God Still Cares
Commentary
Another mass shooting appears on the television “Breaking News!” Many people have lost count of the number of school or concert shootings in the recent years in the USA. Usually prominent are comments such as, “We hold these families up in prayer,” and “more mental health is needed.” People who work both in spiritual care and mental health have heard this all before.
In many communities, mental health is hard to obtain. Mental health professionals are often paid less than a fast-food restaurant or gas station manager. Clergy wages are often at the bottom of the payscale ladder as caring professions go. Still what both the spiritual care offered by churches and mental health care remain available through counselors or social workers. The content of their wisdom still has integrity and merit, regardless of whether the broader economic market values their services or not in terms of financial compensation. Another shooting will probably occur at the current rate of availability. Automatic weapon ownership still abound in many communities. Many churches still struggle with worship attendance and financial resources. Many fields such as mental health care will be available, but not utilized as efficiently as they can be in such times of tragedy. Despite the cries for more mental health care, this line item ranks lower on the list in many government budgets. Welcome to the world of today’s texts!
Hosea is a prophet who sees instability and calamity just around the corner due in part of Israel’s infidelity toward their God of the covenant. The Pauline writer in Colossians sees Christians becoming distracted by false teachers who are disrupting people’s spiritual serenity. Jesus in Luke provides a lesson both prayer and hospitality under the often-violent imperial rule of the Roman empire. Whether these texts are given the weight of importance in the life of the community or persons, their content remains true to God’s promises. God still cares for the people anyway.
Hosea 1:2-10
This book might underscore the realities of family life including husband, wife, and children over past, present and future loyalties of relationships. Hosea 1-3 deals with the family life of the prophet. Chapters 4-14 are a series of prophetic speeches. The indictments are directed both at the people of Northern Israel (Ephriam) as well as their priests. Israel as with some families has forgotten the source of their community’s life.
Hosea is the first of the twelve minor prophets. They are smaller in size, not significance. Hosea is a contemporary of Amos. Little is known of the prophet, except his father’s name is Beeri. The book is usually dated between 750-745 BCE, during the reign of Jeroboam II. The events occur during the turbulent times of the westward conquests of expansion neighboring by Assyria under Tiglath Polisar III. While Amos critiqued the reckless material prosperity of Israel, Hosea challenged the nation’s idolatry.
Who makes the land fertile? Is it the God of the Hebrew Bible with whom the people had a covenant since deliverance from Egypt in Exodus? The temptation deity here was that of Bael, a fertility god whose practices involved cultic sexual acts as rituals for reproduction of crops. This is a form of adultery as the prophet declares from God.
One immediate concern about this book is why would God instruct a prophet to marry a woman of whoredom or sexual promiscuity, then have children with her? Regardless of whether one views this a metaphor or a literal historical account, it does not take away from the theme of God’s enduring love for the people. This love remains though faint at times, despite their constant split loyalty to the Baal deity and the God of the covenant in the Hebrew Bible.
The request to marry the woman Gomer has a textual definition issue. This might be resolved with the Greek word is “zona,” which literally means a woman who acts in promiscuous or adulterous ways. She need not necessary be a practicing prostitute whom Hosea marries. Thought she did have a bad reputation. Does reputation matter in modern courting and marriage practices? They have three children together. It is not stated if these children might have been a result of infidelity with other partners. Their names indicate the nation of Israel’s fickle loyalty to God. First, there is Jezreel meaning “God plants,” which is a also is the name of a city of many violent acts such as the death of Jezebel and the displayed heads of the seven sons of Ahab. It would be like naming a child “Hiroshima or Auschwitz). God will put an end to Israel is the judgment (Limburg, 9).
The second daughter’s name is Lo-rumah, meaning “not pitied.” While God delays judgement on the southern kingdom of Judah not so for the Northern Kingdom or Israel. The violence of the Assyrian nation is an unqualified punishment of the nation’s acts of prostitution to the fertility gods of Baal. Again, the issue of fidelity to one God or monotheism is at stake here. Do people in any time who seek economic security compromise their faith in the traditional God of Hebrew Scripture in order to hedge they bets with other loyalties beyond the covenants made earlier?
