Signs of Life - Care For Those In Need (Apr 26, 2020)

1 Timothy 5:1-8

Introduction: Just as we are all paying very close attention to metrics of health (such as positive tests, deaths, the shape of the curve) in the COVID-19 pandemic, the book of 1 Timothy was written by the apostle Paul to help Timothy bring a spiritually unhealthy church back to health again. Even though so much has changed in our world, the signs of a vibrant, growing, healthy faith have not – they hold true no matter the circumstances. The sign of life that is at the heart of this passage (and so many others in the Bible) is caring for those in need.

Caring for those in need has always been - and will become even more so in the days ahead – one of the most important, crucial signs of life for every follower of Jesus and every faithful Church. This passage provides us with the necessary steps to becoming people who truly care for those in need

Step One - Identify Those in Need

At this point in our health crisis, it is clear that many people are in great need right now. There will also be a tidal wave of needs following in the wake of the pandemic and quarantine. Before we can offer care or help, we have to first identify those in need. As obvious has this may seem, one of the hardest and most persistent barriers between those who have help to give and those who need that help, is that oftentimes the those who have help to give don’t really see those who need help.

In this passage, Paul identifies widows in the church as a group in need of special attention and care. Paul is telling Timothy to carry on a ministry that started at the very beginning of the Christian church. Acts 6 tells us about how the early church had overlooked a group of widows in need and how they stopped everything until they found a way to care for them.  Throughout the Bible widows are identified over and over by God as those in need of special attention and care. Why? Because they were so often overlooked, unidentified, and unseen by people. Widows were among the most vulnerable and voiceless in the ancient world.

What can we learn about how God identifies widows for his people - over and over again? Although human beings may forget and overlook the vulnerable and voiceless, God does not. He sees them, identifies with them and tells his people to do the same. Paul is telling Timothy to identify those widows who are “genuinely in need” (v.3) and “truly in need” (v.5 and v.16 later on) to care for them. He is saying they must be seen and never overlooked.   Christians must do the same for the vulnerable and voices in our communities today.

Step Two - Value Those in Need

In the ancient world, not only were widows vulnerable and voiceless, they were not valued. For women at this time, their value and status was tied to their husband. When a husband died, a women’s worth and value died too. But Paul says this should never be the case in the family and household of God. In fact, the Bible teaches throughout that widows are valuable in and of themselves - they have value independent of their relationship to a man (a radical idea in that time).

In fact, the text goes on to talk about “enrolling widows on a list” using the same word that was used for military enlistment. From the earliest days of the church this was interpreted as creating an official position of ministry. Early letters described elders, bishops, deacons and “an order of widows”. This order of widows provided a valuable ministry of prayer and care for others in need.  

The step of valuing those in need is a step we cannot pass over. We are often guilty of helping someone in need from a sense of superiority or paternalism. This is not the kind of care the Bible calls us to. God is called the “Champion of the widow” (Psa 68:5). God champions those who are not valued; those who are forgotten or cast off. He champions their need, but he also champions their value – what they have to give We cannot jump from seeing the need to simply meeting the need. If we are to care for those in need the way this text and the rest of the Bible calls us to, we must value the person in need, as a family member, a friend and an equal.

Step Three - Provide for Those in Need

God calls His people to give both presence and provision to those in need. Paul’s focus here is on providing for the physical and financial needs of those in distress. Notice how God answers the prayers of the lonely widow who prayers day and night to God for provision. He answers their prayers through his people, the church. The ministry of provision is described using the language of worship as a sacred duty. It is a matter of “godliness”. It is pleasing to God. Our genuine worship of God can never be separated from our practical care for people (see James 1:27!)

