FIRST READING Genesis 18:17-33
17The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” 20Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” 22So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
PSALM Psalm 138
1 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I will sing your praise. 2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and praise your Name, because of your love and faithfulness; 3 For you have glorified your name and your word above all things. 4 When I called, you answered me; you increased my strength within me. 5 All the kings of the earth will praise you, O Lord, when they have heard the words of your mouth. 6 They will sing of the ways of the Lord, that great is the glory of the Lord. 7 Though the Lord be high, he cares for the lowly; he perceives the haughty from afar. 8 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe; you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your right hand shall save me. 9 The Lord will make good his purpose for me; O Lord, your love endures forever; do not abandon the works of your hands.
SECOND READING Colossians 2:6-19
6Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. 16Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
GOSPEL Luke 11:1-13
1Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread, 4and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” 5And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Have you ever wondered, even just a little, that with all the things the disciples could have asked Jesus for, that they would ask Him to teach them how to pray? My guess is, that since they knew Jesus prayed often and saw the results of those prayers, they realized that one way to please the Father in heaven was through prayer. So the disciples, wanting to please God, asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.
The Lord’s Prayer, as we have come to know it, is a prayer the majority of us learned from our youth. Yet how many of us, aside from confirmation, ever stop and take the time to actually analyze the prayer that our Lord taught His disciples? On the surface it seems like such a simple prayer, yet when you break it down you’ll find it contains seven separate petitions. As a side note, the prayer we pray each Sunday is a bit different than the one found here in our reading.
If we look closely at our gospel lesson for this morning, you’ll notice that the prayer here in Luke, and also found in Matthew chapter 6, is missing the ending that we include today. To distinguish the difference between the two, the prayer in the gospels is known as the “Our Father,” and the prayer we pray that includes the ending is the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer, we use today, was written about the same time as the Gospels. The gospel of Luke was written sometime between 63 and 70 AD, and the Didache, which is the earliest known manuscript to contain the Lord’s Prayer to include the ending, has been dated to sometime between 65 and 80 AD. The Didache was rediscovered in the late 19th century by Archbishop Bryennios and was published in 1883. Of course the Lord’s Prayer contains the prayer our Lord taught to His disciples and contains the closing recognizing God as the ultimate power in our world.
And since Jesus command was to pray in this manner, then the ending, I think, is appropriate, because it gives God the praise and glory He deserves. Christ also gave us a tremendous promise in Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” And with this promise before us, let’s take a look at how the Lord taught us to pray. The first of the seven petitions is, Our Father in heaven, hollowed be your name.
Looking at Luther’s large catechism, we read that a great need exists that we should to be concerned about. This need is that the name of the Lord is to be honored and esteemed as holy. We as God’s children should pray that His name be kept holy here on earth, as it is holy in heaven. And since we know that God’s name is reverenced in heaven, the relevant question for us today is, how do we keep God’s name holy here on earth?
According to Luther, we accomplish this through our doctrine and our lives as godly children that we may give Him the praise and honor that is due Him. Luther continues by saying that we should conduct the whole of our lives in a manner in which God’s name is not profaned by our words, works or acts. Our whole life needs to be a reflection of God in us. However, God’s name is not honored when, we as his children, speak, preach or teach in a manner that is false or misleading. Nor is it honored when we swear, curse, conjure or live openly wicked lives as adulterers, drunkards, misers, enviors, or slanders. By behaving in this manner, we grossly abuse the name of God.
It also brings dishonor to God when His children receive all His blessings and yet live in a manner that causes others to think they are the children of the devil rather then the children of God. When we pray that God’s name be made holy, we’re praying that we also keep the second commandment that God’s name not be taken in vain through swearing, cursing, lying nor deceit. Instead, God’s name should only be used to bring Him the honor and glory that is due Him. Furthermore, we’re to pray that God’s name be made holy with a right heart since this is pleasing to God. The 2nd petition of this wonderful prayer is Your kingdom come.
As children and heirs to His kingdom, we pray for it to come for two reasons. First is in anticipation of the Second Coming of Christ when all that have been saved, by His grace, will inherit the reward that God has set aside for His children. And second, we also pray for the kingdom of God that is now among us. We pray that His kingdom, in the here and now, will be effective in and through us so that God may receive the honor and glory and that the gospel of Christ will be shared with all. We also pray that the kingdom of the prince of this world, satan, would be put down so that the forces of the devil will not have any power over us.
We pray that this will be accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit that teaches us all truths and strengthens us. As Christ taught us in Matthew chapter 6 verse 33, we’re to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first, and all these things will be added unto us. The third petition in the Lord’s Prayer is that God’s will be done on earth as it’s done in heaven.
So far we’ve prayed that God’s name and His kingdom will be honored among us. Therefore, it’s important that we pray that God’s name be honored and made holy so that the devil will be overcome and that God’s kingdom among us will be praised as well. Thus, it’s important that we pray that God’s will be accomplished in us and through us.
It’s God’s will that none should perish but that all who believe and confess their sins be saved. Again, this is accomplished through us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, as we share the good news with others. In this God’s will is accomplished and He receives the glory. Yet the devil stands in the way and presses us to sin and ignore God and His will for us. But when we pray that God’s will be accomplished, the devil is hindered and its God’s will that’s done. In the fourth petition, we pray for God to provide for us our daily bread.
For Luther, this petition doesn’t simply have to do with food for the body, but we’re asking that God will supply all of our daily needs as well as food for the soul. We pray not only that our daily needs will be met, but that all the things that would hinder us be removed. Philippians 4:6 says: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And it doesn’t end here, we need to consider this petition more fully and take to its fullest logical conclusion.
