9th Sunday After Pentecost / Ordinary Time

This Sunday we are confronted by a familiar text. Luke Chapter 11 we find the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray. The text is familiar for it has been the foundational prayer of the Christian faith for centuries. For those who grew up in the church the repetition of participating in this prayer has been burned into our subconscious mind. Someone simply need to start the prayer and off we go word for word reciting it freely from memory. For those who might not have grown up in the church this prayer, offered to the disciples by Jesus, has been made familiar through song, art and even the media. Most people have heard this prayer somewhere or at the least are familiar with the title it has been given "The Lord's Prayer."

This Sunday I want to invite you to take a deeper look at this passage and what it offers us. There is a whole lot more going on throughout the text then simply a prayer offered by Jesus to teach the disciples. The prayer is packed with kingdom power and forces us to confront our allegiances and challenges the principalities and powers of this world. It is a political prayer which for its time was dangerous to even speak.

Even more striking is the way Jesus offers the prayer. There is a definite cynical tone to his teaching. "Jesus cynical?" Yes! What are the disciples actually asking Jesus? What is their true intention? Is Jesus really asking us to annoy God with our petitions? If we ask God for whatever we want are we really going to get it? Is prayer about repetition or a way of life? Is it all about having the right words or having a right relationship?

Take a little time for reflection - "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you" (Lk 11:9). I guess the question is, "What are we asking for?"

The Texts:

Hosea 1:2-10

Psalm 85

Colossians 2:6-19

Luke 11:1-13

Read, Pray, Reflect, Enjoy!

Grace & Peace

Rev Roy

 

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Now may the Lord bless you and keep you may the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace!