March 16, 2025 • 32 mins
This week, we dive deep into the heart of the Lord’s Prayer—exploring what Jesus teaches us about prayer and how it can transform our spiritual lives.
We begin by reflecting on Meister Eckhart's profound reminder: "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is 'thank you,' it will be enough." With this powerful simplicity, we enter into a discussion about how the language we choose in prayer shapes our relationship with God and one another.
Today’s sermon invites us to explore:
Prayerful Adjectives: Why the attributes we assign to God matter deeply.
Parental Figures: Understanding the familial language Jesus uses—beyond traditional gender binaries—to ground our prayers in shared community.
Our Shared Reality: Recognizing prayer as an expression of unity, reminding us that God belongs to all of us.
Newborn Desires: How aligning our desires with God's transforms not just our prayers but our lives.
Ultimately, this message encourages us to reimagine prayer as sacred conversation—where we are fully known, completely safe, and unconditionally loved. It's a space where authenticity meets divine embrace.
Join us as we rediscover prayer as a profound act of trust, solidarity, and hope. May this teaching encourage you to see yourself and the world through the compassionate eyes of our collective Father.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jeremy Duncan (00:00):
But in those moments where I know God, truly
as father, when I see God asmother, when I experience God as
pure familial love beyondlimitation, it's in those
moments that I realizeeverything I often hide behind
doesn't really matter all thatmuch anyway. We are in the midst
(00:23):
of a new series as well. Aconversation about prayer that
will take us all the way to HolyWeek this year. And, prayer
seems like a good thing for usto talk about at any time of
year, but maybe particularlyduring the season of Lent. By
the way, that's what this purplestole is for.
It reminds us that we arepreparing our hearts for Easter.
(00:47):
And the Lord's prayer felt likea good place to ground that
practice this year. And yet lastweek, we didn't actually get to
the prayer. I mean, maybe therewas a little teaser there at the
end just in the last few secondsof the sermon, but really we
spent our time looking at Jesus'preamble. The preparation for
(01:09):
the prayer that he offers ormaybe in some ways the
counterpoint for the prayer thathe offers.
That's it. I think from theangle of being taught how to
pray, that preamble is almost asimportant as the example that
Jesus gives us. Because in a lotof ways he is setting the stage
for what follows. And so lastweek to open a series called how
(01:31):
to pray, we talked about reallykind of how not to pray. But
just to look back quickly, weoutlined three ways that prayer
can go off the rails.
We talked about hypocrites whouse prayer as a means to an end,
Publicists who use prayer as anexercise in image management.
And pagans who use prayer as away to manipulate the divine.
(01:53):
And quickly here, that firstone, the hypocrites, that's not
actually about hypocrites theway we tend to use the word in
English. It's actually aboutstage actors. At least that's
what the Greek term referred to.
So, it's about those who performtheir prayers in order to get
what they want. And as someonewho writes a lot of prayers,
(02:18):
crafts prayers, spends a lot ofhis week shaping prayers with as
much nuance and intention aspossible, I think this is a
warning that can hit home if I'mwilling to pay attention.
Because I am someone whoabsolutely thinks that prayer
should be considered. At leastin a public setting, it
(02:38):
shouldn't be slapped togetherhaphazardly. But, I also
recognize that that means it'svery easy for me, maybe for all
of us, to imagine that the pointof prayer or the effectiveness
of prayer even is directlyrelated to the quality of
prayer.
I have on occasion, even whenpraying by myself with no one
(03:00):
listening, no audience, foundmyself performing a bit. Maybe
for God, let's be honest here,probably just to impress myself.
And, that's the first thing thatwe need to set aside in prayer.
This idea that our performancecan influence the outcome of
what we pray. Second, we hadprayers and exercise in image
(03:21):
management, and we talked aboutsome of the complications in
that critique in this world.
The fact that public prayers areprobably a net negative for your
public image these days. Andyet, even if we're not
performing for God, I think wecan still find ourselves driven
by an obligation. This idea thatbecause we pray, God might love
(03:44):
us more. And just know this, Godis not impressed by the quality
of your prayers. God is notimpressed by the quantity of
your prayers either.
God is just simply interested inyou. As Paul says, you are God's
handiwork. That's enough.Everything else is bonus. But,
(04:07):
there was one final category,and this is the one where we
needed to get a little bittechnical in our reading.
Our English translations oftentalk about the pagans who
babble. In digging a bit deeperthough, I think what we realize
here is the language is reallydirected at technique. The idea
that either we can manipulateGod with gossip in prayers,
(04:31):
praying for, but really prayingabout someone else. Or, I'm
thinking that we can praycertain words in a particular
way with the right emphasis oremotion to somehow bend God to
our will. It's not really aboutbabbling as much as it's about
using specific techniques inorder to manipulate God.
(04:54):
And I think what's reallyinteresting about all of these
different critiques that Jesusoffers, these examples of
unhealthy prayer is that theyremind us that prayer was never
for God to begin with. We can'timpress God with our
performance, and we can'timprove our standing before God
with our obligations. We can'tmanipulate God using the right
(05:15):
techniques. And that means we'releft with the simple conclusion
that even as we enter intoprayer that Jesus offers us this
week, prayer is really for us.To change us, to shape us, to
point us in better directions.
Today, we dive into thosedirections together. But first,
(05:40):
let's pray. And today, let'spray using the Lord's prayer. As
we start, you're welcome to joinme or just to listen silently.
Our Father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will bedone on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this day ourdaily bread and forgive us our
(06:03):
trespasses as we forgive thosewho trespass against us. And
lead us not into temptation butdeliver us from evil. For thine
is the kingdom, the power, andthe glory forever and ever.
