View today's sermon on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtaE-_QV_AM.

Matthew 6:9-13 NRSVUE 

9 “Pray, then, in this way:

Our Father in heaven, may your name be revered as holy.

10     May your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

11     Give us today our daily bread.[ OR our bread for tomorrow.]

12     And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13     And do not bring us to the time of trial,[ OR do not bring us into testing] but rescue us from the evil one.[OR but rescue us from evil. Other ancient authorities add, in some form, For the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours forever. Amen.]

PRAYING

It doesn’t have to be 

the blue iris, it could be 

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few 

small stones; just 

pay attention, then patch 

a few words together and don’t try 

to make them elaborate, this isn’t 

a contest but the doorway 

into thanks, and a silence in which 

another voice may speak. 

~ Mary Oliver

So often our reading for the week begins with a fragment or a question relating to the previous passage. It’s bound to happen. As we know, the Books of the Bible are ideally meant to be read all at once, not piecemeal like we do. 

What was the discussion just prior to this lesson in how to pray? Chapter Six of Matthew’s Gospel begins with the admonitions to give alms and to pray with humility. Matthew’s advice was, whether monetary donations, or mitzvahs (commandments / good deeds) or prayers—as much as possible, keep it between oneself and God. 

Bible scholars have given us the immeasurable gifts of understanding the ancestry of our prayers. Of course you noticed that the words Sarina read from Matthew’s Gospel are not the exact same words that we recite each week as we conclude our Prayers of the People. Why aren’t they the same words? 

What we know as The Lord’s Prayer has changed shape over time to include details to answer questions raised along the way of our developing Christianity. 

Earlier versions do not include the words kingdom or heaven. What were the church elders wanting to suggest or clarify with this additional language? 

In both Hebrew and Aramaic the verbs “reigns” or “rules” are related to the nouns “king” and “kingdom”. By speaking of the kingdom the prayer was modified to mirror the familiar language of the Hebrew scriptures. 

In the Hebrew Bible the word for heaven is plural; the heavens. At times, the term “the heavens” refers to the expanse in which the birds fly, at times to the starry heavens, and at other times still to the highest heaven above the firmament. The context decides which meaning is appropriate. 

In the New Testament generally, the faithful are encouraged to look forward to a blissful eternity with God, in this mysterious place we call heaven. Yet Jesus’ theology of kingdom – on earth as it is in heaven – was both expectant of the future and demanding of the present. We are not to be content with a future heaven, we are to work toward creating heaven here on earth. 

We are praying what we desire to be true for us all. The way that we are taught to imagine how it is in heaven is how we are to create a reality on earth. 

A group of biblical scholars known as the Jesus Seminar painstakingly researched ancient documents in an effort to isolate the authentic words of Jesus from the later additions and modifications made by scribes and narrators. While doing this they also created a new translation called The Scholars Version. [It includes color coding to signify likelihood of authenticity of words that Jesus spoke.] Their version of The Lord’s prayer is this: 

9 Instead, you should pray like this:

Our Father in the heavens, your name be revered. 

10 Impose your imperial rule, enact your will on earth as you have in heaven.

11 Provide us with the bread we need for the day.

12 Forgive our debts to the extent that we have forgiven those in debt to us.

13 And please don’t subject us to test after test, but rescue us from the evil one. 

Instead of what? Instead of praying like the hypocrites or phonies who stand in public and pray to gain attention for self-serving motives. Instead of those who babble on and on believing that they need lengthy prayers to be heard or understood by God. God knows before we know, before we pray, so instead pray simply, from your heart to God’s ear. 

The Lord’s Prayer appears in both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. But they differ from one another and they have additions from what is believed to be the original prayer that Jesus taught to his disciples. Arguably, the first version of what we now pray as The Lord’s Prayer, sounded more like this next version, believed to be part of the Lost Gospel Q (meaning Source in German) thought by a preponderance of scholars to have been a collection of the sayings of Jesus, and known and used as source material by the authors of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

“Say this when you pray:

‘Father, may your name be honored; may your reign begin. 

Grant us the food we need for each day.

Forgive our failures, for we forgive everyone who fails us.

And do not put us to the test.’”

What is it we are trying to say? What is it we are trying to pray?

We are naming God in an intimate, familial way while acknowledging due respect and reverence for the Creator and the created world. We pray that our most basic needs be met for our daily survival. Not only our needs but the needs of the world. We pray for the grace of both giving and receiving the forgiveness of God and of one another. We pray that in times of trial we have the strength of character to do what is right and just. 

It is only natural that this prayer, all prayers, change over time. We need prayers that resonate with our hearts and minds. We still make adaptations today. Some choose to address God as Mother or Creator, which are, of course, equally valid and respectful names for God. 

I will share a few modern examples of prayers modeled after The Lord’s Prayer. The first is from the Benedictine Women of the Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, Wisconsin. 

They offer this version entitled, “The Prayer of Jesus”: 

Holy One, our only Home 

blessed be your name, 

may your day dawn, 

your will be done,

 here, as in heaven. 

Feed us today, and forgive us, 

as we forgive each other. 

Do not forsake us at the test, 

but deliver us from evil. 

For the glory, the power, 

and the mercy are yours 

now and forever. 

Amen

And, I offer to you  Rev. Yolanda M. Norton’s reinterpretation of the Lord’s Prayer from her “Beyonce Mass” that centers Beyonce’s lyrics and music in a Worship Service.

Our Mother,

who is in heaven and within us,

we call upon your names.

Your wisdom come.

Your will be done,

in all the spaces in which you dwell.

Give us each day

sustenance and perseverance.

Remind us of our limits as

we give grace to the limits of others.

Separate us from the temptation of empire,

and deliver us into community.

For you are the dwelling place within us,

the empowerment around us,

and the celebration among us,

now and forever. 

Amen

It is important that we continue to honor and be open to prayer in the myriad ways that prayer is present and available to us. Words. Song. Music. Visual Art. The natural world. 

May your life be a prayer… 

Amen

Rev. TJ Mack – September 15, 2024