When We Pray | Summer on the Mount | Trinity Sermons

Today's reading is taken from the Gospel of Matthew,

Matthew 6:9–13

chapter 6, verses 9 to 13. This, then, is how

you should pray. 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. The word of the Lord. My name is Kyla,

and as Rob said, I am the online engagement director

here. But I'm also going to be unpacking the

Lord's Prayer with you this morning. And so if

you've been around for most of this summer, you

probably know that we have been journeying through

the Sermon on the Mount together. And if you

haven't been here at all for this series yet,

if this is your first Sunday with us, no worries.

I'm really glad that you've joined us today,

and I hope that you have felt welcomed here.

Today, as Rob said, we're going to be wrapping

up our series on the Sermon on the Mount. But

we're not actually going to do that by looking

at the end of the sermon. That's where Sandra

took us last week. But we're going to be diving

right back into the very center of the sermon,

the heart of this sermon. Now, you might remember

that many weeks ago now, Rob referred to the

Sermon on the Mount as Jesus' manifesto of the

kingdom of God. So it's this sermon that teaches

us all about what the kingdom of God is like,

who Jesus is, and who we are called to be as

citizens of that kingdom. And so the Bible Project,

it's a resource that I really like. It breaks

down the Sermon on the Mount into these different

sections, starting with an introduction, and

then three large sections of teaching, and then

a conclusion. And each of those three larger

sections, they've broken down into three smaller

sections. And right in the center of the center

section is the Lord's Prayer. So the Lord's Prayer.

and prayer in general, sits at the very heart

of this sermon, which I think means that it sits

at the very heart of what the kingdom of God

is about. And that means that there's something

really important for us to pay attention to in

the words of this prayer. Now, I'm willing to

bet that almost all of you have heard this prayer

before, even before Kerlin came and read it for

us this morning. We say it almost every week

here at Trinity. You've probably said it before

in other churches. Maybe you've said it before

at home or with your families. And sometimes

that repetition means that words will start to

lose their meaning for us. Now, I hope that the

Lord's Prayer has not lost its meaning for you.

But if it has, if the words are starting to feel

a little bit stale, I just want to ask for the

next few minutes of your attention. And I hope

that God can reignite a fire in you. to sort

of see the beauty and the power of this prayer

as God has been showing me as I prepared to share

with us today. And if you are here and you have

never heard this prayer before in your life,

even better. I am really excited to see how God

gets to speak to you in this time as we learn

to pray this prayer that Jesus taught us. But

before we dive specifically into the Lord's Prayer,

I want us to take some time to think about how

prayer in general works. Because I think once

we understand more about prayer in general, the

words of the Lord's prayer will take on a much

richer meaning for us. Now, when I say that I

want to think about how prayer in general works,

there are a lot of different ways we could go

in this. But I have a very specific angle in

mind. I don't want to wade into the waters of

how prayer gets answered or the ways that our

prayers may or may not influence what God is

doing in the world. Those are really important

topics, but they're for people much smarter than

me to elaborate on and sort of figure out. Instead,

I want us to think about how prayer works in

us. In other words, what happens to us? What

happens to me in my heart and my mind when I

pray in the way that Jesus taught us to pray?

I think something really powerful happens. Because

prayer isn't just about words that we are saying

to God. Prayer actually opens up a space for

us to collaborate with God. To share our heart

with God and to have God's heart revealed to

us. Prayer, if we do it in a posture of humility

and willingness to respond, actually changes

something in us. Through prayer, God shapes us.

And God calls us. To illustrate what I mean,

I want to share a little bit of my story with

you. So in the same year that I graduated from

high school, my parents moved from Nova Scotia

to New Brunswick, so to another sort of province

away. And while that didn't impact my day -to

-day life very much, because I had also moved

to attend university, it did mean that when I

went to go visit my family, I wasn't actually

going home. And that was really hard for me.

