(1) We Must Not Worry
The believer is not to be CAREFUL (full of worry and care).
Today this word is used in a good sense, and it means "to exercise a healthy care and concern, to be cautious." Example: Young people (and older people) should he very careful about what kind of thoughts find their home in the mind (Phil. 4:8; Phil. 3:l9; Proverbs 23:7; Col. 3:1-2).
The believer is not to be CARELESS (without concern and caution, not thinking or watching what you say or do).
The believer must be CAREFREE (free from worry and unhealthy care).
Philippians 4:6 is a command: "Be worrying about nothing!" In other words, we should not worry at all. To worry about NOTHING means to stop worrying about EVERYTHING!
2) We Must Let Our Requests Be Made Known
Don’t worry, but pray! Let God know about your problems and your needs. Does the Lord already know about these things (Matt. 6:8)? Does He want you to ask Him (Matt. 7:7)? He knows before you ask, but He wants you to ask! He wants you to ask Him to take care of whatever you were worried about.
HOW (in what way) should my requests be made known? Our verse (Philippians 4:6) tells us five ways this is to be done:
1. In Everything
I must worry about nothing, but I must pray about everything. In every situation and circumstance of life I can let my requests be made known. In every problem and difficulty I face, I can ask God to work it out. Prayer can be applied to any problem and to any and every situation.
2. Unto God
Our requests (those things that we ask for) are to be sent in a GODWARD DIRECTION. We must send our requests towards the ONE who can really do something about them. In the middle of our troubles, where can we look for help (Psalm 121:1-2; 124:8)?
If we look in the wrong direction, then we are in trouble. If I look at my broken watch, then I will get all worried. If I look toward the watchmaker who can fix it, then I can relax because I know my watch is in good hands. Should a person look at his broken leg or should he look in the direction of the Doctor?
3. By Prayer
How can I let my requests be made known? Philippians 4:6 says, BY PRAYER! This word "prayer" is used many times in the New Testament (Acts 1:14; 2:42; 6:4; 10:4; 12:5; Rom. 1:9; 12:12; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2,12; 1 Tim. 2:1; 5:5; etc.) and it always means "prayer TO GOD." When a believer prays, they must COME TO GOD, and the person who comes to God "must BELIEVE that He exists" (Hebrews 11:6). Often we pray and we fall to realize WHO IT IS that we are praying to! PRAYER should make a believer GOD-CONSCIOUS and GOD-DEPENDENT:
GOD-CONSCIOUS:
Very Conscious of Who God Is.
Keenly Aware of the Almighty One We Are Praying To.
Deeply Sensitive to God’s Person, Power and Presence.
GOD-DEPENDENT:
I am unable. He is able!
I cannot. He can!
I do not understand. He does!
I am weak. He is strong!
I cannot solve my problems. God has the solution!
4. By Supplication
I must also let my requests be made known BY SUPPLICATION. This word "supplication" involves a person’s NEED. A person with problems has some very real needs. A prayer of supplication is a specific prayer for a specific need. The believer must tell God exactly what his problem is (BE SPECIFIC!). What really is the problem? What is it that you have been worrying about? The Lord wants you to recognize your particular need. When you let your requests be made known to God, BE SPECIFIC! Tell the Lord exactly what is troubling your heart.
5) With Thanksgiving
Prayer without thanksgiving is like a bird without wings; it can never rise to heaven. The giving of thanks is an expression of FAITH. God is able to take care of my problem and He is able to work out whatever I was worried about. I believe this, and therefore I say, "Thank You!" When I really say "Thank You" from my heart, then I really believe that God will work out my problem for His glory and for my good (Romans 8:28).
The cure for worry is PRAYER.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Jackie Bolen: The Lord's Prayer
March 2, 2008
Matthew 6: 5-14
Jackie bolen
The Lord’s Prayer
A couple of weeks ago, Josh was preaching on one of the hardest to understand passages in the entire Bible. And I kind of got the impression that he liked the challenge of it. I’m the opposite kind of person…somewhat lazy and apathetic by nature although I think I hide it pretty well. In general, I will pick the path of least resistance and if something is too hard or too difficult to understand I won’t let it worry me.
