Jesus and the Church: Week 7

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0:00 So this week we're going to wrap up looking at the role of the church in the life of Jesus. And I had to give myself permission because I wanted to start on a new focus for Lent next week because this Wednesday is the Ash Wednesday that picks off the season of Lent. So we'll be gathering here in person at 7 and we'll stream that gathering as well for you if you're not available to make it, but we can't make it.

0:30 But so for the next several Sundays I wanted to have a special Lenten focus which meant I had to wrap up the role of the church in the life of Jesus and it got kind of daunting because I realized that we could talk about the role of the church in life of Jesus for a long time. I had to give myself permission. This doesn't have to wrap up all of it. It's just the next thing that we talk about. We could talk about the role of the church in life of Jesus for a long time. But the thing I wanted to get to is in Luke chapter 11, if you want to look there with me, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1, Corinthians, Luke chapter 11.

1:05 And this story comes up in a couple of the sadophic gospels. Luke, right at the beginning of chapter 11 says now Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he finished one of his disciples, first of all, I think it's really cool and a little mind boggling that Jesus prayed. Isn't it? Jesus is the incarnated and flesh God. Jesus is the inflesed God.

1:38 And the church has gone through a lot of work, heartache and care over the generations to say that Jesus is fully God. And that Jesus was not created. He always existed like God, right? And he's of the same essence as God. Jesus is fully God. And the church has gone through equal effort and energy and care to say that Jesus is also fully human.

2:08 So this relationship where Jesus prays is really kind of enigmatic. And it's a kind of a rabbit hole you could think about maybe forever and not get any further, right? So it's better to try and pull some truth out of it that Jesus, fully human, needed the things that prayer offers. Which then means that the incarnated God walking around in the world needed the comfort, the consolation, the wisdom, the hope, the conviction, the connection, the purpose, the direction that comes from prayer.

2:50 Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnated God, needed the things that prayer offers. On more than one occasion, Jesus goes off by himself to pray. Usually, Jesus goes off by himself. There's a couple of times where he prays in public, right? He actually says that there's a couple of times where he prays for the benefit of the people around him. There's a couple of times where he prays for someone else, lays hands on and prays ask God to do something rather than just announcing it himself, which that's the whole other thing.

3:24 But most of the times that Jesus associated with prayer is he's gone off by himself to be somewhere on his own and pray. Usually early in the morning or in the evening, Jesus is going off by himself to pray at the beginning or the end of the day. And Luke tells this story, remember that Luke probably wasn't there, he heard this story second hand. Matthew tells a similar story with some different stories around it. And Matthew was probably there. But Luke tells this story second hand that Jesus wasn't a certain place and had been praying.

3:58 Now, Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord teak his to pray, as John taught his disciples. So it was a big deal. Remember, it's worth saying here too, that in the first century there, moving around in the rabbinic circle, where you would pick what rabbi you would be a disciple for, John the Baptist was a big deal because it was clear that he was speaking with a different kind of authority.

4:31 Most of the rabbis that were teaching and going around in the synagogues in teaching had learned what to teach from a rabbi before them and on through a generation so that there may have been four different interpretations of texts, but they all had been heard before. And people were teaching only what they had taught. John the Baptist comes on with a new interpretation and he speaks with authority, meaning when he speaks, the spirit works and people actually believe it in new ways. Life is amended, different choices are made, repentance is enacted, like John the Baptist carries an authority.

5:06 So in the circles, John the Baptist is known and his disciples are known. And so he has this practice where he taught his disciples a certain sort of thing and Jesus' disciples say, hey Jesus, why don't you do the thing that John the Baptist did for us? We'd love to learn how to pray. Now Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord teaches us to pray, as John taught his disciples, and he said to them, when you pray, say, Father, hallowed be our name, your kingdom come, give us each day our daily bread, forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us and lead us on the temptation.

