03222017 Wednesday of Lent 3 - “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven” – “God's Will is for us to believe in Him, His Word and His Will!”

March 22, 2017
“Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven” – “God's Will is for us to believe in Him, His Word and His Will!”

Audio

On Monday nights at our Simple Worship, during our worship time, we confess the Apostle’s Creed, since it is the Baptismal Creed.  It begins with, “I Believe”.  Not only is this a personal expression of our own individual beliefs, but it is a clear and unmistakable declaration of our churches belief in God.  We also pray right before receiving the Lord’s Supper, the prayer Jesus taught His disciples.  Our use of the Apostle’s Creed and its connection to the Lord’s Prayer comes because of the petition we consider this evening of “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”.

When we pray, “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”, we pray for God’s Will to be fulfilled.  Simply, “God's Will is for us to believe in Him, His Word and His Will!”  God’s Will is that all of mankind be with Him in His Kingdom.  In order for us to be in God’s Kingdom, we have to ‘believe in Him’ and the Gospel of what Jesus Christ came into the world to offer us, eternal life.

Yet, this petition, “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven” is difficult to pray.  Why is it difficult?  Why do we at times stumble over this petition and the entire prayer?  For some the prayer has become rote without meaning and value.  It is just what we do in the church service, because we don’t understand the gifts God is attempting to offer us and we don’t want to make it personal.  For others, it is because, no one ever asked us or told us that it should be a personal prayer and we are to think about the prayer as a conversation, not a recitation back to God.  This is why the Apostle’s Creed and the Lord’s Prayer are meant to be, our opportunity, our calling, our personal conversation with God, to clearly and unmistakably believe and firmly ask and understand “God's Will is for us to believe in Him, His Word and His Will!”

When we pray, “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven” it is specifically so that the devil will have no power over us while we are here on this earth.  For from the time of Genesis in the Garden, the devil, his minions and his followers have been attempting to lead unbelievers and especially believers in God and His Son, Jesus Christ away from God’s love and His divine Will.  This is why when we pray this petition, we stand against the selfish intent of man in our world, in our community and even in our church and pray for ‘God’s perfect Will’!  For “God’s Will is for us to believe in Him, His Word and His Will!”

The Holy Bible contains countless stories of individuals living their lives for God’s Will.  Tonight we heard a snippet of the story of one man, who did exactly this, lived his life for God, a man by the name of Joseph.  Joseph experienced in his life many dark moments where he did not know what the future would hold.  From being put in a pit by his brothers, sold into slavery, accused of adultery and even imprisoned when he was innocent.  Yet, Joseph’s life and his experience is simply a true expression of this petition of the Lord’s Prayer when he would pray to God as a good Jew and possibly say, “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”.  Joseph believed God and His Will and way and even when he could have smote his brothers, when man would have said they deserved it, Joseph, chose the ‘high ground’ and chose to insure “God’s Will was done.”

Tonight we have not only the opportunity, but the pleasure to pray “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven” in the Lord’s Prayer.  When we pray this prayer and petition, we pray it in belief that God’s Word and Will are better than our own.  We have the opportunity to pray “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven” not in rote recitation, but with the firm faith that God’s plan is a perfect plan that points to the Cross and His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We pray this petition in the belief  that “God’s Will is for us to believe in Him, His Word and His Will” in order that we can firmly, and faithfully pray to God as Jesus inspires us to pray, “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”!  AMEN!

Check out Pastor on the Prairie (ProtP)
Subscribe to ProtP

Speak Your Mind

03192017 - Third Sunday in Lent - “God sends the disciples and us to proclaim the Will of God!”

March 19, 2017
“God sends the disciples and us to proclaim the Will of God!”

Audio

If you have ever given directions to someone, you probably understand to well the story I am about to relate.  One day, while sitting in my office, I had a phone call of an individual who wanted to meet with me.  This isn’t that uncommon.  But they were not from around here.  So explaining to them how to find the church was intense.  It began by trying to explain that there were only three intersections off of 27 that would directly bring them into ‘downtown Goodland’.  Then since they were not familiar with Goodland, that every street intersection, would not necessarily have a stop sign, they needed to be careful.  But after turning on 12^th Street the first stop sign they found, would be Center and then they would need to turn right.  And then turn on the very next street and the church would be at the end of the block.

