Theology Made Simple

The Concerns of Jesus, Part 9

There are certain aspects of the Lord's Prayer which preachers and teachers seldom notice. One is the fact that Jesus did not include a single "thank you" in the prayer. Of course, this did not mean that He was ungrateful, or had nothing for which to be thankful. On the contrary, I believe Jesus was so conscious that God supplied "every good and every perfect gift" that He did not attempt to catalog His blessings. Instead, He substituted praise of the Father, as the ultimate source of all things. Of course, there are some blessings for which I am particularly grateful. However, I should never forget that everything I am and have came from Him. He is the source of any meaning I have to my life, and I should be constantly aware of His presence and His glory.

As we continue to examine the prayer, we find Jesus saying, "Give us this day our daily bread". I am struck by the fact that this is the only notice He gives to our physical being. As humans we are naturally concerned about our health and the health of our loved ones. We also have problems and worries relating to our existence in the physical world. I am sure God is both aware of and cares about the things which deeply trouble us. However, they are not of primary concern. Jesus recognized that we have physical needs, but He gave it only minimal notice. His prime concerns were with the things which affected our spiritual selves and our relationship with the Father.

Also, I do not believe Jesus was praying for "manna from heaven". Instead, I believe He intended that the prayer should ask the Father to see to it that we had the bare necessities, so that our attention could be focused on higher things. God gives us blessings in two ways. At times, He supplies directly the things we need, which we could not supply for ourselves. However, it is also a gift from God when He gives us the ability to supply for ourselves the things we need. In praying for healing, it is a tragic mistake to ask God to heal, and then fail to take advantage of all the means and methods He has given mankind the ability to discover and to use.

I am not interested in the various words the translators have chosen with which to depict Jesus' next petition. He is talking about "sin", for that is the bane of mankind, and the thing for which we need forgiveness. "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us." With this phrase, Jesus expressed more than one of His deep concerns.

First and foremost, He was petitioning the Father for forgiveness. Only those who are penitently conscious of their sins can pray this prayer. To pray for forgiveness if we are not convicted in our heart of our sins, and the resulting alienation from the Father because of them, is a hypocritical piety we cannot afford. Only that inner conviction can give our prayers the fervency which will make them avail much.

But in this phrase, He is also expressing His concern about our relationship to our fellowman. In order to forgive, one must have a number of spiritual characteristics, which were concerns of Jesus. In the first place, one must have the humility to realize that he himself is not perfect and often needs forgiveness. Then one must get out of the judgmental attitude. Too many times we see the world through our own limited eyes, and insist that everyone else live up to our
standard of what is correct. Also, one must develop a sense of compassion for others, who may have problems or weaknesses of which we have no knowledge. Finally, we should have a real desire for unity and oneness with our fellowman. To forgive is to break down the barriers to that unity for which Christ earnestly prayed.

The final thing to notice in this phrase is that, in spite of His great love for us, God does not hold us guiltless when we flagrantly violate His will. There are certain characteristics of God which He insists we imitate, if we are to be His children. We cannot expect to enjoy the wonder of being in His family if we do not respect the relationships which must exist within a family. Foremost among these are unity of heart, and forgiveness for one another. If we choose not to develop these characteristics, He will not extend to us the privileges of children in His family. Either forgive, or you will not be forgiven.

Next week we will deal with the often misunderstood phrase: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

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