The Lord's Prayer Part 3-Name, Kingdom, Will

So far we've covered 2 words in The Lord's Prayer: "Our Father." We discussed the intimate term of Abba, Papa that is used of God... a word close to our word, "Daddy." The following words, "Which art in heaven" make it clear that it is not our biological daddy we're referring to. The words, "Our daddy in Heaven" point clearly to the fact that God is both intimate and transcendent. He is our daddy, yet He is high and lifted up and rides upon the cloud. All of the power of Almighty God must not be ignored when we are close enough to lean on His chest and hear His heartbeat. He is our Daddy. And He is the All Powerful King of the Universe. The next few lines of the prayer tend to be misunderstood or not understood at all. Still, I believe these lines to be of monumental importance because they outline God’s desire and the church’s mission. Matthew 6: 19bOur Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 
 10your kingdom come, 
 your will be done 
 on earth as it is in heaven. The Lord’s Prayer is the central prayer of the Christian faith. When Jesus’ disciples asked to be taught to pray He taught them this prayer. Now some 2000 years later we say the prayer corporately, privately and many use it as an outline to expound upon during prayer time. At the risk of being redundant, Jesus was a Jew. And there was a specific prayer that was (and is) central to the Jewish faith in much the same way that the Lord’s Prayer is central to Christianity. This prayer is called Shemoneh Esreh, meaning ‘18’ as it consists of 18 requests. Sometimes it is called Tefillah, which simply means ‘prayer’. The Tefillah can be prayed in 5-10 minutes depending on one’s fluency in Hebrew. It was part of the morning, midday and evening services in the synagogue. Jesus knew this prayer well and prayed it regularly. The prayer that Jesus taught His disciples incorporates elements of the Tefillah. One place where Jesus’ prayer echoes the Tefillah is in the ‘hallowed be your name’ clause. The Tefillah reads: “We will hallow Your name in the world as it is hallowed in the Highest Heavens” One notable difference is that the Tefillah points out who will do the hallowing (the Jews) as opposed to the Lord’s Prayer which asks that His name be hallowed but is not specific who is to do the hallowing. Perhaps Jesus’ intent was to point out that though the Jewish people have a vital role in bringing the light of God to the world, they must not be the sole hallowers. But for those of us who are thrown off by the word “hallow” or “hallowed” let me explain. The English language is notorious for having multiple words for the same thing. This is one of those instances. The Greek word hagios is translated holy, holy one or saint. A saint is someone who is holy. One word in Greek, two in English. But wait there’s more. Hallowed is related as well. Remember Halloween? Its on the Eve of All Saints Day, November 1st. Its called All Saints Eve or All Hallows Eve. Because ‘Hallow’ means holy. Thus ‘hallowed’ means ‘having been made holy.’ Got it? Hagios =holy=saint=hallow. Now that we’ve got that, there’s something else going on that confuses us and throws us off. Anytime people recite something together over and over it develops a cadence, a sort of rhythm that helps us stay together and remember the words. The cadence is based much more on the rhythm of the sentences and the sound of the words than on their meaning. For example, take the American Pledge of Allegiance. Below I have indicated where our pauses occur when we recite it together: I pledge allegiance/ to the flag /of the United States of America. //And to the republic /for which it stands:/ one nation /under God, /indivisible, /with liberty and justice for all. These pauses may be helpful for staying together or for remembering the words, but they obscure the meaning. The intent of the author is much clearer if you take the pause marks out and read it straight through. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America” is one complete thought. We are ‘one nation under God,’ and this meaning is blurred because of the cadence we use, and because of the familiarity of the words. The same is true for this part of the Lord’s Prayer. When we say it together it becomes this: Our Father/ Who art in heaven/hallowed be thy name./ Your kingdom come/ your will be done/ on earth as it is in heaven. In the original manuscripts there was no punctuation marks at all, and no capital letters. And certainly no verse marks. But there is grammar and this can help us. My Greek is not too good, but good enough to have realized that the three phrases “Hallowed be your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done” are parallel. The first is hard to express in English, but could be rendered, “May Your name be made holy.” All three go together and are related in meaning. Also they are all equally followed by “On earth as it is in Heaven.” He just added that to the end referring to all three as a group instead of after each one. So here is what we come up with: o May Your name be made holy on earth as in heaven o May Your Kingdom come on earth as in heaven o May Your will be done on earth as in heaven These three ideas are meant to go together, rather than effectively attaching the hallowed part onto the ‘who art in heaven’ part, and thinking of ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ as only pertaining to ‘Your will be done.’ All three are parallel and have similar meanings. The kingdom of God is where God’s name is made (and kept) holy and where His will is done. And the prayer is for these things to happen here. On earth. Brian McLaren points out that when many of us pray the Lord’s Prayer we do not mean it. We should instead be praying, “Our Father who art in Heaven…may we leave earth and go to heaven where Your will is done because it is being done THERE but not HERE.” He even goes so far to say that Jesus’ primary reason for coming was not to tell us how to go to heaven but rather how to bring heaven down to earth: how to see His will done here. And I would add to Mr. McLaren, that His name would be made and kept holy here on earth as well. God’s name, kingdom and will encompass so much more than simply personal salvation so that we can get to heaven. Jesus, the prophets, the entire scripture in fact seems to be obsessed with pleasing God by taking care of the poor and making sure that justice is done. (A good overview of some scriptures dealing with the poor can be found at: http://worldwidewanderer.blogspot.com/2005/04/biblical-teachings-on-poor-pt-1.html) Worship God, but do not neglect the poor. Keep your oaths, follow the big 10, pray a lot but take a stand against injustice! Jesus had the idea that God’s kingdom was to happen here on earth. And that we, by our lives lived for God before the world were to play a part in its coming. Greed is replaced by generosity. Pride melts away in the presence of humility. Justice shows injustice the door. Love gives the pink slip to hate in all its forms: racism, judgementalism, legalism, rejection, abuse… All of this. Here. On earth. Jesus prayed it. Do we think he was mixed up? No. If Jesus prayed it and taught His disciples to pray it and people have been praying it for 2000 years, the chances of this actually taking place is pretty good. Sorry if that messes up your idea of the end times. And I’m certainly not wanting to get into an eschatological argument with anyone. There are others who will engage, but not me. I’m just saying that this was important to Jesus and that He meant exactly what He said exactly how He said it. And Jesus teaching us to pray this way indicates that He also wants us to live this way. We are to be the ambassadors of His kingdom. And what this looks like may vary from person to person. But for all of us it means putting the teachings and desires of Jesus above our own thoughts of the way it should be. And for all of us it means doing something. Working at a shelter, taking a homeless guy to Denny’s, sweeping the church floor, going on a missions trip, adopting a child…and to do it for Him, giving Him the glory and thus making His name holy.

The Lord's Prayer Part 2-We (are Family)

The first installment was exceptionally long. This one exceptionally short. Actually, together they comprised the first Sunday teaching in this series. So now you know. The second word in The Lord’s Prayer is the word “our” (occurring first in the English. Duh.) Familiarity clouds so much meaning, and it has definitely clouded much from our eyes in this prayer. The fact that this prayer is first person plural is very unusual and maybe a bit awkward. Wouldn’t you think He would pray, “My Father”, or just “Father?” When I address my Dad I don’t call him, “My Dad” and certainly not “Our Dad.” My earthly siblings have to fend for themselves when it comes to Dad. But as personal as Abba is, we cannot get away with having Him all to ourselves. Modern Christianity has emphasized our personal relationship with Jesus. How many times have we heard evangelical Christians (of which I am one) talk about having a personal relationship with God? We hear it all the time. And on one level it is as it should be. Our relationship with God doesn’t have to be filtered through the priesthood or a sacrificial system. We can go straight to Him. Its personal. But as true and valid as this is, it is sadly incomplete and lopsided. When are adopted into God’s family there is more to it than just ‘God and me.’ Having a father means we also have siblings. Jesus use of the word ‘Our’ in this prayer doesn’t let us escape our family relations. Sometimes we may prefer that it were not so. Our being a part of this family means we belong “to a new kind of people who have left the land of “me.” (Claiborne) We are community. Father not only defines our relationship with God in a new way; it also changes our relationships with neighbors. It is a betrayal of the “Our Father” to pray “My Father,“ for the prayer is not only a declaration of a heavenly parent, but it is a commitment to a new vision of family rooted in the providence and authority of our heavenly parent. We cannot have God as Father if we deny the sisterhood and brotherhood we share with the rest of God’s children. -Shane Claiborne Family is the metaphor here for the church. Families don’t gather together in theaters or auditoriums, but in homes. They gather for meals and get together for parties. They celebrate and mourn together. They plan activities and do things spontaneously. They help and care for one another, pick up each other’s kids from school, help with the dishes, or bail one another out of a mess. They also set each other straight when necessary. Being a part of a family means security on so many levels. This is how the church should function. And this is why home groups are so important. We cannot function as a family should if we only meet auditorium style on Sundays and Wednesday nights. I’m the father of four beautiful girls. There is no title that I like better than ‘Daddy.’ And there is not much that frustrates me more than seeing our children leave each other out of games or activities, as if they were only children. And there are not many things that bring me more joy than seeing them be kind to one another, give and sacrifice because they care for one another. So it is with our Abba. He is OUR Father. Our Dad. Our Papa. And we are connected with one another.