Sunday, January 7, 2007
Matthew 6:9
Senior Pastor
What’s your greatest need in 2007? Think about it for a second.
Would the answer change if I stated the question this way: What is your greatest need, as a disciple of
Jesus Christ, in 2007? I am guessing
that most of us would come up with a different answer when we add “as a
disciple of Jesus Christ.” I stumbled
onto this idea earlier in the week because I was asking myself that very
question: What is your greatest need in
2007? As I was thinking through that I
realized my answer was different, quite different when I added, as a
disciple. What is your greatest
need, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, in 2007?
I think it is okay that our answer changes. Different answers are okay because being a disciple of Jesus Christ is supposed to change us. I think it should change our answer. Perhaps for many of us the disciple of Christ part is not central enough in our lives. We try to figure out how to meet our needs, without reference to Jesus Christ. We pursue our wants without reference to Jesus Christ. When we do that we get into trouble. Without Christ at the center of our lives we often choose destructive paths when trying to meet our needs. Without Christ at the center of our lives we often pursue wants that lead us off the path of abundant life altogether.
Somebody who might just be off the path to abundant life
wrote up this list I ran across the other day.
Maybe you saw it. It is entitled
The Five Best Excuses When Caught Sleeping At Your Desk?
5. "They told me at the Blood Bank this
might happen."
4. "This is just a 15 minute power
nap they raved about in the time management course you sent me to – money well
spent."
3. "Whew! Guess I left the top off
the Whiteout. You probably got here just in time."
2. "Did you ever notice sound
coming out of these keyboards when you put your ear down real close?"
And the number 1
best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk...
Raise your head
slowly and say, "...in Jesus' name, Amen."
In Jesus’ name, Amen. Fake prayer as a great way to get out of trouble at work. I thought it was funny. But you know, we need more than fake prayer. We need more than prayer now and then. We need prayer as an ongoing part of our lives. As I told a small group I was meeting with earlier this week, “Five minutes of prayer every now and then or even every day is not enough to connect us to the real power of God and the transforming power of the Christian life.”
Apparently the first disciples knew this. Did you ever notice in the Gospels the disciples never ask for Jesus to teach them how to tell a really good parable, or how even to do a healing or some miracle. The Gospels record that the disciples ask Jesus to teach them but one thing: teach us to pray. Teach us to pray. I find that remarkable.
What we read today from Matthew is in such a situation when the disciples are with Jesus. The Gospel of Luke paints a picture of one of the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray. Matthew’s setting is one in which not only the twelve but crowds of people have gathered to hear Jesus teach. Either way it is an important piece of scripture. Especially important I think as we begin a new year.
Learning to pray. Knowing how to pray. Practicing prayer as a way to stay closer to God is such an important feature of faith. Perhaps while living with him in close quarters, traveling around together, the disciples had noticed that this was the key to his relationship with God, that this was the key to his life. Perhaps it is key to our life, could it be the most important need we have as disciples of Jesus Christ in 2007? If so, then, when Jesus says in verse 9, Pray then in this way, it is something to give some serious attention to, don’t you think?
That is what we are going to be doing over these next several weeks. Looking at this model prayer Jesus gives his disciples in an attempt to deepen our own prayer life, which of course will deepen our faith and practice as disciples.
To examine this closely we are going to use a model found in a book called A Passionate Life, by Walt Kallestad and Mike Breen. In this model they suggest we think about this prayer as a hexagon. The hexagon is a six-sided shape. We are going to put each petition or section of the prayer on one side of the hexagon. I have given you an example in the outline.
So petition or section one we are going to call The Father’s Character. Jesus starts out by saying Pray then in this way: Our Father. Let’s stop right there for just a minute and remind ourselves of what many of us may already know about this form of address to God. It is unique to Jesus. There are many names for referring to God used in Scripture, but Jesus is the only one who makes this form of address primary. Our Bible scholars also remind us that even though we say, Father, it could also be rendered as Daddy. It is the informal form of address that is used here. It suggests an extraordinary intimacy between the pray-er and God, Our Father, Our Daddy.
But the second part of the petition is in great contrast to this: Our Father, in heaven, hallowed be your name. The one who is close enough to call Daddy, is also of such character that we revere and honor him at the same time – hallowed in heaven. It is a recognition of these two facets of God’s character: one which permeates our world, the intimacy side; but the other that transcends our world, the hallowed in heaven side. Jesus captures both of these facets of God in this first phrase of the prayer in which we address God.
A story I read
recently captures this. It is a story
about a man named Kevin. “I envy Kevin,” it began. “My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his
bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night. He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to
listen, ‘Are you there, God?’ he said. ‘Where are you? Oh, I see.
Under the bed.’ I giggled
softly and tiptoed off to my own room.
But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized, for the first time, the very
different world Kevin lives in.
He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during
labor. Apart from his size (he's
6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult. He reasons and communicates with the
capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed,
that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas
and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them.
I remember wondering
if Kevin realizes he is different. Is
he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life?
Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled,
home to walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese
for dinner, and later to bed. He does
not seem dissatisfied. He lopes out to
the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work.
And so goes his world. He doesn't know what it means to be discontent. His life is simple. He will never know the entanglements of
wealth or power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what
kind of food he eats. His needs have
always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be.
His hands are diligent. Kevin is
never so happy as when he is working.
When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is
completely in it. He does not shrink
from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is
finished. He wants to do his part. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how
to relax.
He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth,
promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of
argue. Free from pride and unconcerned
with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry.
He is always transparent, always sincere.
And he trusts
God. Kevin seems to know God - to
really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an
"educated" adult to grasp.
God seems like his closest companion.
In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity I envy the
security Kevin has in his simple faith.
It is then I realize he is not the one with the handicap. I am.
And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at
how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that the simple prayers of
a boy who believed that God lived under his bed were heard. Kevin won't be surprised at all!”
Why not start your prayers this week with, “O Daddy,” or write a prayer
beginning with “Our daddy, who art in heaven”?
Or maybe take a walk and have a conversation with “Our daddy,” since
Jesus has opened this intimate relationship with God to each of us.
What is your greatest need, as a ________________ of
Jesus Christ in 2007?
The ____ Best
Excuses When Caught Sleeping At Your Desk?
…ask Jesus to teach them but one thing: teach us to ________.
…could it be the most important need we have as disciples
of Jesus Christ is __________?
…think about this prayer as a ______________.
…we are going to call The ________________ Character.
…two facets of God’s character:
one which permeates our world, the ________________ side;
…transcends our world, the hallowed in heaven side.
“I envy
__________,” it began.
Kevin is never so
happy as when he is ______________.
Kevin seems to
know ______ –
Why not start ________ prayers this week with, “O Daddy,”