The Lord's Prayer, Revised
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Advent
This Advent season, I’d like
to invite you to consider the Lord’s Prayer from some fresh perspectives. No, there is nothing wrong with the old
perspectives. However, we get too used
to them, too comfortable, and sometimes we lapse into the habit of letting our
minds wander when we pray. I hope I’m
not the only one with this problem. So,
this Advent, I’d like to pursue two things with you.
One. I’d like to take a fresh look at the words of
the Lord’s Prayer.
Two. I’d like to examine the Lord’s Prayer using
the guide:
“After they departed, behold, the angel of the
Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, take the young Child with His
mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there, until I bring word: for Herod will seek the
young Child to destroy Him. When he awoke,
he took the young Child with His mother by night, departed into Egypt, and
stayed there, until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘I called my Son out of Egypt.’ ”[2]
The Fresh Look
“Our Father in the heavens,
“Your name was hallowed; Your kingdom came; Your will was
born; as in heaven, also on the earth. You
gave us our angelic bread today. You
forgave our debts; as also, we forgive our debtors. You did not lead us into calamity;
nevertheless, You delivered us from the evil.
“Because, the kingdom, the power, and the
Glory all are from You, into eternity.
Amen.
“For if you forgave men their trespasses, then Your heavenly
Father will forgive you. Yet, if you
forgave not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.”
The whole attitude of the
prayer is not so much of asking to receive these things; as it is of gratitude for having received them
already. Even though we got into one
calamity after another, You still delivered us from the evil, again and again
and again.
On the other hand, such
forgiveness comes with a stern warning.
No one may enter the kingdom of God’s forgiveness as an unforgiving
person. Lack of forgiveness is the
poison, which, not only, destroys individuals from within; but also spreads
like a flood and like wildfire through whole congregations, killing everyone in
its path.
Nothing is more central to
God’s relationship with us than our response of gratitude and thanksgiving, so
that in all reality we live truly forgiving lives, lovingly bound together in
forgiving congregations.
Even so, a lethal dose of
ingratitude, unforgiveness, and unthankfulness can sweep it all away.
Someone hallowed God’s name
for us. The kingdom of God came with
Someone. The will of God is born in
Someone. Isn’t it obvious that all these
gifts are the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf? Isn’t it clear as, during Advent, we await
the Incarnation of God’s Son, that all these gifts are Christ’s Christmas gifts
for us. Let us, therefore, receive them
with all forgiveness, gratitude, and thankfulness.
Christ is Born. Glorify Him.
The Rubric
Moses tells us that all the
details of the Exodus are a mysterious pattern of heavenly realities. Hosea assures us that Jesus is at the center
of all these realities. Matthew shows us
that this child of Mary is that Incarnate Christ of God. He is not the One Who merely fulfills the Old
Testament. He is the One Who wrote the
Old Testament. He is the One Who drew
out the mysterious pattern; and has now come, bringing the heavenly realities
with Him. Jesus Incarnate is the new Exodus.
What does it mean, “Your
name was hallowed?” When Jesus arose to
destroy all the idolatry of Egypt with ten plagues, He hallowed His Father’s
name. Now, He comes in heavenly reality
to accomplish with absolute finality, what He revealed in patterns nearly 3,500
years ago. He hallowed His Father’s
name. That means that all the kingdoms
of this world, all the kingdoms of darkness, all the kingdoms of evil will now
be destroyed. All these worldly idols
are exposed for what they really are: death.
Only the Father, is hallowed as the true and living God, along with His
Son and His Holy Spirit.
What does it mean, “Your
kingdom came?” When Jesus brought the
Israelites out into Sinai, a new kingdom was established: for where the king
is, there is the kingdom also. Now, in
His Incarnation, the kingdom of God is here, and it is with us to this very
day, because Jesus, the King dwells in our hearts. Please don’t take this as a figure of
speech. It is not a figure of
speech. It is a mysterious reality.
What does it mean, “Your
will was born?” At Sinai, Jesus gives
the Law of freedom, and begins those painful lessons of the Law. There is nothing more important than doing the
will of God.[3] Now, at His birth, He begins to make possible
what man cannot do by works, but only by faith.
My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me.[4]” “I have come to do Your will.[5]” Now, instead of being crushed under the Law,
by works of the Law; we build on our Cornerstone, on the Fulfillment of the
Law, by faith; as the Law shapes us into living stones for the temple of God,
the body of Christ.
What does it mean, “As
in heaven, also on the earth?” It means
that all the eternal heavenly realities, which
were in existence long before[6] Moses
ever constructed the mysterious pattern of them; these have now become earthly
realities in Christ. The hallowing, the
kingdom, and the will are now firmly established as earthly realities, as well
as continuing heavenly realities.
What does it mean, “You
gave us our angelic bread today?” It
means that the real manna now nourishes us in the Communion, making us more and
more Christ-like as we receive the Communion in faith.[7]
What does it mean, “You
forgave our debts; as also, we forgive our debtors.” It means that having been redeemed from our
sins in Egypt, if we wish to be saved to eternal life in the heavenly Holy
Land, we must live in faith to the Law: we may not be slaves to any but God; we
may not put our human neighbors in any bondage.
What does it mean, “You
did not lead us into calamity?” The
calamities we suffered for forty years at Sinai, which were due only to our own
sin, did not bring us to a complete end.[8] Even our stubbornness did not exhaust your
mercy then, and it will not exhaust your mercy now, in Christ.
What does it mean, “nevertheless,
You delivered us from the evil?” The
evil of our own invention did not thwart the majesty of Your power: not then,
not now, not ever. You delivered us in
spite of ourselves, and in spite of all the dangerous evil around us.
And the reason for all this glorious bounty is simply, “Because, the kingdom, the power, and the Glory all are from You,
into the ages. Amen.”
Our heavenly Father has one
simple lesson, both in Exodus and Incarnation: to teach us to be the sort of
forgiving persons that Jesus is, without which we cannot spend eternity with
Him.
Christ is Born. Glorify Him.
[1]
Hosea 11:1
[2]
Matthew 2:13-15
[3]
Taken as a whole, the argument of the prayer is that the will of God is
forgiveness: to be and become a forgiving person.
[4]
John 4:34
[5]
Psalm 40:8; Hebrews 10:7, 9
[6]
Eternity past: there never was a time when the essence of the heavenly realities
did not exist, nor will there ever be such a time. These eternal heavenly realities refer to the
essence of God, the Trinity, Himself, and not to created beings such as angels,
or to created things. Nevertheless, it
is impossible for us to conceive of God as being enthroned upon His Mercy Seat
without the creation of such a mercy seat.
This is a Mystery; we will learn what we need to know when we get to
heaven.
[7]
John 6
[8] A
partial list of the self-induced calamities of the Israelites would include: the
Marah waters (Exodus 15), the Manna and quail (Exodus 16), complaining (Exodus
17), disputing (Exodus 18), the golden calf (Exodus 32), the Burning and Graves
of Lust (Numbers 11), Miriam’s leprosy
(Numbers 12), the unbelieving spies (Numbers 13), the murmuring (Numbers
14), Korah and Dathan (Numbers 16), Moses strikes the rock (Numbers 20), the
Brazen Serpent (Numbers 21), etc. A
litany of Apostolic and/or Christian sins would be: similar, more personal, and
even worse. None of these things can be
blamed on God. We have brought them all
upon ourselves.
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