Thy Will Be Done - Martin Luther on the Third Petition of The Lord's Prayer

While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50)

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’ Now that our feet are standing within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

We have been covering The Lord’s Prayer and Martin Luther’s understanding of it in his catechisms. Following the introduction, we moved into the petitions, and today, we address the Third Petition – “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

We view these words as a petition in that the definition of the word is a request, for example, seeking a change in the law from a government (a signed petition) or a court (a petition for divorce). Are we asking God to change something when we make a petition to God with the words, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”?

Answering the question, “What does this mean?” Luther states, “The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer.” God accomplishes His will even without our asking.

Perhaps sometimes we ask God that His will be ours. A few weeks ago when I talked about Abraham’s conversation with God, I mentioned how God’s will was done even when Abraham responded to God with his own bright idea. At this point, Abraham, now 90, and Sarah, not far behind, petitioned God to “allow Ishmael to live in your favor.” God replied, “Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you shall call him Isaac. I will make an everlasting covenant with him whom Sarah shall bear to you by this time next year.”

It demonstrates that in Abraham’s time and in ours that God did not completely entrust the world to us and our bright ideas, but that God’s will is done even when we think we have a bright idea for God. … Ya think God needs our bright ideas?

I say that because Luther points out that one of the forces opposed to God’s will is our sinful nature – the others are Satan and the world. So, though we are saved, we remain sinners in continual need of grace in order to do God’s will. Luther reminds us that God's will is done when God destroys every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which are all opposed to His will.

Easily we identify the plans of the devil and the world; and sometimes the two work together – abortion, genocide, human trafficking, slavery and so on. Luther cites 1 Peter 5:8 and 1 John 2:15-17 as passages to alert us of how these forces work against God’s will. … Let me read those passages for you. …

“Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour.” (1 Pet 5:8)

^“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” (1 Jn 2:15-17)

Luther then proceeds to quote Rom. 7:18 “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” This passage reminds us that we do not always see how greed or our good ideas – like Abraham’s – may not be God’s will but simply our sinful human nature attempting to supplant the will of God. And so, we must pray for God’s will to be done in our lives even when it is difficult.

Perhaps if we understand petition as asking for change, we see it as change within ourselves. … A Buddhist monk goes up to a hot dog vendor and places his order. “Make me one with everything,” says the monk. The vendor happily hands the monk a hot dog with everything. In return, the monk hands the vendor a twenty-dollar bill. Vendor shoves it in his apron. After a few minutes, the monk finally asks for his change. The vendor replies, “Change comes from within.”

But seriously, do you ever pray for change within yourself? Do you ever ask God for the grace to change in order that God’s will is accomplished in and through you?

How is God’s will done in our lives? When God breaks and hinders the plans of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which try to destroy our faith in Christ Jesus. God strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith and helps us lead God pleasing lives; and when we face trouble, God’s will supports us until He calls us home. In other words, we must pray for God’s will to be done.

This is my mother’s prayer book. She had it with her when she died seven years ago. In preparing for this evening, I read a passage in a confirmation teacher’s manual on today’s petition. It brought up the idea of giving someone a prayer book as a gift. So, I brought this to remind us that at some point in our lives, someone may have given us a prayer book or maybe we found one that suits us. In my truck, I carry this Book of Lutheran Prayer, and on my bookcase, I have several other books of prayer.

Most people do not consider prayer books when purchasing a gift for one’s baptism, confirmation, wedding, retirement or graduation. However, prayer, especially the Lord’s Prayer, is how we define ourselves. Even in tragic situations – sickness, divorce, and death of a loved one or destruction of one’s property – we need to take time to pray. When I visit the sick, I take along at least one prayer booklet. When Myrna and I volunteered in Moore, we gave away prayer books to every tornado victim who asked for assistance. These books remind us to pray always – when life is reduced to rubble or when life is created anew. They remind us to pray – pray that God’s will be done.

As we continue to pray to our Father, may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). Amen.