So when Josh sent this email around asking for preaching volunteers, I was happy to do it. But…instead of picking the hardest and most difficult passage to understand, I picked what I thought would be the one of the easiest or most familiar: the Lord’s Prayer. Easy stuff. Everyone’s heard of it. I even had it memorized and had been saying it for years. However, as I sat down to start reading about this passage and writing this sermon, it became much harder than I ever had anticipated.
Basically, my difficulty came down to the fact that, prayer as described here in this passage is something I very rarely do. And not that I don’t think it has some value. Obviously the majority of people who follow Jesus would agree that it does. I just have a lot of questions I guess. Maybe like some of you? Maybe you’d like to know some of mine?
1. Do people actually pray these days? Most of my friends don’t really seem to and I know that I struggle with it. Maybe I just hang around with the wrong people, I don’t know. But it’s been a long, long time since I’ve met anyone where prayer was central to what their life was all about in an evident kind of way.
2. Of the people that do pray, does it actually make a difference in their lives? Why do people who claim to pray not really look any different from those who don’t in terms of the outward reality of their lives?
3. Does prayer actually make a difference in our world? Doesn’t God know what this world needs much better than we do even before we ask Him?
4. Isn’t the outward reality of our actions in the world much more important that the inward reality of things like prayer and contemplation? Like feeding the hungry, pursuing justice and equality for all and peace? Am I just too impatient and want to see instant results?
5. And the great debate…Calvin vs. Arminius. John Calvin said that God will do whatever He wishes, whether we pray or not and prayer basically just orients us to God’s will. So why waste our time I guess? But then Jacobus Arminius said that God’s actions towards us are determined by our praying. And there’s evidence of both of these positions within the Bible. It just all seems too confusing.
Anyway, it wasn’t always so complicated for me. Like I actually used to pray a lot. I’d even get up early every morning and spend time reading the Bible and praying in response to what I read. I’d pray with friends and for random people I’d see on the street or on the bus. I’d pray for people I was going to visit and pray for them after I left. I’d have these amazing experiences of listening to God when I went hiking or running by myself. At times, God’s speaking to me has been clear, in an unmistakable kind of way. Jesus was constantly in my thoughts and often still is today. And yet, I don’t really pray in a formal kind of way, like is described in the Lord’s Prayer. Everyday, my thoughts turn to God as I look at creation and I’m amazed. I am becoming a person who is much more honest and letting other people know a lot more about who I really am. Maybe as I let other people into my life, I’m letting God in as well. I’m learning to forgive and experiencing a lot more about God’s forgiveness in the process. I’m trying to be quiet and actually listen to people and help them figure out where God is at work in their lives. Is this even prayer? Am I just lazy? All these things seem kind of passive whereas the Lord’s prayer seems to involve some sort of active action. All these action verbs like “go” and “close the door” and “pray” and “forgive others.” It says in first Thessalonians to pray without ceasing. And praying for our daily bread in this prayer seems to imply that it’s an everyday kind of thing. It makes me feel kind of uneasy. And I wonder if those around me, myself and the world are somehow missing out on something because I don’t really pray in a formal kind of way.
It’s probably enough questions for today: let’s read our passage. (6-9) Matthew 6:5-14.
So it kind of seems to me that a lot of the stuff we do is for external rewards. Like at our jobs, I would have a hard time believing that if your boss is watching you, you wouldn’t work any harder or better than you normally do. Or, with friends and family, we often try to gain the upper hand or make ourselves appear funny or intelligent often at the expense of others. And of course our appearance….putting on our best outfit to go to Church on Sunday. To appear holy? To please God? I don’t really know.
(6) In verse 5, Jesus is critical of those who make private prayer public. The Greek word used for street refers to a major or a wide street where there would have been many people. The street corner where the hypocrites prayed would have had crowds of people gathered around. But not that Jesus is against public prayer, there are many recorded, positive instances of it in the Bible and Jesus himself prayed in front of His disciples. And I don’t really think Jesus is against street corners either. The Jewish people, back when Jesus walked around Palestine would have certain prayers they would pray at certain times of the day, no matter where they were. Actually, the Lord’s prayer is quite similar to one called the 18 Beatitudes, kind of like the short version of it. Anyway, Jewish people would often stand praying, wherever they were, which wasn’t really a big deal even if it was on a street somewhere. The issue seems to be more about the heart: whether it’s to be seen by men or to worship and commune with God.
