So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you

 

 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  So he said to them, "When you pray, say:

"Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

 For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

  And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. 

 

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

 

- Luke 11:1–13 

 

Yesterday we read that as Jesus and the disciples traveled toward Jerusalem, He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Therefore tell her to help me."  And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

 

  Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."   The Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) comments here that "Teach us to pray" expresses a universal longing to be in communion with God.  

 

So he said to them, "When you pray, say:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  According to the OSB, the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity reveals our potential relationship with God.  Christ, the Son of God, grants us the privilege of calling God Our Father by the grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).  As "sons of God," we as Christians are called to love, trust, and serve God as Christ does the Father.  We should not take "sons" as discriminatory, for by historical tradition all over the world, a son is an heir, and this is the indication here, that we are heirs.  We note in this context, with the OSB, that God is not our Father simply because God created us alone.  God is only Father to those in a saving and personal relationship with God, a communion that only comes by the grace of adoption (see John 1:13; Romans 8:14-16).  

 

"Give us day by day our daily bread."  The OSB says that daily is a misleading translation of the Greek word ἐπιούσιος/epiousios, which means literally "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  This expression, daily bread, indicates not merely bread for this day; that is, for earthly nourishment.  It is the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  The OSB remarks that this living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  In the Lord's Prayer, then, we are not asking simply for material bread for physical health, but rather for the spiritual bread of eternal life (John 6:27-58).  

 

"And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us."  The OSB points out that this request to be forgiven is plural, and therefore directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  The term debts is a reference to spiritual debts (see Matthew 6:14-15; 18:21-35).  

 

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  The OSB comments that God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13); temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  Temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  No one lives without encountering temptations, the Study Bible says, but we pray that great temptations -- that is, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13) -- should not come to us.  

 

  And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs."  According to the OSB, this parable is a demonstration of God's faithfulness to those who are in need and who pray with persistence.  It's important to note that the emphasis here by Jesus is pointedly on persistence in prayer, and not a moralistic teaching.  According to patristic interpretation, the OSB says, midnight is understood as both the time of our death and a time of great temptation.  The friend is Christ, who, as our only source of grace, provides everything we need.  

 

 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  The OSB says that in Greek, the verbs here translated ask, seek, and knock are in a tense that implies continuing action.  That is, they're better translated as "keep asking," "keep seeking," and "keep knocking."  So, once again, the emphasis here is on persistence.  The OSB comments that God responds when we persistently ask for things that are good.  Bread, fish, and an egg are all images of life which symbolize the gift of the Holy Spirit (see John 14:13-15; James 4:3).  By contrast, a stone indicates hardness of heart, while a serpent or scorpion are images of a demon or devil and the "power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19), or "the evil one" (verse 4).

 

It's important to understand that what Christ is teaching here is not simply about a moral instruction or one in which He gives us advice for good behavior or good deeds.  This is a powerful teaching about the reality of the kingdom of God and our place in it.  It's about the mystical reality that is present to us, and on offer as the possibility for relationship with Our Father, as the OSB notes.  Not only does He give us the foundational prayer of the Church, the "Our Father," or "The Lord's Prayer," but His main emphasis here in His teaching for the disciples is for persistence in prayer.  And for what do we pray?  The images that He gives to the disciples regarding the fruits of prayer from Our Father suggest the spiritual gifts of the Kingdom, the door to the mysteries of the kingdom of God.  An egg has long been a spiritual symbol for life, a fish the symbol of Christ, the Son of God in the early Church, bread the essence of the Eucharist and the presence -- even the substance -- of Christ (John 6:32-58).  And there we come to the central piece of the prayer that Christ gives to the disciples in today's reading, the "daily bread" that is so much more than it sounds to those of us who hear with secular ears.  For this daily bread is no less than the Eucharist and no less than Christ.  It is the "supersubstantial bread," the bread that is so much more than just bread.  It is the bread of the Eucharist, or, as the OSB puts it, the bread for the eternal day of the kingdom of God, the bread of eternal life.  It is here where we join Christ in this mystical kingdom that is both within us and among us, and which permeates all things if we can accept it (Luke 17:20-21).  This is the very thing Jesus taught the disciples to declare when He sent them out, and taught them to say to those whom they encountered, "The kingdom of heaven has come near to you" (Luke 10:9).  The gifts of the Holy Spirit are those things for which we pray, and thus participate and dwell in this Kingdom even as we live our earthly lives.  

 

 

 

 

Our Father in heaven

 

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

 

- Matthew 6:7–15 

 

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).   In yesterday's reading, Jesus began speaking of practices which strengthen and express our faith, and how we should conduct ourselves through these practices.  Jesus spoke of three spiritual practices we need for our faith:  almsgiving (charitable deeds), prayer, and fasting.  He taught, "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.   Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. . . . Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

 

  "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."  Today's reading appears in the Gospel between Christ's words on prayer and those on fasting found in yesterday's reading, above.  We're given this as a separate reading as it includes what is known as the Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father.  Here Jesus has begun speaking against hypocrisy in faith practices, and in particular, in prayer.  And continues by speaking against vain repetitions.  Hypocrisy blocks a true personal communion with God in prayer, and neither can vain repetitions establish such a communion.  My study Bible comments that God doesn't need our "babble."  To partake of this communion, it notes, both silence and words are necessary.  So, therefore, we pray always (Luke 18:1) and without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  Moreover, my study Bible notes that Christ does not condemn the use of many words per se, but is rather teaching us that words must express a true desire for communion with God.  In the following verses, Jesus teaches us specific words to repeat (the Lord's Prayer).  So, it's not repetition itself that is condemned here, but rather vain repetition.  Many psalms, prayers, and hymns of the Church have been repeated for countless generations in the worship of God "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23).  