Amen.
Alright. Today, we dive into theLord's prayer. And we'll spend
(06:26):
the next four weeks continuingto mind this prayer for
everything it can teach us abouthow to pray. Last week though, I
offered you a prayer from TinaFey, a humorous and lengthy
prayer at that. This week as webegin, I offer a prayer from one
of my favorite Christianmystics, Meister Eckhart,
(06:46):
perhaps a counterpoint to lastweek.
He wrote in the thirteenhundreds and his prayer was
simply this, thank you. In fact,about this prayer he wrote, if
the only prayer you ever pray inyour entire life is thank you,
then that will have been enough.And perhaps, we can hold on to
(07:07):
that in the back of our minds aswe make our way through this
Lenten season. For all of ourtalk about prayer, and for all
that we glean from Jesus' words,from all the work and the study
of Greek words and historicalcontext we might dig into, at
the end of the day, thank youwill have been enough. That's a
(07:28):
good reminder.
That said, today we'll talkabout prayerful adjectives,
parental figures, our sharedrealities, and our newborn
desires. Because, this is howJesus prays. Our father who art
in heaven, hallowed be yourname. Now, I don't know about
(07:52):
you, but I have noticed thatJesus starts his prayer, let's
say differently than I do. Andit's not just because I don't
use the word hallowed veryoften.
It's actually the our fatherpart that is different from me.
Now, at some level prayer is aconversation, and so I am
(08:12):
generally in the habit ofaddressing my audience when I
pray. Perhaps I might start withsomething like God or heavenly
father, maybe Jesus. All ofthese are ways I might start a
prayer. For example, last weekwhen I prayed in the sermon, I
said almighty God, gracious God,loving God.
These are all attributes that Iwant to center myself in as I
(08:38):
approach the divine. And, Ithink I think that's pretty
normal. I think that's actuallyhealthy. In fact, I think it's
good that we choose to remindourselves of who we speak to
when we pray. And so, I oftenstart a prayer by addressing God
using an adjective that I wantto remind myself of about
(08:58):
something in God's character.
I was kind of interested, so Iactually went back and I looked
at my notes from the last fewsermons how I started my
prayers. Two weeks ago, it wasgood and gracious God. Three
weeks ago, the God of thedistressed and the indebted, the
discouraged and the hopeful.Before that, it was God of the
(09:20):
unexpected. Now, the one beforethat was gracious God again, so
maybe I've been in a bit of agracious rut here, or maybe
that's just what I feel like Ineed to remind myself of these
days.
I don't know. But, I do thinkthat simply reminding yourself
that God is good. That God isgracious or loving. That God is
(09:40):
on your side even before youbegin. I think that is good
medicine for us.
Jesus has shown us what God islike. And, praying into that
awareness, even those smalllittle shifts in our language, I
think they can transform ourexperience of the conversation
(10:00):
that follows. And yet, I stillcan't help but notice that Jesus
centers himself on somethingvery different when he prays.
Now, it's no less gracious orless loving, but it is
interesting to me that whenJesus prays, the divine
(10:21):
attribute that Jesus seems towant to center himself on is God
as shared reality. Maybe wecould say this, God's ourness.
Now, the Greek language is kindof funny. In Greek, the order of
our words functions differentlythan English. It's just not as
(10:43):
important to sentence structure.And in Greek, this prayer
begins, pater hemon. Literally,father of us.
So technically, father is thefirst word here. And some people
get caught up on that father bita little bit. Sometimes, other
people who want to plant somekind of flag in a masculine
(11:05):
identity for the divine. Orsometimes those who might want
to push back against that idea.Personally, I think both have
the potential to miss Jesus'intent here.
The pronoun for God is God. Thedivine transcends simple
binaries. I I think that'splainly evident as the first
(11:28):
interaction between the divineand human has God saying, let us
make humanity in our image. Andthen proceeding to form both
male and human in the singularimage of that God. Whatever the
Imago Dei is, it isconspicuously not gendered.
But then what is Jesus trying todo with this language? Well, I
(11:54):
would argue it comes back to thehour. The goal here is not to
ground God in the masculine. Theintent is to ground the divine
in the experience of sharedfamily. Our father.
Now, at the same time, I dounderstand it's very possible
that your experience of fatheror mother for that matter,
(12:16):
parent even, was not all that itshould have been. And because of
that, perhaps this metaphor,this specific language, God is
father, does not convey themeaning it was intended to for
you. I get that. I would stillargue there's beauty to mine in
this image within that sharednature of family and language.
(12:39):
God is not your father.
God is not like your dad or yourmom. In fact, God is not defined
by any parent that any of ushave ever had no matter how
beautiful or how broken ourrelationship was with them. God
is the invitation to findourselves welcomed into a new
(13:01):
chosen family. This is not Godas autocratic stepfather saying,
call me dad from now on. This isan invitation to create new
meaning for you within theconcept of family regardless of
how that experience has made itsway to you today.
(13:23):
And by the way, the word pateirhere, possibly, probably points
us back to an Aramaic word,Abba. That's likely what Jesus
would have used. And that meanssomething like dad. It's a very
familial term. But for therecord, Abba is more like dad
than daddy.
I know people sometimes saythat. That's fine, but Abba is a
(13:46):
familial word for father inAramaic. It's not an
infantilizing word. And, that'simportant because talking about
God as father, pateir, abba, ordad, even as mother or mom,
parent. All of this language isnot about taking our agency away
as if we're just toddlers again.
