Holden Evening Prayer – The Big Why: The Lord’s Prayer

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!

But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

Eleven years ago our former senior pastor, Chris Nelson, and I traveled to India together. Chris was excited for me to meet the people and places that were so dear to his heart. We’d have time to stop at Park Town School, but mostly we’d be teaching a preaching seminar at the seminary in Chennai. I was less excited than Chris. I’m a verbal processor so I made sure a lot of people knew that. Traveling to the other side of the world when I’m not a big fan of flying; teaching in a country whose language I didn’t speak; being away from four young kids for a week — all contributed to my high anxiety.

Last spring, Bethlehem pastors hit the fast forward button and tried to imagine where we might be as a church in November. We couldn’t predict the future but we knew the uncertainty of the pandemic would include a unique kind of anxiety. We held out hope for a return to some familiar patterns for in person worship and gathering by now but also suspected that that might not be the case. We wondered about what our community of faith might need to feel connected after eight months of staying apart. We chose to focus on the rituals of our faith and why we practice them.

Faith rituals are life-giving reminders about who we are and to whom we belong. You are a beloved child of God — you belong to God and we belong to each other. This is a fundamental truth of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And rituals are a faith practice created to remind us of that truth. Rituals provide structure for our spiritual lives. They shape our thinking. They hold space and power to give meaning to our life experience even when our minds are tired and our hearts empty.

Praying the Lord’s Prayer is a ritual of our faith. It’s the focus we identified for today — back in the spring. We pray it every time we worship. We grieve that we can’t hear the sound of praying it together, but the power of the prayer has not diminished. Praying this prayer gives us a promise and something to hold on to. It keeps us connected in faith, hope and love — not just to each other but to those who’ve gone before us in faith and those who will follow us in faith, too. It grounds us in a particular perspective that God is God and we are not. The Lord’s Prayer is a gift given by Jesus to his followers, which is to say — it’s Jesus’ gift to you and me too. It gives shape to faithful conversation with God and it reorients us — away from self and toward the other. We pray the Lord’s prayer together because Jesus commanded us to, not as an ultimatum to get things right, but as an invitation into the way of God.

Of course we all know it’s easy for rituals to become rote. We pray the same words over and over again — and miss the weight of the radical asks we make for forgiveness, mercy, justice and peace.

What might happen when we pray it a little differently? To sit with each phrase a little longer. Let’s give it a try.

I invite you to take 1 deep breath. I’ll introduce each phrase with, “we pray together. You can join me, or just listen. Sit with the words. And then reflect: What do you notice? What does it mean? How do these words change your perspective? I’ll share a thought with some help from Martin Luther before moving on with the next petition.

We pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Deep breath: What do you notice? What does this mean? How do these words change your perspective?

I notice it’s not your parent or mine but OURS. We are part of the same family, interdependent one with the other, in relationship with God. We are God’s children. Martin Luther writes: “It is true that God’s name is holy in itself, but we ask in this prayer that it may also become holy in and among us.”

We pray together:
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Deep breath: What do you notice? What does this mean? How do these words change your perspective?

God’s kingdom and will come without our asking, but we ask in this prayer that it may also come to us. We pray that God’s love and will be made known in and through us.

We pray together:
Give us today our daily bread.

God is the provider of all that we are and all that we have. We ask in this prayer that God cause us to recognize what our daily bread is, that God provides enough for all people. We receive God’s gifts with thanksgiving and praise.

We pray together:
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

We all fall short. We sin. We ask for God’s mercy and grace. We forgive others that they would experience the same grace we receive in Jesus

We pray together:
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

We ask that God preserve and keep us… that God would save us from evil within and around us. And when our final hour comes, to meet us with grace and take us to God’s own self.

We pray together:
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.

God is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. All glory be God’s in this present moment and for all eternity. Amen.

This prayer is Jesus’ gift to us in faith. It comes with a promise — to be drawn into a deeper relationship with God through him. It’s something to hold onto in these anxious days — words that makes a difference — in you and for you.

The scripture Carl read earlier gives us a glimpse of another church navigating uncertainty and anxiety. The verses we heard are an excerpt from a letter written by the Apostle Paul. Paul had been their founding pastor. He was concerned about what he was hearing. They were a young, newly formed congregation. They were vulnerable, their faith felt fragile; they were stressed by the cultural powers that ruled the day. So he writes to reaffirm their faith, to remind them of their reason for hope, to encourage them to live lives shaped by love, and instruct them about the coming of Jesus Christ. In this part of the letter Paul is addressing their despair: the people were grieved by those in their congregation who died before Christ returned (4:13). Were they lost and forgotten forever? It was a question that burned in their hearts and tested their faith. Nothing was going the way they expected. Where was Jesus?

Paul gives them a promise and something to hold on to. Paul assures them that Christ does not forsake those who belong to him (4:14-18). Their present and their future belong to Christ. And then he writes: “Put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” Faith, hope and love were gifts given to them by God. Hold on to these things; they are marks for holy living.

Paul assures the people of God’s faithfulness; they have what they need to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, to navigate this in-between time of God’s kingdom that is both now and not yet. They are a people called to a radically counter-cultural way of life, grounded in the cross of Christ. They are God’s church. Bethlehem is too.

You are God’s church. Paul admonishes the church to encourage one another and build up each other. In times of anxiety, chaos and stress we can’t go it alone, nor should we. We need each other. We are responsible to one another. We put on faith, hope and love and use them as markers to guide us in the way of God. It’s not an individual endeavor but a community of faith’s commitment to daily acts that encourage each other for the sake of the common good.

Maybe it’s the anxiety that exists in and around me these days but I’ve been thinking a lot about that trip to India lately and wanted to share with you the rest of the story.

Just before the trip long time member Lois Helgeson, who turned 101 last week, came to my office for a visit. She’d heard I was anxious about the trip — well, to be fair, I’d told her several times to make sure she knew. So she came with purpose. She gave me this worry stone. It had been in her family for a long time. Her mother used it. She wanted me to have it and encouraged me to have it at the ready, to hold it and rub. She assured me — it would calm my nerves. She also promised that she would pray for me every day. Thanks Lois. I know you’re watching and that you continue to pray. I’ve never forgotten your gift. You gave me a promise and something to hold on to and it made all the difference.

God’s given the same to each and every one of you — a promise and something to hold on to. You belong to God and we belong to each other. Nothing separates you from that promise. Keep praying the Lord’s Prayer and you will be drawn deeper into sacred space with others, where faith is strengthened, hope is nurtured and God’s love takes hold of you — now and forever. Amen.