In this time of uncertainty with all things we are facing ourselves, how can we look outside ourselves? The answer is the Gospel. The gospel is the good news that God first identified our great need, and because He so valued us (“for God so loved the world), He provided for our need (that He gave His only begotten Son). So when the Christian sees someone in need, we shouldn’t first see someone who needs our help - we should see ourselves. We should remember that we were (and are) poor and so needy, that we valued despite our poverty such that all our needs were provided for by the One who became poor for us. The gospel reminds us everything we have – we didn’t earn and we don’t deserve. It’s all a gift from God to the poor and needy (me!). The gospel reminds us any care we give – we give as those in need ourselves.

Such a gospel mindset was behind the care the early Christians gave that extended through plague and disease. In the words of Carl F Henry, “The early Christians did not say “Look what the world is coming to!” [and retreat into fear or judgment]; they said “Look what has come into the world!” [which they displayed by sacrificial care].

DIAGNOSE – How ready to you feel to begin thinking outside of yourself to those who are (and will be) in need because of this pandemic?

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the sermon impacted you most? What left you with questions?

2. What is hardest for you in identifying those truly in need? Why do you think it so hard for those who “have” to see and identify the “have-not’s”. Who would you identify as the most vulnerable and voiceless in our community?

3. What is hardest for you in valuing those in need? Do you tend to think those in need should help themselves? or that they need your help?

4. Mother Teresa was fond of saying, “We need the poor more than the poor need us”.  What do you think she meant by this?

5. What about the Christian faith requires that we care for people as whole and embodied people?

6. How does the gospel provide the motivation for us to move toward people in need?

7. How can Martin Luther’s advice from  letter he wrote about how to respond to a plague in 16th century guide us in caring for people in our situation? “I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”

Where can we start? 

• Start with your own family.  God is pleased with those who are caring for parents and grandparents both now and in “normal” times (see v.2 and v.8)

• Opportunities also exist within our church – TrinityCares is our ministry for physical care and needs, so if you want to be involved, please contact responseteam@trintypresoc.org. On the other side, if you have needs or know of needs, please get in touch! Help us in the task of identifying specific needs.

Click to download PDF

Signs of Life - Paying Attention (Apr 19, 2020)

1 Timothy 4:13-16

Introduction: Returning to our series on Paul’s letter to Timothy, Paul writes to offer instructions and guidance for diagnosing and treating spiritual unhealth in the church of Ephesus. Just as our whole world is now focused on diagnosing and treating the physical threat of COVID-19, 1 Timothy’s urgent focus is on diagnosing/treating spiritual health in order to bring restoration and life back to the Ephesian church. In our world, everything has changed BUT the signs of life and the metrics of spiritual health have not. One of the most important metrics for spiritual health during this time is one of the most important metrics Paul gives Timothy – “paying attention”.

1. Paying Attention to Ourselves
In the modern world, our capacity to pay attention is shrinking. In 2015, a research study indicated that human beings have shorter attention spans than a goldfish! This underlines the challenges we face in heeding Paul’s instruction to pay attention to 2 key things, the first of which is our very own life.

What does it mean to “pay close attention to our life”? The literal translation of v.16 is “Pay close attention to your self”. “Self” can be a fairly broad concept, but it is important not to mischaracterize Paul’s intention. Because in one sense, we don’t need to be told to pay attention to ourselves! Aren’t we all already quite good at this? Self absorption, self-focus, just plain selfishness – isn’t that our main problem? Yes, selfishness is at the heart of sin

• Paul is telling Timothy to give time and space for honest self-awareness in the presence of God. Paying attention to ourselves means giving time and space to ask and consider honest questions about our emotions and our soul, such as: How am I really doing? What is really going on in my soul? How is my inner life aligned with my outer life (ie. am I pretending? hypocrisy?)? How well is my heart (how I live and what I say) aligned with my mind (what I claim to believe)?

Jesus himself modeled this. One of many examples is from Luke 5:15-16: “The news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Why did Jesus need to do this?

• Jesus, the Son of God, perfect human being, often withdrew from people and activity, from needs of people, to pay attention to himself. He was deeply aware of his own need for rest and for prayer, and to give time/space for honest self-awareness in the presence of God.

Jesus also told his disciples to do this. In Mark 6:30-31, “the apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught. He said, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest a while… for many people were coming and going and they did not even have time to eat…”

• The apostles come to Jesus, excited to tell him what they have done, and Jesus responds by asking, “When is the last time you ate? You’ve done well. But get away rest, eat”. Jesus here is saying – to them and to us – you need to pay attention to yourself, or you are risking: a) burn out and quitting or b) burn out while pretending everything is okay. In either case, you’ve lost yourself and the true good you are meant to do for others.

The Psalms can guide and inspire us – The best place to find examples of this are in the Psalms: Why are you cast down O my soul (42, 43)? Rest in God alone O my soul (62). Wake up my soul, Bless the Lord O my soul. Who is the Psalmist talking to? Himself, in the presence of God.

1 Timothy reveals that, in actuality self-awareness it isn’t just about ourselves at all. For Timothy, paying attention to himself (and the teaching he shares) is what makes him able to bring life and health to others. As Pastor Pete Scazzero says, “we cannot give what we don’t possess.”

We need each other now more than ever – spouses, kids, friends, family, neighbors. But we cannot give what we do not possess, and we cannot possess unless we give time and space for honest self-awareness in the presence of God.

However, paying attention to ourselves is not the end of the story. Paul isn’t just talking about the benefits of meditation, mindfulness, and emotional honesty, he is talking about how we become personally present to God. So not only do we need to know and be aware of our “real selves”, we also need to pay attention to the God who loves the real us.

2. Paying Attention to God
John Calvin, the great 16th century theologian, began his most well-known work on the Christian faith with these famous words, “Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God. Our wisdom, insofar as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.” Calvin shows us the inseparable connection between self-awareness and God-awareness. Calvin is saying in knowing ourselves, we come to know God.

In knowing God, we come to know ourselves. He goes on to explain that when we consider the gifts we have received in life; when we wonder at the miracle of existence and when we become more aware of our own spiritual poverty, brokenness, affliction and our sin, it’s there that God’s hand finds us and leads us to HIMSELF.

How do we pay attention to God and reach out to grab his outstretched hand? Paul tells Timothy to pay attention to teaching (v13, 16), to public reading and exhortation (V13). The point is that God we pay attention to God by paying attention to his Word.

Timothy was asking Paul, “Help! What will save me in this tough pastoral situation?” Paul says start here - “Pay attention to yourself and to the God who saves.” Today we are saying, “Help! What will save us from this coronavirus pandemic? What will save me from the fear, the anxiety, the things about me that are being exposed that I don’t want to see or admit in this time? What will save us from death?”

Paul’s message is the same to us - pay attention to yourself and to the God who saves through Jesus Christ. What we give our best attention to – whether that is news, government, medical experts, the economy – that is what we are really looking to for salvation in this time. But only One can truly save us from all that we fear and are struggling with in this time. Our Savior who lived, died and rose again to save us.

So what does this look like? First realize what you are giving your attention to. Whatever that is – that’s your functional Savior. Turn your attention away from it. Next, refuse to hide what’s really going on with yourself. Come out of hiding. Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions. Pray them to God (see Psalm 139 for an example of this). Then pay attention to God by meditating on his Word. There are many ways to do this. His attributes, his actions, his promises.

DIAGNOSE – Where is your attention most directed during this time? How might you being looking to this thing/these things to save you?

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the message most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. What does Paul mean by pay attention to our “life” or “self”? How does this not lead us self absorption and selfishness? Why is paying attention ourselves necessary for us to pay proper attention to loving others? (verse 16 makes a clear connection)

3. One of the main reasons we don’t pay attention to ourselves in this way is that we are afraid of what we might find. How does the following quote from the sermon help us with this?
   a. “The real God can handle the real you. He already knows everything about you. The gospel is that He loves the real you – the “you” that you don’t want to pay attention to! He loves that you, He has more than enough grace for whatever is really going on with you.”

