"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(The prayer in scripture ends there, but from other ancient documents, we learn that the early church in their worship communities, used to add the traditional ending to prayers given in the synagogues):

 

"For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, forever and ever. Amen."

 

 

 

 

One question that often leads to silence, embarrassment, and anxiety among church people is:  "How is your prayer life?"

It is a topic that tends to make us uncomfortable for a variety of reasons -- Maybe we don't pray at all. Or, when we do, we feel that we don't pray well enough, or long enough, or often enough.  Or maybe we feel we don't get the results that we're looking for.  Or maybe we just don't feel right about putting ourselves into a vulnerable, dependent position in relation to Someone or Something that we are not sure we can really trust.  After all, how well do we know this Mystery we call "God."

 

 

What I would like to suggest to you this morning is that we can find many of the healing remedies that we need for what ails us in our prayer life in one place: within the short prayer that Jesus gave to his disciples.  We call it the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father. But we might better call it the Disciple's Prayer, since it is a gift from Jesus to his disciples, and from them this great gift has been passed down to us here today.  

 

 

Now I'm sure that when I make a strong statement like that about the healing power hidden in the Lord's Prayer... that many people think silently to themselves:  "Oh C'mon.... get real! I've said that prayer so many times I could probably say it backwards if I tried!  There's no hidden secrets in it; it couldn't be more simple and straightforward!"

 

 

Well, for sure, it is a simple prayer.  And I am sure that without too much difficulty we could all memorize and repeat its words, as we probably all have. And that is good, as far as it goes.  But it takes an unusual level of comfort and know-how to pray this prayer so that it makes a real difference in our lives and the lives of those around us.  Because this is no ordinary prayer.  To understand it and be able to pray it from the heart is the foundation of the Christian way of life. Because this prayer is a condensed form of everything that Jesus taught, everything that Jesus did, everything that Jesus was and is today.

 

 

 

The first six words of the prayer are the most important, and today I'm going to limit what I say to these first six words:  "Our Father Who Art in Heaven" it says in the old King's English.  It is an invocation, a calling forth of God. But God is already here and always here, right? So, why "invoke" God? These first six words, the invocation, are a calling forth of the God who is always and already here... within our consciousness.

 

 

"Our Father Who Art in Heaven,"  Jesus says. Who is this heavenly Father? What is this Heavenly Father like?  How we inwardly respond to that question -- the feelings and thoughts and memories and images that it invokes in our minds and hearts -- will give us a great deal of insight about the personal challenges that we face in prayer.

 

 

In the early stages of the Old Testament, we see a Heavenly Father who loved his children, yes,  .....up to a certain point.... but beyond that point.... look out!  He showed no mercy.  He wouldn't hesitate to slaughter the children he had created.  Over time, the Old Testament's vision of God evolved into a more tribal father image. The tribal father looks after his own very well, and he even "rubs out" all of their enemies.  Still, you don't want to mess with a tribal father, or you might find yourself out of the tribe... and then you no longer benefit from that strong-armed fatherly protection.  

 

 

It took the Old Testament prophets a long, long time to learn about God and his will. They naturally assumed that God must be like the earthly fathers they had known.  Fathers who evidently were sometimes very nice, but also conceited, and subject to fits of rage and a lust for revenge.  So you never quite knew what to expect from such a father -- kind of keeps you walking on egg shells...  (Imagine praying to that kind of Heavenly Father...)

 

 

But as we get to the later prophets, beginning with Isaiah and ending with Malachi, we see dramatic growth in how they were perceiving God's nature. We begin to see a Heavenly Father, who is, frankly, more mature emotionally -- a Father who is more capable of sacrificial love in relation to all of his children, even when they behaved horribly.  This is quite a profound religious development, taking place over 1000's of years.  It is as though the dust on the lens through which the prophets perceived God was gradually being cleaned off, so that their view of God's nature was gradually becoming clearer and clearer, more accurate.  

 

 

It is this new prophetic wave that carries us from the Old into the New Testament, where we meet the young rabbi named "Jesus," who has an uncanny love relationship with the One he calls "Father."  And it is in Jesus, our tradition proclaims, that all of the dust on the lens, every last speck, was finally removed.  Jesus perceived the Father as the Father truly is.  And what he perceived was Love itself, unconditioned and everlasting.  Love that could transform troubled hearts of stone into grace-filled hearts of flesh.

 

 

 

And so, when Jesus says: "Our Father Who Art In Heaven" ...this does not point to some explosive father who would flood the world or incinerate people who cross him. No, this is a Father who is Just and Tender, Holy and Gracious, and Willing to Sacrifice for his children... all at the same time.  The word for "Father" that Jesus uses in this first line of the prayer, is the very affectionate word "Abba" in Aramaic -- which means something like "My Loving Daddy."  "Abba" is the one who can be trusted and counted on to care for and assure the wellbeing of  all of his children. "Abba" is an intimate word.  A word that only arises in the heart of a child who is conscious of being the beloved of his or her parent.

