Introduction To The Lord's Prayer
Sermon
PRAY LIKE THIS ...
Sermons On The Lord's Prayer
Many years ago the famous fable writer, Aesop, wrote, "Familiarity breeds contempt." Mark Twain had a comeback for that, you know: "Familiarity breeds contempt - and children!" But what Aesop wrote is true, isn't it? Don't we sometimes take the familiar for granted?
I think of a scene I once saw atop Mount Washington. My wife Bonnie and I were on vacation. It was our first trip ever to the summit. We were lucky. It was a clear August day. The view from the top was astonishing.
So I was amused to see one of the tour guides, seated on a rock, with his nose buried in a paperback book. That breathtaking view had become routine to him, maybe even boring. Sometimes what we take for granted is a familiar place.
Sometimes we take a familiar object for granted. A good illustration comes from one of my previous churches. There is, in Trinity United Church of Christ in Rome, New York, a small oil painting of the Holy Family: Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus. It has hung on the wall just to the left of the pulpit since 1936 or 1937.
The little painting has no title, no artist's name, no indication of who gave it. It just hung there on the wall, largely overlooked, for fifty years until a new member, who was interested in art, began to ask questions. She encouraged us to get a local art expert to look at it. Later slides and a description were mailed to Sotheby's of London.
It turns out the painting was done in the late 1600s or early 1700s in Genoa or Venice. It's the work of a master. And rather valuable, too: $20,000 in 1980s dollars, much more today. It took the sharp eye of a new member to notice the hidden value in a familiar thing.
The Lord's Prayer is also familiar, isn't it? After all, most of us have known it since childhood. We've recited it thousands of times. We could say it in our sleep. Yet like the view from atop Mount Washington, like the little painting in my previous church, the Lord's Prayer is a treasure. Tertullian, one of the Early Church Fathers, called it "The gospel abbreviated." Distinguished Professor John Killinger calls it "the most effective summary of Christian theology ever given." High praise for a prayer you can recite in thirty seconds!
A billion Christians recite the Lord's Prayer. There's never an instant when it isn't being offered up somewhere in some language. But how many of us have actually studied it? We'll take one petition of the Lord's Prayer per month, until we've studied it all. We'll consider questions like "Does 'Lead us not into temptation' mean God tempts us?" We'll look at why the Roman Catholics have a different version than Protestants. By the end of this series, we'll be even more familiar with the "Our Father." But that familiarity, I hope, will breed, not contempt, but a new appreciation and a new power in our praying the Lord's Prayer.
For prayer does have power, although we sometimes discount it. I once heard the story of a small town where a nightclub opened on Main Street. This nightclub caused a lot of controversy in that town, rather like the introduction of "exotic dancers" at Guido Murphy's bar on Main Street in Hyannis. The only church in town held an all--night prayer vigil. The church members prayed that God would put an end to the club. That very night, the nightclub was struck by lightning. It burned completely down. The owners of the club sued the church for destruction of property. The church leaders denied being responsible. When the case came to court, the judge made this observation: The nightclub owners apparently believed in the power of prayer. But the church leaders apparently did not!
Oswald Chambers writes, "Every time we pray, our horizon is altered, our attitude to things is altered, not sometimes but every time, and the amazing thing is that we don't pray more." Martin Luther, mighty in prayer, proclaimed, "I have often learned more in one prayer than I have been able to glean from much reading and reflection." Abraham Lincoln believed in the power of prayer. He said, during the turmoil of the Civil War, "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." Prayer is mighty. But I know too often I don't take the time or make the effort to "hook up" with God in prayer. Maybe you don't, either.
Herbert Jackson, a foreign missionary, describes how, when he was newly "out in the field," he was assigned an automobile that wouldn't start without a push. So for two years he got someone to push--start his car in the morning so he could get going. Then all day, as Jackson made his rounds in his mission station, he either kept the motor running or parked the car on a hill. That way he could be certain to get it going again.
After two years his replacement came to relieve him. Herbert Jackson proudly explained his ingenious tricks for making his car run. The new missionary wasn't impressed. Instead he looked under the hood. After a moment's searching he found a loose cable, twisted it slightly, and the car started immediately!
The power was there all the time! But the connection was loose. God's power: the power to guide us, the power to comfort us, the power to heal us, the power to make us whole when we're not healed, is always available. But we may discount it. We may not connect with it. We may not utilize prayer's power.
But Jesus did. Over and over again in the Gospels Jesus is depicted at prayer. He began his public ministry with forty days of prayer and fasting in the desert. He often went off to a quiet place to pray. Sometimes Jesus prayed all night. He found prayer more rejuvenating than sleep.
He prayed before he fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. He prayed before he healed the sick. He prayed for his followers. He prayed for courage to face suffering. Jesus prayed with such power that his face began to shine.
Have you ever run into a person whose prayer life is so deep, whose God--connectedness is so solid, that his or her face shines with light? I have. In fact, we have several of these shining "saints" in our church.
His disciples saw what Jesus could do. More importantly, they saw who he was. He prayed. The blind began to see. He prayed. The lame danced. He prayed. And 5,000 were fed. He prayed. The wind and the waves were stilled. He prayed. Guilt drained from the faces of men and women he had forgiven. Finally the disciples got it! Jesus' power was connected to prayer!
So one day, after Jesus had been praying, and his face was still shining, one of them rushed up and begged him fervently, "Lord, teach us the secret of contentment. Lord, teach us to be brave, like you. Lord, teach us what is really important!"
"Lord, teach us to pray!"
And he did.
Let's not take the Lord's Prayer for granted. Let's not discount its power. For "more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of," as Tennyson said. I know I need to grow in my prayer life. I know my face is not always shining. I know I could do more if I prayed more. Maybe you know the same things. So I'm looking forward to studying the one prayer that Jesus taught us: the Lord's Prayer. I hope you are, too.
I think of a scene I once saw atop Mount Washington. My wife Bonnie and I were on vacation. It was our first trip ever to the summit. We were lucky. It was a clear August day. The view from the top was astonishing.
So I was amused to see one of the tour guides, seated on a rock, with his nose buried in a paperback book. That breathtaking view had become routine to him, maybe even boring. Sometimes what we take for granted is a familiar place.
Sometimes we take a familiar object for granted. A good illustration comes from one of my previous churches. There is, in Trinity United Church of Christ in Rome, New York, a small oil painting of the Holy Family: Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus. It has hung on the wall just to the left of the pulpit since 1936 or 1937.
The little painting has no title, no artist's name, no indication of who gave it. It just hung there on the wall, largely overlooked, for fifty years until a new member, who was interested in art, began to ask questions. She encouraged us to get a local art expert to look at it. Later slides and a description were mailed to Sotheby's of London.
It turns out the painting was done in the late 1600s or early 1700s in Genoa or Venice. It's the work of a master. And rather valuable, too: $20,000 in 1980s dollars, much more today. It took the sharp eye of a new member to notice the hidden value in a familiar thing.
The Lord's Prayer is also familiar, isn't it? After all, most of us have known it since childhood. We've recited it thousands of times. We could say it in our sleep. Yet like the view from atop Mount Washington, like the little painting in my previous church, the Lord's Prayer is a treasure. Tertullian, one of the Early Church Fathers, called it "The gospel abbreviated." Distinguished Professor John Killinger calls it "the most effective summary of Christian theology ever given." High praise for a prayer you can recite in thirty seconds!
A billion Christians recite the Lord's Prayer. There's never an instant when it isn't being offered up somewhere in some language. But how many of us have actually studied it? We'll take one petition of the Lord's Prayer per month, until we've studied it all. We'll consider questions like "Does 'Lead us not into temptation' mean God tempts us?" We'll look at why the Roman Catholics have a different version than Protestants. By the end of this series, we'll be even more familiar with the "Our Father." But that familiarity, I hope, will breed, not contempt, but a new appreciation and a new power in our praying the Lord's Prayer.
For prayer does have power, although we sometimes discount it. I once heard the story of a small town where a nightclub opened on Main Street. This nightclub caused a lot of controversy in that town, rather like the introduction of "exotic dancers" at Guido Murphy's bar on Main Street in Hyannis. The only church in town held an all--night prayer vigil. The church members prayed that God would put an end to the club. That very night, the nightclub was struck by lightning. It burned completely down. The owners of the club sued the church for destruction of property. The church leaders denied being responsible. When the case came to court, the judge made this observation: The nightclub owners apparently believed in the power of prayer. But the church leaders apparently did not!
Oswald Chambers writes, "Every time we pray, our horizon is altered, our attitude to things is altered, not sometimes but every time, and the amazing thing is that we don't pray more." Martin Luther, mighty in prayer, proclaimed, "I have often learned more in one prayer than I have been able to glean from much reading and reflection." Abraham Lincoln believed in the power of prayer. He said, during the turmoil of the Civil War, "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." Prayer is mighty. But I know too often I don't take the time or make the effort to "hook up" with God in prayer. Maybe you don't, either.
Herbert Jackson, a foreign missionary, describes how, when he was newly "out in the field," he was assigned an automobile that wouldn't start without a push. So for two years he got someone to push--start his car in the morning so he could get going. Then all day, as Jackson made his rounds in his mission station, he either kept the motor running or parked the car on a hill. That way he could be certain to get it going again.
After two years his replacement came to relieve him. Herbert Jackson proudly explained his ingenious tricks for making his car run. The new missionary wasn't impressed. Instead he looked under the hood. After a moment's searching he found a loose cable, twisted it slightly, and the car started immediately!
The power was there all the time! But the connection was loose. God's power: the power to guide us, the power to comfort us, the power to heal us, the power to make us whole when we're not healed, is always available. But we may discount it. We may not connect with it. We may not utilize prayer's power.
But Jesus did. Over and over again in the Gospels Jesus is depicted at prayer. He began his public ministry with forty days of prayer and fasting in the desert. He often went off to a quiet place to pray. Sometimes Jesus prayed all night. He found prayer more rejuvenating than sleep.
He prayed before he fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. He prayed before he healed the sick. He prayed for his followers. He prayed for courage to face suffering. Jesus prayed with such power that his face began to shine.
Have you ever run into a person whose prayer life is so deep, whose God--connectedness is so solid, that his or her face shines with light? I have. In fact, we have several of these shining "saints" in our church.
His disciples saw what Jesus could do. More importantly, they saw who he was. He prayed. The blind began to see. He prayed. The lame danced. He prayed. And 5,000 were fed. He prayed. The wind and the waves were stilled. He prayed. Guilt drained from the faces of men and women he had forgiven. Finally the disciples got it! Jesus' power was connected to prayer!
So one day, after Jesus had been praying, and his face was still shining, one of them rushed up and begged him fervently, "Lord, teach us the secret of contentment. Lord, teach us to be brave, like you. Lord, teach us what is really important!"
"Lord, teach us to pray!"
And he did.
Let's not take the Lord's Prayer for granted. Let's not discount its power. For "more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of," as Tennyson said. I know I need to grow in my prayer life. I know my face is not always shining. I know I could do more if I prayed more. Maybe you know the same things. So I'm looking forward to studying the one prayer that Jesus taught us: the Lord's Prayer. I hope you are, too.