4. As you notice things going on inside of your heart and mind in this time, how might God be using these things to reach out his hand to you and draw you closer to Himself?

5. What truths about God, about what God has done or what God has promised do you most need to pay attention to in this time?

6. What practices do you currently have to give time and space for honest self-awareness in the presence of God? What practices do you currently have in your life to pay attention to God through His Word?

Click to download PDF

The Lord's Prayer - Deliver Us (Apr 12, 2020) Easter Sunday

Matthew 6:9-13

Introduction: This Lent we are looking at each part of the Lord’s Prayer. As a model for prayer and a summary of the entire Christian life – the Lord’s Prayer offers us a place to turn in an anxious and overwhelming time. The conclusion of this prayer may not be a ‘traditional’ Easter passage, but this Easter season is certainly not like any we have ever experienced before, either. What this provides us with is both practical – in that it gives us a way of thinking about and dealing with what is going on during this crisis (temptation) and tells us what we need to ask for (deliverance), and also hopeful – because if Easter really did happen, then we can have hope that God will answer this prayer and bring us through this extremely challenging situation.

1. Our Great Temptation
What is temptation? To fully understand this prayer and find its power, we must start with a clear definition of what temptation is. We tend to use the word temptation in the context of sensual temptations, but it is much broader than this: it is any circumstance, desire, occasion, or anything that draws/lures/entices us away from God & his will for us.

Note: It is important to remember that temptation is not in itself wrongdoing or sin – the Bible teaches that Jesus was tempted in every way but was without sin. Furthermore, God does not tempt anyone, nor is he ever the source of anyone’s temptation. See James 1:13-14: “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.”

Having established this definition of temptation, let us acknowledge that this part of the Lord’s prayer is probably the most debated and difficult to understand: “lead us not into temptation”. Even though we know that God himself does not tempt us, why wouldn’t we pray that God simply remove all temptation?

Why do we face temptation? Earlier in James’ letter, he wrote: “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials (temptations), because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing (vv. 2-4).” God never tempts us; but he allows/uses temptations and trials to test us. This is one of the main ways he shows us more about ourselves, shows more about himself, and refines our faith. Proven faith is a sign of maturity, whereas untested belief/faith is soft, fragile, shallow, easily breakable. Thus, temptation can be something that draws us away from God, but it can also be something that drives us to God.

This is the reason why Jesus doesn’t tell us to pray that temptation be removed from our lives (which is not possible anyway in a world where there is still evil in us and outside of us) but that we would not enter into it when it comes. Many scholars point out that the key here is in the little preposition “into”: temptation is not something we can avoid but it is something we can enter into or not. In Matthew 26:41 Jesus tells us to “watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation”.

Why would this be a part of the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray regularly and repeatedly? The implied answer is clear - no matter what is happening in our lives, no matter who we are, young in faith or mature, there will always be some form of temptation to draw you away from God. When things are going well and life is comfortable and full of ease: we can be tempted to forget about God. On the other hand, when things are not going well, when we are afflicted and trials come, we are tempted to think God has forgotten about us.

For many of us, we have suddenly gone from a successful, productive, even comfortable life – tempted to forget about God – to the complete other side, tempted to believe that he has forgotten about us.

How can we not enter into temptations? Or when we do enter in, how can we get out? This is where we need to see how this whole prayer holds together and this is where Easter comes in.

2. God’s Greater Deliverance
God’s deliverance is always greater than our greatest temptations. What did Jesus tell us to pray to be delivered from? Evil. Although some translations read “deliver us from the evil one” – meaning Satan or the devil – I think the broadest definition is best and is meant here. We are asking God to deliver us from all the evil within in us that can draw us away from God, as well as all the external evil that can draw us away - including Satan, evil done to us, and all the results of evil in the world, such as suffering, disease, and death.

A Christian is someone who doesn’t just ask God for help. A Christian is someone who asks God for deliverance. We don’t just need help, we need deliverance. We need something, someone stronger than evil, to step in and rescue us. And Easter doesn’t offer us help. Easter announces deliverance. Jesus did not rise from the dead to offer us a helping hand – NO, Jesus rose from the dead to conquer evil and all its consequences. If the tomb is empty, then there is someone strong enough to deliver us from evil.

So how do we respond? Grab a hold of the rope that Jesus offers, and be pulled into resurrection life. If the Risen Jesus – who defeated sin, Satan, death – is pulling on the other side, no temptation or form of evil is a match for him, and he can bring us out it and through it bring us closer to Him, closer to resurrection life. With all that is happening in/around us now, don’t let it draw you away from God; rather, let it drive you to Him. We need to 1) acknowledge that we can’t control it and we can’t escape it; but 2) rather than despair over it, we can ask to be delivered, and God will answer us.

Remember, that in order to deliver us, for it to be possible that this prayer would be answered, Jesus had to choose not be delivered from death, suffering, and temptation. We will not always handle temptation well, but Jesus did. Jesus had to endure death, suffering and the temptation to take control and escape from that suffering, both in the wilderness and in the Garden. He experienced how strong the temptation is to not trust God in a world of evil and suffering BUT he never entered into it. This means two things: 1) He knows what it’s like! and 2) He can get you out! We will enter into the temptations of control, escape and even despair BUT Jesus can deliver us out. If we ask, Jesus will deliver us out.

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the message most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. Why don’t we just ask for God to remove all temptation from our lives? What “good” does temptation serve?

3. “Temptation can be something that draws us away from God, but it can also be something that drives us to God.” Do you agree with this? How have you experienced this? Read 1 Corinthians 10:12-13. How does this passage give us caution and hope in our temptations?

4. In the message, 3 great temptations for this time of COVID-19 and lockdown were described 1) the temptation of control 2) the temptation of escape and 3) the temptation to despair. What about our current crisis would lead us into these temptations? Which of these is most drawing you away from God? How are you handling this temptation?

5. What is the difference between asking for help and asking for deliverance?

6. How does Easter enable us to pray for deliverance from evil and its consequences with confidence, trust and hope that God will answer us?

7. Read Hebrews 4:14-16. What difference does it make that Jesus was tempted in “every way as we are”? Apply this to your strongest temptations you are facing now.

PRAY

• Before God (and others, if comfortable) name your greatest temptations during this time.

• Pray for God to lead you away from and out of this temptation and closer to Him. Whatever this temptation offers you, remember it can only be found in God through Christ.

• Prayerfully remember and thank Jesus for facing this temptation and overcoming it for you.

• Rest in God’s promise to deliver you (see 2 Corinthians 1:8-10)

Click to download PDF

The Lord's Prayer - Forgive Us Our Debts (Apr 5, 2020)

Matthew 6:9-15

Introduction: This Lent we are looking at each part of the Lord’s Prayer. As a model for prayer and a summary of the entire Christian life – the Lord’s Prayer offers us a place to turn in an anxious and overwhelming time. At first, we might not think forgiveness is relevant to our current crisis but when we consider the impact of stress, anxiety, and fear on our relationship with God and others, we will quickly realize this part of the prayer is just as relevant and vital as all the others.

Four Things We Need to Know for Healthy Relationships – Especially in our time of COVID-19

1. We Sin
Since Jesus gave us this prayer to pray as a regular pattern, he is clearly assuming we will need it often. In order to have a healthy relationship with God, we need to know we will sin. Though we grow and mature by God’s grace, we will never outgrow the need for this prayer. In fact, the more we grow and mature as Christians, the more we will know how much we need this prayer. By choosing the word “debts” to describe our sin, Jesus is emphasizing that there is a real cost when we fail to give God the obedience and glory we owe Him. Just like financial debt doesn’t just disappear, relational debt doesn’t just go away - something must be done about it. The current crisis we are in both exposes and intensifies this reality. Our sins and God-substitutes are exposed. Our temptations are more intense. We will stumble and fall. We will sin. Something must be done about this to restore our communion with God. Thankfully, something has been done – which is why Jesus gave us this prayer.

2. God Forgives
If you find yourself struggling and sinning more in this time, hear this: Jesus did not give us this prayer to weigh us down or to beat ourselves up or spur us to earn our place back in good standing with God. The whole POINT of this prayer is not our sins but God’s forgiveness. God invites us and longs for us to experience the freedom and liberation of forgiveness – regularly, every time we need it. Like all the other parts of the Lord’s Prayer, this is a prayer that God says “Yes” to when offered in faith. Asking for forgiveness is deeply humbling because what we are asking for is for our debt to be wiped clean without any payment or contribution on our end. That’s what forgiveness is! This is humbling but also incredibly freeing. When God forgives sin, he removes our sin so far from us it is no longer and will never be a part of us. When God forgives sin, he “remembers it no more”; he never calls it to mind and will never bring it up again. That’s what forgiveness is! When we know God forgives our sin, we are humbled (and thus able to forgive others) and confident (and thus able to let go of our failures, guilt and shame).

3. Others Will Sin Against Us
In telling us to pray, “as we forgive our debtors”, Jesus is assuming something here too. Others will sin against us. It will happen regularly. Jesus is saying, “Expect it. Don’t be surprised when it happens.” Just knowing it will happen doesn’t make it any easier or more bearable when it does happen. There is a cost when we are wronged and hurt. There is real relational debt, and something must be done about it or our relationships will be strained and will break under the weight of this debt. In this trying time, I think it is fair to assume that we are all racking up relational debt in our relationships. Careless and harsh words have been spoken. Inconsiderate actions have been carried out. People we are close to have been aloof and withdrawn. Some have not gotten back to our texts and calls. There has been insensitivity, overworking, ignoring, escaping and many more failures to love.

What we cannot do is make others pay for their failures, bear the cost ourselves in bitterness and unforgiveness or settle for shallow forgiveness. We must forgive as we have been forgiven.

4. We Must Forgive
This is the only part of the Lord’s Prayer that comes with an “explanation” and a “footnote” – and both are SO challenging. Jesus clearly teaches that his followers must forgive others when they are wronged. But is forgiving others a condition for us being forgiven by God? It sounds that way, but that’s not what Jesus is saying. Forgiving others is a sign that we know we have been forgiven in Christ. Jesus doesn’t say pray, “Forgive us because we forgive others”, He says as we forgive others. In Jesus’ amazing wisdom, He is tying these two things together in such a way that we are always driven back to our own debt/forgiveness and always pushed out to forgive others in a continual “cycle of forgiveness”. The two are inseparable. Here are a few ways for us to think about this inseparability:

• If you pray for forgiveness while withholding forgiveness, you reveal that you don’t know what you are asking God for. So, you cancel the prayer

• If you harbor ill feelings against others, if you pay them back or write them off, then in this prayer you are really asking that God not forgive your sins

• Whenever you really pray this prayer you forfeit the right to seek payback, hold a grudge or refuse forgiveness

If this still feels unresolved, we should understand that Jesus meant to for us to feel this tension. But here’s one more thought that may help - like all the “conditional” warnings in the Bible, the conditions should be taken at face value but they can only be met by those who know they have been forgiven and loved in Christ unconditionally.

Whatever the future holds for us all, our recovery and rebuilding will require much forgiveness. We will need forgiveness and we will need to forgive. May we learn to pray this prayer now so as to show the world the humbling and liberating truth, that “Jesus paid it all, all to him we owe.”

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the message most impacted you or left you with questions? Which of the four things do you feel like you most need to remember/know at this time? Why?

2. Does it bother you or comfort you that Jesus clearly expected us to sin – no matter how much we grow and mature? In what ways has this crisis and all its challenges exposed or intensified your struggle with sin? How have you handled this (emotionally and practically)?