We might see examples of this with some church organizations withdrawing financial investment from nations they deem to be inhumane or committing crimes against their people. Yet, quite often a pension portfolio might be bundled to contain both benevolent and abusive nations within the same package.
The third child is named Loamini, or “not my people.” This means they no longer have their God of the covenant. This raises the thorny question of does God ever disown God’s people if their idolatry is egregious? Do parents ever disown their children today? Very early in my childhood, I heard of stories who disowned a son or daughter for marrying a mate not of the Christian denomination (e.g.: Roman Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist etc.). Today the stakes may be much higher in interfaith relationships between Christians marrying Muslims, Buddhists or Hindus. Are these false gods? Does this not suggest some level of supersessionism arrogance?
Christians might use the lens of Luke’s Jesus’ mission to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10)? This is a new covenant with the people of faith after the Christ event. Might this new covenant be more inclusive? Many major church bodies are conducting interfaith dialogues with other religions. When does this fall into the category of infidelity against one’s deity or prostituting one’s beliefs for the purposes of peace and prosperity? This small minor prophet book does open this can of worms, which may be argued from a variety of points of view.
The good news of this text and the prophet Hosea is that God will restore his people after the times of wrath and destruction Hosea 1:11. God will gather God’s people up again. Could the return of the exiles be on opportunity for this to occur? Could the Christ event of welcoming churches to outsiders be an effort to restore those who were judged in Israel? (Hubbard, 78).
Ther themes which includes Hosea as a prophet of God’s people rather than a doomsayer is the pattern of the book itself. That is: sin, accusation, indictment, judgment, renewal, purging, salvation announcement (Mays, 637). As applied in the opening illustration, the content of the message of the spiritual caregivers and mental health professionals remains valid like God’s faithfulness to the covenant. Underpayment of such vocations, and ignoring them as people did prophets does not diminish the importance and validity of the message. Not unlike the violence of Assyrian conquest, God still cares for the people by making available spiritual or mental caregivers in any age. [Sources: Hubbard Davi H. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Hosea, (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varity Press, 2009); Gaventa, Beverly R. and David Peterson, (Editors) New Interpreter’s Bible: One Volume Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2010). Limburg, James, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Hosea-Micah, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1988). Mays, James (Editor), Harper Collins Bible Commentary, (New York, NY: Harper One, 1988)].
Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)
Authorship issues are contested. “How one judges this matter of authorship largely depends on how much diversity and continuity one thinks is possible by a single author. There is very little at stake theologically either way. The letter is part of scripture, and Christians engage it as Scripture” (Gaventa, 851). The dates of the text range from 56-60 CE. I shall use “Paul” as the author, though use of the word “Pauline” would be equally sufficient.
Paul addresses a congregation which was founded by Epaphras. Outside false teachers have argued that faith and baptism unto the crucified and risen Christ are not enough to be worthy to be a Christian. These teachers have added other philosophies, veneration of angels and other works of righteousness as additional requirements. For Paul, faith in the working God through Christ (2:12) is sufficient as a believer. The false teachers added certain kosher laws, stricter observations of the Sabbath belief in eclectic spirits as core teachings of the Christian faith. This is not what either Paul or Epaphras taught. One needs no rules to aid in your salvation through Christ as evidenced in baptism (Reumann, 144-146).
No one experience can add what Christ has accomplished on the cross. Observance of certain festival days and ascetic practices associated with food and drink nor seeking mystical or ecstatic visions can ever replace the fullness a Christian has been made alive in new life with Christ. (Gaventa, 854).