(14:06):
It's about allowing ourselves tosink into everything that family
should be when made holy. Andso, when I pray, part of what
all of this reminds me of, whathelps to center me in is my
complete safety in coming to Godin prayer. Here in prayer, I
(14:31):
have no one to impress, no oneto persuade, no one that needs
to know just how smart oreloquent or convincing I can be
with my words. I am in thatmoment when I approach the
divine already actually fullyand completely known. In a way
that even my parents who'vealways loved me, even my family
(14:54):
that's always embraced me, eventhey might struggle to know me.
I think this is part of whatJesus is getting at when we saw
him say last week, your fatheralready knows what you need
before you ask, so don't go onabout it. For years, I think I
always thought, if God knows,why do we ask? And if God
(15:19):
understands, then why tell? IfGod is always there, why bother
speaking at all? Why not justrely on the omnipotence of the
divine and call that prayer?
There's probably some truth tothat, but I think this dynamic
of family helps open that boxfor me a bit. I was thinking
(15:40):
back, I think it was earlierthis year, might have been late
last year, but I talked aboutJesus' interaction with a
paralyzed man in John five. AndI made the argument that an
important part of that story isunderstanding that Jesus doesn't
just know supernaturally whatthis man needs, he strikes up a
(16:00):
conversation and talks to him.And he asks him questions about
himself. Jesus actively learnsabout his story before assuming
anything about him.
Part of my argument there wasthat that conversation doesn't
make Jesus less divine, it makeshim more divine. That a God who
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would want to hear from us, Tolisten to us. A God who would
ask questions and listen evenwhen that God might already know
the answers. That thatdemonstration of love in making
room for self disclosure, thatis divine. See, even as a parent
(16:44):
of young kids, I often findmyself knowing what my kids need
before they do.
And yet, I also know thatencouraging them to find the
language, to express themselves,to uncover the words, to name
what they need, that's good forthem. And so, I want to learn,
to teach myself, to slow down,to listen, to give them space to
(17:09):
articulate their needs and theirdesires because that space to
express themselves then to beheard, that is precisely part of
what they need from me. But,maybe what I've come to realize
about prayer is that the asking,and the telling, and the
speaking of prayer, maybe all ofthat was part of God's gift for
(17:30):
me. I mean, where else in mylife do I get to ask without
selling? Or tell my storywithout at least wanting to
position myself in some way orlight?
Where else do I speak withoutany fear of miscommunication or
misunderstanding ormisapprehension of meaning? In
(17:52):
prayer, the irony of knowingthat God already knows means
none of the work that I normallydo to protect or project myself
holds any meaning here. And,yes, I do still try to sell God
on my ideas from time to time.And I do still try to position
myself in the best possiblelight at times. Jesus already
(18:15):
warned me against that.
I know. But in those momentswhere I know God, truly as
father, when I see God asmother, when I experience God as
pure familial love beyondlimitation. It's in those
moments that I realizeeverything I often hide behind
(18:37):
doesn't really matter all thatmuch anyway. And so, when I
don't have the right words, Iplagiarize someone else and I
read a prayer. And if I know myask is completely insane, I go
for it anyway knowing God wantsto hear even if the answer is no
chance.
(19:00):
Prayer is where, when I amwrong, I am loved. When I'm
ashamed, I am welcome. When I'mconfused, am comforted. When I'm
lying, I am still listened to.When I'm honest, I'll be taken
seriously.
When I'm funny, I get the laughthat I wanted. And when I cry,
God leans in instead of tellingme to man up. Prayer is one of
(19:26):
very few spaces in my life whereI'm nothing but what I am. And,
yet, I'm still embraced likefamily anyway always. When we
pray, our father who art inheaven, the intent has nothing
to do with the gender of God.
Let that language go if it's nothelpful for you. It's fine.
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Because for Jesus, the goal isto ground ourselves in this
overwhelming experience ofshared family. This conviction
that God is father of all of us.And, that is a really big deal.
I mean, if we take thatseriously and Jesus is reminding
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me that God is not my father,God is not my savior, God is not
my own personal Jesus who liveswithin my heart, God belongs to
us, I think that changessomething very important about
how we will pray. See, thisopening line beyond just
reminding me that I'm safe in myprayer fundamentally reframes
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prayer as an expression ofsolidarity with, I mean
literally everyone I cross pathswith. That reminds me of
something else we talked aboutlast week. Remember Jesus says,
don't pray like the hypocrites,but instead pray like this, our
father who art in heaven. Ithink he is very explicitly
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calling us to include even thosehypocrites we revile in our
hour.
Praying to our God stops me fromthinking I'm the one who gets to
police the boundaries of God. Infact, does more than that. It
makes you, whoever you are, mysibling by default. Right? Back
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in the beginning in Genesis,there's this story about the
archetypal first family.
And in the story, there's a mannamed Adam who is made from the
Adama and his name means dirt.And, there's a woman called Eve
whose name means alive. And, sodirt and alive come together and
they have some children. And,they have a son named Abel which
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means breath. And they haveanother son named Cain, means to
acquire.
And one day, the son namedAcquire, who's very concerned
about who gets the most praisekills his brother breath out in
the field. And then Breath'sblood cries out to God, and God
goes to see a choir and asks,what happened to your breath?
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And the choir says, I don't knowanything about my breath. Am I
my brother's keeper? And in manyways, I would argue everything
that follows when you read yourbible, everything from Genesis
four right through to Revelation22, is God saying, yes.
Absolutely, 100% to thatquestion. Of course, you are
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your brother's keeper. Ofcourse, your neighbor is your
responsibility. Absolutely, youare meant to live out of your
essential connectedness toeveryone else. That's where your
breath comes from.