3. What does it mean to ask for forgiveness? Get as clear a definition as you can. What does it mean for God to forgive? Using the Bible, come up with as clear a definition as you can. What would it look like to know, really know, we are forgiven like this no matter what?

4. How is possible for God to forgive like this? What happened to the real debt we owe? What does it mean that God already says, “Yes” to this prayer because of the work of Christ? Then why do we need to pray it again and again?

5. How do you tend to handle it when others sin against you? How have you been handling it during this crisis?

6. CS Lewis said, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you”. Read Matthew 18:21-25 and answer this question – How does understanding our forgiveness make it impossible for us not to forgive others?

7. Is Jesus making our being forgiven by God conditional on our forgiving others? How would you answer this?

8. Why will forgiveness be so important for us to make it through this crisis and for us to recover and rebuild when it is passed?

PRAY | Spend time yourself or with a group slowly praying “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”. It’s important you pray this prayer honestly by yourself or alongside others with whom you feel safe. God wants us to know we are forgiven not just in general but for the specific sins we commit. It can be very healing for us to do this alone but can also be very healing for us to be reminded of our forgiveness (full, complete and finished) by another brother or sister.

Ask God to search your heart for any areas of unforgiveness. True and real forgiveness of others is impossible in our own strength. Ask for wisdom and grace to take any steps toward forgiving others.

Click to download PDF

The Lord's Prayer - Your Will Be Done (Mar 29, 2020)

Matthew 6:5-13

Introduction: This Lent we are looking at each part of the Lord’s Prayer as we practice using it as a pattern for our prayers. As a model for prayer and a summary of the entire Christian life – the Lord’s Prayer offers us a place to turn in an anxious and overwhelming time. This is the part of the prayer that, the more we really understand it, the more we find it is the hardest part of the prayer to pray. But, at the same time, it is the part of the prayer that, the more we understand it and pray it, the more heaven is brought into our lives of uncertainty, fear and loss. It’s a prayer we must learn to pray in our time of pandemic.

1. Why We Must Pray This Prayer

In order to see why we must pray this prayer; we need to know that there are two main ways that the Bible speaks about the will of God – 1) His will of decree and 2) His will of command. Both are described in Deuteronomy 29:29 – “The hidden things belong to the Lord our God (ie. His sovereign will of decree); but the revealed things (ie. His will of command) belong to us and our children forever so that we may follow all the words of this law.” Jesus gave us this part of the prayer to teach us to how to respond to both aspects of His will by praying, “Your will be done.”.

In response to God’s sovereign will – In the Bible, God’s will often refers to God’s plan for and control over all things. In Romans 9:19, the apostle Paul asks a rhetorical question, “Who can resist His will?” He is saying God’s will shall be done. God is in control. Our choice is either to try to control our lives (ie. resist His will) or to let go of control (ie. surrender to His will). In light of this, some scholars suggest that this part of the prayer should be translated, “May your will happen”. This is not giving God “permission” or resigning to impersonal fate. This is a prayer of personal trust. Though we don’t (and can’t) fully understand God’s will, we must learn to pray, “Even when I don’t understand, I trust you are in control and your will is loving and good”.

Here’s why we must learn to pray this – so much of our prayer is really us saying to God, “God, MY will be done… God, do what I want; carry out my plans.” Praying this in any time – but especially in times of crisis – is a recipe for frustration, disappointment, anger and anxiety. This kind of prayer is asking for God to make us god of our own lives; to put ourselves in control of our lives instead of Him. We must learn to pray this prayer because God alone is God. The reality is (and we are all learning this in a new way now) no matter how hard we try, we cannot control our lives. But we can open our hands to our Father in heaven and trust Him. This is the only way to find heaven’s peace in the chaos of the earth. 

In response to God’s revealed will – Praying “your will be done” in response to God’s revealed will (or will of command) is less mysterious and more straightforward - but even harder for us.  Praying, “Your will be done” is saying yes to everything God says yes to and no to everything God says no to - no exceptions. But a lot of our prayers are really bargaining with God. We think,” If I do this part of His will, maybe He will do this part of my will?” This is the motivation underneath all religious praying – prayer and obedience are used to try to bend God to do our will, but a Christian prays, “Bend all my will to all of yours!”

