A Perfect Prayer?
9th Sunday after Pentecost
Communion Sunday
July 25, 2010
Rev. Barry W. Szymanski, J.D.
First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa

SERMON - The Lord’s Prayer

Did you ever wonder, when Jesus spent an hour or a day in a town, what he talked about? Or what he preached? I think that he talked about what everyone talks about – the weather, families, and how people were doing. When he preached, I presume that he continually preached the Sermon on the Mount.

I also believe that he taught the Lord's Prayer by dissecting it because this is the prayer that transformed his disciples and millions of us through the ages.

This is the prayer that can transform us. This is the prayer that I would like to meditate on today. If we had soft arms chairs here, I would suggest that you get as comfortable as you possibly can, close your eyes, really relax, and let yourself be. But these benches are not soft; in spite of that, let's go though a meditation.

Let's see where the Spirit can lead you, as the Holy Spirit led Jesus in his frequent prayers. Let us meditate.

Jesus, you prayed to our FATHER. What was revolutionary, Jesus is that you told us, after centuries, to call God by a familiar name. Not a name-that-cannot-be-uttered. Not Yahweh. But . . . Father. This must have really shaken up your listeners. This was change! You called God a parent. You said God was our parent. The almighty God is a father to us. . . a parent to us. . . a mother to us.

And when we pray to our father, we recognize that we are children of God. We are the daughters and sons of our parent God. We are the created flesh and blood of a very personal God.

Jesus, you also told us that our Father is IN HEAVEN. Our God is in the far reaches of the universe. In 2010, we have an even better understanding of how far that universe reaches: for it continues on and on with more stars than there are grains of sand on this small planet! And your heaven also extends into our micro world. There was a time when it was thought that the atom was the smallest particle. Now we have moved beyond quarks into the smallest of other micro-particles. Our God is in us and outside of us. We are in awe of our God's creation.

Jesus, you remind us that OUR FATHER'S NAME IS HOLY. God's name: Lord God, Father, Dad, Mother, Parent, Yahweh, and even by others as Allah, is holy; it is hallowed; it is special. It is to be uttered in prayer and in blessing and in instruction. It is not to be used as a curse, or as a weapon. And holy also means holistic. All together. All encompassing. Holistic as truly one. All parts in unity with other parts. All thoughts and works in unity with each other.

Jesus, you taught us that our Father is our one, true, beautiful, and good God. Our prayer to you, Jesus, is

* that we may also become holy, as you are holy;
* that our lives be holy – and holistic;
* that we may be one and unified in spirit, emotion, mind, heart and soul;
* that our whole being is aligned with you, and
* that your grace will bring us closer to holiness – to you.

Lord, we now understand your intent when you prayed just before your arrest and crucifixion: “Father, I pray that they be in us as I am in you and you are in me, together as one."

Jesus, you taught us to pray that your father’s KINGDOM WILL COME. And yet, Jesus, when we pray to God that something be done, we want it to be done now, and as we dream it should happen. Even now, as adults, we often expectantly pray to you, Jesus that our dreams be fulfilled in prayer, rather than God's Will.

And, Jesus, we wonder what we are really praying for, when we pray that God’s Kingdom will come. Do we really know what we are asking of God? Do we know how much we must give up of ourselves to really have your Kingdom come? Do we realize how much we must give up of what we own to really bring your Kingdom about? Do we really want to pay the cost of your Kingdom? People have died in seeking your Kingdom. You, Jesus, died in fulfilling your Father's Kingdom.

Lord, this prayer really has a price to be paid! You told us, Jesus, in teaching us this prayer, that we should pray that GOD’S KINGDOM MAY COME ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Our prayer is that we will work and pray and live and breathe that your Father's Kingdom be brought to life on this earth. Our prayer is that we learn our part in how God's Kingdom shall be nurtured and grow.

You also taught us to pray that OUR FATHER'S WILL BE DONE. Sometimes, Lord, we do not even know our own will. But you, Jesus, have asked us to pray to know our Father's divine will; His divine intent for us. We therefore seek out God's will as Paul did when he wrote in his letter to the Romans: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.”

When we seek God's Will in Scripture we learn how God shown himself to Abraham, and Issac, and Jacob, and Susanna, and Rebecca, and how you, God's Word, shown yourself to Peter and John, and Paul and Mary of Magdala and hundreds of others.

Now, Jesus, we seek the Holy Spirit, as your Spirit works in our churches, and in the hearts of men and women of prayer and goodwill. Jesus we pray that we be open to God's Will by following the path you have opened for us. We pray that your way become our way. Jesus, you taught us that we can, and even should, ask for what we need to sustain us.

You called this OUR DAILY BREAD. We have so many appetites, so many things we want, but like the Samaritan woman at the well, who simply thought of water until you, Jesus, taught her about your Living Water, so may we think of # the bread of life. # The bread of prayer. # The bread of a holy congregation. # The bread of family. # The bread of love. # The bread of friendship.

A psychiatrist, David Viscott, said: “To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.” Jesus, I think that David Viscott understood both human and divine love. And Jesus, let us not forget that at the Last Supper, on that final night of your human life, you prayed that we remember you when we broke bread. Jesus, you also taught us, that we have the power, even the mandate, to forgive others.

But daily, in interaction with so many people, we feel that we are rubbed the wrong way. There are rude people out there. There are thieves out there. There are burglars out there. There are felons out there. There are even bad drivers out there. It is really hard to be nice to some people out there.

Yet as we seek forgiveness from our God, you, Jesus, gave us a very simple self-test of our forgiveness for you taught to pray: FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS. The concept of debt has many translations in various biblical texts. Lord, we pray the word 'debt' as a variation of indebtedness. Indebtedness meaning we owe something to someone -- to God. We are in debt to God.

There are other translations, such as the word trespass. Or sin. Or the word wrong. For you, Jesus, taught us to pray to our Father that all we have done wrong be fully forgiven — just as we have totally and absolutely forgiven all of those people who have somehow wronged us. Lord, help us to forgive ourselves, for sometimes we blame ourselves. Let us forgive people who have died, for sometimes we carry wrongs with us even after their death. And, in some cases, let us forgive God, for sometimes we may even feel that we were wronged by Him. Jesus, you have shown us the tremendous power of forgiveness for when we forgive we experience that our shoulders are freed from the heaviness of carrying wounds.

You asked us to pray that WE MAY NOT BE LED INTO TEMPTATION. The simple version of this prayer may just be: God help us! And you told us to ask God TO DELIVER US FROM EVIL. In this world we sometimes consume in excess, own too much, and want to control everything.

Lord, we begin to examine what else we are tempted to glorify. Do we glorify our own wills? Our own honors? Status? Our own power? Control? Our own desires? Our own bank accounts? Wealth? Our own possessions? Our own prestige?

We pray that we be delivered from mean-ness, and me-ness. Jesus, people have learned that when we pray to our Heavenly Father: we devote ourselves to build up God's Kingdom, to honestly forgive, and be forgiven, we begin to discover God's will, and we acknowledge that THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY belong to God alone.

Jesus, in the prayer you taught us we pray for ourselves and for one another to OUR GOD - OUR FATHER. We pray for agnostics, and atheists, fellow Christians, and followers of Buddha and Confucius, and all people of good will. We pray as Paul did when he went to Greece, for all people who search for the “unknown God”.

Jesus, may we put all our heart into the prayer you taught us – for it is revolutionary. It changes lives. It can change our life. We end with AMEN.