It was really disorienting to go to a new house

and a new church in a city that I didn't really

know, six hours away from the place where I had

grown up. And I was really angry about it. And

when I took that anger to God, God led me to

Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 7, which says this.

Jeremiah 29:7

Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to

which I have carried you into exile. Pray to

the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you

too will prosper. Now, I understand there is

a big difference between the Israelites living

in exile in the land of their enemies and me

living in Fredericton with my parents. Fredericton

is actually a very nice city you should all go

visit sometime. But I took these words to Jeremiah

to heart. And reluctantly at first, I began to

pray for this place where I found myself spending

spring and summer breaks. At first, those prayers

were kind of vague, praying for those few people

that I knew, or praying for the names of local

leaders whose names I could Google, praying for

the church that my family attended. But over

time, I found myself wanting to learn more, and

my prayers became more specific. And I found

myself naturally praying for this city and these

situations that I was learning about. Over the

years, I have lived in Fredericton off and on,

and I've had the privilege of working with some

churches there. And I strongly believe that the

foundation of that work and the seeds of the

communities that I became part of were planted

through my prayers. Not because I think that

my prayers actually changed much in terms of

what was happening in the city or the churches

that I would later become part of, but because

through prayer, I came to love a place that I

had previously written off. Through prayer, God

formed my heart to break for the things that

break God's heart and to rejoice over the things

that God rejoices over. And through prayer, God

called me to partner with God and others in the

work of the kingdom in that specific time and

place. And God uses prayer in this way all the

time. You might be able to think of an example

in your own life where during a time of prayer

you felt your heart soften a little bit. And

you felt compassion towards a person or situation

that you had been struggling with. Or maybe you

can think of a time of prayer when you felt like

God really wanted you to step out and to do something.

In scripture, Jesus prayed and then called the

twelve disciples. Elijah prayed on a mountain

and then was empowered to stand up against the

evil rulers of his day. And Mary's prayers carried

her through the ups and downs of her life as

Jesus' mother. God works through our prayers

not just to answer them, but to do something

in us. And I don't think it's actually a huge

surprise that prayer works in this way, especially

if we make it a habit. Just like any habit shapes

our lives. So if you go for a run every day,

that will improve your fitness and your endurance.

If you sit around every evening and doom scroll

social media, that will change your brain chemistry.

In the same way, setting aside regular time for

prayer changes us. So then, how does the Lord's

Prayer change us? What does this prayer actually

tell us about what Jesus is like and who we should

be as his followers? And what does God call us

to do through the words of this prayer? That's

what I want us to spend some time unpacking together

this morning. Quick word about the structure

of the prayer as we answer those questions. So

the Lord's Prayer, as it's presented in scripture,

has two main sections. So the first one goes

something like this. Our Father in heaven, hallowed

be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be

done, on earth as it is in heaven. In broad strokes,

this section is all about the big picture. It's

about praying for God to come and to work on

the earth in powerful ways. And contrary to how

I have sometimes thought about this section,

it's not just like a prelude to the actual prayer.

And it's not just this part where we say some

really nice things about God so that God will

do what we want when we get to part number two.

This is actually something that's really powerful

for us to pray. And then we get to part two,

where it goes something like this. Give us today

our daily bread. And forgive us our sins or our

debts or our trespasses. As we forgive those

who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation.

But deliver us from evil. So the first section

takes this aerial shot. And the second section

is like the close up. It draws our attention

to the daily stuff of life. And it asks God to

guide us and provide for us in some really important

ways. Now. If you're familiar with this prayer,

you might be saying, well, Kyla, what about the

last part of this prayer? The part that goes

something like, for thine is the kingdom, the

power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. That

is also an important part of this prayer, but

it's actually not likely original to Jesus or

to the gospels of Matthew and Luke, the other

place in scripture that we find this prayer.