In this part of the prayer, Jesus brings to the surface something that is hard for us to hear and accept – we are all locked in a battle of wills with God. It’s heaven vs earth; it’s our will vs God’s.  This is not a battle we want to win. As CS Lewis wrote, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done."’ This is why we must learn to pray this prayer.

This can all sound so controlling and stifling to modern people. But here’s what we need to see - it is the most loving thing for God to do to teach us to bend to His will. The most loving thing for God to do is whatever it takes to make us into the kind of person who in the end, in our heart of hearts, can say to God – “Your will be done.”.

The more we do the will of God from the heart, the more we experience the peace, joy and life of heaven on earth, even in hard times. We are at a time when our will is being accomplished less and less. Praying, “My will be done” in this time of pandemic and upheaval is a recipe for anger, irritation, anxiety and resentment. To find joy and peace we must learn to be less and less conformed to this age and more and more transformed by the renewal of our minds in order to discern and do the good, pleasing and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2)..

2. Why This Prayer Must Be Prayed for Us

When we really understand this prayer, we see that Jesus is teaching us to hand over everything to God – our plans for our life, our right to choose our own path, our will to do what we want. That’s everything! To pray this takes total and complete trust even when we don’t understand what’s happening and the reason we are being asked to do something or told not to. Who can do that? Who can pray this?

This is a prayer we must pray but it is a prayer we can only really pray if we know that it was a prayer that was prayed for us. There is only one time Jesus prayed an exact phrase of this prayer he taught us. It’s this one – “Your will be done”. He prayed those exact words. In Matthew 26, when Jesus was praying in preparation for His suffering, he prayed, “My Father if it is possible let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will… My Father if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

When we ask, “Is God’s will good? Can I trust Him with everything?” Jesus praying on his face “your will be done” is the answer we have been given.

• God’s will was that the worst day in human history, the greatest act of defiance against His will, the day of suffering for Him would become the best day in human history, the greatest display of His loving will, day of salvation for us. The cross shows us God’s will (His plan) is to turn the tables on all evil, sin, grief and suffering. His will is heaven on earth no matter what the cost.

There is a great cost to really praying this prayer – giving over control of all our lives and setting aside all our will –but the cost for us is nothing compared to what it cost Jesus to pray this prayer for us. When Jesus prayed this prayer, He chose to carry all our sickness, the entire curse of our sin, the power of death itself. It cost Him everything.

Why did he pray it? So that we could. So that we would (willingly!). The will of God was to open a way for us to know the peace, the joy, the life of heaven no matter what we are facing. The way is open to all who come in Jesus’ name and pray, “Your will be done.”

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the message most impacted you or left you with questions? In your own words define the two ways the Bible speaks about the will of God. Which of the two is harder for you to respond to by praying, “Your will be done”? 

2. In what ways are your prayers you actually saying to God, “Will you carry out my plans (ie. my will)?” Why is this recipe for disaster in these times? Why is it so important that we learn to surrender control of our lives to God in a time of crisis?

3. Do you bargain with God in prayer (“If I do this part of your will, will you do this part of mine?”) Do you see ways God is teaching you to bend your will to His during this challenging time? Where are you struggling most to say to God, “Bend all my will to yours?”

4. Why do we need to know that this prayer was prayed for us before we really pray it with full understanding and full hearts? What changes when we look to the cross for answers for our doubts about God’s will?

PRAY | Spend time yourself or with a group slowly praying “Your Will Be Done”. Recommended - Open your hands and get on your knees. Confess areas you are seeking to control or areas of disobedience. Confess your doubts. Fix your heart on Jesus praying this for you – and let that convince your heart that God’s will for you is good, pleasing and perfect.

Click to download PDF