Paul’s fear is these outsiders will deceive the Colossian church believers into being captured by the false philosophies of the day. “As therefore you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so live in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (2:6). God still cares for people who might have been misled through the populist false teachings of the day. Many churches have creeds or doctrinal statements to act as guardrails against false teachings. How do leaders protect the group from practices which might infringe on the basic teachings of the church in which people were raised or baptized in?
The good news is that Christ did “disarm the principalities and powers and made public of them, triumphing over them in him” (2:15). Efforts to disqualify this basic faith statement, with additional philosophies and rituals should be resisted, according to Paul in Colossians.
As this could relate to the Hosea lesson, Paul might suggest the false practices of rituals or additions to faith in the risen Christ might qualify as false idols or ideologies in themselves. This does not suggest blank check for loose living or antinomianism. Later Paul would say, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the thing that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right of the father. Set your minds on things that are above, not things on earth. For you have died, and your life is his with Christ in God” (3:1-3). God still cares for people, even when others are trying to lead them astray.
Sermon Path
I was raised in a very strict, almost legalistic church. This kept me out of trouble as a teenager. When I went away to college, those strictures against playing cards, having an occasional, beer, watching non-Christian movies and not dancing proved to being a barrier to forming legitimate friendships. On the other hand, I did not partake in the experimenting with non-prescriptive drugs crowd. I knew how to say no, if I felt my head getting “buzzed” after a couple beers. Soon I discovered Christians from less legalistic church backgrounds who attended drinking parties, watched all kinds of movies and yes, they attended church every Sunday and even had mid-week dormitory Bible studies. One of the challenges I have had in my ministry is to promote moderation. If addiction to any of the above becomes a problem, then my Christian upbringing became an aid. What false philosophies do we have today which might hinder us from living a fulfilling Christian life? God still cares for us. [Sources: Gaventa, Beverly and David Peterson, Editors, The New Interpreter’s Bible: One Volume Commentary, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2010); Taylor, Walter F., and John Reumann, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Ephesians, Colossians (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1985)]
Luke 11:1-13
Prayer is a major theme in Luke. There are eleven times it is mentioned. There is prayer and blessing God at the beginning of the gospel with Zechariah and a whole multitude of people (Luke 1:10). The gospel ends with the disciples blessing God in the temple in Luke 24:52. Prayer is one bracketed theme in Luke. One preaching idea which is helpful might be prayer there are no Wi-Fi dead zones while communicating with God. In the darkest of dungeon basements (the Apostle Paul) or amidst a stormy ship (Book of Jonah), God hears and answers prayers.
Today’s text might be divided into three sections: 1) The Lord’s Prayer 11:2-4. 2) A friend at midnight (11:5-8) 3) Sayings on Prayer 11:9-13, Chen, 159-164). In the first section, prayer is close communion between the Son and the Father. Jesus’ followers are invited to emulate this practice. There is also mention that John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray. Prayer has Hebrew Bible roots.
In the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, God is addressed as “Father.” This title is linked with Jewish piety of a God who is benevolent, and unchanging. The pagan gods, and emperors of the time whom other people prayed, were fickle and not always kind to their worshipers. This title of “Father” is about an intimate relationship with the God of Israel, not an authoritarian, specifically male figure (Tiede, 212).
“Hallowed” means preservation of God’s reputation God’s name is sanctified and stands above all other names. It is not to be profaned. God’s name is complemented as a segway to usher in the kingdom or reign of God, more so than physical territory, in spite any claims of authority from empires such as Rome. God will restore God’s people into a fulfilled spiritual life. This future is already impinging into the present. The core values of this kingdom include: provision, mercy, and protection in this present life.
The bread request echoes God’s provision for the people of Israel in the wilderness in Exodus 16. God provides enough food and water to survive on as a good father does for the family. The forgiveness petition also suggests spiritual sustenance. As the disciples are liberated from their debts, they are to liberate other people who owe the disciples from their debts. As God continues to be merciful in forgiving, so are the people of God to continue in the same practice to others. This is also part of the “kingdom come” petition.