It kind of reminds me of a story. Back in the Old Testament, a long time ago there was this prophet named Samuel. A prophet is basically someone who speaks for God in an audible kind of way. Anyway, God rejected King Saul because he did some not so good things. So God tells Samuel to go to Jesse and anoint a certain one of his sons as the new King. So Jesse passes 7 of his sons before Samuel and each time Samuel looks at his appearance and thinks he’s the one. But he’s not. Samuel was looking at the outward appearance but God was looking at the heart. Finally, all 7 of the sons don’t make the cut and Samuel asks if there are any more sons who aren’t home. Yes, there is one more, the youngest who is out tending sheep. So he’s summoned home and as it turns out he’s to be the King. Years later, David would be called a man after God’s own heart. You may disagree, but it seems to me that it is almost impossible to please both God and people. So let your praying be pleasing to God: don’t do it for the external rewards you will get from people. No one likes to be used for someone else’s personal gain. I have a feeling God is pretty similar.
Continuing on in verse 6. The word for room that Jesus uses actually refers to an inner room without windows. It’s common usage is for a storage closet and it basically means the most private room of your house . True prayer is an intimate kind of thing, oriented towards God alone as a reflection of a personal kind of relationship. Jesus, prayed with His disciples sometimes but he also went away, alone to pray to His Father.
(7) Verse 7 and 8. Back in the day of Jesus, prayer in Judaism had become ritualized. As in prayers were almost always memorized and could be simply repeated without even being conscious of what was said. Sometimes, they were sped through as fast as possible just to get them over with. Kind of sounds to me like all the prayers that we say before meals, in an embarrassed, get this over with kind of way. And not necessarily better were the pagans of the day who had the idea that God could be manipulated with their words and actions. They repeated certain magic words over and over again, thinking that perhaps their gods didn’t hear them the first hundred times.
This kind of reminds me of another prophet story. So things were looking pretty bad in Israel and Elijah was the only prophet left who was faithful to God. The people were wavering between worshipping God, Baal and Asherah who had 850 prophets. So Elijah set up a challenge on Mt. Carmel and invited all of Israel to come. So he gets two bulls and puts them on altars, one for him and one for the other prophets and the God who answers by lighting it on fire is the true one whom the people of Israel should worship. So these other prophets dance and called on their gods for hours but no response. Finally, Elijah gets tired of it and begins to trash talk them because their gods are so weak and decides to show them who’s boss. So he fills up these huge jars with water and pours them over his bull and the wood just so when the fire lights no one can think he’s playing a trick. Then he says a short prayer and the entire altar and all the water is consumed instantly.
So, there are no magic words or things we can do to manipulate God into doing what we want Him to do. It took me a while to learn that it’s actually about a relationship and just as it would be crazy to coerce and manipulate the people we love in our lives, so it’s just as crazy to expect to be able to do this with God. God is not a vending machine, ready to dispense based on our whims.
Verse 8 leads us to my big question of why we should pray if God knows what we need before we even ask Him? While comforting, I think this verse is kind of annoying. Like I’d be a lot more motivated to pray if it wasn’t in the Bible. I would never claim to actually understand this paradox of why God tells us to pray when He knows everything we need before we ask and I would be suspicious of anyone who claimed to have all the answers. But, maybe it has something to do with prayer being the means by which we admit to God what we need and through this, acknowledge our dependence upon Him. But don’t quote me on it…I’m wary of even writing this down on paper. And since in other places in the Bible, including the very next verse Jesus tells us to pray, we probably should. A bit of mystery and humility about the things of God is something we should be okay.
Moving on to the actual prayer. (8)
Jesus tell us that this is how we should pray. In English, depending on your Bible translation it’s kind of deceptive making it seem like this is exactly the way we should pray. In reality, the meaning is more like we should pray in this manner and use this perhaps as an outline or sketch of how we should pray and that we don’t necessarily have to repeat or babble these words endlessly.
The address of this prayer is to our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be His name. It kind of reminds me of another story. All these people were bringing their babies and young children to Jesus, so that He would put His hands on them and bless them. The disciples told them to go away and stop harassing Jesus. But Jesus said to let the little children come to Him because the Kingdom belonged to them and that everyone else should enter the Kingdom of Heaven like a child would. So it seems pretty appropriate that we would pray to God in this way, coming humbly and respectfully, knowing that our Father loves us. Also, it’s pretty similar to how many Jewish prayers started during the time of Jesus.