 

 "In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name."  My study Bible remarks that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity is a revelation of our potential relationship with God.  Christ is the Son of God, and He grants us the privilege of calling God Our Father by the grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).  As a "son of God," each Christian is called to love, trust, and serve God as Christ does the Father.  My study Bible asks us to note that God is not our Father simply because God is our Creator.  God is only Father to those in a saving and personal relationship with God.  This is a communion coming only by the grace of adoption (see John 1:13; Romans 8:14-16).  

 

 "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  The whole of the Sermon on the Mount is meant to be teaching us about the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven.  Here the prayer Christ gives us shows us our loyalty, and the true desire for God's kingdom to become manifest in our world, as part of our lives.  In St. Matthew's 12th chapter, Jesus will comment, "For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother" (see Matthew 12:47-50).  How do we know what God's will is?  At the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:7-9).  So, we follow the teachings He has given us.

 

"Give us this day our daily bread."  My study Bible comments that "daily" here is a misleading translation of a very particular Greek word.  This word is ἐπιούσιος/epiousios. It seems to have been coined specifically for the Gospels.  It literally means "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  So, the expression daily bread isn't meant simply to ask for today's food or bread, for earthly nourishment.  This indicates, as my study Bible puts it, the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  Of course, this living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  The Eucharist embodies this concept in sacrament as instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper.  In Christ's prayer, then, we're not just asking for material bread for physical health, but for the spiritual bread of eternal life (see John 6:27-58).  

 

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  My study Bible remarks that this request to be forgiven is plural, and directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  This term debts is a reference to spiritual debts (see Matthew 18:21-35).  

 

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen."  My study Bible comments that God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13); temptations come from the evil one, the devil.  It says that temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh, such as lust and anger, which Jesus has spoken of in the Sermon on the Mount as leading to sin (Romans 7:5).  No one lives without encountering temptations, my study Bible notes, but we pray that great temptations, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), should not come to us.

 

 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  My study Bible notes that Jesus insists on mutual forgiveness between people as a foundation or precondition of God's forgiveness.  It says that those who do not forgive are not forgiven -- period.  This is a teaching which is repeated in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35), which concludes with the same teaching.  To not forgive others is to willfully flee from the forgiveness of God for ourselves.   

 

Forgiveness always seems to be a tricky question.  In a commentary by Fr. Stephen De Young on the Sermon on the Mount, he indicated that the teachings in this Sermon are difficult for all of us.  In the final verse in chapter 5, Jesus taught, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (see this reading and commentary).  Clearly, perfection -- and the perfection of our Father in heaven at that! -- is a tall order.  But we are meant to grow throughout our lives in our faith.  This is a bar we seek to continually be approaching throughout our lives.  It's not one where we press a button and are automatically at the goal of the fullness of faith and union with God.  The constant practice of repentance is understood as a constant movement toward God's light in its fullness.  This is a lifelong learning and growth, with plenty of setbacks and stumbling for all of us to learn from and through which to grow in faith and reliance upon our Lord.  So, when we approach forgiveness as Jesus teaches us, it can be daunting.  It's important to understand that the word for "forgive" in Greek means "let go."  It's similar to a bank letting go of a debt, erasing it off the books.  So, in this sense, we can understand Jesus' commands for forgiveness as an extension of His teachings calling on us to refrain from practicing vengeance earlier in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:38-48).  When we are willing to "let go" of a debt, we can let it go to God.  This seems to have the effect of clearing the decks, so to speak.  If we're not focused on retribution, we're free to ask God and pray for the proper way to move forward within a difficult situation or circumstance.  What if the other person continues in hostile behavior?  What if they never apologize?  What if a situation can't be easily rectified or remedied?  All of these questions can be brought to God in prayer -- without seeking tit for tat or "an eye for an eye."  This is one tremendous advantage of forgiveness; it gives us clearer sight, and hopefully a clearer head as well through which to approach a problem.  It also helps to prevent us from landing in deeper trouble than we otherwise might.  Christ's words and teachings are clear, that whatever it is others might be doing, He wants us not to engage in the same evils, but to "keep our noses clean," so to speak.  This is because we are His, we are His followers, His children, His disciples, and that must not just count for something, but be distinguished by the ways in which we conduct our lives and seek to please God first before any other demands or pressures we might feel.  Again, learning to be Christ's disciples is a lifelong process.  We are meant to grow in our faith.  But in the process, as my study Bible indicates, we become sons of God by adoption, we grow as people, and we find we are capable of so much more strength in following His commands than we expect.  As Jesus has said, "With God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).  If one keeps up acquaintance with popular science and psychology, we read frequently about the importance of neuroplasticity of the brain.  This describes the capacity of our brains even physically to change, adapt, and repair injury.  It's an important concept in the study of dementia, and other diseases of the brain.  But if our popular and significant science focuses on this plasticity of brain in physical and psychological terms, imagine what is therefore possible for us in soul and spirit with God's help.  What Jesus is teaching us about growth in discipleship is only confirmed through modern science and the understanding of change and adaptability of the brain on physiological terms.  So let us proceed with all the tools available for us through our faith -- through prayer, Scripture, the practices of the Church, worship, and our constant transformation through a sense of lifelong repentance.  That is, a lifelong process of turning toward God, finding God's light for us leading the way to our own transformation as God's children by adoption.  For this is where and how the Light of our Lord leads us and teaches us to process and live our lives.   Let us practice what He teaches us in faith, seeking always the deeper communion with Our Father in heaven.  Lest we be tempted to believe that forgiveness means that we tolerate any and all things, consider that Christ brought into this world a spiritual battle against the one He called "the father of lies" and "a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44).  Jesus' teachings for us are, in effect, the ways to wage spiritual battle, to combat evil at its source.  Let us become the true children of God our Father.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Give us this day our daily bread

 

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

"Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

 As we forgive our debtors. 