Virtue and Vice - Virtue Advice

My focus today is on Colossians 3: 1-11, with a special emphasis on verses 5, 9 & 10: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature … since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”[i] Now that our feet are standing within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

One of Paul’s Law and Gospel tools is his lists of virtues and vices. His most familiar is Galatians 5, where he lists the fruit of the Spirit. We find such lists in the Old Testament and the New Testament.[ii] I chose Virtues and Vices because we leave Colossians after today and will not have an opportunity to examine these lists for a long time.

We define virtue as moral excellence or righteousness. The word virtue originates from the Latin word vir, meaning man. Most likely, to be a man meant one walked the righteous path.

A decade ago, Secretary of Education, William Bennett, compiled stories in The Book of Virtues, and wrote that virtue involves “the training of the heart and mind toward the good. … It involves rules and precepts – the dos and don’ts of life with others – as well as explicit instruction, exhortation and training in good habits.”[iii] This is exactly what Paul is doing as he writes to the Colossians – exhorting Christians freed from sin explicit instruction and training on how to live as Church.

Paul’s lists may differ from the traditional list of virtues: faith, hope, love, prudence, fortitude, justice and temperance.[iv] Modern lists include acceptance, creativity, nonviolence, silence and humor (which is what I always attempt).[v] … I’ll keep practicing. … But know this: the Christian foundation for the 7 traditional virtues is the Bible.

A brief introduction to virtue. Now, meet its evil twin, vice. Vice is defined as an immoral or evil habit or degrading behavior. Its origin is from the Latin word vitium, which means a fault or defect. Like virtue, we know a vice when we see it or hear it.

George Washington knew vice when he heard it. In fact, the Father of our Country once said, “The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it.”[vi]

Renaissance artists depicted virtue and vice to remind viewers what to do and what not to do.[vii] Many artists relied upon Dante who listed 7 deadly vices that were perverted by the Fall. Traditionally, the 7 vices include pride, greed, jealousy, anger, lust, gluttony and laziness.

A more contemporary writer, Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, wrote that there is only one vice or sin – theft. “Every other sin is a variation of theft....When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's husband, and rob his children of a father. … When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal their right to fairness.” … Whether or not you agree with Hosseini is not important. What is important for us to remember is that God’s Law, including The Ten Commandments, is the foundation for avoiding vice.

So far, the basics: practice virtue; avoid vice. With that in mind, you would think that Paul would not have to remind Christians how to live. But as a straight-forward pastor, he reminds them – that because Christ forgave them and freed them from Satan, sin and death through His suffering, death and resurrection, they were to set their minds on things above. Freed Christians do not walk in the way of vice. Freed Christians walk virtuous ways.

Luke, like Paul, reminded Christians that God freed them from sin. Freed from sin, Christians must imitate Christ’s walk and echo His talk.

The word echo is the root word for catechism. Catechisms echo a teaching. And one source for our Lutheran Catechism, The Apology of the Augsburg Confession states, “By faith, on account of Christ, we receive the forgiveness of our sins.”[viii] Jesus atoned for our sins through his death and resurrection. We believe that. And because we are freed from sin, we follow Him. Echoing Jesus’ teaching, Luke reminds us that as Christians, we are to be on our “guard against all kinds of greed.”

Be on guard against all kinds of greed. … How do rich televangelists reconcile that command with “prosperity theology”? Prosperity theology teaches that faith and commitment to a church are rewarded with wealth. No one is a better teacher of this than the self-anointed Pentecostal Bishop Edir Macedo of Brazil. Recently added to Forbes Billionaires List, he owns 49% of Banco Renner, and Record, Brazil’s 2^nd largest broadcast network. Reports suggest he used church funds to amass his $1.1 billion empire. During a recent sermon, he requested his followers to pray for his network. “There are many enemies who want us to fail. But with everybody’s prayers and help, Record will slaughter the infidels.”[ix]

How would Jesus react if He knew someone used His name to get on the Forbes Billionaires List? Is Macedo the person you want to imitate when living the Gospel? Or is there someone else?