Verse 10, about God’s Kingdom is central to this prayer and the concept of God’s Kingdom is in essence, what all of the teachings of Jesus were about. The Kingdom of God is a past, present and future reality in that God himself, in Jesus walked upon this Earth. Today, God’s Spirit is at work in this world and we also look forward to the second coming of Jesus, as described in Revelation 21. So when we pray this prayer, we are praying for Jesus to come again and the Kingdom of god to become fully present. It’s about subverting the present world order in order that God’s order might come. We’re praying for healing for all people, both physically and spiritually. We’re asking that God would act in a real, concrete way to make this world better for all people.
Throughout history, there have been various groups of people who believed that the Kingdom or reign of God could somehow be ushered in through their own efforts. And yet, by understanding the Greek grammar of the Lord’s Prayer it’s obvious that this isn’t possible. The verbs are in the imperative, which in Greek is the most forceful way to tell someone to do something. So, there’s almost a desperation to this prayer. Secondly, the verbs are in the passive voice, which means that it’s only God who is able to do that which we’re asking. It’s not through our own evangelistic efforts or political agendas that God’s Kingdom comes. Our task it to pray and depend upon God for the results. But the paradox is that in other places in the Bible such as in the book of James we’re told that faith without works is dead. So, obviously we’re to love people and do good works but it seems unwise to me to spend a lot of time and mental effort figuring out how this all fits into God’s cosmic plan. So may God’s Kingdom come, both in our own lives and the life of this Church and also for the world as a whole to bring new life and healing.
Let’s move onto the next line, “Give us today our daily bread.” This phrase seems kind of meaningless to most of us I think who are well fed and haven’t really thought about where out next meal is coming from in the context of being able to afford it or not. I know I have the after-Church debate with friends about where to go for lunch but that I never have to look in my wallet and decide if I have enough money to go or not. But did you know that around 25 000 people die everyday from hunger-related illnesses in this world? It actually kind of disturbs me and hopefully you as well. Praying this prayer does 2 things: 1. It acknowledges that everything we have is a gift from God and that it is not inherently ours but we are just caretakers and stewards of this Earth. 2. As caretakers and stewards, we’ve been doing a pretty bad job and hopefully praying this line will remind of us that. And move us to action. As in consuming less so that everyone in this Earth will have enough for their daily bread. We need to share this world’s resources. Maybe we really did learn everything we needed to know in kindergarten. A friend of mine had a bumper sticker that said, “God has blessed the world, some people are just bad at sharing.” It seems that prayer and human activity are tied together in some way and that both are needed.
Verses 12 and 14-15 are closely related and all deal with forgiveness. But not just forgiveness in the sense that we are forgiven for our sins by God but that we need to forgive others as well or this won’t happen. This idea of human forgiveness and God’s forgiveness being tied together is central in Judaism and so Jesus is not introducing a radical, new idea here. But to some of our individualistic, western kind of ears, maybe it sounds this way. A lot of us have the idea that following Jesus is this individual kind of thing. Like Jesus is our best friend and that we accept him into our heart and go from there. But in reality, following Jesus can never be separated from the people around us. If following Jesus has no impact upon the way that you live your life with people, I would question whether you are actually following Jesus at all. Anyway, God loves us and wants to forgive us but in order to experience this we need to forgive people as well. And sometimes this is hard but Jesus for sure and probably at least a few people in this Church are willing to walk with you along this path.
Finally, verse 13. And in case we ever get too confident, thinking that we are strong enough to avoid sin on our own this can remind us that that’s not really the case. Any sense of security we have in our efforts to attain holiness is a false one because in reality it’s through Jesus that we’re made holy. It’s by His grace that we can turn from our sin.
