A Lenten Sermon Series 3/6
Matthew 6: 9-11
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
March 4, 2018
‘Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. - Matthew 6: 9-11
Today we move into the very center of the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus has opened our hearts to behold the wonder of God’s desire for us to live in authentic relationships with God and one another through our Teacher and Savior. Jesus has painted a gutsy picture of the vision of God’s kingdom that is already among us and not yet fully revealed (Not what I want, but what you want God). And now Jesus opens our spiritual eyes to see what is essential for all human life to thrive within God’s kingdom.
Jesus says, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).
Bread is something so ordinary and basic to satisfy human hunger. It represents food and also basic essentials that are inherent and universal requirement to survive. And yet this symbol of bread is something that many of us so easily take for granted.
When Jesus said, “Give us this day our daily bread,” the disciples would have immediately remembered that God had given their spiritual ancestors daily bread too.
As Moses led God’s people out of slavery and into God’s freedom, the people complained and grumbled. There was nothing but physical lack in the desert – no food and no water. (Exodus 16:2)
God’s people remembered eating their fill of bread from their fleshpots in Egypt (Exodus 16:3). They had such a bad case of the “hangries” that certainly they would die! And yet how easily they forgot the misery they endured for generations and the power of God’s deliverance! There is not a lot of trust needed when we are fed by the hand of complacency; it yields a false sense of comfort.
The wilderness journey was teaching God’s people how to fully rely on God - not just to survive but to thrive and flourish. God provided manna – bread that fell down from heaven. And God instructed Moses that the people were only to gather what they needed each and every day (Exodus 16: 4).
The bread from heaven was a profound demonstration that God knows our needs, hears our cries, and provides for us; a true sign of God’s glory and gift of grace (Providence).
But also, God provided the manna to test the people’s humility; how open were their hearts to trust God alone over the work of their own hands? We do not live on bread alone but by the very word of God (Exodus 16: 4; Deuteronomy 8:16; Mathew 4:4).
John Calvin says, “Jesus’ prayer [moves us to open our hearts and] to give ourselves over to God’s care and entrust ourselves to God’s providence. As our heavenly Father nourishes us today, God will not fail us tomorrow.”[1]
If trust is the common denominator for the success of our relationships, then God has already proven God’s faithfulness beyond measure.
When we say the words Jesus taught, we are united in a confession of faith with our spiritual ancestors saying that against all odds God will provide what we need to thrive in God’s kingdom. That daily provision, that daily bread is a gift of God’s benevolent grace. All that we have and all that we are is a gift from God!
In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, “As long as the disciples are on earth, they should not be ashamed of asking their heavenly Father for the things they need for their bodily life. God who created human beings intends to preserve and protect human bodies. God does not intend that God’s own creation become disdained. The disciples pray for bread to be shared. They also pray that God will give daily bread to all of God’s children on the whole earth, for they are our brothers and sisters in the flesh.” [2]
Bonhoeffer is pointing to the cost of discipleship. Scripture reveals receiving these gifts from God also bears responsibility to share God’s grace with others.
As Matthew’s Gospel comes to a close he says that when God’s kingdom comes and is complete:
“The Son of Man will come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats…Then the King will say to those at his right hand:
‘Come you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
for I was hungry and you have me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you clothed me,
I was sick and you took care of me,
I was in prison and you visited me… Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me’” (Matthew 25: 31-36, 40).
Just as God is faithful to provide daily needs, just as Jesus is faithful to meet people where they are, we have a responsibility to be faithful too.
Saying the words Jesus teaches us to pray affirms that we are called to be kingdom builders. We have the privilege of helping to build the kingdom of God with grace and gratitude. God has filled our hearts with grace so that our hands might be willing and ready to live into God’s kingdom vision for humanity to thrive and flourish.
Jesus prayer is shaping us to be the body of Christ so that we might share the bread of life with others and inherit the kingdom.
The Spirit is on the move to open our eyes to those who are poor in spirit. They are the ones who humbly trust God will provide through the generosity of others.
We get that holy nudge to feed those who hunger and thirst for right relationships through ministries of compassion.
Our hearts soften when we see Christ in the eyes of the refugee; their mourning of displacement is eased by welcoming them as our sisters and brother with hope for a future.
Mercies are new each morning when we see the marginalized who are stripped of their identity and resources and we clothe them with God-given dignity.
When illness strikes our children and our elderly, they see the heart of God pouring out hope through the genuine care of physicians, family, and friends alike.
Those who are incarcerated experience what is essential to human life through visits with cookies and hearing someone call them by name instead of a number (Mathew 25: 34-36; Matthew 5: 3-9).
Give us this day our daily bread. Scripture reveals a hidden truth that captivates my heart and I hope it captivates yours too: the bread of life is received through the gift of relationships with God and one another.
These relationships are essential for all human life to flourish in God’s kingdom. God created us with this holy tethering to remind us that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper.
A few years ago, research was published that a giving attitude is shaped not just by faith, but also by our olfactory nerves. Would you believe that the smell of bread triggers a positive mood that leads to a greater unconditional concern for the welfare of others?
That is certainly a new motivation to ask God for a portion of bread every day….to let the smell of grace fill your nostrils, your lungs, and every fiber of your being to remember that you and I are blessed to be a blessing.
God holds us accountable to share the gifts of grace. Remember God’s unconditional love revealed in Jesus Christ is the greatest treasure we will ever behold. We cannot earn this treasure. We only receive it as a gift and this gift is only God’s to give.
Jesus is the bread of life – broken for the sake of reconciling our relationships with God and one another.
Give us this day our daily bread so that we may generously give evidence of God’s coming kingdom.
May it be so for you and for me.
In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sources Referenced:
[1] John Calvin, “The Institutes of the Christian Religion: Volume 2” (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, Reissued in 2006), pp. 908 – 909.
[2] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Cost of Discipleship” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), p. 157 (originally published in German in 1937).
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