Proper 12 / Pentecost 10 / Ordinary Time 17
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.
-- Luke 11:1b
While the form of the Lord's Prayer that we are accustomed to is that given in Matthew, Luke offers a stripped down version of the familiar prayer. This variation reminds us that it is not the form of the prayer but the approach to God that is important. We are to begin all our prayers with an approach to God that is both intimate and respectful. "Father, hallowed be your name." In that relationship, we recognize God is like an intimate parent and yet is also holy other. God can be depended upon but should not be trivialized. Our prayer should not begin with first focusing on our own needs but in recognizing God's rule in the world. So we pray, "Your kingdom come."
To pray for God's kingdom to come is to pray for a historical, political, global change to come about. It is in that context that we also pray for a daily trust in God to meet our personal needs. "Give us each day our daily bread." This petition reminds us of the experience of Israel in the wilderness where God provided them manna to eat. God told them that they would receive manna each day (Exodus 16), but they, being concerned about the future, decided to gather enough for several days. The extra that they hoarded for the future spoiled, and God reminded them that they must learn to trust God each day for their daily bread.
The warning in the wilderness story is that if we gather more than we need for our daily provision, it will spoil. The reality is that when we hoard too much and lose the capacity to daily trust God, it spoils us. Having placed ourselves in the hand of an intimate, yet awesome, God and committed ourselves to God's agenda, we turn and focus on our interpersonal relationships.
"And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us." There seems to be an almost conditional clause in this petition. Yet it is also a recognition that our capacity to really forgive others is grounded in the forgiveness that we have received from God in our own lives. It may also suggest that for us to fully recognize God's forgiveness in our own lives, we need to offer forgiveness to our neighbor.
The prayer is concluded with a petition that God not bring us to a time of trial. While we can recognize that God often uses times of trial to strengthen our faith, we are always fearful that the next trial will overwhelm us. In this spare version of the prayer, we see an outline for all of our prayers.
-- Luke 11:1b
While the form of the Lord's Prayer that we are accustomed to is that given in Matthew, Luke offers a stripped down version of the familiar prayer. This variation reminds us that it is not the form of the prayer but the approach to God that is important. We are to begin all our prayers with an approach to God that is both intimate and respectful. "Father, hallowed be your name." In that relationship, we recognize God is like an intimate parent and yet is also holy other. God can be depended upon but should not be trivialized. Our prayer should not begin with first focusing on our own needs but in recognizing God's rule in the world. So we pray, "Your kingdom come."
To pray for God's kingdom to come is to pray for a historical, political, global change to come about. It is in that context that we also pray for a daily trust in God to meet our personal needs. "Give us each day our daily bread." This petition reminds us of the experience of Israel in the wilderness where God provided them manna to eat. God told them that they would receive manna each day (Exodus 16), but they, being concerned about the future, decided to gather enough for several days. The extra that they hoarded for the future spoiled, and God reminded them that they must learn to trust God each day for their daily bread.
The warning in the wilderness story is that if we gather more than we need for our daily provision, it will spoil. The reality is that when we hoard too much and lose the capacity to daily trust God, it spoils us. Having placed ourselves in the hand of an intimate, yet awesome, God and committed ourselves to God's agenda, we turn and focus on our interpersonal relationships.
"And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us." There seems to be an almost conditional clause in this petition. Yet it is also a recognition that our capacity to really forgive others is grounded in the forgiveness that we have received from God in our own lives. It may also suggest that for us to fully recognize God's forgiveness in our own lives, we need to offer forgiveness to our neighbor.
The prayer is concluded with a petition that God not bring us to a time of trial. While we can recognize that God often uses times of trial to strengthen our faith, we are always fearful that the next trial will overwhelm us. In this spare version of the prayer, we see an outline for all of our prayers.