Some final thoughts. It seems to me that this whole praying thing is wrapped up in paradoxes. Like how Jesus tells us to go pray in secret and yet our own forgiveness is wrapped up in our ability to forgive other people. And if you’re supposed to pray in secret why are all the pronouns in the plural form? Or how we should pray for God’s Kingdom to come because our actions can’t make it come any quicker but then how following Jesus involves loving other people. And how God knows what we need but we should ask anyway, for some reason that is not altogether clear. (10) Anyway, I try not to stress about it. I hope you don’t either. One day, things will be much clearer I think and until that day, I’m okay with walking around in this state of somewhat clueless confusion, wondering what this whole following Jesus thing is all about and what impact it actually has upon living my life. And now you’re maybe wondering and perhaps worrying about why I haven’t talked about hiking yet. Don’t worry…I actually believe that no sermon is ever complete without a hiking analogy. Like maybe you’re hiking and it’s been raining all night and you wake up and it’s stopped raining but the forest if filled with fog and mist. So you find the trail and start walking, and even though you can’t see more than a few meters in any direction, you just trust that this trail you’re on will get you towards your destination. And it always does as long as you follow the signs along the way. I kind of see our whole time on Earth as walking in the fog, filled with much confusion and uncertainty but walking towards our goal of knowing Jesus and trusting that one day we’ll get there. Because who really has everything figured out?
It kind of reminds me of another story. So back when Jesus was walking around Israel, there was this man who brought his sick son to the disciples for healing, but the disciples couldn’t heal him. It kind of sounds like the boy had seizures that left him unable to talk. Anyway, Jesus clearly blames the lack of healing on unbelief and wonders out loud how long he should put up with this unbelieving generation. The Father to Jesus says, if you can do anything, help us. Jesus then says everything is possible for one who believes and the father says Lord I believe, help my unbelief and the boy is healed. Maybe that’s kind of the way I think about prayer. Maybe you don’t have it all figured out, like me but you can still do it anyway. I have a feeling it’s a good thing for you and for this world.
Let’s pray the Lord’s prayer together, not as it is traditionally done but more in the way Jesus intended it I think. We’ll use it a framework for your own prayers. I’ll say a line and pause for about a minute. During that time, you can respond to God with your own thoughts and words.
Matthew 6: 5-14
Jackie bolen
The Lord’s Prayer
A couple of weeks ago, Josh was preaching on one of the hardest to understand passages in the entire Bible. And I kind of got the impression that he liked the challenge of it. I’m the opposite kind of person…somewhat lazy and apathetic by nature although I think I hide it pretty well. In general, I will pick the path of least resistance and if something is too hard or too difficult to understand I won’t let it worry me.
So when Josh sent this email around asking for preaching volunteers, I was happy to do it. But…instead of picking the hardest and most difficult passage to understand, I picked what I thought would be the one of the easiest or most familiar: the Lord’s Prayer. Easy stuff. Everyone’s heard of it. I even had it memorized and had been saying it for years. However, as I sat down to start reading about this passage and writing this sermon, it became much harder than I ever had anticipated.
Basically, my difficulty came down to the fact that, prayer as described here in this passage is something I very rarely do. And not that I don’t think it has some value. Obviously the majority of people who follow Jesus would agree that it does. I just have a lot of questions I guess. Maybe like some of you? Maybe you’d like to know some of mine?
1. Do people actually pray these days? Most of my friends don’t really seem to and I know that I struggle with it. Maybe I just hang around with the wrong people, I don’t know. But it’s been a long, long time since I’ve met anyone where prayer was central to what their life was all about in an evident kind of way.
2. Of the people that do pray, does it actually make a difference in their lives? Why do people who claim to pray not really look any different from those who don’t in terms of the outward reality of their lives?
3. Does prayer actually make a difference in our world? Doesn’t God know what this world needs much better than we do even before we ask Him?
4. Isn’t the outward reality of our actions in the world much more important that the inward reality of things like prayer and contemplation? Like feeding the hungry, pursuing justice and equality for all and peace? Am I just too impatient and want to see instant results?
5. And the great debate…Calvin vs. Arminius. John Calvin said that God will do whatever He wishes, whether we pray or not and prayer basically just orients us to God’s will. So why waste our time I guess? But then Jacobus Arminius said that God’s actions towards us are determined by our praying. And there’s evidence of both of these positions within the Bible. It just all seems too confusing.