 

 

This way of speaking to God would have been unthinkable in much of Old Testament history. It was too presumptuous, too familiar, too intimate.  By using the word "Abba," Jesus takes the Father figure completely out of the ancient mold, where what mattered most was this big man's honour. But what clearly matters most for the One Jesus calls Father is the kind of love relationship between parent and child that allows the child to truly flourish, to become fully human, fully herself or himself.

 

 

Remember the story Jesus tells of the Prodigal Son & His Brother (Luke 15:11-32)?  This  story reveals so much about how Jesus perceives the Father.  The Father is one to whom you can "come as you are," without any loss of love whatsoever,  even if you have squandered  everything he gave you and been rolling around in a pigsty....  this Father will fully embrace you in love... (even before you take a shower!).  And remember the prodigal's brother ? The uptight, jealous, dogooder ...  The Father's love for him is no less,  not diminished at all...  even though he doesn't yet appreciate the Father as much as the prodigal had grown to. The Father still loves him without limits.

 

 

The One Jesus calls Father even loves and cares for those we might consider enemies -- Samaritans, unscrupulous politicians and their tax collectors.  And even those society considered inferior -- women, prostitutes, lepers, widows, orphans, the physically handicapped, the mentally ill.  God has no problem whatsoever loving these persons, according to Jesus.

 

 

And so, we see that even though, "Our Father Who Art in Heaven" is a very ordinary Jewish way to start a prayer... the religious meaning of the word Father, as Jesus uses it, is radically different.  This is a Father we can get very close to without any fear of being harmed or rejected.  No more walking on eggshells!  This is a Father we can draw near to with the inner confidence that he will always and only  love us and take good care of us. That's good news!

 

 

Remember, Jesus is giving this prayer to disciples who have been with him for some time, experiencing his great love for them... in spite of all of their character weaknesses, all of their petty jealousies and arrogance and stubbornness and so on. They have all experienced how Jesus' love for them has not diminished in the least.  And all along he has been teaching them, over and over and over again in stories and lectures and actions that the way he loves them...is the same way the Father loves them.

 

 

So you see that what Jesus is doing for them in these first six words: "Our Father Who Art In Heaven".... is actually quite complicated psychologically:  these six words, when spoken by Jesus, are full of healing. Jesus is invoking for the disciples all of the memories and feelings and images and stories that he has already given them about the loving nature of the Father, and how the Father cares infinitely for each of them, just as the Father cares for Jesus,  just as Jesus cares for each of them..

 

 

So this simple six word invocation is infusing the disciples with the awareness of how completely and perfectly and eternally they are loved by the one Jesus calls Father.

 

 

 

 

And why is all of this so important?

 

 

Because this is what it takes to enter into a simple prayerful relationship with God.  We have to be assured that we are completely, perfectly, and eternally loved -- otherwise we don't have enough trust to expose ourselves as we really are to God and allow God to embrace us. It's a matter of safety.  Who would want to enter into a vulnerable, prayerful relationship with a god who is mean and vengeful and arrogant?  That would kind of take away your appetite for prayer, wouldn't it? I would much rather watch Wheel of Fortune (or Jeopardy) than pray to that kind of God, wouldn't you?

 

 

But being with a God who loved me unconditionally and embraced me with all my weakness and flaws, all my arrogance and stubbornness, and all the things I don't like about myself... I think I could find time to sit very close, to such a Father, such an "Abba".

 

 

Many, many of us have a great need for healing in our experience of God as a Divine Parent.  Perhaps our experience with our earthly parents has been more of a trauma than a blessing. Perhaps we grew up without a loving father or without a loving mother.  Let's be honest -- it happens.  And painful experiences in our relationships with our parents can have a powerful impact on how we imagine our Divine Parent to be.  

 

 

 

 

How do we know that God is a good, loving, trustworthy Parent who is always waiting to embrace us and care for us?

 

 

Well, God sends word to us.  And in our tradition that Word is Jesus. That Word is being sent forth here today to everyone here.

God loves you with a love that will transform your life into a life of love. God's love will so affect you that you will even want to forgive those who sin against you; even want to be kind and listen to those who once seemed to be your enemies.  And all of this transformation is not because you are some amazing person who is better (or worse) than anyone else, but simply because being loved unconditionally by God, over and over and over again does something to you. It transforms you. You become more and more like your Beloved.

 

 

The first six words of this prayer fix our minds on the limitless love of the One Jesus called Father.  And that is Our Father too!  Let that sink in!!! 

 

 

If we can get just a tiny taste of the greatness of that Father's love, we will not be able to hold back:

 

 

 

 

And we will discover that we are praying this simple prayer in a way that transforms our lives and the lives of those around us for the better.