By: Mike Kelly
Retired Pastor
We’re in a series looking at the Sermon On the Mount from the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5-7. The overall theme is that the kingdom of God is not like the kingdom on earth.
As a matter of fact, it is almost the exact opposite. Think: an upside down kingdom. Last week we started on the topic of prayer with the focus being on our calling to pray, the effectiveness of our prayers and our need to pray humbly and not for adoration or attention from others.
Today, we’ll cover the first section of what is called The Lord’s Prayer as found in Matt 6:9-15: ““This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
“Our Father” unites us. It’s not “My Father” or “Your father” but “Our Father”. All believers serve the same God Almighty. While we may be divided in some areas, like any family, we are still One.
And we know where this sovereign being resides “in Heaven”. He is with us in our spirit, and He is in the place where perfection reigns and all tears and fears are no longer present.
“Hallowed be your name” is our declaration that there is none other like our God. Hallowed means “Holy” and Holy at its root means there is no one like him. He is like no other in his very nature. The God we serve is not comparable to any other being because he was before all.
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” has 2 elements to it. The first is a recognition that there is a Kingdom that is not of the world, and it is still to be fully manifested even as we see glimpses of it today.
And that kingdom will see perfect obedience to God by everyone. Our goal while on earth is to be as completely committed to God as we will be when we reach Heaven.
“Give us today our daily bread.” is our recognition that God is the provider of all we have or ever hope to have. Without the Father’s abundance, we would have nothing for all things begin and end with him.
James 1:17a “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…” and Phil 4:19 reads ““And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus”. Don’t look at yourself or your company to meet your needs. God is doing that and sometimes by using them, but He is the source.
“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Yikes, that’s a stinger. Does that mean what I think it means? That God will not forgive our sins if we fail to forgive those who sin against us?
We’re not talking about asking God to save us through the blood on the cross. What we are talking about here are the sins we commit after receiving salvation or post-salvation sins. In order to have a continuously good fellowship with God, we need to keep the slate clean so to speak.
A daily time of asking God to forgive our sins from that day, can keep us focused on Him and his grace and mercy. And it’s in that asking for him to forgive us that we see the need to show the same mercy and grace to those who have sinned against us.
One way to clog the relationship with God is to hold a grudge or unforgiveness against someone else. The last part of Luke 6:38 reads “For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
If I need God to forgive me, I need to forgive others. Jesus summed it up earlier in the same chapter v31 “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
We’ll finish the rest of the Lord’s Prayer next week. Just try focusing on this first half this week.
———————–
Mike Kelly is the founding pastor of Bryan’s Grace Community Church (retired) and Board Chairman of Bryan’s Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and Williams County’s Compassion (free) Medical Clinic.