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

 

- Matthew 6:7-15 

 

 We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your  Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

 

  "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."  In yesterday's reading and commentary, we expanded upon this verse, and the question of what constitutes vain repetitions. See yesterday's commentary here, in which we included the subject of the Jesus Prayer.  To reiterate from Jesus' talk about prayer from yesterday's reading, let us recall that Jesus speaks against hypocritical prayer.  The true spirit of prayer is an intimate, personal communion with God that leads to the vision of God's glory (1 Corinthians 2:9).  Hypocrisy blocks out this communion and vision -- my study Bible says that vain repetitions cannot establish this, but both silence and words are necessary.  The use of many words is not condemned of itself.  Rather, words must express this desire for communion with God.  Additionally, neither is repetition itself condemned here but "vain repetition."  Many psalms and prayers and hymns are repeated throughout Church services for generations in the worship of God "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23).  

 

 "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  My study Bible explains that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity reveals our potential relationship with God.  Christ is the Son of God, and grants us the privilege of calling God Our Father by grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).  As a "son of God" a Christian is called to love, trust, and serve God as Christ models for us in serving the Father.  My study Bible asks us to note that God is not our Father just because God created us.  He is only Father to those in a saving and personal relationship with Him.  This is a communion that comes by the grace of adoption alone (see John 1:13; Romans 8:14-16).  Note that with sonship follows obedience and love of God's will; the prayer Jesus gives us prays fully for God's kingdom to come and God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  

 

"Give us this day our daily bread."  Here is the center of the prayer, and appropriately, it's a unification of heaven and earth.  "Daily," my study Bible explains, is a misleading translation of the Greek.  This word is επιουσιος/epiousios, which literally means "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  The expression daily bread, then, doesn't mean simply bread for today, for earthly nourishment.  This is the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, and the nourishment of our immortal soul.  This living, supersubstantial bread, my study Bible says, is Christ Himself.  In the Lord's prayer, therefore, we're not simply asking for material bread for physical health.  Rather, we as for the spiritual bread of eternal life (John 6:27-58).  

 

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  My study Bible emphasizes that this request to be forgiven is plural -- just as the prayer itself is the prayer of community ("Our Father")  -- and this directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  The term debts is reference to spiritual debts (see Matthew 18:21-35, and also the final verse in today's reading).

 

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  God tempts no one to sin, says my study Bible (see James 1:13); temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  My study Bible tells us that temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  No one lives without encountering temptations, it notes, but we pray that great temptations; that is, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), should not come to us.  

 

 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  My study Bible comments that Jesus insists on mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  People who do not forgive are not forgiven -- period.  This teaching is repeated in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35), which concludes with the same teaching.  To not forgive others is to willfully flee from the forgiveness of God for ourselves.  

 

It may be important to remember, as we read throughout this Sermon on the Mount, that Jesus is speaking to His disciples.  That is, to a group of believers, and in this sense, to His future Church.  All of these teachings are meant for us to apply them within this community, our community of believers.  Throughout history, as Christian faith became associated with countries or nations, that community then extended to all who were a part of it.  But for us in our present day and age, it seems important to remember that the Church was not meant to be an imitation of the world, but to bring about, as Jesus teaches us to pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."   Jesus emphasizes this new covenant that creates its own community by living in accord with that faith, when He says to His disciples at the Last Supper, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).  This difference between "the world" and believers in the Church is emphasized by St. Paul when he writes to the Corinthians about discernment within the Church, and outside the Church (1 Corinthians 5:9-13).  In the early Church then, the methods of treating one another, of living the life of faith, distinguished Christians from the societies in which they lived, and this, of course, made a great impact in terms of drawing people to the Church.  This remains entirely essential for us today, to understand that we don't want to drag "worldly" ways of behaving into the Church, but we must think of ourselves as a community with an important mission, and that mission -- as defined here by Christ -- consists in how we live our faith, especially within the community itself and between one another.  Many wise saints have taught us that the Church is not just an institution.  It is meant to be a hospital, a place of healing.  How can we heal from a world filled with things that harm and oppress except by the practice of the kind of love that Christ teaches us, and particularly among one another?  In this prayer given to the Church (which we pray communally to "Our Father" and not simply individually) Jesus lays out what it looks like to prepare a way to bring the Kingdom into the world, and to seek to live the Father's will.  Mutual forgiveness is a part of that, mercy is a part of that.  This is not to say that abuse is tolerated at all -- there are far too many passages in which Jesus warns us starkly about that, and in which St. Paul chastises his flock for such behaviors.  But forgiveness takes particular forms for us, and above all that means that we pray for one another, we don't seek vengeance, but peace between one another as best we can.  For all of this, we have great help, for Christ is always with us, and where Christ is, there are also the Father and the Spirit, and the great communion of saints and angels.  We endeavor, of course, to have peace with all around us.  But let us remember the community of disciples to whom Christ speaks, within which we each are counted. Our daily bread is the bread of the Kingdom with which we seek to be fed, and in which we wish to grow.