In modern terms to simply say, “I will hold you in my prayers,” without any action to further or support to God’s reign on earth, is not a sincere application of this prayer. This leads to temptations of making light of prayer practices. Testing will continue as from the earlier days in the wilderness of the Book of Exodus and Jesus’ own testing in the wilderness in Luke 4. People of faith are dependent on God’s empowerment from the attacks of Satan. However, like Jesus, God provides the scriptures as Jesus quoted the book of Deuteronomy to combat satanic temptations. The desired outcome to the petitions in this prayer is for Christians to have confidence in the goodness, mercy and deliverance of this God of the universe (Chen 162).
Today many modern twelve-step groups who do not view themselves as “religious” in the church membership sense, but are spiritual, in that they often close their meetings with the petitions of this Lord’s Prayer. The prayer is also contained in many church orders of worship and liturgies. It has a timeless application to many situations from daily devotions to funeral benedictions. This might be one sermon path…the use of the Lord’s prayer in daily life.
In the second portion of this text, there is the story of a midnight visitor who prefers to avoid the heavy heat travels. Arrival to a village and home to an unsuspecting host result in a weary reception. The village itself prides itself in its hospitality, so the host goes to a neighbor’s house for assistance with the visitor. Hospitality ministry is a priority for this village. In those days it is also a matter of honor and shame. If such a village goes the extra mile to make visitors feel welcome, how much more is the loving God to uphold his divine honor in the same way, is one major point here (Chen, 165).
The Heavenly Father (God) Christians pray to is indeed kind and dependable. The disciples are encouraged to follow a similar model in ushering in the kingdom of God. For modern congregations, what does hospitality look like? With that said, there may also be boundaries so as not to be abused. For example, many food pantry outreaches do limit the amount of food to each recipient. There is also room for flexibility of the person who is in an awkward situation of sudden poverty or not “on the list” of people served in this community.
In the next set of sayings (11:9-13), if an earthly father who is imperfect tries to accommodate needs of those who seeking help, how much more is God the Father oriented in benefiting God’s children in need. The promise of the Holy Spirit is also one these sayings.
In the latter promise, Luke cites the work of the Holy Spirit more than any other gospel evangelist. From the prayers of Elizabeth and Zechariah (Luke 1) into Luke’s second volume of Acts, the Holy Spirit continues to work in Christian’s lives. As this relates to the opening illustration, the Holy Spirit which is from God the Father and Son extends the teachings of both the Hebrew Bible and Jesus’ ministry to those who are in need. If they seek such spiritual care or mental health care, is another matter. But the Holy Spirit of the church, like the counselor care of mental health professionals remains valid, though undervalued. [Sources: Chen, Diane G., New Covenant Commentary Series: Luke, (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017); Gadenz, Palbo T. The Gospel of Luke, (Grand Rapids, MI: Bake Academic, 2018); Tiede, David L. Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1988).
Application
Any one of the petitions of the Lord’s prayer could be a sermon path. I find the temptation petition the most promising. Does God place us in wildernesses for tests to see if we will fail as the people did in Israel during the wilderness wandering? If so, when do the tests stop? One response to is also to “deliver us from evil.” Possibly in certain tests, we do not seek to be delivered! Is this simply a reenactment of the basic Garden of Eden temptation in Genesis 3? The good news is we do have the Holy Spirit (11:10) to guide us. However, as after any modern tragedy do we really value the counselor wisdom of both spiritual and mental care givers? In fact, like the book of Hosea, we may value entertainment escapism of the popular idol of the day which we think will fulfill our deepest needs. The Lord’s Prayer shows the Father in heaven has a proven track record since the faithless response of both the children of Israel in the desert and the nation of Israel playing the unfaithful partner in Hosea.
Alternative Application
What does “daily bread” mean in this prayer. Is food, clothing, and roof over one’s head for daily sustenance good enough or do people effectively raise the bar on expectations they place on God in terms of material goods? Meanwhile people may be lowering the bar on their responsibilities in being a ministry of hospitality? Another direction to explore is whether this “daily bread” petition has a eucharistic implication as to who is and is not welcome at the communion table (Gadenz, 220).