The earliest written manuscripts of these gospels

end the prayer after deliver us from evil. And

the first place in written history that we see

this last sort of line show up is in what's known

as the Didache. The Didache is an ancient Christian

manual that was composed sometime before 300

AD. So it's this book that tells us all about

what the early church was like. It gives them

instructions for how to live as followers of

Jesus in their context. And it's there in this

Christian manual or this Christian handbook that

we read this. As the Lord commanded in his gospel,

thus pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed

be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

as in heaven, so also upon earth. Give us today

our daily bread and forgive us our debt as we

forgive our debtors. And lead us not into trial,

but deliver us from evil. For thine is the power

and the glory forever. So some later copies of

the Gospels of Matthew and Luke then also include

this line, perhaps partially because it became

part of the sort of oral tradition of the church.

And we can see in some of Paul's letters that

he adds these sort of benedictions to prayers

as well. It was a pretty common practice. But

regardless of whether this line was originally

part of the Lord's Prayer and originally said

by Jesus or added later, I think it's safe to

say that although it's not going to be the focus

of our time together today, it's still a really

valuable part of the prayer and a really valuable

part of church tradition. So, now that we understand

the structure of the prayer, we can start to

dive into the words themselves and explore how

God might be shaping and calling us through this

prayer that Jesus gave us. And actually, the

very first word of the prayer sets us up in a

really important way. The first word is our,

our Father. And what that signals to me is that

this prayer isn't primarily meant to be prayed

alone. The entire prayer uses plural language,

our and us. And it does this because Jesus intended

that the disciples would pray this prayer together

as a group. Now, I don't think that that means

we should never pray it alone. But it does mean

that there's something really meaningful to be

gleaned from praying this prayer together. as

a group of people learning to follow Jesus together.

Praying in this way reminds us that we are not

alone in our pursuit of the kingdom of God. We

are part of a larger community of disciples,

whether we like it or not, whether we all get

along with each other or not. This larger community

of disciples, bigger than even just this church,

is really diverse. It's a community of people

who are different from us in lots of ways. People

who irritate us, people who hurt us, people that

we don't always understand, and people who will

believe some things differently than us. But

all of this is the church. The people that we

have the least in common with are the ones who

pray beside us and for us, just as we pray beside

and for them. So when I ask God to give me my

daily bread, I'm not just asking for myself.

I'm actually asking for God to give us our daily

bread. I don't get to ask for my needs without

an eye to the whole community of Christ. Asking

God to meet your needs and mine, to meet our

needs together. The provision of my daily bread

is wrapped up in yours, and your forgiveness

is bound together with mine. We come before God

as a community, setting aside our squabbles and

our differences to pursue the kingdom of God

together on earth as it is in heaven. Now, if

you've been around the church long enough, you've

maybe experienced some disappointment, frustration,

or heartbreak at the hands of other followers

of Christ. I know that I have. And I don't want

to dismiss that. It's important for that pain

to be healed. And sometimes it's necessary for

boundaries to be set. But that pain, no matter

how big, cannot become an excuse for opting out

of the community of Christ. Take a step back

from certain roles or groups or individuals,

sure. But don't take a step back from Christ.

And ultimately, the call to Christ is a call

into community. We can't follow Jesus if we're

trying to do it all alone. We need each other.

So that's our. And that's just the first word

of this prayer. But don't worry, I'm not going

to spend that much time on every word. We will

get done in time for our second service to start.

The hour is pretty specific in its focus. It's

talking about the followers of Jesus, the people

who are praying this prayer. But the prayer as

a whole is much more broad. We pray that God's

kingdom would come on earth, across the whole

world. not just our little community or our country

or the people that we like, across the whole

world. We're praying for God to do something

global. And so in this first section, God shapes

us by fixing our eyes on God and the work that

God wants to do in the world, leaving the particular

concerns of my life on the back burner just for

now. The three basic requests in this first section

are that God's name would be hallowed or would

be understood as holy, that God's kingdom would

come, and that God's will would be done. And

the context for all three of these requests is

the earth, that each request would be fulfilled

on earth as it is in heaven. And those are huge

requests. God's name. God's kingdom, God's will

are so much bigger than we can possibly grasp.

