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Thursday, September 03, 2009
The Real Lord's Prayer
 Psalm 130; Matthew 26:36-46
We call it the Lord's Prayer, the one that begins with "Our Father who art in heaven."
Truth be told, that one is really the Disciples' Prayer. Jesus gave it to them (and to all of us who follow in their steps) as a guide for handling all of life's major concerns with God's will in mind. In just a few short phrases that prayer covers the whole world of human experience.
The stained glass window I preached about this Sunday shows us Jesus in the midst of his most personal, intense, and powerfully dramatic conversation with God. Let's call it the Real Lord's Prayer.
He's sprawled against a huge rock, in the dark of night. But his face is illuminated by a bright beam of light shining down from the heavens. Or from heaven itself.
The place is called Gethsemane, which probably translates into "olive press." How appropriate, since Jesus is under extreme soul pressure here. In that crushing context, of all the choices he could make, he turns all his worries and wonderings into a prayer. And, wonderfully, when Jesus prays heaven opens. He may seem to be all alone, but God is right there with him.
In the foreground we see a tangle of thorny branches. Out of place among the olive trees, they represent the next day's crucifixion, which includes a mock crown of thorns his enemies pushed hard into his scalp.
It's the knowledge that all this is just hours away that drives Jesus to pray so strenuously. "If it's possible," he pleads with God, "let this terrible fate pass me by. Let me live!" But then, "Never the less, not my will but your will be done!"
Outside the frame, his three closest disciples lie fast asleep. He had left them there, close by, to pray for him while he wrestled in prayers for himself. Asleep they are! In this the most critical hour of his entire life.
Let's cut them some slack, though. First of all, they'd just come with Jesus from a Passover meal, which features several cups of wine. That would make the heartiest soul more than a little tired. On top of that, Jesus' bad news during that last supper, about his arrest and execution, was the most depressing thing they had ever heard.
While preparing my sermon, and in the midst of preaching it, I had to wonder how many ways people like you and I might be as guilty as those three men of sleeping right on through God's critical hours in our own lives.
As with the disciples, it's not impossible that a bit too much wine might be involved. Or some deep depression. Both are driven by intense desire to escape unpleasant, uncomfortable circumstances. More often, I suspect it's about preoccupation with business as usual. Tight agendas, regular responsibilities, doing the right thing the right way, for once if not once and for all. On and on the list can go and grow.
Whatever the cause, we're prone to spiritual sleepiness exactly at the moment we need more than anything else to seek and to do the will of God. Thanks be to God that Jesus absolutely refused to sleep off his soul's struggles that fateful night so long ago.
What else can we learn from this Real Lord's Prayer?
Listen to the GODcast!
posted by Jack Buckley at
6:11 PM
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