In many communities, mental health is hard to obtain. Mental health professionals are often paid less than a fast-food restaurant or gas station manager. Clergy wages are often at the bottom of the payscale ladder as caring professions go. Still what both the spiritual care offered by churches and mental health care remain available through counselors or social workers. The content of their wisdom still has integrity and merit, regardless of whether the broader economic market values their services or not in terms of financial compensation. Another shooting will probably occur at the current rate of availability. Automatic weapon ownership still abound in many communities. Many churches still struggle with worship attendance and financial resources. Many fields such as mental health care will be available, but not utilized as efficiently as they can be in such times of tragedy. Despite the cries for more mental health care, this line item ranks lower on the list in many government budgets. Welcome to the world of today’s texts!
Hosea is a prophet who sees instability and calamity just around the corner due in part of Israel’s infidelity toward their God of the covenant. The Pauline writer in Colossians sees Christians becoming distracted by false teachers who are disrupting people’s spiritual serenity. Jesus in Luke provides a lesson both prayer and hospitality under the often-violent imperial rule of the Roman empire. Whether these texts are given the weight of importance in the life of the community or persons, their content remains true to God’s promises. God still cares for the people anyway.
Hosea 1:2-10
This book might underscore the realities of family life including husband, wife, and children over past, present and future loyalties of relationships. Hosea 1-3 deals with the family life of the prophet. Chapters 4-14 are a series of prophetic speeches. The indictments are directed both at the people of Northern Israel (Ephriam) as well as their priests. Israel as with some families has forgotten the source of their community’s life.
Hosea is the first of the twelve minor prophets. They are smaller in size, not significance. Hosea is a contemporary of Amos. Little is known of the prophet, except his father’s name is Beeri. The book is usually dated between 750-745 BCE, during the reign of Jeroboam II. The events occur during the turbulent times of the westward conquests of expansion neighboring by Assyria under Tiglath Polisar III. While Amos critiqued the reckless material prosperity of Israel, Hosea challenged the nation’s idolatry.
Who makes the land fertile? Is it the God of the Hebrew Bible with whom the people had a covenant since deliverance from Egypt in Exodus? The temptation deity here was that of Bael, a fertility god whose practices involved cultic sexual acts as rituals for reproduction of crops. This is a form of adultery as the prophet declares from God.
One immediate concern about this book is why would God instruct a prophet to marry a woman of whoredom or sexual promiscuity, then have children with her? Regardless of whether one views this a metaphor or a literal historical account, it does not take away from the theme of God’s enduring love for the people. This love remains though faint at times, despite their constant split loyalty to the Baal deity and the God of the covenant in the Hebrew Bible.
The request to marry the woman Gomer has a textual definition issue. This might be resolved with the Greek word is “zona,” which literally means a woman who acts in promiscuous or adulterous ways. She need not necessary be a practicing prostitute whom Hosea marries. Thought she did have a bad reputation. Does reputation matter in modern courting and marriage practices? They have three children together. It is not stated if these children might have been a result of infidelity with other partners. Their names indicate the nation of Israel’s fickle loyalty to God. First, there is Jezreel meaning “God plants,” which is a also is the name of a city of many violent acts such as the death of Jezebel and the displayed heads of the seven sons of Ahab. It would be like naming a child “Hiroshima or Auschwitz). God will put an end to Israel is the judgment (Limburg, 9).
The second daughter’s name is Lo-rumah, meaning “not pitied.” While God delays judgement on the southern kingdom of Judah not so for the Northern Kingdom or Israel. The violence of the Assyrian nation is an unqualified punishment of the nation’s acts of prostitution to the fertility gods of Baal. Again, the issue of fidelity to one God or monotheism is at stake here. Do people in any time who seek economic security compromise their faith in the traditional God of Hebrew Scripture in order to hedge they bets with other loyalties beyond the covenants made earlier?