And so, God tells stories, andGod makes rules, and we break
those rules, and God forgives,and God laments until finally
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Jesus comes along and says,look, this is how you should
pray. If you want to beconnected to the divine, you
pray in a way that reminds youof your brother and your breath.
Sometimes, it is hard to believethat God is your father. I get
(23:15):
it. I think it's actually a muchbigger thing to believe that God
is our father.
Because when we pray to our God,that means we are now by
extension implicating ourselvesevery time we pray as each
other's keeper. Which I think iswhat God has always wanted,
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which is just such a beautifulway to set up what comes next.
Your kingdom come, your will bedone on earth as it is in
heaven. See, think fundamentallythis prayer is an optimistic
view of the world. If you thinkback to last week, all those
(24:04):
unhealthy prayers that Jesuscritiques.
Right? The hypocrites who useprayer as a means to an end. The
publicists who use prayer asimage management. The pagan who
uses prayer to manipulate thedivine. All of those are pretty
cynical.
Right? How can I use prayer? Howcan I position myself? How can I
shape this situation toadvantage my standing in a world
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that must be indifferent to me?By contrast, Jesus prayer, right
from this first word hour takesa very different posture toward
the world.
The world is not indifferent.The cosmos is infused with
parental love for all of us.And, the Lord's prayer at its
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heart is about believing thatbecause of that, well then we
are in this together. The earthis salvageable. Our
relationships are redeemable.
We have a part to play in God'sinevitable story of repair of
all things. In fact, I find ithelpful here to translate this
(25:15):
line as literally as possible.It's going to sound a little
stiff if I do it this way, but Ithink it's helpful. Here's what
it says perhaps at its most raw.Come kingdom of you, be born
desire of you as in heaven nowalso on earth.
It's a bit of a subtle change,but for me it's helpful because
(25:38):
sometimes it's easy for me topray, your kingdom come, your
will be done, and imagine thisis some kind of cosmic conquest.
As if God is going to give uskingdom whether we want it or
not. God will pummel us intoparadise. But to pray instead,
(25:58):
come your kingdom, be born yourdesires as in heaven and also
here in me. That changessomething about how I experience
prayer.
This Greek word, ginomai, it'snot just that God's will is
being done, it's that God's willis being born. Divine desire is
(26:21):
being created, formed within theworld, maybe eventually even
within me. And, that carriesvery different connotation. No
longer am I praying, asking Godto do anything. Now, I'm really
invested in this shared natureof God.
(26:43):
I'm really asking myself toalign with what God is already
doing all around me all thetime. I think this is really one
of the great paradoxes ofprayer. I mean, who exactly are
we talking to right now? I knowI said last week prayer is not
for God, it's for me. That'sundoubtedly true.
(27:05):
Sometimes I actually thinkprayer is to me. Not that I pray
to myself, even for someone withmy ego, that's a bit too much.
But, I do recognize that prayeris sometimes, maybe often
actually about speaking tomyself. God is my audience. God
is the one I stand before when Ipray.
(27:26):
But, when I do, often my words,they are intended for my own
heart to listen to. God help meto know that you are ours, not
mine. God, help me to experiencefamily as it was intended, maybe
as I never have before, now inyou. God, help me to trust in
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your vision for this world andto slowly invite your desires to
become not just what I worktoward, but what I actually want
and I long for in the world.Often, I think prayer is sacred
self talk.
And I know that when I say that,some of you, it might feel like
(28:13):
I'm diminishing prayer. Trust mehere. I'm not. Reminding
ourselves about what we want tobelieve, what we want to trust
about ourselves and our worldand our God, I think this is
probably some of the mostimportant words that we can ever
speak in our lives. As humanbeings, we are constantly
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creating narratives in our mind,And we construct our reality as
we tell a story about our worldto ourselves every day.
The closer that story alignswith the reality of God's love
that sits at the founding of thecosmos, the more true our
perception of the world aroundus will become. And prayer has
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been for thousands of years nowwhere we are invited to describe
the best version of ourselvesand our world in front of the
one who fashioned our veryselves and our world. If there
is anyone in your life that isever going to believe the best
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about you, if there is anyone inyour life who is ever going to
help you believe the best aboutyou, it has got to be the one
who put everything good in youto begin with. Right? Prayer is
where we slowly come to believewe are the person God believes
we are.
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And that means that we can startto see the world as it really is
as well. A world that is goodand needs to be celebrated. A
world that is broken and needsto be repaired. A world where we
can, all of us play our part asour neighbor's keepers and close
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the gap between what is inheaven and what could be right
here on earth within us. Let'spray.
Loving God, when we come to youin prayer, would you remind us
that you are ours? And that evenas we speak to the divine, are
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implicating ourself in ouressential connectedness to all
things. Your goodness and yourcreation, everything that
springs from your founding love.May that reality then slowly
help us to see ourselves as yousee us. Broken, in need of
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repentance, and forgiveness, andyet also full of potential to
move forward and help shape yourkingdom here on our earth
because of our choices.
God, might we then, surroundedby your spirit, enveloped in
your love, begin to takeconcrete steps toward your grace
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and your peace. That all of thelove that we experience in this
new shared family might beopened up, expanded to someone
new. And that your kingdom mightcontinue to creep slowly through
this world until all things arehealed and brought back to you.
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In the strong name of the risenChrist we pray. Amen.
Hey, Jeremy here, and thanks forlistening to our podcast. If
you're intrigued by the workthat we're doing here at
Commons, you can head to ourwebsite commons.church for more
information. You can find us onall of the socials
commonschurch. You can subscribeto our YouTube channel where we
(32:01):
are posting content regularlyfor the community. You can also
join our Discord server.
Head to commons.churchdiscordfor the invite, and there you
will find the community havingall kinds of conversations about
how we can encourage each otherto follow the way of Jesus. We
would love to hear from you.Anyway, thanks for tuning in.
Have a great week. We'll talk toyou soon.
But in those moments where I know God, truly
as father, when I see God asmother, when I experience God as
pure familial love beyondlimitation, it's in those
moments that I realizeeverything I often hide behind
doesn't really matter all thatmuch anyway. We are in the midst
(00:23):
of a new series as well. Aconversation about prayer that
will take us all the way to HolyWeek this year. And, prayer
seems like a good thing for usto talk about at any time of
year, but maybe particularlyduring the season of Lent. By
the way, that's what this purplestole is for.
It reminds us that we arepreparing our hearts for Easter.
(00:47):
And the Lord's prayer felt likea good place to ground that
practice this year. And yet lastweek, we didn't actually get to
the prayer. I mean, maybe therewas a little teaser there at the
end just in the last few secondsof the sermon, but really we
spent our time looking at Jesus'preamble. The preparation for
(01:09):
the prayer that he offers ormaybe in some ways the
counterpoint for the prayer thathe offers.
That's it. I think from theangle of being taught how to
pray, that preamble is almost asimportant as the example that
Jesus gives us. Because in a lotof ways he is setting the stage
for what follows. And so lastweek to open a series called how
(01:31):
to pray, we talked about reallykind of how not to pray. But
just to look back quickly, weoutlined three ways that prayer
can go off the rails.
We talked about hypocrites whouse prayer as a means to an end,
Publicists who use prayer as anexercise in image management.
And pagans who use prayer as away to manipulate the divine.
(01:53):
And quickly here, that firstone, the hypocrites, that's not
actually about hypocrites theway we tend to use the word in
English. It's actually aboutstage actors. At least that's
what the Greek term referred to.
So, it's about those who performtheir prayers in order to get
what they want. And as someonewho writes a lot of prayers,
(02:18):
crafts prayers, spends a lot ofhis week shaping prayers with as
much nuance and intention aspossible, I think this is a
warning that can hit home if I'mwilling to pay attention.
Because I am someone whoabsolutely thinks that prayer
should be considered. At leastin a public setting, it
(02:38):
shouldn't be slapped togetherhaphazardly. But, I also
recognize that that means it'svery easy for me, maybe for all
of us, to imagine that the pointof prayer or the effectiveness
of prayer even is directlyrelated to the quality of
prayer.
I have on occasion, even whenpraying by myself with no one
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listening, no audience, foundmyself performing a bit. Maybe
for God, let's be honest here,probably just to impress myself.
And, that's the first thing thatwe need to set aside in prayer.
This idea that our performancecan influence the outcome of
what we pray. Second, we hadprayers and exercise in image
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management, and we talked aboutsome of the complications in
that critique in this world.
The fact that public prayers areprobably a net negative for your
public image these days. Andyet, even if we're not
performing for God, I think wecan still find ourselves driven
by an obligation. This idea thatbecause we pray, God might love
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us more. And just know this, Godis not impressed by the quality
of your prayers. God is notimpressed by the quantity of
your prayers either.
God is just simply interested inyou. As Paul says, you are God's
handiwork. That's enough.Everything else is bonus. But,
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there was one final category,and this is the one where we
needed to get a little bittechnical in our reading.
Our English translations oftentalk about the pagans who
babble. In digging a bit deeperthough, I think what we realize
here is the language is reallydirected at technique. The idea
that either we can manipulateGod with gossip in prayers,
(04:31):
praying for, but really prayingabout someone else. Or, I'm
thinking that we can praycertain words in a particular
way with the right emphasis oremotion to somehow bend God to
our will. It's not really aboutbabbling as much as it's about
using specific techniques inorder to manipulate God.
(04:54):
And I think what's reallyinteresting about all of these
different critiques that Jesusoffers, these examples of
unhealthy prayer is that theyremind us that prayer was never
for God to begin with. We can'timpress God with our
performance, and we can'timprove our standing before God
with our obligations. We can'tmanipulate God using the right
(05:15):
techniques. And that means we'releft with the simple conclusion
that even as we enter intoprayer that Jesus offers us this
week, prayer is really for us.To change us, to shape us, to
point us in better directions.
Today, we dive into thosedirections together. But first,
(05:40):
let's pray. And today, let'spray using the Lord's prayer. As
we start, you're welcome to joinme or just to listen silently.
Our Father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will bedone on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this day ourdaily bread and forgive us our
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trespasses as we forgive thosewho trespass against us. And
lead us not into temptation butdeliver us from evil. For thine
is the kingdom, the power, andthe glory forever and ever.
Amen.
Alright. Today, we dive into theLord's prayer. And we'll spend
(06:26):
the next four weeks continuingto mind this prayer for
everything it can teach us abouthow to pray. Last week though, I
offered you a prayer from TinaFey, a humorous and lengthy
prayer at that. This week as webegin, I offer a prayer from one
of my favorite Christianmystics, Meister Eckhart,
(06:46):
perhaps a counterpoint to lastweek.