By grace the person found the church and we had a delightful conversation.  What is appropriate to consider is how many of us who gather here and worship, call Emmanuel our church, but do not at times desire to understand the “Will of God”?

On Wednesday, we prayed that God’s Kingdom would come when we pray, “Thy Kingdom Come”.  And it is our prayer that God’s Kingdom would come quickly.  For God’s Kingdom coming, also has at its core, the Will of God being done.

If you would have asked the disciples, when they were first called by Jesus from their jobs, whether, fishing, collecting taxes or day laborers, they probably didn’t understand God’s Will either.  Just like understanding directions to a place you are unfamiliar with, it is a challenge.  But so compelling was Jesus presence, the way they felt when He spoke and the way they saw others respond and were moved by His miracles, that Jesus like with Noah and building the ark, had a plan in mind, His Father’s Will.

You see, “God sends the disciples and us to proclaim the Will of God!”  In entrusting the disciples to Jesus their purpose was clear.  God sent them so they could learn what the will of God was for them, but also for all of mankind.  And God didn’t just explain it, but entrusted them with the purpose to tell it to others.  This is why Jesus gave the Great Commission, so the disciples understood, the gift of knowing God’s Will, wasn’t just to be kept, under a bushel basket, but it was to be shared with all people.

This is why we are here today in Goodland, KS.  “God sends the disciples and us to proclaim the Will of God!”  God has this same expectation of we who gather here today.  We if, we claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ, if we claim Emmanuel as our church, we are called to do the same thing.  We are to proclaim the Will of God.

Some of us might say, I don’t know the will of God.  But truly, God’s will is simple.  God’s will is for all of mankind to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that Jesus died for all of mankind, freely, and Jesus offers us eternal life through the Blood of the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  That is the Will of God, for all to hear the lifesaving message of what His Son and our Savior Jesus Christ did.  This is why, “God sends the disciples and us to proclaim the Will of God!”

Our calling is to proclaim the will of God, and point to Jesus Christ in our daily lives.  Here in the sanctuary it is easy to point to the beautiful stain glass window of Jesus Christ over our altar.  But in our world, it is difficult, if not impossible, because our society wants to remove any and all connection to Jesus Christ.  This is why “God sends the disciples and us to proclaim the Will of God!”  For not only are we God’s disciples, we are given the opportunity to ‘proclaim the will of God’.  We have only to open our mouths in faith and trust in God and He will give us the words that we need to speak this truth in love.

We may feel we do not have power, nor authority, but a story recently reminded me, we do have power.  During World War II, the Czech republic was overrun by Germany and slave laborers were used to manufacture the munitions for the flak guns to ‘safeguard’ the cities from allied bombers.

A B-17 crew piloted their aircraft “Tondelayo” into and through the German gauntlet one day.  The pilot after seeing a direct hit of their gas tanks, but not any explosion, had to determine, why?  For the pilot, Bohn Fawkes, it was a miracle.  He spoke with the crew chief to ascertain, why, but also get a souvenir of the one shell he saw hit the tanks.  Bohn found out it wasn’t just one, but 11 shells that were found in the gas tanks when they landed back at base.  When the armorers who would ‘disarm’ the shells opened them up, they found no explosive charge.  However, in one of the shells there was a rolled up piece of paper written in Czech.  An individual was finally found who could decipher the writing and it simply said, “This is all we can do for now…using Jewish slave labor is never a good idea.”

We who gather here may feel we are powerless to ‘proclaim the will of God’, but God like the Jews used them and had a profound impact on the lives of others, especially the bomber crew that day.  The disciples and we who gather here this morning are no different.  For a truer statement could not be said, than, “God sends the disciples and us to proclaim the Will of God!”  AMEN!

Check out Pastor on the Prairie (ProtP)
Subscribe to ProtP

Speak Your Mind

03152017 - Wednesday of Lent 2 - “Thy Kingdom Come” – “God's Kingdom comes even without our works!”

March 15, 2017
“Thy Kingdom Come” – “God's Kingdom comes even without our works!”

Audio

When Martin Luther penned the explanation of the Lord’s Prayer, specifically the Second Petition, “Thy Kingdom Come” Luther knew mankind was powerless.  Luther’s explanation says as much, when he writes, “The Kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer, of itself”.  You see, God, Who created the heavens and the earth, does not need our prayer.  If you follow the logic, then if God does not need our prayers, we could easily ask, why then do we pray?

Just as in the Garden of Eden, with Adam and Eve, the first humans needed instructed, dare I say, schooled, that God knew what they had done in eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  But the reality is that God, maker of the universe doesn’t need nor require our prayers for His Will to be done here on this earth.

Why then do we, or should we pray, if God doesn’t need our help or even our prayers?  Simply it is this, we pray with this petition, “Thy Kingdom Come” asking and imploring God that the Kingdom of God would simply and specifically come unto us.  We daily need to pray this prayer that Jesus taught His disciples, in order that God’s Kingdom would come unto each and every one of us and all of mankind.

When we humbly pray the Lord’s Prayer and come to this petition, “Thy Kingdom Come”, we pray this not just because it is part of the prayer, but we pray it in faith of God.  For “God's Kingdom comes even without our works!”  Our society says we get what we get, because of our works, by the sweat of our brow, by our very energy and efforts.  However, God changed this reality for Christians, when He went to the Cross of Calvary.  For when He uttered the words, “It is finished”.  The reality of ‘works righteousness’ for our eternal existence was radically removed from the vocabulary of all Christians.

The Kingdom of Power that our society believes in is shaken to its core, because when we pray, “Thy Kingdom Come” we pray not for power or a kingdom of power, but specifically for the Kingdom of Grace that God gives.  For it is God’s Grace that we have been given with our Holy Baptism into Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection and the Kingdom of Grace that we pray for comes not by our own works, but out of God’s great love for us.  When we pray in faith, like Solomon did, not for riches or wealth, nor for power over others, but humbly beseeching God for His Holy and eternal Will to be done, He that is God, loves us unconditionally and gives us the greatest gift of grace and His Glory for all of mankind.

As we pray, “Thy Kingdom Come” we do so in sure and certain faith and hope that God’s Kingdom comes, even without our prayers and God will give us a godly life.  And He would through we His children extend His mission here on earth and that He would hasten His eternal Kingdom coming and thus God will fulfill our prayer of “Thy Kingdom Come”.

This is why when our time here on earth is done, we pray this prayer, not only at worship and Holy Communion, but especially when we are ready to take our final breath here on this earth.  For as we pray, “Thy Kingdom Come” it is our prayer of faith in the certainty of God’s promise from His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ that He will come and take us to be with Him in His Kingdom for all eternity.  We pray this petition, “Thy Kingdom Come” with sure and certain trust, faith and hope in the promises of God for we His Children through our Holy Baptism.

No clearer demonstration of this comes than when I stand at the bedside of a brother or sister in Christ, about to fall asleep in the Lord.  One of the greatest comforts God uses me to be is when I am the instrument for the family and especially their loved one in my giving them the assurance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is specifically for them.  God does this through me as I share passages of scripture, but also by singing hymns.  The hymn we are about to sing, “In the Cross of Christ I Glory” is one of the many that I share, because not only does it point to the Cross, but the humble undertone is that it is a simple hymn that speaks the truth that we are sanctified by the Cross of Christ.  And our connection through the Cross completes the connection we have of God’s promise to us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, sealed for us in Holy Baptism and that we lay claim to with our praying this simple petition of “Thy Kingdom Come”!  AMEN!

Check out Pastor on the Prairie (ProtP)
Subscribe to ProtP

Speak Your Mind