1.
Please pray with
me. May the words of my mouth and the
meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our
Redeemer. Amen. On Ash Wednesday, we introduced the overall
theme for this year’s Lenten worship, “The Lord’s Prayer: A Prayer for All
Seasons.” I noted then that the Lord’s Prayer is prayed at the bedside of the
ill and dying. As a
Pastor, it’s truly an amazing thing to see even people on their deathbed, who
may have forgotten many things in their lives, still remember to pray the
Lord’s Prayer with me. You see, almost all of us know the Lord’s Prayer. And
that’s good! These are times to pray and specifically to pray the Lord’s
Prayer, because, “The Lord’s Prayer Is
for Our Seasons of Seeking God’s Will.”
2.
In our weekly
prayer list here at church we have seen some answers to prayer over the years.
To some we haven’t yet. To some we may
never know this side of heaven. But we do know that sometimes we pray for one
thing and something entirely different happens. We’ve sometimes prayed for
miraculous healing. Sometimes we’ve prayed for our loved ones to depart in
peace. And we’ve prayed for everything in between. Always when we pray the
Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.” For whatever and however and whenever we
prayed, the Spirit took those prayers and sent them straight to the Father, who
heard them with love and compassion and the promise.
3.
Our sermon series
on the Lord’s Prayer reminds me of some youngsters thoughts on prayer. Here are some of them. The preacher's 5-year-old daughter
noticed that her father always paused and bowed his head for a moment
before starting his sermon. One day, she asked him why. "Well,
Honey," he began, proud that his daughter was so observant of his
messages. "I'm asking the Lord to
help me preach a good sermon." "How come He doesn't answer it?" she
asked. Here’s another one.
A Pastor said to a bright six-year-old boy, "So your mother says your prayers for you
each night? That's very commendable. What does she say?" The little boy replied, "Thank God he's in bed!" And,
one final one. During the
minister's prayer one Sunday, there was a loud whistle from one of the
back pews. Tommy's mother was horrified. She pinched him
into silence and, after church, asked, "Tommy, whatever made you do such a thing?" Tommy answered soberly, "I asked God to teach me to whistle, and He
did!"
4.
We know that
God’s perfect will for us is always done. But I’m not sure we’re always
satisfied with that, with thy will, that is God’s Will, being done. Why not? We know how this Third Petition goes
. . . but maybe we forget. Say it with me again: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Ah, that last part. The
reason we don’t always want God’s will to be done is because there’s something
“on earth” that’s different from “as it is in heaven.”
5.
There’s a theme
throughout these services—that, the Lord, as he was teaching this very special
prayer for all seasons, was thinking ahead to the cross. With this petition,
that’s obvious. In the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus was about to begin in
earnest the hours of unspeakable suffering and then dying, He bowed on his
knees before the Father and prayed not once but three times, “Remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not
my will but thine be done.”
6.
The will of the
Father in heaven was that the Son suffer and die as full payment for the sins
of the world. That’s what had to happen on earth. And in the fullness of his
humanity, as he lay prostrate in the garden, Jesus was dreading the enormity of
the pain and vicarious punishment he was about to endure for our sake. The
taunting of the soldiers. The kiss of betrayal by his disciple Judas. The
desertion by his dear disciples. The desertion by his dear Father, leaving him
to carry alone all the horrors of every sin, every torture Satan could dream
up. Father, remove those cups! Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done—on
earth as it is in heaven.
7.
Somehow, Jesus
did truly want God’s will to be done. That was because Jesus is “as it is in heaven.” What does that mean? What is it about Jesus
that’s the way things are in heaven and so different from the way things are on
earth? Why is the good and gracious will of God done in heaven, but we have to
pray for it to be done on earth—and why don’t we always like it?
8.
This petition is
said in seasons of desperation, of longing for loved ones, of the need for
healing, for direction, for trying to figure out why bad stuff happens. It’s
also said in seasons when faith becomes stagnant, we become distracted by
immediacies of life, and our relationship with the Lord takes a backseat, when
our worship becomes hit-or-miss or dull, our stewardship of all the Lord has
entrusted to us is misguided and stingy, when we’ve become so self-focused that
needs of others go unnoticed.
9.
All that’s earth,
not heaven. And what’s different about earth is expressed in the way Luther in
the catechism explains how God’s will is done: “God’s will is done when he breaks and hinders every evil plan and
purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to
hallow God’s name or let his kingdom come.” In heaven, there’s no devil, no
world, no sinful nature.
10.
Jesus prayed, “Thy will be done”—and meant it—because
he had no sinful nature. And he knew that the devil and the world would be once
and for all defeated—by God’s very will, God’s plan, which was Jesus’ death. This side of heaven, we’ll struggle with
that. We do have a sinful nature—which is why we don’t always want God’s will
to be done. But Christ by his cross has broken the power of the devil, and
thus, in answer to our prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, Third Petition, God will
continue to break and hinder every plot of the devil, the world, and even our
sinful nature—which doesn’t like God’s will one bit.
11.
Oh, and there’s
also this will of God in heaven, which he works already on earth: “when he strengthens and keeps us firm in his
Word and faith until we die. This is his good and gracious will.” You can’t
get any clearer and more pointed than that. The will of the Father is for us to
be like the people in heaven were when they were alive on this earth—faithful
unto death, confessing Jesus as Savior. And
so it was on that hillside that the Lord taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment