Season 3 Episode 19

To listen to an audio version of this post, visit www.covenantchurch.ca/podcasts/covenant-weekly.

Hi there, Covenant Family. This morning we are getting back to Jesus’ sermon on the mount - that collection of teachings in the gospel of Matthew that seems to best encapsulate the way of Jesus. And a part of what we are reading today is among the most well-known words of Jesus. Today we are considering some of Jesus’ words on prayer. We are reading Matthew 6:7-15 in today’s Covenant Weekly.

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.’

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

The Lord’s prayer itself has been discussed and parsed in countless ways. It was only just over a year ago that I did a short Covenant Weekly series about The Lord’s Prayer. So today I’m going to focus on what Jesus says before and after the prayer he taught.

This section about prayer is embedded among teaching against showy religion. And the introduction to the prayer reaffirms the primary point he’s making. “Don’t keep on babbling…your Father already knows what you need.”

In this, he’s setting prayer up as a fairly direct conversation between two relationally connected beings - us and God. In the pagan world the God’s were considered aloof and distant. Humans had to work to get their attention. One of the most dramatic examples of this is the prophets of Ba’al trying to get the attention of their God in the showdown with Elijah on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18. In contrast, Jesus reminds his listeners (and us) that Yahweh is an attentive father. We don’t need to dance or scream or yell or babble or put on a show to get our God’s attention. No. We come with plain and simple language to a father who is already there and aware.

Those are the words before the prayer - comforting words about God’s presence. The words after the prayer may be a little less comforting. Let me read them again.

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

This reflects a theme in Jesus’ teaching that I’ve become more and more aware of. It seems that God has given us a sense of control over how things will play out in the world, even in relationship with God. The message seems to be fairly plain here. If you want to live in a world that holds things against others, God will honour that and hold things against you. But if you’re willing to live in a world marked by forgiveness, you will know the Father’s overwhelming forgiveness.

He suggests that having it both ways isn’t an option. You can’t impress upon God’s forgiveness while fostering a world of grudges, resentment, and a lack of grace. God is not a coercive God. He’s not going to force us into those places if we don’t want to go there. We are able to set the tone for the kind of world we want to live in. And God will honour that. He comes offering love and grace and full forgiveness and receiving it comes with living it out ourselves.

I’m not totally sure here if Jesus is talking with our eternal destiny in mind. Or if it is more about our ongoing connection with the Father we want to pray to. But either way, it is a sober affirmation of the power that has been entrusted to us and the invitation to truly live out the grace and forgiveness offered to each of us.

So as we go today, may we go intent on sharing the forgiveness, the love of God within this broken world where much forgiveness is needed. And may we revel in the love and forgiveness of God we receive.

I just want to remind you that there is a work morning scheduled at the church for this Saturday morning at 8:30 am. In addition to cleaning up the lawn, we need a team of people to join in tearing down our current sign before the brick completely crumbles and hurts someone. We’d like to get the front of the front garden completely cleaned up. There are some nasty thorns and things in there that will take some effort to clear out. And we’d love to get some of our gravel brought back out onto the driveway. If you can come, bring whatever tools you have - rakes, shovels, wheelbarrows - and join in the effort. We’ll be starting at 8:30 am and there will be a coffee break after about an hour of work. Thanks in advance for participating as you’re able!

God bless you, Covenant Family. I’m grateful for you and am praying for you as you move through the week to come.