 

 

Our Father in heaven

 

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

"Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

 

- Matthew 6:7-15 

 

We are presently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).   "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. . . . ."Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." 

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."  Jesus' words here are coupled with His teachings against hypocrisy, and how hypocrisy separates us from God and keeps us from the depth of relationship necessary for true prayer, which my study Bible says is an intimate communion with God, which leads to the vision of God's glory (1 Corinthians 2:9).  Vain repetitions also cannot establish such a communion; God does not need our "babble."  To participate in it, both silence and words are necessary.  Therefore, my study Bible says, we pray always (Luke 18:1) and without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  Christ does not condemn the use of many words per se, but rather teaches that words need to express the desire for communion with God.  In the following verses, Jesus gives us specific words to repeat.  Therefore, it is not repetition itself that is condemned, but vain repetition.  Many psalms, prayers, and hymns of the Church have been repeated for countless generations in the worship of God "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23).  True prayer, as we can see from the prayer Christ gives us, is not telling God what God already knows, and then telling God what to do about it, nor is it appearing to be pious in front of others.  My study Bible sums up Jesus' teachings on prayer by saying that true prayer is humble ("go into your room"), personal ("pray to your Father"), and sincere (do not use vain repetitions).

 

"In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  My study Bible comments that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity reveals our potential relationship with God.  Christ, the Son of God, grants to us the privilege to call God Our Father by the grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).  As a "son of God" (indicating an heir, regardless of gender), a Christian is called to love, trust, and serve God in the same way that Christ does the Father.  My study Bible explains further that we must note that God is not our Father just because God created us.  God is only Father to those who are in a saving and personal relationship with Him, a communion that comes only by the grace of adoption (see John 1:13, Romans 8:14-16).   When we pray that the Father's kingdom come, and God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven," so we are affirming our love, our loyalty, and service to the Father just as Christ loved the Father, for God is love (1 John 4:8).

 

 "Give us this day our daily bread."  Daily is a misleading translation of the Greek word ἐπιούσιον/epiousion, a word which apparently appears nowhere else in literature except here in the Gospel.  This word literally means "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  The expression daily bread, according to my study Bible, indicates not simply bread for this day, for earthly nourishment.  It is, rather, the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  This living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  Therefore in this prayer given by Christ, we are not simply asking for material bread for physical health, but rather for the spiritual bread of eternal life (see John 6:27-58).  

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  My study Bible points out that the request to be forgiven is plural, which directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  Debts here refers to spiritual debts (see Matthew 18:21-35).  

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen."  My study Bible comments that God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13); temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  Temptations, it says, are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  It is the nature of temptation to come to us where we are vulnerable, even in ways that might seem to be "good."  No one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), should not come to us.  Therefore, whenever we pray the Lord's Prayer, we also pray for deliverance from all aspects of evil.

 

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."   My study Bible comments that Jesus insists on mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  Those who do not forgive are not forgiven.  This is a teaching which is repeated in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35), which concludes with the same teaching.  My study Bible says that to not forgive others is to willfully flee from the forgiveness of God for ourselves. 

Forgiveness can be a rather tricky concept.  Does it just mean going back to people who abuse us?  Does it mean that our relationships are restored to full reconciliation with those who might harm us?  I think the language Jesus uses about debt is very important here, and a key to what forgiveness is.  Certainly in popular common language "forgiveness of debt" is still used when a financial institution of some sort erases a debt from the books.  So this term "debt," used to indicate some kind of harm or need for restitution, indicates that we expect a kind of payback -- which leads us to conclude it is something reinforced by retribution or vengeance of some sort.  In Jewish law, restitution was key to the establishment of jsutice.  In the Old Testament, this problem of vengeance, of returning violence for violence, is at the heart of the problems of the world -- see Genesis 4, and the story of sin from Cain to Lamech, who promised vengeance "seventy-sevenfold."  St. Paul reminds us of God's teaching that vengeance belongs to God (see Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30, Deuteronomy 32:35).  Therefore, a "debt" that is incurred through another's bad action is something that we forgive by giving it up to God.  In keeping with the financial metaphor, God assumes the debt and responsibility for its repayment, for restitution.  This is a teaching, as St. Paul elaborates, against personal vengeance, and it is rather a part of our prayer in which we assert that we meet evil in our lives by seeking the will of God for ourselves as our way through this world, and for how to respond.  So much in this prayer is concerned with the evil of the world and how to live the will of God, as did Christ -- and forgiveness is stressed so that we emphasize our prayer that the Father's "will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  In this context, we can understand forgiveness not to be a justification for others' bad actions, and certainly not behavior that would reward or indulge harmful behaviors.  Forgiveness is rather affirming that we leave all things in God's hands, and pray for guidance for how to conduct our lives, despite the evil we encounter.  Just as we pray for deliverance from evil (or the "evil one" as the language also reads in Greek), so here we are praying God's way through evil circumstances, even admittedly bad acts by others.  In this way, forgiveness can begin for each of us through an understanding of Christ's language of "debt," and the understanding that it is God the Father who is the ultimate Judge.  Through releasing the debt to the Judge, we are freed from thoughts of vengeance to consider the best way to live with what may be bad circumstances.  We are not necessarily praying for reconciliation to a bad actor or ongoing abuse and suffering, but instead are set free to consider what healing means and the best way to pursue that.  Therefore, this prayer emphasizes a freedom from the pattern of retribution that leads down a long road of sin, and always goes from bad to worse.   How might we better spend our time?  What might give us a better outcome to our lives, our productivity, the things that are good in our lives?  Let us use the prayer as our guide for life, as our way to seek out our Father, and to find His way for us. 

If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

- Matthew 6:7-15

 We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount, which began with chapter 5 of Matthew's Gospel (The Beatitudes).  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught:  "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."  Yesterday's reading then skipped over the verses specifically on prayer that we are given in today's reading.  Jesus continued preaching about spiritual practices:  "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Jesus gives us the prayer of all Christians, often called The Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father.   We note the very first given in this prayer:  the phrase "Our Father."  My study bible says that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity reveals our own potential relationship with God.  Christ, who is the (eternally begotten) Son of God, grants us the privilege of calling God Our Father by the grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).   As a "son of God" (where sonship, applying to both male and female believers, confers inheritance), each Christian is called to love, trust, and serve God as Christ does the Father.  My study bible adds that it's important to note that God isn't our Father just because God created us.   Father confers a sense of relationship in that we are in a saving and personal communion with God, one that only comes by the grace of adoption (see John 1:14; Romans 8:14-16).   Let us take note that immediately coupled with the address to Our Father, the prayer emphasizes the theme of the Sermon on the Mount, the kingdom of heaven and its manifestation in us and among us "on earth as it is in heaven."

"Give us this day our daily bread."  Daily, my study bible tells us, is a mistranslation of the Greek word epiousios, which literally means "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  The expression daily bread, we should understand, doesn't simply indicate bread for the present day, nor is it simply about earthly nourishment.  Rather, this phrase is about the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, the nourishment of our immortal soul.  The living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  We're not simply asking for material bread for physical health, but rather the spiritual bread of eternal life (John 6:27-58).  Again, we must note the seamlessness of the context of Jesus' preaching and message of the Gospel:  the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  We note here that this request for forgiveness is plural.  My study bible says that we are directed, in other words, always to pray for the forgiveness of others.  Debts refers to spiritual debts, as does "trespasses" further on. 

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen." God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13); my study bible tells us that temptations are from the evil one, or the devil.  It notes that temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful or selfish passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  None of us lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations, or tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), should not come to us.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  Jesus emphasizes mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  It's irreducible:  if we don't forgive, we're not forgiven.  Jesus repeats this teaching in the parable of the unforgiving servant (18:21-35), concluding with the same teaching.

What is forgiveness?  Jesus teaches us proper disposition throughout the Sermon on the Mount, giving us the blessings of the Kingdom in the Beatitudes, teaching us to be salt and light, giving us what it is to truly fulfill the Law and the Prophets (in this reading; and this one on murder, on adultery, divorce, and swearing; and on justice), teaching us about spiritual practices of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting (see yesterday's reading, above).  All of this is within the Gospel message of what it means that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (4:17). In today's reading, we're given the central gem of the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father.  In it, we're not only taught to pray, but the prayer also gives us basic general guidelines for what it is to live in and be a part of that Kingdom, even as we live in this world and practice our faith.  We are first of all under one Father, who is also Christ's eternal Father.  We become children of this Father not by birth or creation, but by the grace of adoption.  We pray for the manifestation of the fullness of God's kingdom -- and this is clearly linked to the will of Father being done "on earth as it is in heaven."  This is extending and claiming the world as the realm of God the Father and all that this means for us.  We ask for the daily bread that succors and gives us the true life of this Kingdom, the life in abundance promised by Christ (John 10:10).  We ask that our spiritual debts be forgiven, as we also pray for others to be forgiven and seek to practice that forgiveness ourselves, understanding the link between these things.  We pray that we may not be tempted, but also that we are delivered from the one who enslaves and causes pain (the root of the word for evil in Greek means "pain").  And our prayer is underscored with Jesus' clear pronouncement about forgiveness, which is linked to His earlier teaching in the Sermon to "love your enemies" (Wednesday's reading).  True righteousness is the practice of love.  (Let us recall that a rebuke can also be a form of love.)  So in that context we are given a strong warning, a certain maxim, that the failure to practice forgiveness will mean the failure to receive it or realize it.  Forgiveness, if we take it in the context of "debts," means to give up something.  A debt is something we owe to others, or they owe to us.  To give it up is not to demand payment.  We choose not to go after the pound of flesh, and find God's way for living through a difficult situation instead.  To forgive trespasses is similar; someone has gone where they shouldn't have gone, crossed an appropriate boundary of behavior.   But to give up that charge is to give it to God, not to trespass in return, but to seek God's way instead for moving forward and for righteousness in our lives.  This doesn't mean we leave justice behind (we may take the example of Zacchaeus as one who restores what he has taken from others), but it does mean we move forward into concepts about justice we may not have considered before.  It means we go forward into our faith, and forward into deeper dependence upon God, and life in the Kingdom.   While forgiveness may not necessarily mean full reconciliation, it does mean that we seek His way for our lives, we seek to walk in the ways of the Kingdom, and we give up thoughts of personal vengeance; justice and righteousness still apply.  Repentance is still a part of this life (Jesus gives a formula for discipline in the Church later on in Matthew 18:15-20, after which Peter asks how often he must forgive a brother who sins against him in verses 21-35.)   The fullness of the kingdom is an active, growing, inter- and intra-relational love, one that must flow through us and within us, with God as mediator.  It is a method for life in the Kingdom, one in which we live and move and have our being in this love that is the true fullness of the Kingdom, and permeates every moment if we but turn to it.  We may find that in the fullness of this citizenship, we come to understand a wisdom that isn't possible otherwise, learning discernment, prudence, and forms of love we may have thought were not available to us nor possible for us.  Let us continue to learn, His way, and pray for help for our growth in His Kingdom.  We always have prayer to turn to for help to do so.

Our Father in heaven

"And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

- Matthew 6:7-15

  We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount, which began with The Beatitudes, last Monday.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love the pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."  The lectionary skipped over what is given in today's reading, and continued with Jesus' teachings about spiritual practice:  "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Jesus has just finished teaching about prayer practice:  that it should be done in humility, and not to show oneself as pious to others.  But He takes it another notch forward, by teaching us what we ought to pray, and giving us this gracious prayer that is at the center of all Christian worship.  When He teaches not to pray in vain repetitions, the accent is on vain -- to be heard by many words.  Repetition for spiritual practice is another matter.  But our central focus in prayer, by Jesus' teaching, is the core relationship to God.   This is the foundation of all of His teachings, the greatest commandment, on which rests everything else.  My study bible tells us that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity reveals our potential relationship with God; that is a sonship by grace of adoption, by which Christ the Son gives us the privilege of calling God Our Father (see Galatians 4:4-7).  That's how strong this relationship is that we must grow within.  As a "son of God," each Christian person is called to love, trust, and serve God our Father as does Christ.  Fatherhood does not belong to God simply as Creator, but Father by virtue of being in a saving and personal relationship, a communion that comes by grace of adoption (see John 1:13; Romans 8:14-16).

"Give us this day our daily bread."  Here is the center of the prayer.  Daily doesn't really convey the true meaning of the Greek word here, in describing what kind of bread He's giving us.  The Greek word here is epiousios, meaning "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  That means this isn't just daily bread for human earthly physical nourishment.  It is the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, as my study bible puts it -- for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  The living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself; in the prayer we are asking not merely for material bread, but for the spiritual bread of eternal life (see John 6:27-58).  This is the bread of life in the Kingdom, even as we live in this world.

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  My study bible points out that in the Greek, the request to be forgiven is plural -- meaning that we pray always for the forgiveness of others.  Debts here are spiritual debts, the result of offense or sin.  In a spiritual sense, this is yet another way in which Christ takes us out of vengeance, and into a different and more cosmic sense of justice, in which we participate in the life of the Kingdom even as we are living worldly lives.

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen."   Temptation to sin isn't from God (James 1:13), but from the evil one.   From the evil one is an appropriate translation of the Greek τοῦ πονηροῦ.  (The root of this word for evil also means "pain," suggesting laborious trouble, misery.)   Temptations are often those things that sound good, promise some form of ease or pleasure, indulgence, or shortcut rather than the steady road or struggle of salvation -- playing to what are traditional called sinful passions of the flesh, which come in many forms.  Going along with pleasing a crowd -- a theme in Christ's talk regarding hypocrisy -- can be a powerful one.  My study bible says that no one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), should not come to us. 

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."   We have a reciprocal kind of teaching here:  mutual forgiveness as a precondition for God's forgiveness.  This teaching is illustrated in the parable of the unforgiving servant (18:21-35), which also concludes with the same teaching.  It's another way in which we are to be "God-like" as children by adoption.

This prayer is a great gift to us.  It's a kind of blueprint of our spirituality, our relationship to God, and to one another.  It teaches us about the gifts we're given that are necessary for our salvation, notably the "supersubstantial" bread for each day, forgiveness which is counterbalanced by our own active practice of forgiveness, our sincere desire for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, and the manifestation of the Kingdom.  The prayer gives us a sense of where we are in the universe, our relationship to God our Father, and our role in sonship by adoption.  It's a way of prescribing the life of active participation in the Kingdom, even as we live our lives in this world.  Repetition of the Lord's Prayer is therefore always a reminder of what we are to be about, and where we are in our spiritual lives.  It teaches us of the love of "Our Father" -- it is impossible to say this prayer without understanding the true nature of our relationship to God, and that it is based in love and through adoption, an active grace for us and through God's love.  When we pray, "Thy will be done," it's not an act of submission to an autocrat, but one of love and desire for the betterment of our entire world.  Let us remember that when we pray the Lord's Prayer, we enter into participation in this Kingdom, through all the things it teaches us:  of our need for God's love, for the Kingdom to manifest in the world (even through our own desire to follow God's will), for our daily bread which is of the eternal day of the Kingdom, our work at forgiveness, our desire to be free from temptations, and liberated from the pain of evil and its effects -- even as we walk in an imperfect world.  It is the perfect prayer, the one that suits all occasions and places us where Christ teaches us to be no matter what the circumstances.

Our Father in heaven

 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  So He said to them, "When you pray, say:

"Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone
who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one."

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have noting to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as many as he needs.  So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

- Luke 11:1-13

 In yesterday's reading, Jesus came to the village of Martha, Mary and Lazarus.  Luke's gospel tells us that Martha welcomed Him into her house.  Her sister Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Therefore tell her to help me."  And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  The disciple looks to the example; Jesus has been praying.  I think it's interesting that Jesus is asked in some part "as John also taught his disciples."  We know that many of Jesus' first disciples were previously disciples of John the Baptist.  My study bible says that the request Lord, teach us to pray expresses a universal spiritual need.  It adds that Matthew' record of the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13) has a slightly stronger liturgical flavor.

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  My study bible says, "Our Father signifies (1) the unique privilege of being children of God by the grace of adoption, and (2) the unity of Christians who commonly call God 'Our' Father.  God's name is hallowed when we praise and glorify Him by righteous words and deeds.  God's kingdom and will are closely related:  we pray they may be actualized on earth as they are in heaven, where God's reign is gloriously manifest."   First of all, God is "our Father."  Next comes the understanding that He is King, we are part of a Kingdom and even part of His name (as in anything set with a royal seal) by adoption.  Christ the only-begotten has come here to bring this Kingdom into our midst; it breaks in among us, and we are to be Kingdom-bearers by adoption.

"Give us day by day our daily bread."  My study bible notes, "Daily (Gr. epiousios) can also mean the 'essential' bread which many Church Fathers understood as (1) the truth of God's Word for daily sustenance, or (2) the sacramental bread of the Eucharist, Christ Himself."  This word, epiousios is a word unique to the Gospels, and not found in other literature of its time.   Another sense of this word is "super-substantial" (as Jerome revised Matthew's version of the prayer in the Vulgate).  Ousia is essence or substance.  Epi is a prefix that means "on" or "atop."  It can also imply "future" which gives us a sense, in the context, of the bread of the coming Kingdom.  St. John Chrysostom has written:  "Mark, I pray thee, how even in things that are bodily, that which is spiritual abounds."  While we pray for daily sustenance, in our prayer is also the prayer of the coming Kingdom, that which we need to also "incarnate" this Kingdom as has the Father in the Son by the Holy Spirit.

"And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  Here is another emphasis on the Kingdom, on God's leadership and mediation of this Kingdom.  My study bible says, "Willingness to forgive everyone is a prerequisite to being forgiven by God.  To be indebted means to have committed a sin against another.  Although God tests us, He does not lead us into temptation.  Deliverance from the evil one (rather than from evil in the abstract) is the classic patristic understanding of this petition."  To forgive is to give up the "debt" to God - we don't seek our own revenge.  This doesn't, to my mind, necessarily mean reconciliation or coming back for more abuse, but it does mean that God is the ultimate mediator of justice and judgment.  We turn in prayer for discernment for how we relate to others, even those who are in some sense "indebted" to us - who have a mark on the "debtor" side of the books!  We also ask for the same forgiveness for our own debts.  Temptation is closely linked:  harmful acts of any kind are temptation to behavior that takes us away from God's peace, and they are seen as linked to the work of the evil one.  That is, the enemy of this coming Kingdom that we are here to help bear into the world.

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have noting to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as many as he needs."  My study bible says here:  "Jesus praises persistence even if it seems inopportune and bothersome.  Persistence in prayer helps us to focus our attention on God."  Again, there is the emphasis of reliance on God, the head of this Kingdom, for what we need in life.  But there is more to it, as my study bible notes.  Persistence is key here.  God wants His children to come to Him, as often as possible.  When we remember God in our daily lives, however that is done, we are doing just that.

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."  My study bible says, "We ask in prayer, seek through study, and knock through righteous living."  It seems to be in the grand cosmic scheme of things that we, as adopted children of this kingdom, are to continually be returning to the King for all the things we need.  God wants dialogue with us!  We are, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan, to take the initiative, make the petition, and to continually be persistent in acting on our desires for this kingdom.  St. Paul tells us to "pray without ceasing."

"If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  My study bible says, "Evil is used here in the general sense of all human beings being weak and sinful.  If Jesus promises to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him, how is it that we ask?  The [Eastern] Church, since the early days, has provided this prayer:  'O heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of truth, who are in all places and fill all things, the Treasure of good things, and Giver of life, come and abide in us, cleanse us from every stain and save our souls, O Good One.' "  In the context of the prayer, it is clear here what we ask for.  Think of Mary's listening to the word of Jesus in yesterday's reading, and how Jesus quoted from Scripture in response to the "evil one" when He was tempted earlier in Luke's Gospel:  "It is written: 'Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "

 In the image of the "daily" (epiousion) bread that we need "day by day," we find many echoes of the Gospels and sayings of Jesus.  There is first of all the Incarnation itself, God made man, in which human and divine natures are merged as one.  In the Eucharist, we have an image of the Incarnation, bread and wine given to us as body and blood -- the Kingdom manifest in our midst of which we also partake and in which we participate as children ourselves, in His name.  Christ is the Word, His "bread" is every word that proceeds from the mouth of God -- just as in yesterday's reading, Mary's good portion was the word she heard at Jesus' feet.  In the prayer for the coming Kingdom, we pray to participate in that Kingdom and to be bearers of that Kingdom in the world, even as it "breaks in" through the Incarnation of Christ the Word in Jesus.  There is no separation between what we consider our food and our lives as bearers in or workers for this Kingdom.  Can we get a sense of how this works in our lives, and how we need this kind of daily bread of the coming Kingdom, each day of our lives?

Our Father in heaven

"And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

- Matthew 6:7-15

Starting last Monday, we have been reading the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew's Gospel. We began with the Beatitudes, teaching the blessings of discipleship. Then You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world - Jesus' metaphors for the value of discipleship to the world. Next, the fulfillment of the Law: "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." Then He addressed His understanding of several statutes; against murder: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder;'" against adultery: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery;'" regarding vengeance: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'" Jesus deepened our understanding of these statutes to include the inner life of discipleship. In yesterday's reading, He moved on to discuss spiritual practices in the light of His gospel and the inner life: in almsgiving, prayer and fasting. He taught, "Do not be like the hypocrites" -- religious practice that is only for outward show to others. When praying, He taught His disciples, do not be like the hypocrites. "For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." Today's reading follows these words on prayer.

"And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. " My study bible emphasizes that Jesus counsels not against repetition per se but vain repetitions. What He is saying is that we are to develop a personal, intimate relationship with our Father that deepens within us, and is sincere. He emphasizes the Father's knowledge of us before we come to pray. Therefore, the question must be asked, what is the purpose of prayer?

"In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name." "Our Father" really establishes this relationship to begin with. We note Jesus' emphasis to His disciples. It is not just "My Father in heaven" but "Your Father in heaven" -- and here, we pray to "Our Father." Therefore adoption is collective, for each of us, all of us, in this prayer. He is Son, but so are we children by adoption, included. "Your name" is also linked to family, to house. The "name" is like that of a king, in which all things in the kingdom belong. This name is hallowed, holy. It is an acknowledgement in the prayer of just what place God occupies, the Father in heaven. It is at once intimate, and yet speaks of God's "set apartness," "specialness."

"Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." From the hallowedness, holiness, "set apart" nature we acknowledge, we take it a step further. This kingdom we pray to come into the world -- and the will of its ruler, Our Father in heaven, we pray be done in the world, just as it is in heaven. So the prayer begins not with a request for the things God knows we need, but a request that our Father extend Himself and His kingdom and His reign into our world. It is a kind of request for blessedness, that this holy reality also be a part of our worldly reality. The verb in the Greek that is translated "be done" is rooted in the word for being born -- that God's will should come into being in the world. It reminds us of what it is to be reborn in spirit, and the action of God this entails.

"Give us this day our daily bread." The Greek word translated as "daily" is a very special word, that seems to have been coined specifically for this prayer. The Greek word epiousios literally means "above the essence" or "supersubstantial." My study bible says, "The expression daily bread indicates not merely bread for this day, taken for sustenance of life; it is bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for sustenance of our immortal life. It is living, 'superessential' bread." That He is the Bread of Life, of course, is what Jesus will teach us about Himself.

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." The work of the Kingdom so often includes a kind of mutual reciprocity -- our need and dependence on relationship in a certain sense. That is, what we wish to receive from God we also learn to give ourselves. Reflecting again the greatest commandments (which we have been discussing in the past several readings), my study bible notes, "We request God to be to us as we are to our neighbors." It's an interesting kind of reversal going on in this prayer: instead of merely praying a list of requests for what we want, we begin by asking God to extend Himself and His kingdom. So we also request God's action, forgiveness, as we first imply a condition -- that we extend such forgiveness ourselves. Again, I'll quote a note from my study bible: "Debts refers to spiritual debts: when we sin, we 'owe' restitution to our neighbor and to God." To forgive, in the Greek, is to "let go" or "send away" -- to release.

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." Following the forgiveness of debt, sin, we ask also to be freed from the temptation to sin. These temptations are from "the evil one." It is another sense in which we pray for God's kingdom to come, God's will be born again, to come into being in the world as it is in heaven. My study bible says, "Thus we pray that great temptations, tests beyond what we can bear, should not come our way."

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Here again, as there will be repeatedly in Jesus' teachings throughout the Gospels, is the emphasis on reciprocity. The word for trespass means a "falling away" - it indicates a kind of misstep, even a rather unconscious or non-deliberate act. It tells us of the attitude that we must have toward such "trespass."

Overall, we can think of this prayer, the Lord's Prayer, as having an emphasis on what we want from God, and the life that God has to share with us. There's not an emphasis on the material here: even our "daily bread" is in essence one with the substance of the Kingdom. It is comparable to the prayer in which we ask for God's will to be manifest on earth as it is in heaven. It sets conventional notions of prayer upside-down - we don't pray for the material but rather for God to come to us in full manifestation, always in the act of becoming, being born. When we ask for forgiveness, moreover, it's not just about what we desire, but done with the condition that we, first, are forgiving. So, the fullness of the Kingdom, always becoming, the action of God in our lives and our world, is what we desire. And we are, in some sense, called upon first to "be like God" -- to have an attitude ready to let go, in order to receive. This prayer - like so much of Jesus' teaching - actually holds within it an overwhelming message of how great we are in God's vision of us and God's relationship to us as human beings. We are called first to be like God, we pray for nothing less than God's kingdom and will to be born into our world, for holiness to come to us. We pray not for mere material things, but for God's spiritual reality to be constantly manifesting, becoming, with us, in our world, for the fullness of that promise to us. It puts us in a position where we are prepared to accept the fullness of this holy nature, and be like God. There could be no greater crown than this, no deeper reminder of what we are created to be in His image. We are His by adoption, in the fullness of that promise of eternal life, the "eternal day of the Kingdom of God." We pray for all of this to manifest here, with us, in our lives, in our world, in all of its abundance, and its promise of constant "becoming." Jesus will teach, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).