Anyway, it wasn’t always so complicated for me. Like I actually used to pray a lot. I’d even get up early every morning and spend time reading the Bible and praying in response to what I read. I’d pray with friends and for random people I’d see on the street or on the bus. I’d pray for people I was going to visit and pray for them after I left. I’d have these amazing experiences of listening to God when I went hiking or running by myself. At times, God’s speaking to me has been clear, in an unmistakable kind of way. Jesus was constantly in my thoughts and often still is today. And yet, I don’t really pray in a formal kind of way, like is described in the Lord’s Prayer. Everyday, my thoughts turn to God as I look at creation and I’m amazed. I am becoming a person who is much more honest and letting other people know a lot more about who I really am. Maybe as I let other people into my life, I’m letting God in as well. I’m learning to forgive and experiencing a lot more about God’s forgiveness in the process. I’m trying to be quiet and actually listen to people and help them figure out where God is at work in their lives. Is this even prayer? Am I just lazy? All these things seem kind of passive whereas the Lord’s prayer seems to involve some sort of active action. All these action verbs like “go” and “close the door” and “pray” and “forgive others.” It says in first Thessalonians to pray without ceasing. And praying for our daily bread in this prayer seems to imply that it’s an everyday kind of thing. It makes me feel kind of uneasy. And I wonder if those around me, myself and the world are somehow missing out on something because I don’t really pray in a formal kind of way.
It’s probably enough questions for today: let’s read our passage. (6-9) Matthew 6:5-14.
So it kind of seems to me that a lot of the stuff we do is for external rewards. Like at our jobs, I would have a hard time believing that if your boss is watching you, you wouldn’t work any harder or better than you normally do. Or, with friends and family, we often try to gain the upper hand or make ourselves appear funny or intelligent often at the expense of others. And of course our appearance….putting on our best outfit to go to Church on Sunday. To appear holy? To please God? I don’t really know.
(6) In verse 5, Jesus is critical of those who make private prayer public. The Greek word used for street refers to a major or a wide street where there would have been many people. The street corner where the hypocrites prayed would have had crowds of people gathered around. But not that Jesus is against public prayer, there are many recorded, positive instances of it in the Bible and Jesus himself prayed in front of His disciples. And I don’t really think Jesus is against street corners either. The Jewish people, back when Jesus walked around Palestine would have certain prayers they would pray at certain times of the day, no matter where they were. Actually, the Lord’s prayer is quite similar to one called the 18 Beatitudes, kind of like the short version of it. Anyway, Jewish people would often stand praying, wherever they were, which wasn’t really a big deal even if it was on a street somewhere. The issue seems to be more about the heart: whether it’s to be seen by men or to worship and commune with God.
It kind of reminds me of a story. Back in the Old Testament, a long time ago there was this prophet named Samuel. A prophet is basically someone who speaks for God in an audible kind of way. Anyway, God rejected King Saul because he did some not so good things. So God tells Samuel to go to Jesse and anoint a certain one of his sons as the new King. So Jesse passes 7 of his sons before Samuel and each time Samuel looks at his appearance and thinks he’s the one. But he’s not. Samuel was looking at the outward appearance but God was looking at the heart. Finally, all 7 of the sons don’t make the cut and Samuel asks if there are any more sons who aren’t home. Yes, there is one more, the youngest who is out tending sheep. So he’s summoned home and as it turns out he’s to be the King. Years later, David would be called a man after God’s own heart. You may disagree, but it seems to me that it is almost impossible to please both God and people. So let your praying be pleasing to God: don’t do it for the external rewards you will get from people. No one likes to be used for someone else’s personal gain. I have a feeling God is pretty similar.
Continuing on in verse 6. The word for room that Jesus uses actually refers to an inner room without windows. It’s common usage is for a storage closet and it basically means the most private room of your house . True prayer is an intimate kind of thing, oriented towards God alone as a reflection of a personal kind of relationship. Jesus, prayed with His disciples sometimes but he also went away, alone to pray to His Father.
(7) Verse 7 and 8. Back in the day of Jesus, prayer in Judaism had become ritualized. As in prayers were almost always memorized and could be simply repeated without even being conscious of what was said. Sometimes, they were sped through as fast as possible just to get them over with. Kind of sounds to me like all the prayers that we say before meals, in an embarrassed, get this over with kind of way. And not necessarily better were the pagans of the day who had the idea that God could be manipulated with their words and actions. They repeated certain magic words over and over again, thinking that perhaps their gods didn’t hear them the first hundred times.
This kind of reminds me of another prophet story. So things were looking pretty bad in Israel and Elijah was the only prophet left who was faithful to God. The people were wavering between worshipping God, Baal and Asherah who had 850 prophets. So Elijah set up a challenge on Mt. Carmel and invited all of Israel to come. So he gets two bulls and puts them on altars, one for him and one for the other prophets and the God who answers by lighting it on fire is the true one whom the people of Israel should worship. So these other prophets dance and called on their gods for hours but no response. Finally, Elijah gets tired of it and begins to trash talk them because their gods are so weak and decides to show them who’s boss. So he fills up these huge jars with water and pours them over his bull and the wood just so when the fire lights no one can think he’s playing a trick. Then he says a short prayer and the entire altar and all the water is consumed instantly.
So, there are no magic words or things we can do to manipulate God into doing what we want Him to do. It took me a while to learn that it’s actually about a relationship and just as it would be crazy to coerce and manipulate the people we love in our lives, so it’s just as crazy to expect to be able to do this with God. God is not a vending machine, ready to dispense based on our whims.
Verse 8 leads us to my big question of why we should pray if God knows what we need before we even ask Him? While comforting, I think this verse is kind of annoying. Like I’d be a lot more motivated to pray if it wasn’t in the Bible. I would never claim to actually understand this paradox of why God tells us to pray when He knows everything we need before we ask and I would be suspicious of anyone who claimed to have all the answers. But, maybe it has something to do with prayer being the means by which we admit to God what we need and through this, acknowledge our dependence upon Him. But don’t quote me on it…I’m wary of even writing this down on paper. And since in other places in the Bible, including the very next verse Jesus tells us to pray, we probably should. A bit of mystery and humility about the things of God is something we should be okay.
Moving on to the actual prayer. (8)
Jesus tell us that this is how we should pray. In English, depending on your Bible translation it’s kind of deceptive making it seem like this is exactly the way we should pray. In reality, the meaning is more like we should pray in this manner and use this perhaps as an outline or sketch of how we should pray and that we don’t necessarily have to repeat or babble these words endlessly.
The address of this prayer is to our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be His name. It kind of reminds me of another story. All these people were bringing their babies and young children to Jesus, so that He would put His hands on them and bless them. The disciples told them to go away and stop harassing Jesus. But Jesus said to let the little children come to Him because the Kingdom belonged to them and that everyone else should enter the Kingdom of Heaven like a child would. So it seems pretty appropriate that we would pray to God in this way, coming humbly and respectfully, knowing that our Father loves us. Also, it’s pretty similar to how many Jewish prayers started during the time of Jesus.
Verse 10, about God’s Kingdom is central to this prayer and the concept of God’s Kingdom is in essence, what all of the teachings of Jesus were about. The Kingdom of God is a past, present and future reality in that God himself, in Jesus walked upon this Earth. Today, God’s Spirit is at work in this world and we also look forward to the second coming of Jesus, as described in Revelation 21. So when we pray this prayer, we are praying for Jesus to come again and the Kingdom of god to become fully present. It’s about subverting the present world order in order that God’s order might come. We’re praying for healing for all people, both physically and spiritually. We’re asking that God would act in a real, concrete way to make this world better for all people.
Throughout history, there have been various groups of people who believed that the Kingdom or reign of God could somehow be ushered in through their own efforts. And yet, by understanding the Greek grammar of the Lord’s Prayer it’s obvious that this isn’t possible. The verbs are in the imperative, which in Greek is the most forceful way to tell someone to do something. So, there’s almost a desperation to this prayer. Secondly, the verbs are in the passive voice, which means that it’s only God who is able to do that which we’re asking. It’s not through our own evangelistic efforts or political agendas that God’s Kingdom comes. Our task it to pray and depend upon God for the results. But the paradox is that in other places in the Bible such as in the book of James we’re told that faith without works is dead. So, obviously we’re to love people and do good works but it seems unwise to me to spend a lot of time and mental effort figuring out how this all fits into God’s cosmic plan. So may God’s Kingdom come, both in our own lives and the life of this Church and also for the world as a whole to bring new life and healing.
Let’s move onto the next line, “Give us today our daily bread.” This phrase seems kind of meaningless to most of us I think who are well fed and haven’t really thought about where out next meal is coming from in the context of being able to afford it or not. I know I have the after-Church debate with friends about where to go for lunch but that I never have to look in my wallet and decide if I have enough money to go or not. But did you know that around 25 000 people die everyday from hunger-related illnesses in this world? It actually kind of disturbs me and hopefully you as well. Praying this prayer does 2 things: 1. It acknowledges that everything we have is a gift from God and that it is not inherently ours but we are just caretakers and stewards of this Earth. 2. As caretakers and stewards, we’ve been doing a pretty bad job and hopefully praying this line will remind of us that. And move us to action. As in consuming less so that everyone in this Earth will have enough for their daily bread. We need to share this world’s resources. Maybe we really did learn everything we needed to know in kindergarten. A friend of mine had a bumper sticker that said, “God has blessed the world, some people are just bad at sharing.” It seems that prayer and human activity are tied together in some way and that both are needed.
Verses 12 and 14-15 are closely related and all deal with forgiveness. But not just forgiveness in the sense that we are forgiven for our sins by God but that we need to forgive others as well or this won’t happen. This idea of human forgiveness and God’s forgiveness being tied together is central in Judaism and so Jesus is not introducing a radical, new idea here. But to some of our individualistic, western kind of ears, maybe it sounds this way. A lot of us have the idea that following Jesus is this individual kind of thing. Like Jesus is our best friend and that we accept him into our heart and go from there. But in reality, following Jesus can never be separated from the people around us. If following Jesus has no impact upon the way that you live your life with people, I would question whether you are actually following Jesus at all. Anyway, God loves us and wants to forgive us but in order to experience this we need to forgive people as well. And sometimes this is hard but Jesus for sure and probably at least a few people in this Church are willing to walk with you along this path.
Finally, verse 13. And in case we ever get too confident, thinking that we are strong enough to avoid sin on our own this can remind us that that’s not really the case. Any sense of security we have in our efforts to attain holiness is a false one because in reality it’s through Jesus that we’re made holy. It’s by His grace that we can turn from our sin.
Some final thoughts. It seems to me that this whole praying thing is wrapped up in paradoxes. Like how Jesus tells us to go pray in secret and yet our own forgiveness is wrapped up in our ability to forgive other people. And if you’re supposed to pray in secret why are all the pronouns in the plural form? Or how we should pray for God’s Kingdom to come because our actions can’t make it come any quicker but then how following Jesus involves loving other people. And how God knows what we need but we should ask anyway, for some reason that is not altogether clear. (10) Anyway, I try not to stress about it. I hope you don’t either. One day, things will be much clearer I think and until that day, I’m okay with walking around in this state of somewhat clueless confusion, wondering what this whole following Jesus thing is all about and what impact it actually has upon living my life. And now you’re maybe wondering and perhaps worrying about why I haven’t talked about hiking yet. Don’t worry…I actually believe that no sermon is ever complete without a hiking analogy. Like maybe you’re hiking and it’s been raining all night and you wake up and it’s stopped raining but the forest if filled with fog and mist. So you find the trail and start walking, and even though you can’t see more than a few meters in any direction, you just trust that this trail you’re on will get you towards your destination. And it always does as long as you follow the signs along the way. I kind of see our whole time on Earth as walking in the fog, filled with much confusion and uncertainty but walking towards our goal of knowing Jesus and trusting that one day we’ll get there. Because who really has everything figured out?
It kind of reminds me of another story. So back when Jesus was walking around Israel, there was this man who brought his sick son to the disciples for healing, but the disciples couldn’t heal him. It kind of sounds like the boy had seizures that left him unable to talk. Anyway, Jesus clearly blames the lack of healing on unbelief and wonders out loud how long he should put up with this unbelieving generation. The Father to Jesus says, if you can do anything, help us. Jesus then says everything is possible for one who believes and the father says Lord I believe, help my unbelief and the boy is healed. Maybe that’s kind of the way I think about prayer. Maybe you don’t have it all figured out, like me but you can still do it anyway. I have a feeling it’s a good thing for you and for this world.
Let’s pray the Lord’s prayer together, not as it is traditionally done but more in the way Jesus intended it I think. We’ll use it a framework for your own prayers. I’ll say a line and pause for about a minute. During that time, you can respond to God with your own thoughts and words.
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