Year C Proper 12 Luke 11:1-13

Many years ago, when my husband, JC, and I still lived in Roslindale, down the street from us there was a convent of Roman Catholic, Poor Clare nuns. The Poor Clares are Franciscans, who, in my experience, have always been very open and accepting even though we aren’t Roman Catholic. We became good friends with one of the nuns, who was always inviting us to different events, and sometimes we’d go to an early morning communion service at the convent.

Since Roman Catholics do not ordain women to the priesthood, the sisters had to rely on a male priest showing up to celebrate, and one morning the fellow who arrived was exceedingly old. He was, as I understood it later, a last minute replacement for their regular priest, who was unable to get there that morning.

The service began, the lessons were read, and it was time for the priest to give the sermon, usually a short homily. The ancient gentleman stood up and tottered carefully to the pulpit. “We have heard a profound Gospel this morning,” he said. “Let us contemplate its deep meaning for our lives.” And he went back to his chair.

This week, as I contemplated not only the Gospel, but how hot it was supposed to be today – I thought how wonderful it would be to follow the old priest’s example. However, instead of doing exactly as he did, I’ve done my best to compose not too long a sermon – it can called a “homily”.

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray . . .”. And Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

This is the Lord’s Prayer as found in the Gospel of Luke.

Prayer! We have at our disposal so many types of prayer including Adoration and Blessing, Contrition and Repentance, Thanksgiving, Supplication, Petition, and Intercession. We can spend a great deal of time in prayer, but this short prayer, which we now call the Lord’s Prayer, is the one Jesus gave His disciples, and us, when they asked Him, “Teach us pray”. It is short, simple, and contains all that is necessary for us to pray. It forms the basis of all prayers.

Luke’s version of The Lord’s Prayer, is simpler than the prayer found in Matthew’s Gospel. The version with which we are all familiar has been developed from Matthew’s version, and the modern version has some points that were made by ancient authorities. Yet, the core is the same. Taking this simple version, we still have a deeply profound prayer.

“Our Father…” There are people in our world who have mixed emotions about this word because they had the terrible misfortune of living with a bad father. On the other hand, many of us were blessed with loving and caring fathers, and we have no difficulty in identifying the Creator with the word Father. But whichever our experience, God, who is father and mother and beloved parent figure, whoever that might have been for us, understands.

“Hallowed be Your Name.” We are addressing the Holy of Holies, the all-sacred One. The mystery we cannot understand. We are reminded immediately by Jesus that when we address God we are in the Presence of holiness.

“Your kingdom come.” Jesus’ favorite image: the Kingdom of God where justice prevails, where Love conquers. The Kingdom of God where everyone is of equal value in God’s sight. May it come to us also.

This then is the first portion of the prayer as it appears in Luke: it includes the acknowledgment of God as Father/Mother, as Holy, where God’s rule of love and justice are natural and at home.

The second part is a simple request for what sustains life. Give us each day our daily bread. Bread was the food staple of the ancient world. Having bread meant one was not hungry. Not having bread meant starvation. “Give us the necessities for living.”

“And forgive us our sins.” The second request that concerns us is the need to forgive. The plea to be forgiven is followed by the most surprising element of this prayer:

“. . . for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” That God’s forgiveness is dependent on our ability and willingness to forgive is unexpected. But without the grace to forgive our fellow human beings, we would not recognize, or even accept, God’s forgiveness of our own sins. “Those who are indebted to us,” may also be taken literally. In the ancient world, as in our own time, being indebted financially was very serious. Many times it meant life or death. Jesus knew that Mammon was a powerful idol, that those who cannot forgive debts because they worship money cannot possibly be first forgiven by God.

“Do not bring us to the time of trial.” Trials are frequent and no one is spared. We pray to be shielded from trials, but when they do come, they must be faced. So in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, “Let this cup pass from me,” but He was not spared and He faced His death, convinced of the will of His Father.

This then is the profound and simple prayer that binds us together as we worship. This is the prayer that forms the basis for all our prayers. We are assured by Jesus that we are being heard. In today’ Gospel, Jesus adds more urgency through stories of people known to His hearers, like the persistent child to a father. A father responds to the child’s plea, Jesus tells us, as He encourages us to be persistent. God’s will for us is good.

When I was a little girl, there was an African American lady, Ursuline, who came once a week to help my mother with the ironing. One day she asked me if I knew The Lord’s Prayer, and when I answered that I did, she told me, “You should pray it every day”. This came as a surprise, as it was a prayer that I had only said in church on Sunday’s. But Ursuline was a grownup, and a very kind lady, and I liked her a lot – so I did as she said.

In the midst of the conditions of terror and harm and killing in our world, as we watch the news and shake our heads and wonder where it will all end, the violence, the crimes, the lies - it is good to remember that all around the word, every day, millions of the faithful men, women, and children, are praying the Lord’s Prayer, the one Jesus taught us. We are one with them and one with Him. Thy Kingdome come. Come Jesus come.

Let us pray:

“Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” Amen.