He wrote in the thirteenhundreds and his prayer was
simply this, thank you. In fact,about this prayer he wrote, if
the only prayer you ever pray inyour entire life is thank you,
then that will have been enough.And perhaps, we can hold on to
(07:07):
that in the back of our minds aswe make our way through this
Lenten season. For all of ourtalk about prayer, and for all
that we glean from Jesus' words,from all the work and the study
of Greek words and historicalcontext we might dig into, at
the end of the day, thank youwill have been enough. That's a
(07:28):
good reminder.
That said, today we'll talkabout prayerful adjectives,
parental figures, our sharedrealities, and our newborn
desires. Because, this is howJesus prays. Our father who art
in heaven, hallowed be yourname. Now, I don't know about
(07:52):
you, but I have noticed thatJesus starts his prayer, let's
say differently than I do. Andit's not just because I don't
use the word hallowed veryoften.
It's actually the our fatherpart that is different from me.
Now, at some level prayer is aconversation, and so I am
(08:12):
generally in the habit ofaddressing my audience when I
pray. Perhaps I might start withsomething like God or heavenly
father, maybe Jesus. All ofthese are ways I might start a
prayer. For example, last weekwhen I prayed in the sermon, I
said almighty God, gracious God,loving God.
These are all attributes that Iwant to center myself in as I
(08:38):
approach the divine. And, Ithink I think that's pretty
normal. I think that's actuallyhealthy. In fact, I think it's
good that we choose to remindourselves of who we speak to
when we pray. And so, I oftenstart a prayer by addressing God
using an adjective that I wantto remind myself of about
(08:58):
something in God's character.
I was kind of interested, so Iactually went back and I looked
at my notes from the last fewsermons how I started my
prayers. Two weeks ago, it wasgood and gracious God. Three
weeks ago, the God of thedistressed and the indebted, the
discouraged and the hopeful.Before that, it was God of the
(09:20):
unexpected. Now, the one beforethat was gracious God again, so
maybe I've been in a bit of agracious rut here, or maybe
that's just what I feel like Ineed to remind myself of these
days.
I don't know. But, I do thinkthat simply reminding yourself
that God is good. That God isgracious or loving. That God is
(09:40):
on your side even before youbegin. I think that is good
medicine for us.
Jesus has shown us what God islike. And, praying into that
awareness, even those smalllittle shifts in our language, I
think they can transform ourexperience of the conversation
(10:00):
that follows. And yet, I stillcan't help but notice that Jesus
centers himself on somethingvery different when he prays.
Now, it's no less gracious orless loving, but it is
interesting to me that whenJesus prays, the divine
(10:21):
attribute that Jesus seems towant to center himself on is God
as shared reality. Maybe wecould say this, God's ourness.
Now, the Greek language is kindof funny. In Greek, the order of
our words functions differentlythan English. It's just not as
(10:43):
important to sentence structure.And in Greek, this prayer
begins, pater hemon. Literally,father of us.
So technically, father is thefirst word here. And some people
get caught up on that father bita little bit. Sometimes, other
people who want to plant somekind of flag in a masculine
(11:05):
identity for the divine. Orsometimes those who might want
to push back against that idea.Personally, I think both have
the potential to miss Jesus'intent here.
The pronoun for God is God. Thedivine transcends simple
binaries. I I think that'splainly evident as the first
(11:28):
interaction between the divineand human has God saying, let us
make humanity in our image. Andthen proceeding to form both
male and human in the singularimage of that God. Whatever the
Imago Dei is, it isconspicuously not gendered.
But then what is Jesus trying todo with this language? Well, I
(11:54):
would argue it comes back to thehour. The goal here is not to
ground God in the masculine. Theintent is to ground the divine
in the experience of sharedfamily. Our father.
Now, at the same time, I dounderstand it's very possible
that your experience of fatheror mother for that matter,
(12:16):
parent even, was not all that itshould have been. And because of
that, perhaps this metaphor,this specific language, God is
father, does not convey themeaning it was intended to for
you. I get that. I would stillargue there's beauty to mine in
this image within that sharednature of family and language.
(12:39):
God is not your father.
God is not like your dad or yourmom. In fact, God is not defined
by any parent that any of ushave ever had no matter how
beautiful or how broken ourrelationship was with them. God
is the invitation to findourselves welcomed into a new
(13:01):
chosen family. This is not Godas autocratic stepfather saying,
call me dad from now on. This isan invitation to create new
meaning for you within theconcept of family regardless of
how that experience has made itsway to you today.
(13:23):
And by the way, the word pateirhere, possibly, probably points
us back to an Aramaic word,Abba. That's likely what Jesus
would have used. And that meanssomething like dad. It's a very
familial term. But for therecord, Abba is more like dad
than daddy.
I know people sometimes saythat. That's fine, but Abba is a
(13:46):
familial word for father inAramaic. It's not an
infantilizing word. And, that'simportant because talking about
God as father, pateir, abba, ordad, even as mother or mom,
parent. All of this language isnot about taking our agency away
as if we're just toddlers again.
(14:06):
It's about allowing ourselves tosink into everything that family
should be when made holy. Andso, when I pray, part of what
all of this reminds me of, whathelps to center me in is my
complete safety in coming to Godin prayer. Here in prayer, I
(14:31):
have no one to impress, no oneto persuade, no one that needs
to know just how smart oreloquent or convincing I can be
with my words. I am in thatmoment when I approach the
divine already actually fullyand completely known. In a way
that even my parents who'vealways loved me, even my family
(14:54):
that's always embraced me, eventhey might struggle to know me.
I think this is part of whatJesus is getting at when we saw
him say last week, your fatheralready knows what you need
before you ask, so don't go onabout it. For years, I think I
always thought, if God knows,why do we ask? And if God
(15:19):
understands, then why tell? IfGod is always there, why bother
speaking at all? Why not justrely on the omnipotence of the
divine and call that prayer?