And yet, thankfully, God gives us little pictures

of what they look like throughout scripture,

and in particular, throughout the life of Jesus.

We see God's name honored when Jesus cleanses

the temple to remove all of the price gouging

and the distractions that prevent people from

entering into worship. We see God's kingdom.

through all of the miracles that Jesus performs,

from feeding the hungry, to healing the sick,

to raising the dead. And we see God's will manifest

throughout the entire life of Jesus, but in particular

when Jesus prays in Gethsemane for God's will

to be done, and then follows that will, despite

the cost, all the way to the cross. This is the

stuff that we're praying for when we open the

Lord's Prayer. For unjust systems to be overturned.

For healing to take place. For needs to be met.

For life to come out of death. That's really

big stuff. It's bigger than anything that we

could possibly do. And it requires God. And yet,

the beauty of the story of scripture is that

God chooses to do this big daunting work in partnership

with humanity. Jamie Arpanrici, a community leader

and author in Winnipeg, writes that implicit

in each of these petitions is a call for our

submitted participation in God's response. It's

an affirmation that while no human effort could

ever make God's name holy or bring about his

kingdom or accomplish his will, by his spirit,

he has chosen us as his instruments in bringing

them about, if only in part. We have an important

role to play in answering this prayer. The Bible

Project founders Tim Mackey and John Collins

compare this part of the prayer to an athlete

who's talking to their coach. So imagine that

an athlete goes to their coach and they say,

Hey coach, may your team be the best team and

may your name be honored when we win the championships.

Now, that's a very nice thing to say. But of

course the coach will look then at the athletes

and say something like, Great, go work hard.

Do your training and make sure that that happens.

Of course the coach is involved, and without

good coaching, that team will fail. But the athletes

themselves have a critical role in making these

things come about. If they don't train and work

hard and listen to the instructions of their

coach, then their words are meaningless. Now,

I think this metaphor is a little bit limited

because I don't think God actually needs us in

order to accomplish God's will. But nevertheless,

God chooses to work with us. And so we have an

active role to play in ushering in the kingdom

of God. And in that way, even as these words

remind us that the things we long for are beyond

our ability, God uses these words to call us

into action. So what does that action look like?

I think that's where the second half of this

prayer comes in. While the first section, as

I said, takes this aerial shot, the second section

zooms in on the particular concerns of our lives

here and now. Our daily bread, our relationships

with God and others, our challenges and the temptations

that we face. And what this says to me is that

the kingdom of God isn't just about the spiritual

stuff, and it's not just about hoping for good

things to come someday. It's also, and importantly,

about the real stuff of life. And in light of

the fact that we are formed into a community

and called into partnership with God, we ought

to care very much about the real stuff of our

lives and our neighbors' lives right here and

right now. And the first step to caring about

this real stuff is admitting to God and to one

another that we have needs. That might sound

pretty basic, but in a culture that places a

high value on individualism and self -sufficiency,

admitting our needs can be surprisingly difficult.

Sometimes I think it's easier to admit our needs

to God, at least when we're talking about some

of the physical things. Most of us can readily

pray for our food or for healing or for financial

difficulties that we're facing. We've sort of

been taught that that's the stuff of prayers.

Those are the things that we bring to God, right?

But what about those more spiritual or intangible

needs? Our need for forgiveness or our need for

wisdom and guidance? Are you just as ready to

come before God and admit when you have messed

things up and need to be set right? Are you ready

to come to God and say, I don't actually know

where I'm supposed to go. Because those are also

an integral part of this prayer. We pray for

forgiveness, but in order to do that, we need

to admit that we need it. We need to come before

God saying that we have made the wrong choice,

and that we need God to cleanse us and set us

on our feet again. And we pray, asking God to

keep us from temptations, to deliver us from

evil. But again, this requires us to admit our

weakness before God. To ask God to keep us from

trials and to deliver us from evil is essentially

asking for God to protect us from the things

that we know will cause us to stumble. To spare

us from the tests of life. To have the wisdom

to choose the right thing even when we don't

know what to do. We ask God for all of that because

we know that if we are left on our own, we don't

actually have the strength and the wisdom to

do it. We will likely succumb to the easy answers,

even when those answers are in opposition to

the kingdom of God, rather than working in partnership

with God. And so we come before God and we admit

that we all have needs. But the Lord's Prayer

also calls us to come to one another and admit

our needs. I don't just need God's forgiveness.