We might see examples of this with some church organizations withdrawing financial investment from nations they deem to be inhumane or committing crimes against their people. Yet, quite often a pension portfolio might be bundled to contain both benevolent and abusive nations within the same package.
The third child is named Loamini, or “not my people.” This means they no longer have their God of the covenant. This raises the thorny question of does God ever disown God’s people if their idolatry is egregious? Do parents ever disown their children today? Very early in my childhood, I heard of stories who disowned a son or daughter for marrying a mate not of the Christian denomination (e.g.: Roman Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist etc.). Today the stakes may be much higher in interfaith relationships between Christians marrying Muslims, Buddhists or Hindus. Are these false gods? Does this not suggest some level of supersessionism arrogance?
Christians might use the lens of Luke’s Jesus’ mission to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10)? This is a new covenant with the people of faith after the Christ event. Might this new covenant be more inclusive? Many major church bodies are conducting interfaith dialogues with other religions. When does this fall into the category of infidelity against one’s deity or prostituting one’s beliefs for the purposes of peace and prosperity? This small minor prophet book does open this can of worms, which may be argued from a variety of points of view.
The good news of this text and the prophet Hosea is that God will restore his people after the times of wrath and destruction Hosea 1:11. God will gather God’s people up again. Could the return of the exiles be on opportunity for this to occur? Could the Christ event of welcoming churches to outsiders be an effort to restore those who were judged in Israel? (Hubbard, 78).
Ther themes which includes Hosea as a prophet of God’s people rather than a doomsayer is the pattern of the book itself. That is: sin, accusation, indictment, judgment, renewal, purging, salvation announcement (Mays, 637). As applied in the opening illustration, the content of the message of the spiritual caregivers and mental health professionals remains valid like God’s faithfulness to the covenant. Underpayment of such vocations, and ignoring them as people did prophets does not diminish the importance and validity of the message. Not unlike the violence of Assyrian conquest, God still cares for the people by making available spiritual or mental caregivers in any age. [Sources: Hubbard Davi H. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Hosea, (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varity Press, 2009); Gaventa, Beverly R. and David Peterson, (Editors) New Interpreter’s Bible: One Volume Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2010). Limburg, James, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Hosea-Micah, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1988). Mays, James (Editor), Harper Collins Bible Commentary, (New York, NY: Harper One, 1988)].
Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)
Authorship issues are contested. “How one judges this matter of authorship largely depends on how much diversity and continuity one thinks is possible by a single author. There is very little at stake theologically either way. The letter is part of scripture, and Christians engage it as Scripture” (Gaventa, 851). The dates of the text range from 56-60 CE. I shall use “Paul” as the author, though use of the word “Pauline” would be equally sufficient.
Paul addresses a congregation which was founded by Epaphras. Outside false teachers have argued that faith and baptism unto the crucified and risen Christ are not enough to be worthy to be a Christian. These teachers have added other philosophies, veneration of angels and other works of righteousness as additional requirements. For Paul, faith in the working God through Christ (2:12) is sufficient as a believer. The false teachers added certain kosher laws, stricter observations of the Sabbath belief in eclectic spirits as core teachings of the Christian faith. This is not what either Paul or Epaphras taught. One needs no rules to aid in your salvation through Christ as evidenced in baptism (Reumann, 144-146).
No one experience can add what Christ has accomplished on the cross. Observance of certain festival days and ascetic practices associated with food and drink nor seeking mystical or ecstatic visions can ever replace the fullness a Christian has been made alive in new life with Christ. (Gaventa, 854).
Paul’s fear is these outsiders will deceive the Colossian church believers into being captured by the false philosophies of the day. “As therefore you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so live in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (2:6). God still cares for people who might have been misled through the populist false teachings of the day. Many churches have creeds or doctrinal statements to act as guardrails against false teachings. How do leaders protect the group from practices which might infringe on the basic teachings of the church in which people were raised or baptized in?