There's probably some truth tothat, but I think this dynamic
of family helps open that boxfor me a bit. I was thinking
(15:40):
back, I think it was earlierthis year, might have been late
last year, but I talked aboutJesus' interaction with a
paralyzed man in John five. AndI made the argument that an
important part of that story isunderstanding that Jesus doesn't
just know supernaturally whatthis man needs, he strikes up a
(16:00):
conversation and talks to him.And he asks him questions about
himself. Jesus actively learnsabout his story before assuming
anything about him.
Part of my argument there wasthat that conversation doesn't
make Jesus less divine, it makeshim more divine. That a God who
(16:22):
would want to hear from us, Tolisten to us. A God who would
ask questions and listen evenwhen that God might already know
the answers. That thatdemonstration of love in making
room for self disclosure, thatis divine. See, even as a parent
(16:44):
of young kids, I often findmyself knowing what my kids need
before they do.
And yet, I also know thatencouraging them to find the
language, to express themselves,to uncover the words, to name
what they need, that's good forthem. And so, I want to learn,
to teach myself, to slow down,to listen, to give them space to
(17:09):
articulate their needs and theirdesires because that space to
express themselves then to beheard, that is precisely part of
what they need from me. But,maybe what I've come to realize
about prayer is that the asking,and the telling, and the
speaking of prayer, maybe all ofthat was part of God's gift for
(17:30):
me. I mean, where else in mylife do I get to ask without
selling? Or tell my storywithout at least wanting to
position myself in some way orlight?
Where else do I speak withoutany fear of miscommunication or
misunderstanding ormisapprehension of meaning? In
(17:52):
prayer, the irony of knowingthat God already knows means
none of the work that I normallydo to protect or project myself
holds any meaning here. And,yes, I do still try to sell God
on my ideas from time to time.And I do still try to position
myself in the best possiblelight at times. Jesus already
(18:15):
warned me against that.
I know. But in those momentswhere I know God, truly as
father, when I see God asmother, when I experience God as
pure familial love beyondlimitation. It's in those
moments that I realizeeverything I often hide behind
(18:37):
doesn't really matter all thatmuch anyway. And so, when I
don't have the right words, Iplagiarize someone else and I
read a prayer. And if I know myask is completely insane, I go
for it anyway knowing God wantsto hear even if the answer is no
chance.
(19:00):
Prayer is where, when I amwrong, I am loved. When I'm
ashamed, I am welcome. When I'mconfused, am comforted. When I'm
lying, I am still listened to.When I'm honest, I'll be taken
seriously.
When I'm funny, I get the laughthat I wanted. And when I cry,
God leans in instead of tellingme to man up. Prayer is one of
(19:26):
very few spaces in my life whereI'm nothing but what I am. And,
yet, I'm still embraced likefamily anyway always. When we
pray, our father who art inheaven, the intent has nothing
to do with the gender of God.
Let that language go if it's nothelpful for you. It's fine.
(19:50):
Because for Jesus, the goal isto ground ourselves in this
overwhelming experience ofshared family. This conviction
that God is father of all of us.And, that is a really big deal.
I mean, if we take thatseriously and Jesus is reminding
(20:13):
me that God is not my father,God is not my savior, God is not
my own personal Jesus who liveswithin my heart, God belongs to
us, I think that changessomething very important about
how we will pray. See, thisopening line beyond just
reminding me that I'm safe in myprayer fundamentally reframes
(20:36):
prayer as an expression ofsolidarity with, I mean
literally everyone I cross pathswith. That reminds me of
something else we talked aboutlast week. Remember Jesus says,
don't pray like the hypocrites,but instead pray like this, our
father who art in heaven. Ithink he is very explicitly
(20:58):
calling us to include even thosehypocrites we revile in our
hour.
Praying to our God stops me fromthinking I'm the one who gets to
police the boundaries of God. Infact, does more than that. It
makes you, whoever you are, mysibling by default. Right? Back
(21:22):
in the beginning in Genesis,there's this story about the
archetypal first family.
And in the story, there's a mannamed Adam who is made from the
Adama and his name means dirt.And, there's a woman called Eve
whose name means alive. And, sodirt and alive come together and
they have some children. And,they have a son named Abel which
(21:45):
means breath. And they haveanother son named Cain, means to
acquire.
And one day, the son namedAcquire, who's very concerned
about who gets the most praisekills his brother breath out in
the field. And then Breath'sblood cries out to God, and God
goes to see a choir and asks,what happened to your breath?
(22:08):
And the choir says, I don't knowanything about my breath. Am I
my brother's keeper? And in manyways, I would argue everything
that follows when you read yourbible, everything from Genesis
four right through to Revelation22, is God saying, yes.
Absolutely, 100% to thatquestion. Of course, you are
(22:30):
your brother's keeper. Ofcourse, your neighbor is your
responsibility. Absolutely, youare meant to live out of your
essential connectedness toeveryone else. That's where your
breath comes from.
And so, God tells stories, andGod makes rules, and we break
those rules, and God forgives,and God laments until finally
(22:54):
Jesus comes along and says,look, this is how you should
pray. If you want to beconnected to the divine, you
pray in a way that reminds youof your brother and your breath.
Sometimes, it is hard to believethat God is your father. I get
(23:15):
it. I think it's actually a muchbigger thing to believe that God
is our father.
Because when we pray to our God,that means we are now by
extension implicating ourselvesevery time we pray as each
other's keeper. Which I think iswhat God has always wanted,
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which is just such a beautifulway to set up what comes next.