The last time I preached, I invoked Dr. Joel Biermann, echoed Paul’s words, and asked you to “imitate me.” Today, I ask you to imitate the person who taught me about avoiding vice and embracing virtue as the Christian way of life.

10 years ago, on Wednesday of Holy Week, April 16, 2003, my father dropped dead of a massive heart attack. The medical examiner said he was dead before he hit the floor. That very night God demanded his life from him.

Fortunately, my father did not spend his life chasing after the wind or storing up an abundance of possessions. In fact, it was almost as if he prepared for that moment. On Tuesday evening, he and my mother attended a reconciliation service at a local church. On Wednesday morning, they drove to their home church where he received communion. He spent the day with my mother, took her grocery shopping and hung out at home. … Unusual for my 77-year old father who spent most days working outside, in the garage or at a local machine shop. … That evening my parents ate dinner with my dad’s only surviving brother. They returned home, he went into his room, and prayed. His virtuous life came to a sudden end.

His last two days were no anomaly. My father, married for 53 years and the father of 3 sons, was a veteran of the Second World War and the Korean War. Like St. Paul, he too labored, not as a tentmaker but as a machinist in an Aliquippa steel mill for 46 years. He didn’t smoke or drink. He didn’t swear or trash talk our mother. He did not tolerate such talk among men. In fact, when we were visiting an uncle, who did all of those things, my dad said, “Szwagier (Polish for brother-in-law). Szwagier, if you’re going to talk like that, we’re leaving.” Our uncle responded in words that were not socially acceptable, and we left. Like the father of our country, my father detested swearing.

He talked the good talk, and he walked the good walk. He evangelized as a catechist, but his medium for teaching children and teens how to avoid vice and embrace virtue extended beyond the classroom onto the baseball field.

He evangelized on baseball fields throughout Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and his “Pep” Young glove was his instrument of communicating Law and Gospel, vices to avoid and virtues to embrace.

I tell you about my father not to aggrandize him, but to offer some advice for virtuous living today. Take time today (12 minutes – the time it took to listen to this sermon) and reflect upon today’s Gospel and Colossians 3.

Our Lutheran Tradition reminds us that we teach the Bible truth that by faith alone we obtain the forgiveness of sins. Ask yourself, is that teaching rooted deeply in my heart? Christ’s resurrection proves all His promises will be fulfilled. Think about this – Do I sincerely trust that God indeed fulfills all His promises? Or like the greedy man, do I ensure for my own security by building up riches on earth?

Do I trust that God will forgive me of my sins … my vices? Do I trust that God’s Holy Spirit will guide me to live as a Christian … virtuously? Will someone be citing me as a Christian example ten years after I am dead? If so, or if not, we should ask ourselves as we listen to Jesus if we are ready to walk the walk? As we walk with our Savior, may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). Amen.

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[i] Psalm 122

[ii] Exodus 34:6; Isaiah 11:1-3; Hosea 2:19-20; Micah 6:8. See http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Epistles-VirtuesVices.htm

[iii] William Bennett, The Book of Virtues, 11.

[iv] The cardinal virtues (prudence, fortitude, justice, and temperance) are the foundation of morality as a whole. The word "cardinal" comes from the Latin word "cardo" which means "hinge". These are foundational virtues since morality hinges on them. See P.J. Kreeft, Virtues in Dictionary of Christianity in America, 1226f. For the Lutheran understanding of virtues, see http://cyclopedia.lcms.org/display.asp?t1=c&word=CARDINALVIRTUES

[v] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_virtues

[vi] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/vice.html

[vii] http://www.arttrav.com/art-history-tools/virtues-and-vices-in-renaissance-art/

[viii] Kolb and Wengert, Book of Concord, 134.

[ix] http://www.forbes.com/sites/andersonantunes/2013/07/22/brazilian-billionaire-bishop-edir-macedo-is-now-a-banker-too/