The good news is that Christ did “disarm the principalities and powers and made public of them, triumphing over them in him” (2:15). Efforts to disqualify this basic faith statement, with additional philosophies and rituals should be resisted, according to Paul in Colossians.
As this could relate to the Hosea lesson, Paul might suggest the false practices of rituals or additions to faith in the risen Christ might qualify as false idols or ideologies in themselves. This does not suggest blank check for loose living or antinomianism. Later Paul would say, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the thing that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right of the father. Set your minds on things that are above, not things on earth. For you have died, and your life is his with Christ in God” (3:1-3). God still cares for people, even when others are trying to lead them astray.
Sermon Path
I was raised in a very strict, almost legalistic church. This kept me out of trouble as a teenager. When I went away to college, those strictures against playing cards, having an occasional, beer, watching non-Christian movies and not dancing proved to being a barrier to forming legitimate friendships. On the other hand, I did not partake in the experimenting with non-prescriptive drugs crowd. I knew how to say no, if I felt my head getting “buzzed” after a couple beers. Soon I discovered Christians from less legalistic church backgrounds who attended drinking parties, watched all kinds of movies and yes, they attended church every Sunday and even had mid-week dormitory Bible studies. One of the challenges I have had in my ministry is to promote moderation. If addiction to any of the above becomes a problem, then my Christian upbringing became an aid. What false philosophies do we have today which might hinder us from living a fulfilling Christian life? God still cares for us. [Sources: Gaventa, Beverly and David Peterson, Editors, The New Interpreter’s Bible: One Volume Commentary, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2010); Taylor, Walter F., and John Reumann, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Ephesians, Colossians (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1985)]
Luke 11:1-13
Prayer is a major theme in Luke. There are eleven times it is mentioned. There is prayer and blessing God at the beginning of the gospel with Zechariah and a whole multitude of people (Luke 1:10). The gospel ends with the disciples blessing God in the temple in Luke 24:52. Prayer is one bracketed theme in Luke. One preaching idea which is helpful might be prayer there are no Wi-Fi dead zones while communicating with God. In the darkest of dungeon basements (the Apostle Paul) or amidst a stormy ship (Book of Jonah), God hears and answers prayers.
Today’s text might be divided into three sections: 1) The Lord’s Prayer 11:2-4. 2) A friend at midnight (11:5-8) 3) Sayings on Prayer 11:9-13, Chen, 159-164). In the first section, prayer is close communion between the Son and the Father. Jesus’ followers are invited to emulate this practice. There is also mention that John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray. Prayer has Hebrew Bible roots.
In the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, God is addressed as “Father.” This title is linked with Jewish piety of a God who is benevolent, and unchanging. The pagan gods, and emperors of the time whom other people prayed, were fickle and not always kind to their worshipers. This title of “Father” is about an intimate relationship with the God of Israel, not an authoritarian, specifically male figure (Tiede, 212).
“Hallowed” means preservation of God’s reputation God’s name is sanctified and stands above all other names. It is not to be profaned. God’s name is complemented as a segway to usher in the kingdom or reign of God, more so than physical territory, in spite any claims of authority from empires such as Rome. God will restore God’s people into a fulfilled spiritual life. This future is already impinging into the present. The core values of this kingdom include: provision, mercy, and protection in this present life.
The bread request echoes God’s provision for the people of Israel in the wilderness in Exodus 16. God provides enough food and water to survive on as a good father does for the family. The forgiveness petition also suggests spiritual sustenance. As the disciples are liberated from their debts, they are to liberate other people who owe the disciples from their debts. As God continues to be merciful in forgiving, so are the people of God to continue in the same practice to others. This is also part of the “kingdom come” petition.
