Kingdom, Power, Glory, Amen!

March 21 2010

A young boy called the pastor of a church to ask him to come by to pray with his mother who was very ill with the flu. The pastor knew the family and was aware they attended another church down the road. So the pastor asked, “You go to Pastor Jones’ church – shouldn’t you be asking him to come pray with your mom?” The young boy replied, “Well, I thought about that, but I didn’t want to take the chance that he might catch whatever it is that Mom has.”

One more: A 4-year-old boy was asked to give the blessing before Thanksgiving dinner. The family members bowed their heads in expectation. He began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one. Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, brother, sister, Grandma, Grandpa, and all his aunts and uncles. Then he began to thank God for the food. He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies, the cakes, even the Cool Whip. Then he paused, and everyone waited– and waited. After a long silence, the little guy looked up at his mother and asked, “If I thank God for the broccoli, won’t he know that I’m lying?”

Today we are wrapping up our series of sermons on the Lord’s Prayer. As we discussed earlier, this is a beautiful way to pray, a way to praise God and a way to be reminded of all that He does for us. It is the prayer that He taught us, so we should not recite it mindlessly. Instead, we need to consider what it is we are saying as we say it.

What we know as the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer is for Thine is the kingdom and the power and glory forever and ever. Those words are not found in the earliest manuscripts of the Bible. They do occur in some of the later copies of the Greek texts, and as a footnote in Matthew’s Gospel. However, these words are a fitting close to this prayer, an ascription of praise to our God, declaring that He is our King, that He alone has the power to hear us and answer, and that He deserves all glory and praise. They echo one of the doxologies found in the book of Revelation:

Revelation 5:13 “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

He is the King

He is the one who is in control of everything, and we should let Him be in control of our lives. Yet there are so many temptations for us to want to take charge, both in the church and outside the church. Instead of letting God be in control and taking our instruction from His Word, everyone seems to want to do what is right in his or her own eyes.

• For example, if you try to follow strictly our practice that only those who believe the same as we do should take holy communion with us, there will be opposition. One pastor said that one of his elders told him that anyone should be admitted to the Lord’s Table, even a Jew.
• When you try to speak kindly but with conviction against abortion or assisted suicide or homosexuality or other sins that seem to be accepted by the public, some people will ask, “Who you are to judge?” Or in the case of the pastor, they will never say anything to him but will sure tell everyone else how they think the pastor is wrong!
•  When I counsel a couple that living together before marriage is wrong, they may walk out and never come back.
• Should you invite someone to become a member, they may respond that such commitment is not necessary.
• If you invite worshippers to become active on the boards or committees of the church, many will feel no duty to serve the common good.

This is the attitude of our world that is taking over the way people think. That works against letting God be the one in control. And perhaps that is why Jesus wants us to remind ourselves and each other in this prayer: “The Kingdom is yours, Father. You are the King. We need you to be in control, to rule over us with your love and your mercy and your kindness and your forgiveness. We know you have our best interests at heart, so help us submit to Your Will! Be our King, and help us to be your willing, obedient subjects.”

We can pray with that mindset because we have seen just how much God cares about us. We see it in the face of Jesus. We see it in our Savior living a sinless life for us. We see it in Christ crucified and risen again.  Your King cares about you.

He has the Power

We see the power of God in so many ways – the Creation of this world, the awesome might of natural forces, the miracle of birth. Our Lord Jesus has all that power at His disposal, and yet He was willing to set it aside in order to come live as one of us and accomplish our forgiveness.

There are glimpses of that power throughout His ministry. Changing water to wine. Healing a blind man and some lepers. Raising a few folks from the dead. Forgiving sins. Our God is an awesome God, and His power is far beyond anything we can imagine. We can be tempted to take His power for granted or not consider it.  But all power belongs to Him. One little peek at just how mighty He is came at Gethsemane. When they came to arrest Him, John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus asked, “Who is it you want?” When they said they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus replied, “I am He.”  “When Jesus said, ‘I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.”  He was holding back, not using His power as God, and yet the strength of who He is knocks them off their feet.  That is how powerful our God is.

And then we see the power of God most clearly in what transpired on Easter morning. An angel rolled the stone away, the guards fell down as though they were dead, and Jesus was raised from death to life. His victory over sin and death and the grave was complete. And He wants you to share in that victory.

He deserves the glory

He deserves to be honored, praised and worshipped because of who He is and what He has done. The word “glory” is one that can be hard to get a handle on. We know what it means but it can be hard to put into words. It is describing greatness, splendor, worth, tremendous value. But there is even more. “Glory” is used to translate several Hebrew words, some of which had to do with a visible brightness. That carries over into the New Testament as well.

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In the Transfiguration of Jesus, He was described as shining with bright light, and Peter later wrote, He received honor and glory from God the Father. (2 Peter 1:18)

Amen

The final word in this prayer, and in all our prayers, is Amen.  This little word means “Yes it is so” or “It is certain.” It was the word Jesus used when He said, “Truly I say to you…” When you end your prayers with this word, you are saying that you are certain that God has heard your prayers.  You know He is in control.  You trust that for Jesus’ sake He not only hears you, but will answer in the way that is best for you. Luther wrote about the meaning of ending our prayers with the word “amen” in his catechism:

This means that I should be certain that these petitions are pleasing to our Father in heaven, and are heard by Him; for He Himself has commanded us to pray in this way and has promised to hear us. Amen, amen means “yes, yes, it shall be so.”

Ending a prayer with this little word is an act of faith. It means we believe what was said. That is why it is proper for everyone to join in this word whenever a Christian prayer is offered, or when you find yourself in agreement with a truth of God’s Word that has just been spoken. It is the proper ending to the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray.

And all God’s people said…