Mid-week Lent #5
22 March 2023
Matthew 6:11
“Give us this day our daily
bread”
Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον
Give us today…our bread.
Friends in Christ, I urge you all to life up your hearts to God and pray with me as Christ our Lord has taught us and freely promised to hear us…Grant us our daily bread, preserve us from greed and selfish cares, and help us trust in You to provide for all our needs. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.[1]
This petition includes everything that belongs to our entire life in this world. When the necessaries of life are impede, life cannot be maintained.
In this petition, we pray for everything
that is necessary to have and enjoy daily and against everything which
interferes with it. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to live with just enough. It teaches us not to want more. It teaches contentment, the most subversive
virtue of them all. Thus, we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”. This is not a prayer for more. This is a prayer only for what we need. The world encourages us to spend money in
pursuit of happiness. This petition
restrains our greed.
I’ve seen it on the table at my grandparent’s house. I’ve seen it
in the kitchens of so many homes here at Friedheim. A wooden bowl, with the
words inscribed, “Give us this day our daily bread”
What are we talking about when we pray these words? Luther,
as he wrote the Catechism helps us understand what it means to pray these
words. What does this mean? “God
gives daily bread indeed without our prayer, also to all the wicked; but we
pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our
daily bread with thanksgiving.”
What is meant by “daily
bread”? “Everything that
belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as food, drink, clothing,
shoes, house, home field, cattle money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children,
pious servants, pious and faithful rulers, good government, good weather,
peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the
like.” Three questions pertain to this particular petition.
I.
Question One: Why does Christ our Lord tell us to ask for
daily bread, even though God gives it also to those who do not ask for it?
A. Jesus, our Lord and Savior, tells us to
ask for daily bread in order to teach us that our daily bread is a gracious
gift of God. Our Savior has showered down upon us so many great and wonderful
blessings. Every blessing, each gift has been touched by God. We are
called by this petition to recognize this as such.
B. We are thus encouraged to receive these blessings with joy and
thanksgiving. David writes in Psalm 145:15-16: “The eyes of all look to Thee, and Thou dost
give them their food in due time. Thou dost open Thy hand, and dost satisfy the
desire of every living thing.” And then in Matthew 5:45 we read, “for He causes His sun to rise on {the} evil
and {the} good, and sends rain on {the} righteous and {the} unrighteous.”
II. Question
Two: Why do we say “our” bread?
A. We say “our” bread, because we should ask for only that bread which is
honestly ours. Dishonest goods acquired dishonestly are ill-gotten gain.
We pray that the Lord would bless that which is acquired honestly and we work
for it honestly. If we acquire bread and good dishonestly, we cannot expect God
to bless our efforts. Luther, commenting
on this petition said in his Large Catechism, “If God did not give us permanent and
peaceful government…For where there is dissension, strife and war; there, the
daily bread is already taken away, or, at least checked. How much
trouble there is now in the world only on account of bad coin, yea on account
of daily oppression and raising of prices in common trade, bargaining and labor
on the part of those who wantonly oppress the poor and deprive them of daily
bread.”
B. As we pray for “our”
bread, we must always remember that we are connected one to another. As we give
“our” bread, we pray for our neighbor and share with him when he has need. The
writer to the Hebrews reminds us with these words: “But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God
is will pleased.” (13:16)
C. Giving is sometimes a sacrifice. That’s
what the writer to the Hebrews tells us. “What a tremendous example you have been –giving above and beyond what
you are required.” As we support those who are in need especially with
those who are in need – we have this promise that God is well pleased with our
giving and our sacrifice. In short, we support others with "our" bread so that they might have
theirs.
III. Question
three: Why
are we to say “daily,” and “this day,”
A.
We are to
say, “Daily,” and “this day,” because we should be
satisfied with what we need each day. Each day has its own challenge.
Each day has its own needs. Yet, we are encouraged to be satisfied with what we
need each day. You are Easter people. You live under the shadow of the
cross and by the power of the empty tomb. If God in Christ has in fact forgiven
your sins and granted salvation and life we know that, we can be satisfied with
what we need each day for He will provide.
B.
We pray “daily,” and “this day,” because it is foolish and sinful to worry about the
future. We can cut it any way we want. We can call it concern – but
when we obsess about the future this can become troublesome. Paul writes
in 1 Timothy 6, “And having food and
clothing, with these we shall be content.” (v.8) God wants us to be
satisfied and content with what we have. A question: Are you content with what
you have?
Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount explains to us what it means to
be content as He begins with our first priorities: “Now your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be
added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will
worry about it’s own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
The Father has promised to provide. All we need to support
our body and life. He will provide. We can be content all things come by the
gracious hand of God.
Father, You provide generously for Your
children. Give us today all the material blessings we need to serve You in the
manner You desire, and make us grateful for all we receive. I pray this
especially for Christians distressed by need, wherever they may be.
Passive Sentences –5%
Readability –77.5%
Reading Level – 6.2
[1]
Lutheran Service Book, Divine Service Setting Five, © 2006 Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis
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