I need yours. And if the provision of my daily

bread is wrapped up in yours, then sometimes

I will have to come to you and admit that I don't

have enough bread. And that, at least for me,

is where it gets a little bit more scary. It's

one thing to tell God that I am broken and needy.

It's a whole other thing to say that out loud

to the person sitting across from me. And yet,

that's the way that community works. is the calling

of Christ. We don't get to do the Christian life

alone. We need one another, and that means we

need to admit our needs to one another. We need

to come to one another and honestly admit the

places where we have been hurt and where we have

hurt other people, whether intentionally or not.

And then we need to admit that we need the grace

and mercy of God from one another. Because without

it, there is no hope of becoming the kind of

community that Christ has called us to be. Admitting

our needs is a scary, vulnerable thing to do.

Which is why it's so important that the other

calling that comes through this prayer is mutuality.

We aren't just called to come to one another

and admit our needs. We're actually then called

to meet those needs for one another in partnership

with God. As I said before, I don't get to ask

for my daily bread without also asking for your

daily bread. And that means that if I have more

than enough bread for today, that bread doesn't

actually belong to me. It's a gift given to me

by God to be shared with you. And in case it

wasn't clear, I'm not just talking about bread

here. Yeah, it's our daily food and our material

needs, our housing, our clothing, water, health

care. But it's also all of that stuff that keeps

us going and that makes life worth living. Love,

hope, peace, faith. We need to share those things

with one another too. To offer the hope that

I have to another when I see them feeling hopeless.

We ask God to give us, not just me, not just

you, but to give all of us together. Everything

that we need to be a community that embodies

the kingdom of God. And that includes both the

physical stuff that we need to keep us alive

and the care for one another that carries us

through the ups and downs of life. And I think

that's why Jesus can transition so smoothly between

asking for bread and asking for forgiveness.

Because it's not just about the physical stuff.

It's about all that we need. And all that we

need... comes as a gift from God that shapes

us and calls us to share that gift with others.

I can't ask God for something that I am not willing

to offer to you. Because the truth is, it's all

God's anyway. Whether we are talking about our

daily bread or our grace, we do not have a right

to any of it. It is all God's. Freely you have

received, now freely give. Or as John says, we

love because God first loved us. The love and

grace of God is an incredible gift, but just

like bread, it's not meant for hoarding. It's

a gift that we receive directly from God, but

that miraculously becomes even greater when we

choose to share it with another. So can you see

the challenge and the beauty of this prayer?

This is not the kind of thing that we say quietly

with our hands nicely folded as our minds wander

off to the next thing on our to -do list. If

we take this prayer seriously, we see that Jesus

is calling us to wholehearted discipleship that

reshapes our entire lives. That calls us into

a messy community of faith where we put God first,

we admit our needs, And we care deeply for one

another using all that God has given us. Dr.

David Niranje, a theologian, activist, and bishop

in Uganda, wrote this. To pray these simple sentences

is a commitment to dismantle the current political

and social order of inequality and violence.

And to seek a path where all have access to the

table. It's a commitment. that we make before

God and one another, that then calls us into

action to seek that path that brings all to the

table. That, my friends, is the shape and calling

of the prayer that Jesus gave us. Coming together

as a community formed by Christ to do the work

of Christ in a broken world through the power

of Christ. May God use this prayer to work in

our lives and in our world. Thanks be to God.