In modern terms to simply say, “I will hold you in my prayers,” without any action to further or support to God’s reign on earth, is not a sincere application of this prayer. This leads to temptations of making light of prayer practices. Testing will continue as from the earlier days in the wilderness of the Book of Exodus and Jesus’ own testing in the wilderness in Luke 4. People of faith are dependent on God’s empowerment from the attacks of Satan. However, like Jesus, God provides the scriptures as Jesus quoted the book of Deuteronomy to combat satanic temptations. The desired outcome to the petitions in this prayer is for Christians to have confidence in the goodness, mercy and deliverance of this God of the universe (Chen 162).
Today many modern twelve-step groups who do not view themselves as “religious” in the church membership sense, but are spiritual, in that they often close their meetings with the petitions of this Lord’s Prayer. The prayer is also contained in many church orders of worship and liturgies. It has a timeless application to many situations from daily devotions to funeral benedictions. This might be one sermon path…the use of the Lord’s prayer in daily life.
In the second portion of this text, there is the story of a midnight visitor who prefers to avoid the heavy heat travels. Arrival to a village and home to an unsuspecting host result in a weary reception. The village itself prides itself in its hospitality, so the host goes to a neighbor’s house for assistance with the visitor. Hospitality ministry is a priority for this village. In those days it is also a matter of honor and shame. If such a village goes the extra mile to make visitors feel welcome, how much more is the loving God to uphold his divine honor in the same way, is one major point here (Chen, 165).
The Heavenly Father (God) Christians pray to is indeed kind and dependable. The disciples are encouraged to follow a similar model in ushering in the kingdom of God. For modern congregations, what does hospitality look like? With that said, there may also be boundaries so as not to be abused. For example, many food pantry outreaches do limit the amount of food to each recipient. There is also room for flexibility of the person who is in an awkward situation of sudden poverty or not “on the list” of people served in this community.
In the next set of sayings (11:9-13), if an earthly father who is imperfect tries to accommodate needs of those who seeking help, how much more is God the Father oriented in benefiting God’s children in need. The promise of the Holy Spirit is also one these sayings.
In the latter promise, Luke cites the work of the Holy Spirit more than any other gospel evangelist. From the prayers of Elizabeth and Zechariah (Luke 1) into Luke’s second volume of Acts, the Holy Spirit continues to work in Christian’s lives. As this relates to the opening illustration, the Holy Spirit which is from God the Father and Son extends the teachings of both the Hebrew Bible and Jesus’ ministry to those who are in need. If they seek such spiritual care or mental health care, is another matter. But the Holy Spirit of the church, like the counselor care of mental health professionals remains valid, though undervalued. [Sources: Chen, Diane G., New Covenant Commentary Series: Luke, (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017); Gadenz, Palbo T. The Gospel of Luke, (Grand Rapids, MI: Bake Academic, 2018); Tiede, David L. Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1988).
Application
Any one of the petitions of the Lord’s prayer could be a sermon path. I find the temptation petition the most promising. Does God place us in wildernesses for tests to see if we will fail as the people did in Israel during the wilderness wandering? If so, when do the tests stop? One response to is also to “deliver us from evil.” Possibly in certain tests, we do not seek to be delivered! Is this simply a reenactment of the basic Garden of Eden temptation in Genesis 3? The good news is we do have the Holy Spirit (11:10) to guide us. However, as after any modern tragedy do we really value the counselor wisdom of both spiritual and mental care givers? In fact, like the book of Hosea, we may value entertainment escapism of the popular idol of the day which we think will fulfill our deepest needs. The Lord’s Prayer shows the Father in heaven has a proven track record since the faithless response of both the children of Israel in the desert and the nation of Israel playing the unfaithful partner in Hosea.
Alternative Application
What does “daily bread” mean in this prayer. Is food, clothing, and roof over one’s head for daily sustenance good enough or do people effectively raise the bar on expectations they place on God in terms of material goods? Meanwhile people may be lowering the bar on their responsibilities in being a ministry of hospitality? Another direction to explore is whether this “daily bread” petition has a eucharistic implication as to who is and is not welcome at the communion table (Gadenz, 220).