5:48 This is what, of course, becomes called the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father, right? Matthew has a few more things about it. He starts off our Father who art in heaven or who is in heaven, who lives in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Matthew has a little bit more to it than Luke does. But it's interesting and I think maybe we'll take for granted a little bit, that Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnated God of one being with God, be gotten not made, being of the same substance of the Father from whom all things were made, right?

6:28 This person, Jesus of Nazareth, needed the things that prayer offers. And coming just out of an experience of prayer, a group of his followers said, would you teach us to pray? And he does, and not in abstract terms, in explicit terms. He tells them exactly, hey, this is what you should pray, say these things. And it occurs to me like, I wonder, I mean, at certain points, Jesus must really get frustrated with the 11th, right?

7:05 Like, you get the feeling that prayer is a very natural and essential thing for him. Like, he does it because he needs the things that prayer offers, and these 11 are like, Hey man, how do you do that? And he's like, I feel like he must be like that. But thank God, he presses through and gives them explicitly what to say. Isn't that interesting?

7:35 You and I, transcribed by Luke and Matthew, and remembered by the community, and passed down from one generation to the next, have the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth on what to pray? Here are the words you want to know how to pray? Pray this. Isn't that amazing? What opportunity is there for the church?

8:05 You don't have to wonder what to pray. Sometimes that is a concern. I know I think that it would be cool to pray more, but I don't know what to pray. Jesus told you what to pray. Pray this. Pray it slow, pray it fast, repeat each line, take deep breaths in between. Pray it while you're walking, pray it while you're breathing, pray it while you're running, pray it while you're swimming. I like to pray while I'm swimming.

8:36 You don't have to worry about what to pray. Jesus told you what to pray. This is not the only prayer that you could pray, but good happens. Why wouldn't you pray this one sometimes? He said it to you explicitly. Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us these day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those, everyone who's indebted to us and lead us not to temptation. I think when I hear that I think of humility and opportunity, that Jesus has this amazing humility that he would teach us explicitly what to pray and then what opportunity that we have

9:11 by knowing exactly what to pray. When he goes on, and I think that the fact that Luke includes this teaching right after Jesus explains how to pray is very telling about the nature of prayer and our relationship to God. Because look at what he says in verse 5. And then Luke goes on and Jesus said to them, which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him,

9:44 friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine has arrived on the journey and I have nothing to step before him. And he will answer from within, do not bother me. The door is now shut. And my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything. I tell you, he will not get up and give him anything because he is a friend. Yet because of his impudence or some text say his persistence, he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you.

10:17 Seek and you will find, knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks, receives and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. What father among you if his son asks for a fish will instead give him a serpent. Or if he asks for an egg will give him a scorpion. If then you who are evil know how to give good gifts to children, how much more will the heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.

10:49 This like famous asking you will receive, seeking you will find, and knock and it will be opened unto you. James has that famous phrase, you have not because you ask not. I mean it's fascinating to me that Jesus wraps up how to pray and then says, look you all, even with your friends will push past discomfort because someone asks you for something.

11:22 How much more would God give you something that you ask for? And I think that's really comforting. The idea that God is there knows what I need, won't give me something that's bad for me. It's not playing tricks on me and will respond to my request. I'm sitting with that thinking, oh that's really great. When I was praying about what's the last piece of the role of the church in the life of Jesus?

11:54 Because so much of if you look back at what we've been talking about in the last several weeks has been about repentance and a call to opportunity. And I was thinking, Lord what do I need to hear about the role of the church in the life of Jesus? And I was thinking I need to hear that you are here for me. That you are with me. That you will lead me. And this place occurred to me where Jesus tells us what to pray and then says ask for what you need and it will be given to you.

12:26 Seek for what you need and you'll find it. Knock in the door will be open and it's so nice to know that Jesus of Nazareth needed the things that prayer offers and then he opens up for me the opportunity to pray and then teaches me how to do it. And says God will respond when you pray. There's this real comfort in its capacity to have access to the same things that Jesus of Nazareth had access to and God himself. That he responds to when I ask. And I was seeing with that and I was really comforted by that.

