March
1, 2017
“Our Father Who Art in Heaven”
“Our Father Who Art in Heaven”
Tonight
we gather as the body of Christ with Ashes about to be placed on our
foreheads. We remind ourselves that from
dust we came and to dust we shall return.
Yet, we are not just dust, within us resides the most powerful force in
the universe. This ‘force’ is none other
than the breath of God “Our Father”.
During
our Lenten season we will be delving into the perfect prayer that Jesus taught
His disciples. So it is very appropriate
we begin focused upon “Our Father Who Art in Heaven”. We find our connection and God’s Fingerprints
in the “Our Father” the prayer Jesus taught, but also our confession of faith
in Apostle’s, Nicene and Athanasian Creed.
Clearly the role of “Our Father” is not only to orient us to God “Our
Father”, but for us to engage and understand we are not alone in this world no
matter our location, position or experience.
“Our Father” began by putting His breath in our first parents, Adam and
Eve and in each of us gathered here and all people. For the ‘breath of God’ “Our Father” is Who gives
us life.
Hence
why tonight is so significant. The
breath we have from God “Our Father” is the same that we begin the Lord’s
Prayer in saying, “Our Father Who art in heaven”. For God Who resides in heaven gives us all
things, the food we eat, the air we breathe, the clothes we wear, the jobs we have,
the houses we live in, the food on our tables and even the life that courses
through our veins. All that we have is
His.
But,
why is this so significant for us today as we begin Lent? Why should this give us pause? Why should we consider how we live today? Simply tonight as we respond to the fact of
our mortality with the ash upon our forehead, we begin to understand that it is
God’s Breath in us, and laying claim to God as “Our Father” in the prayer Jesus
taught that we connect ourselves to God, not only as “Our Father”, but as our
redeemer and especially our Savior. For
Jesus Christ Who taught this prayer, also taught us how He and we are fully
dependent upon God “Our Father” for all things.
“Our
Father” Who created not only the heavens and the earth, but all things, and Who
gives us life, the Breath of Life is the same God “Our Father” Who gives us
life eternal, through His Son, Jesus Christ.
For this season of Lent we enter tonight is as Martin Luther would say, is
a time of introspection, but also thanks that “Our Father” didn’t just care for
us to bring us into this world, but “Our Father” loves each and every one of us
clearly and cares for us daily and looks forward to our being with Him in His
Kingdom for eternity. And this comes, only
through the Cross of Calvary that we journey towards beginning tonight that
bore the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, the Son of God,
Jesus Christ.
As
Paul Gerhardt penned in the hymn we are about to sing, “This lamb is Christ,
our greatest friend”, He comes to “free my [that is God’s] children” and we are
not only the sheep of His pasture, but God’s precious gem. Jesus Christ willingly went to Calvary and paid
the price of His death for each and every one of us and this is why we have the
breath of life from God “Our Father” in each and every one of us.
May
we as we contemplate the coming weeks of our exploration of the Lord’s Prayer,
begin to understand the faith of the centurion and the grace offered each of us
from “Our Father” in heaven. For we are
loved by God “Our Father” and we are His children through the sacrifice of His
Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN.
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