Your kingdom come, your will bedone on earth as it is in
heaven. See, think fundamentallythis prayer is an optimistic
view of the world. If you thinkback to last week, all those
(24:04):
unhealthy prayers that Jesuscritiques.
Right? The hypocrites who useprayer as a means to an end. The
publicists who use prayer asimage management. The pagan who
uses prayer to manipulate thedivine. All of those are pretty
cynical.
Right? How can I use prayer? Howcan I position myself? How can I
shape this situation toadvantage my standing in a world
(24:26):
that must be indifferent to me?By contrast, Jesus prayer, right
from this first word hour takesa very different posture toward
the world.
The world is not indifferent.The cosmos is infused with
parental love for all of us.And, the Lord's prayer at its
(24:51):
heart is about believing thatbecause of that, well then we
are in this together. The earthis salvageable. Our
relationships are redeemable.
We have a part to play in God'sinevitable story of repair of
all things. In fact, I find ithelpful here to translate this
(25:15):
line as literally as possible.It's going to sound a little
stiff if I do it this way, but Ithink it's helpful. Here's what
it says perhaps at its most raw.Come kingdom of you, be born
desire of you as in heaven nowalso on earth.
It's a bit of a subtle change,but for me it's helpful because
(25:38):
sometimes it's easy for me topray, your kingdom come, your
will be done, and imagine thisis some kind of cosmic conquest.
As if God is going to give uskingdom whether we want it or
not. God will pummel us intoparadise. But to pray instead,
(25:58):
come your kingdom, be born yourdesires as in heaven and also
here in me. That changessomething about how I experience
prayer.
This Greek word, ginomai, it'snot just that God's will is
being done, it's that God's willis being born. Divine desire is
(26:21):
being created, formed within theworld, maybe eventually even
within me. And, that carriesvery different connotation. No
longer am I praying, asking Godto do anything. Now, I'm really
invested in this shared natureof God.
(26:43):
I'm really asking myself toalign with what God is already
doing all around me all thetime. I think this is really one
of the great paradoxes ofprayer. I mean, who exactly are
we talking to right now? I knowI said last week prayer is not
for God, it's for me. That'sundoubtedly true.
(27:05):
Sometimes I actually thinkprayer is to me. Not that I pray
to myself, even for someone withmy ego, that's a bit too much.
But, I do recognize that prayeris sometimes, maybe often
actually about speaking tomyself. God is my audience. God
is the one I stand before when Ipray.
(27:26):
But, when I do, often my words,they are intended for my own
heart to listen to. God help meto know that you are ours, not
mine. God, help me to experiencefamily as it was intended, maybe
as I never have before, now inyou. God, help me to trust in
(27:50):
your vision for this world andto slowly invite your desires to
become not just what I worktoward, but what I actually want
and I long for in the world.Often, I think prayer is sacred
self talk.
And I know that when I say that,some of you, it might feel like
(28:13):
I'm diminishing prayer. Trust mehere. I'm not. Reminding
ourselves about what we want tobelieve, what we want to trust
about ourselves and our worldand our God, I think this is
probably some of the mostimportant words that we can ever
speak in our lives. As humanbeings, we are constantly
(28:35):
creating narratives in our mind,And we construct our reality as
we tell a story about our worldto ourselves every day.
The closer that story alignswith the reality of God's love
that sits at the founding of thecosmos, the more true our
perception of the world aroundus will become. And prayer has
(28:57):
been for thousands of years nowwhere we are invited to describe
the best version of ourselvesand our world in front of the
one who fashioned our veryselves and our world. If there
is anyone in your life that isever going to believe the best
(29:19):
about you, if there is anyone inyour life who is ever going to
help you believe the best aboutyou, it has got to be the one
who put everything good in youto begin with. Right? Prayer is
where we slowly come to believewe are the person God believes
we are.
(29:41):
And that means that we can startto see the world as it really is
as well. A world that is goodand needs to be celebrated. A
world that is broken and needsto be repaired. A world where we
can, all of us play our part asour neighbor's keepers and close
(30:06):
the gap between what is inheaven and what could be right
here on earth within us. Let'spray.
Loving God, when we come to youin prayer, would you remind us
that you are ours? And that evenas we speak to the divine, are
(30:32):
implicating ourself in ouressential connectedness to all
things. Your goodness and yourcreation, everything that
springs from your founding love.May that reality then slowly
help us to see ourselves as yousee us. Broken, in need of
(30:54):
repentance, and forgiveness, andyet also full of potential to
move forward and help shape yourkingdom here on our earth
because of our choices.
God, might we then, surroundedby your spirit, enveloped in
your love, begin to takeconcrete steps toward your grace
(31:16):
and your peace. That all of thelove that we experience in this
new shared family might beopened up, expanded to someone
new. And that your kingdom mightcontinue to creep slowly through
this world until all things arehealed and brought back to you.
(31:38):
In the strong name of the risenChrist we pray. Amen.
Hey, Jeremy here, and thanks forlistening to our podcast. If
you're intrigued by the workthat we're doing here at
Commons, you can head to ourwebsite commons.church for more
information. You can find us onall of the socials
commonschurch. You can subscribeto our YouTube channel where we
(32:01):
are posting content regularlyfor the community. You can also
join our Discord server.
Head to commons.churchdiscordfor the invite, and there you
will find the community havingall kinds of conversations about
how we can encourage each otherto follow the way of Jesus. We
would love to hear from you.Anyway, thanks for tuning in.
Have a great week. We'll talk toyou soon.
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