12:57 And then I realized wait a minute. Is he waiting for me to ask? Wait a minute. Is he waiting for me to knock? Like will he not open the door unless I knock at it? Wait a minute. Would stay hidden if I don't seek for it? Wait a minute. And then I thought back to the story we were talking about where Jesus gets separated from his family and they find him after maybe as much as three days being taught and asking questions of rabbis and we were like kind of mind blown that the God of the universe leaves the instruction of the incarnated God up to some rabbis that are not even mentioned by name in the temple.

13:47 Or that when Jesus ascends he leaves it to eleven guys who in the text it says they're walking up to see the resurrected Jesus and some of them believed and some doubted. And these are the ones, the believing and the doubting ones that he sets out on the way to announce the reign of God and launch the church into the world. That Jesus has this interesting relationship with humanity and especially the humans in his church where he entrusts them with this like responsibility and capacity to be like fully liberated and living humans.

14:36 Image bearers of God in the world carrying the keys, dispensing the generative word of God on the world announcing forgiveness and retaining poor behavior. Whatever you speak on earth will be, whatever you loose on earth will be loosened up from whatever you bind on earth will be found and have been like he has like empowered you with the capacity to seek, knock, create, forgive, retain, to live, to be the like image bearer of God in the world.

15:16 Second only, the crowning achievement of creation. Second only to God. To raise kids, to build church, to create ideas, to launch new initiatives, to repair and heal. He has called you and equipped you and empowered you to be fully human and he's here to help.

15:47 No, he does not always wait for you to knock, but he pays attention when you knock, you are his church. No, he does not hide things from you on purpose and wait for you to seek, but if you seek you will find you are the church. Image bearers of God in the world. Harbringers of the reign of God in a world that doesn't recognize his authority emissaries out across enemy lines to announce the presence of the liberating king.

16:26 No, he doesn't wait for you to ask, but if you ask he'll pay attention, you are the church. And he has empowered you to be the church in the world and good heavens he is here to help. Pray the Lord's prayer and then ask, seek and knock for what you need. You are the church in the world.

17:01 That is encouraging for me. I like life better when I am of deep significance and I am. You all are of deep significance to the world. It is very easy in this time of like weird social connection, flying judgments across digital landscapes, right?

17:39 Like hyper echo chambers, spaces, easy judgments written on people's faces, whether they are wearing the right thing or moving in the right way or embarking on the right from the right places and spurting the wrong places. It is very easy in this very weird place to have this interesting sense of futility in the world. And it is pervasive that you might be insignificant, that your work doesn't matter, that nobody would see or pay attention to you.

18:15 But I am telling you, you are the church empowered by God to be the church in a world that needs the church. You are deeply significant, so much so that the creator God of the universe went through the incarnation to come down and save you and await your request, your looking and your knocking. He waits for you to ask, seek and knock and he will respond. He will answer, he will reveal, he will open because you are in it with him.

18:55 He has entrusted you to be the church and good heavens, he will not leave you alone in the job. I pray that this year we all take seriously the great opportunity of being church for each other, for Orlando and for the world. Because they need it and you know what this secret is, we will like our lives better when we embrace the call to be the significant powerful church in the world.

19:26 Let's pray, if you know the Lord's prayer is closer to the one in Matthew chapter 6. We used to have copies of them written down, but we don't have enough for me to pass out this morning. Matthew chapter 6 in verse 9, Matthew chapter 6 in verse 9 is the Lord's prayer closer to the one that we may be grew up saying.

19:58 So let's read it from there together and then at the end it has that little coda that gets added on for the Lamb of the Kingdom, the power of the Lord, forever and ever all men. And we'll say that too, but Matthew does include that the church added that after his scriptures. So Matthew chapter 6 verse 9 starts, Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us to stay our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive those who sinned against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

20:39 For the Lamb of the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever all men.