For example, when we pray for our daily dietary needs, we’re also praying for those that grow and package our food. Not only that, we’re also praying for the shippers and suppliers that they may prosper and be able to provide these needs. We must also pray for our employer and the company for which we work. In today’s rocky economy, many are experiencing changes in schedules, layoffs, cutbacks in hours and job elimination. It’s important that we remember those for whom we work.
And just as important, we need to be praying for our country and the government, that our elected officials, as well as the ones we will soon elect, will seek God’s wisdom when making decisions that affect not only our lives, but also the lives of our neighbors. It’s amazing, that in this small petition, we’re not only praying for ourselves, but for countless others, whom we depend upon, that God blesses them in order that we be supplied our daily needs. Are you beginning to see the brilliance and depth of this small prayer? The fifth petition has to do with forgiveness.
This is probably the most troublesome petition for us to pray: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. First, this is an important petition since none of us are free from sin except by the grace of God. Jesus paid the price on the cross that we should be required to pay, but God instead gave His only Son to atone for us and pay the price for sin once, for all. (1 Pet. 3:18) We pray for forgiveness so that we may recognize God’s forgiveness and accept His grace. As Jesus prayed, although we are in this world with its sins and temptations, nevertheless, because God loves us and provided a way for our escape, we’re not of this world. (John 17:14-15)
Also by praying for forgiveness, we remember we that we are all forgiven sinners and cannot boast of our own works or piety. For if God were to stop forgiving, we would all quickly be lost. It’s also through praying for forgiveness that we obtain the peace in our hearts from the certain knowledge of us being reconciled to the Father. But what about the second half, the troublesome part of this petition, the part about our need to forgive others?
Some people errantly think the second part of this petition is an elective; something we can chose to do or not to do. They conclude that since we are sinful creatures by nature that forgiveness of others is optional. Well guess what, it isn’t. In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus said, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.” Since God has chosen not to hold our wrongs against us, we too should be just as quick to forgive others that have wronged us. The bottom line here is that we’re left without a choice: We must be as forgiving as God. That sure takes the fun out of holding grudges doesn’t it? As God’s forgiven children, we must forgive others! It’s not an option. The 6th petition in the Lord’s Prayer is to keep us from temptation.
Because the things of this world are constantly there to tempt us to sin, we pray that God will assist us and keep the devil and his empty promises from causing us to yield to the trials and temptations that avail themselves each day. Temptations come to us in three ways. First is in the flesh that incites us to unchastely, laziness, gluttony, drunkenness, greed and deceptiveness. The second way temptation comes to us is the temptations of this world. These can lead us to anger, impatience, hatred, slander, pride, vengeance and haughtiness. Sounds a lot like the list of seven deadly sins we talked about a couple of weeks ago huh! The third temptation is from Satan.
Satan’s main goal is to incite us to disregard the Word and works of God in order to deprive us of faith, hope and love and to bring us into unbelief, to blaspheme and to deny God. We pray the Lord’s Prayer asking God to grant us the strength we need to resist the devil and all his enticements, because we know that none of us are capable, on our own, to resist the temptations of this world. It’s only by God’s help, that we’re able to overcome. Our final petition is to deliver us from evil.
The Greek text here reads, to preserve us from evil. Here we pray that God will spare us the effects of the evil that is in this world, poverty, sickness, shame, death and all the things that would deprive us of the blessings of God. Paul tells us in I Thessalonians 5:16-18 to, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” And Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:7, “When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think 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.” If indeed God knows our needs, even before we ask, why then do we need to even ask? The answer is found not only in the second half of our gospel reading, about the persistent neighbor, but also in the parable of the woman and the unjust judge in Luke 18.
Yes, God knows what we need even before we ask, however, the more relevant question is do we? Someone, sometime back, asked me this question since they had been praying for something for some time. My initial response was that God is perfect and so is His timing, therefore God answers prayers when the time is right according to His perfection. However, after I had prayed and thought about it for a while, I came up with a few more possibilities. I say possibilities since the Bible doesn’t specifically answer this question for us.
First, have you ever thought you needed something and prayed earnestly for it, only to find out that what you were praying for isn’t what you needed at all? Sometimes this is God’s answer. He reveals to us that what we’re praying for is the wrong thing. In actuality, if God were to grant us our request, it might be of more harm than good. This, of course, brings us to a second realization: have you ever prayed for something only to find out later you really didn’t want nor need it? Again God reveals this to us as an answer to our prayers. Finally, praying for the things we need repeatedly, helps to increase our patience and faith. Both patience and faith come to us in time. If God were to give us everything the instant we ask, how would we ever learn patience and how would our faith ever be tested? God’s will for us and His plan for our lives is perfect, all we have to do is place our faith and trust in Him.
Amazing isn’t it? The prayer the Lord taught us on the surface seems so simple, yet when you take the time to break it down, we see a depth and wisdom that can only come from God in those few words. Over the next few weeks, I encourage you to take time to think about this prayer that the Lord taught us and then read Luther’s writings on the Lord’s Prayer in his Large Catechism. You can easily find it by searching for the Large Catechism on the internet. Luther’s commentary is only 11 pages long, but, as I’ve shared some of it with you this morning, it’s full of thought provoking wisdom. And if you’ll take the time to study and ponder the depth of this prayer, I promise you’ll never pray it the same ever again.
Amen.